Chris Hedges' Empire of Illusion | The New School

THE NEW SCHOOL | http://www.newschool.edu

Journalist Chris Hedges discusses his recent book Empire of Illusion: the End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. In it, he charts the dramatic rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy, and illusion. Hedges argues we now live in two societies: one, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world and can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth; the other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic where serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins.

Chris Hedges, author of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He writes for many publications, including Foreign Affairs, Harpers, The New York Review of Books, Granta, and Mother Jones. He is also a columnist for Truthdig.com.

Co-sponsored by the Writing Program | http://www.newschool.edu/writing
Department of Media Studies and Film | http://www.newschool.edu/mediastudies
and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics | http://www.newschool.edu/vlc and http://www.veralistcenter.org

* Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall.
12/08/2009 7:00 p.m.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• The New School
• Empire of Illusion
• New School University
• New School
• Writing Program
• Chris Hedges
• Culture
• Mass Media
• Entertainment
• End of Literacy
• Post-literate Society
• Obama
• Michael Jackson
• American Democracy
• educational

[lamuziq]

I am a proud Christian American and I've voted Republican on every ticket I ever could have since I turned 18 years old. Chris is becoming my idol; his truth and ability to see through deception is sobering. This country (and most of the Western world) is fueled by a hunger of self defeating consumerism, we exalt it through monetary, political and religious institutions. God have mercy on our souls, we have destroyed the integrity of the human design.

[FoxPaste]

@grundgemonster That's precisely the type of passive aggressive / antagonistic behavior that Chris Hedges is trying to absolve between the partisan divisions. You are acting as the antithesis to basically everything he's saying here by allowing such a grand assumption (and what a trivial / aesthetic one at that) to lead you into mockery. I doubt very much that anyone would argue for Christ voting. Period. But that's not what you were trying to discuss when you made that comment, thats obvious.

[RSFO]

@ianhowe007 He would destroy the economy. This is why I would vote for him, if I were a US-American. And I am not even joking. All those Ron Paul fanatics have some different ideas why they vote for him. I would want the economy destroyed.

[ianhowe007]

Your*

[ianhowe007]

Ron Paul would let corporatism run freely in front of face.

[MachinaSapien]

chris hedges likes ron paul's foreign policy and support for civil liberties. but he doesnt have as deep an understanding of economics as of ideological politics so he doesnt understand that the fed is the root of the problem.

[MrPEDOCTOR]

great speech.

[LEFTYM0M65]

Thanks for posting this lecture. Hedges articulately expresses where "We The People" have lost touch with the core ideals that made us great and what we need to do to find our way back before it's too late to salvage our "Great Experiment." It is better to stand up and fight for liberty and justice than to quietly cower down to tyranny!

[aliaandreadi]

Nice lecture and kind looking man but I cannot help but wonder (since he's so into education) why ON EARTH he uses "free market capitalism" so fallaciously. This crisis has NOTHING to do with capitalism, let alone the free market LOL a semblance of which we last experienced in the early 70s. Capitalism and the free market requires A- stable currency (as opposed to central banks printing paper outta thin air at whim) B- small govt In a free market the state has little to NO power to regulate

[bigollameo]

@veramann

Don't stop now, man! If you're gonna look lose and become a tool, then don't settle for being the smallest tool in the shed - lose big. Don't be a screwdriver or a socket wrench when you can be a sledgehammer or a chainsaw. Keep it up - you'll get there!

[veramann]

@bigollameo You must be one of those white losers. When white boys get rejected by white girls, they can only for those Asian trash. You and Chris H. are pathetic.

[powergirl901]

The current absurdity of media was also predicted in black and white type, (the Situationist Manifesto) in 1957. By rebelling against it, they made themselves ironically famous themselves. Their big claim to fame was the near-toppling of the French government in 1968 during a nationwide strike of workers in support of students and vice versa. Everyone should read about this decadent phase of "spectacle" just to realize it isn't new, and the ending has already been scripted.