Chris Hedges "Inverted Totalitarianism"

www.mediasanctuary.org (excerpt) Chris Hedges, whose book "Death of the Liberal Class" (Perseus) came out the day of this presentation, is also the best-selling author of "War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning." Hedges, whose column is published Mondays on Truthdig, spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, for which he was a foreign correspondent for 15 years. Produced by The Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy NY, this event was co-sponsored by Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace.

[@poeticpagesmig16]

Mr. Hedges speaks the truth.

[@theH0UNDSofD00M]

Together with Noam Chomsky, Hedges is my preferred thinker...Frightening analysis but truthful and realistic, he's not moved by greed or the advance of his personal career, therefore trustworthy.

[@travissoff9521]

Chomsky... Really?

[@nicatlaca]

@@travissoff9521 Yes! Really! They gave/give glimpse into our freightning future and how we can change it.

[@Senasis469]

Chomsky has lost his mind, telling you to vote for Joe Biden who is a legit war criminal corporate puppet baby toucher

[@jameskennedy721]

Chomsky said there was nothing fishy about the official story of the 9/11 attack . What an idiot . I prefer this guy .

[@theclimberupwards1169]

@@Senasis469 “baby toucher?” Joe Biden is shit but Chomsky accounts for the limitation of our options when he says Biden is the lesser evil. But what are you getting at with your cryptic pedophilic accusations? Why cant you just say it outright? Why do you use language that seeks to inspire others to violence, yet you are too cowardly to step into that realm yourself?

[@jacksonmay153]

this is happening right now. wow prophetic words!!!

[@underyourskins]

Always a great speaker.

[@matthewck1370]

Brilliant.

[@mediasanctuary]

The full talk from which this is excerpted, "Death of the Liberal Class," has many more views and a lot of great insights. Check it out!

[@Nordic42000]

Beautiful speech

[@nathanielhellerstein5871]

I'd call it "corporate" totalitarianism. It's still top-down, so it isn't inverted in that sense. The inversion is Coin over Sword rather than the other way around.

[@hamyncheese]

Correct, it is an inversion of the traditional form of Totalitarianism.

[@ChrisDutch]

The guy is brilliant and not very comforting to anyone really. He may be among the last real free thinkers we have left.

[@nathanielhellerstein5871]

He's the Dr. House of the left.

[@bagelboi66]

It's been tagged private. Know if it's mirrored anywhere?

[@KilliMilliMeter]

"Our job, to stand fast around moral imperatives... Without compromising".

[@Goddamnretards]

5:48 "oooooohhhhhhhhhhh"

[@russellgallman7566]

Agreed.

[@foamulator]

@joedanero Corporations are formed, run, voted, and owned by people. Just because the law considers them a separate legal entity, doesn't negate that.

[@olafrandel3065]

The insidious thing about this is how there's a core of truth to it. One could be forgiven for thinking it's a coherent argument.

[@hegaliandialectics4289]

Seemed rather coherent to me.

[@olafrandel3065]

@@hegaliandialectics4289 I forgive you

[@martingabel1960]

Truth hurts and changes your view of the world: We have experienced a coup detat and lost. The corporate state does not give a s.. for us.

[@rdkg2]

You answered your own question.

[@cccchuq]

Anarchy!

[@niinja2]

fuck yeah go chris

[@mattmillen5203]

I like so much of what chris hedges has to say. 'Inverted Totalitarianism' is by far the best term I have heard to describe our currently sick economic/political paradigm. When he says "Societies that cannot regulate capitalist forces" he seems to suggest that more regulation would help. Surely more regulation centralises more power. Is he a proponent for bigger government? state regulation protects the corporate interest. Shouldn't he be crying out for deregulation, for creating a more free market place where the will of the people has an effective role within the economy, where power is decentralised… am i missing something?

