++Chris Hedges gave a speech at Troy, New York the other night about his new book. Hedges made a compelling case of how the "system" is incredibly corrupt and why the American people must engage in non-violent actions.
++Hedges is very articulate on providing a diagnosis of the current system but the means for change alludes me and,I think,Hedges himself.
++He is right that you don't want to take power. You make power afraid of you. His view is that Wall Street was actually terrified of Occupy Wall Street because they expose them as the frauds they are.
++Hedges is also right that Facebook and the internet are great for informing people where to go and mobilize but it is not an excuse for a community committed to non-violent change.
++Hedges' twist to non-violence is that he is quite correct that the state has more ways of repressing you than you can imagine and that if things got violent people like us are totally left out.
++He also remarked that white vigilante violence is a complementary force to the state and that it has been used to suppress blacks,labor and all dissidents. It is not a revolutionary force by any means.
++He powerfully invokes the peaceful revolutions in Central Europe. But I believe he underestimates how there was a societal understanding about the "system" they were fighting. This allowed a coherent message in opposition and allowed forces to organize against a known repressive force. The same can't be said about the United States.
++I found it was moving that Hedges and Cornel West went everyday to the Chelsea Manning trial. Cornel West said it was their obligation as public intellectuals--what a concept. It's nice it is still around.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment