When I finished this book, I wasn’t sure whether I should cry or start stockpiling assault rifles and canned food. Hedges argues that while Americans were busy being entertained and pleasured, corporations and the industrial-military complex have brought American democracy to its death bed. Yes, in the past tense, as in we’re almost done and we don’t even know it. If Hedges is correct, it is already too late to change the system. I don’t agree with all of Hedges' politics, but I think he has definitely reported what will likely be the demise of the U.S.
Hedges divides his argument into five sections. The first deals with Americans’ obsession with entertainment. Hedges argues that we have become a polytheistic society worshiping celebrities, athletes, and charismatic politicians and preachers, because they represent what we wish to be. We no longer want to deal with the complexities of reality. We don’t want to have to think too hard about complex issues. We want to live in the fantasy world of celebrities, reality TV, and sports. We want to be lied to, because the lie makes us feel so much better about our lives. We have created a culture of illusion.
Hedges' next section deals with the porn industry in America and what he calls “the illusion of love.” I felt this section was unnecessary and didn’t flow with the rest of the book. Basically, it is a more extreme example of what is discussed in the first chapter. The illusion men get from porn is that they can control and use women as commodities. Porn has increasingly become more extreme and fetish-like since the industry’s boom in the 1970s. Hedges connects the moral decay and desensitizing nature of porn to Abu Ghraib and war in general. It destroys compassion and empathy and creates a feeling in the user that he/she is a god.
In the third section, Hedges attacks what he calls the “elite” schools of higher education. Hedges argues that Harvard, Princeton, Yale and the like create the next leaders of corporations and government; however, these schools have failed society by become corporatist themselves. They no longer teach true critical thinking; they teach business problem solving. Professors who question the system or challenge the status quo are ostracized. Morality and the common good come second to profits. Finding solutions to maintain the current corporate systems and defense projects are the top priorities.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy
Interesting review. Looks an awful lot like what I see presented here on BC and other sites from the States....
2 - Wilson Knut
Thanks Ruvy. It is an interesting book. Hedges also wrote War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, which is also very interesting.
3 - Damian B. Smyth
Has not self-destruction abetted by self-deception been a constant throughout the history of humanity? Imperial pretensions, Roman or American, merely compound the basic problem of human perversity. In every generation a handful of men and women have stood up to choose a better path.
4 - John
As long as there is monopoly on violence with the government, there is poverty and chaos in our lives.