[@1982Lennon]

The market is already deregulated. Everything put in place after the Great Depression that kept markets, banks and the economy stable from 1940-1980 has been shredded. This allowed banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to offer poor people who couldn't afford houses phony mortgage backed securities, known as CDO'S or collateralized debt obligations that they new would never be paid off - they then sold these crappy CDO's to other banks, knowing full well that it would go bad and they then pulled out as soon as it dropped and made a shit load of money. Then the government bailed them out with our money. When he talks about deregulation, he's talking about Glass Steagall being reimplemented and regulating the disastrous derivatives market. There's more - but he's totally right. Sure, not all regulation is good. But the specific regulation he's talking about harks back to the Great Depression and those are necessary lessons we learned, but a new generation grew up without learning those lessons and they are repeating them all over again.

[@1982Lennon]

The Free Market is actually the opposite. It's an Orwellian term. It puts all power with the corporations and they are free to roam the Earth and employ anybody - this usually involves slaves or extremely low paid workers in China or India. They have no trade obligations, no labor laws or unions to deal with. They are "Free" to operate wherever they want, independent of the US constitution and US law. This is actually what they mean by the Free Market.

[@mattmillen5203]

Scott Pearson In my experience, here in Australia, more and more legislation is passed everyday that restricts the ability for smaller business owners to turn a profit… with more fees, permits and red tape and at the same time it always serves the corporate interest. Large corporates are propped up with state money. Socialism for the rich. Capitalism for the poor. Large corporations, some masquerading as government entities are benefiting by legislation protecting their investments and restricting open competition. The policy makers yield to the corporate need. The bigger the state and its regulatory conditions the bigger the muscle/threat of violence the corporations have at their disposal. Our politicians play second fiddle to these corporations and their plan for the world. Before we talk about more regulations shouldn't the discussion be around the removal of many regulations/legislation that create our current 'rigged' market. Government has become the rotten arm of corporate will. I think the first step would be to remove the state from the affairs of business, remove the legislation that creates such an uneven playing field and none should be too big to fail. if we are to have capitalism then lets actually have it.

[@1982Lennon]

I wholeheartedly agree Matt

[@konnichiwa53]

post modernist? I am not sure what you saw on this video? These are real issues not theory in France.

[@Silver_Bach]

Which goes to my belief of a shrinking government. The people own the corporations. Their "Choice" Is the their power. The people can choose where to place their money. The government rules the lands. Be It taxation, zoning, legislative means etc.. If people truly want help, they would exercise their powers of choice.. People nowadays are more preoccupied with just "talking" about the problem. If the problem Is solved, what else Is there to talk about? People now love stories. They are forever bound by the grip of cheap media which hinders or even eliminates their power of discernment. But, they are the first to to blame the government or media for their lack of power. Power In which they willing gave up for temporary comfort..Who Is truly wrong here Is the question we should ask ourselves. Delve deep, because that answer comes from what they have lost from themselves. The covid lockdown wasn't a false pretense. Who really thinks? That was its ultimate purpose..

[@randallgerber8130]

Capitalism is a winner takes all institution. In the estimation of great philosophers - capitalism is not moral in its unregulated implementation. Refer to the US housing bubble. Personally, I believe capitalism is Anti-Civilization. And I support my strong belief by citing the insular lives of the very richest people in the world. Should they be compelled to mainstream their travels, they would have to embrace a far less callous or condescending interpretation of the average citizen and then, perhaps review their subversive impact on representative democracy.

[@ozziecrosby2092]

And I will fight communism/Marxism to the death.

[@achingbach2904]

@@ozziecrosby2092 as well you should.

[@hegaliandialectics4289]

@@ozziecrosby2092 Brother you won’t have a fight or a meaningful death like you want so badly. Communism has lost. There is nothing for you to fight. Your world and your ideas won. So why then do you continue to scream into the abyss?

[@ozziecrosby2092]

@@hegaliandialectics4289 ..... Really 😳 What world are YOU living in?

[@TennesseeJed]

Slow motion coup d'etat! Yep, that's it!

[@HellsKitchenFunk]

You really can't be hateful enough to disavow the Holocaust. At least I hope not. You may be part of the next oppressed group. They have not been the only victimized group. Check out Sierra Leone. History does repeat itself, particularly when we are unaware and uncaring