Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Chris Hedges' "Wake Up!" Call

https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/88/chris-hedges.html

Chris Hedges, a well-respected journalist who has chronicled the rise of the religious right, has an article that is, well, rather astounding. Here is an excerpt of what he has to say:

"We stand on the cusp of one of the bleakest periods in human history when the bright lights of a civilization blink out and we will descend for decades, if not centuries, into barbarity. The elites have successfully convinced us that we no longer have the capacity to understand the revealed truths presented before us or to fight back against the chaos caused by economic and environmental catastrophe. As long as the mass of bewildered and frightened people, fed images that permit them to perpetually hallucinate, exist in this state of barbarism, they may periodically strike out with a blind fury against increased state repression, widespread poverty and food shortages. But they will lack the ability and self-confidence to challenge in big and small ways the structures of control. The fantasy of widespread popular revolts and mass movements breaking the hegemony of the corporate state is just that – a fantasy...."

Hedges argues that the coming environmental catastrophe is being masked by a corporate-enclave elite who have usurped democratic institutions.

Pretty heavy argument.

However, I am seeing more and more of this type of peak-oil, resource limits, environmental collapse type of argument. These arguments are not simply coming from the left. They are coming from a wide variety of political perspectives.

I feel that there is some truth in the arguments. Peak oil, resource depletion, and water contamination are real problems that are going to have severe consequences. Will they destroy what is called "civilization"? I don't know.

One thing is clear. We are doing a very poor job having honest discussion about the types of challenges facing us as a nation and us as a global population sharing the planet....

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