Chris Hedges - We are in a revolutionary moment”

[UglyGreed]

You’ve said that we don’t know where the change will come from, and that it could just as easily take a right-wing, reactionary form as a leftist one. Is there anything lefties can do to influence the outcome? Or is it out of anyone’s control?

There’s so many events as societies disintegrate that you can’t predict. They play such a large part in shaping how a society goes that there is a lot of it that is not in your control.

For example, if you compare the breakdown of Yugoslavia with the breakdown of Czechoslovakia — and I covered both of those stories — Yugoslavia was actually the Eastern European country best-equipped to integrate itself into Europe. But Yugoslavia went bad. When the economy broke down and Yugoslavia was hit with horrific hyperinflation, it vomited up these terrifying figures in the same way that Weimar vomited up the Nazi party. Yugoslavia tore itself to pieces.

If things unravel [in the U.S.], our backlash may very well be a rightwing backlash — a very frightening rightwing backlash. We who care about populist movements [on the left] are very weak, because in the name of anti-communism these movements have been destroyed; we are almost trying to rebuild them from scratch. We don’t even have the language to describe the class warfare that is being unleashed upon us by this tiny, rapacious, oligarchic elite. But we on the left are very disorganized, unfocused, and without resources.

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/04/we_are_in_a_revolutionary_moment_chris_hedges_explains_why_an_uprising_is_coming_%E2%80%94_and_soon/

[JonLP24]

1. Maybe

2004 felt that way. The 2008 election felt like the revolution was accomplished but the speeches fooled me leading to very high expectations but started falling short of them a week after he released the torture memos. His press secretary corrected a reporter saying EITs the same press conference to announce the plan the torture photos using Bush era arguments.

Bernie Sanders is about my last hope because I see pretty much no one that isn't going to sell us out to the highest bidder but more than the screwed up foreign policy where our friends -- we're quiet or genocide or something going on somewhere we are quiet on but we bring up the humanitarian causes to go after an inconvenient nation (usually because they're populists). I certainly trust him and I don't trust anyone or my expectations are so low and elected I know he'll be terrific domestic. I hope, he doesn't stay friends or pretend to be enemies and look out for labor world wide--the Arabian Peninsula countries are the worst human trafficking -- slave labor nations in the world. Not only do they have no rights, freedom, or dignity but are held accountable for laws they don't even know they are breaking because the trials are conducted in Arabic with no translators.

It depends on who he has in his administration -- that if Obama wasn't completely full of S when he was running then he showed his inexperience by listening to those with experience because the oil multinationals & defense contractors need to know their blank check is over ("let Iraq know their bank check is over" Hillary Clinton '08 -- speaking to a nation who has never seen Iraq's infrastructure & mangled up road guards & manholes everywhere. I know he probably won't began adventures like that and understand he is quite aware of costs to US troops and is a leader of veterans issues & case and got the bipartisan McCain-Sanders VA reform bill during a very volatile time and the controversy was very mysterious (I go to the Phoenix VA -- a guy handing out complain about VA on Facebook cards weeks before which baffled me and the guy sitting next to me as if why we would complain when we get "damn good care" (from the guy sitting next to me). Convinced McCain to hire more doctors, nurses, and staff. What I mean is he'll be on the screwed up UN Security Council and if a country like Jordan proposes Houthi sanctions will he go along with it? Will he continue the billion dollar weapons deals or have a status Quo foreign policy because the world needs a revolution and the world could do awful lot with a humanitarian vision rather than a parasitic greed.

[sabrina 1]

4. Bernie Sanders is my last also. Good post, I thought 2008 was not so much a revolution but the

beginning of the end of Bush's disastrous policies especially we won everything.

Instead we got a strengthening of many of those policies and a cabinet that looked more like a moderate Republican's dream than that of a Progressive Democrat's.

And we are supposed to ignore these things. The fact is, people are NOT ignoring them and all the jumping up and down trying to silence people on the subject has only resulted in Dems losing both the House and Senate.

I do think there is more of a case to be made that we are NOW in a revolutionary period, a political revolution.

You only have to look at the massive loss of confidence in our government to see that this is a pivotal time in our history. And I think Hedges is right.

What choices the people make now will determine whether we swing even more to the right, or take this once in a lifetime opportunity to begin to turn things around.

I think that is why there is so much unexpected enthusiasm for Bernie Sanders because people KNOW how important this next election is regarding what happens to this country.

He has provided us with the opportunity we have said we were waiting for, right on almost every issue with a record to prove he means what he says.

If we do not take his offer, then we will have no right to complain as things get even worse.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. This:" But we on the left are very disorganized, unfocused, and without resources."

"We who care about populist movements [on the left] are very weak, because in the name of anti-communism these movements have been destroyed; we are almost trying to rebuild them from scratch. We don’t even have the language to describe the class warfare that is being unleashed upon us by this tiny, rapacious, oligarchic elite."

totally agree, it is plain to see......

[JonLP24]

8. I believe it is definitely there as far as domestic policy is concerned

definitely for rolling back the worst of the Bush-era policies and get back to bringing people inside the law instead of so far outside they can never bring them back them -- That Frontline was excellent recently on the beginning of the torture program their former lead investigator who left the CIA in 2005 "arrest those guys!" pointing at the CIA agents in the room or the black site in Thailand senselessly never giving up on the question "When is the next attack?"

The problem where I more at the end of my rope than hope is Americans only see what they believe -- they get no argument when it comes to Taliban or ISIS but they tend to include Russia or China in conspiracy theories that have some program to sneak our freedoms from us (what an actual local recently told me) when they need to be worrying about that from politicians giving away the treasury to the defense contractors oil companies, etc -- they don't see us the bad guys and blame the oppressed for the oppressors.The problem, especially from a human rights perspective began with dumb luck the ultraconservative fundamentalist Wahabbis that were part of the divide that conquered the Ottoman Empire (seriously, the Saud Dynasty won back Saudi Arabia in 1918 and their first allies were Jordan (The percentage of the Jordan population against US drone policy is the second highest in the world -- behind Venezuela.



http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/14/global-opposition-to-u-s-surveillance-and-drones-but-limited-harm-to-americas-image/

Drones is part of it but at the time the House of Saud found oil instead of water they were one of the poorest countries (which is why they were looking for water when they found oil & got the US who knew how to drill it who brought over the California Oil Company (Chevron) who were paranoid of losing the country (again) because of its location over Mecca & Medina which is why the asked for the US to militarily protect them, come to them first on decisions in the region (which the next President broke Truman by recognizing Israel but give him credit because no one in his administration wanted to do so was warned about anger and the need for Saudi oil, particularly in the event of World War III said his concerns were with "justice, not oil" -- probably the last President ever to say that. But the chances of giving the ultraconservative Wahabbis the wealth and the political power particularly with the holy sights the influence, prestige now dominant minority Wahabbi dictatorships are springing up all over the place but even to fight wars against the Taliban or ISIS the US continues to use double standards -- showing no interests in political solutions or addressing the refugee crisis or anything really that's helping out the people but many Americans view their freedom & security matters more than the house the family is living in over there. I didn't even mention the human trafficking but FIFA giving Qatar the World Cup has drawn outrage & concern (mostly because the US or Europe didn't get the bid but don't really care even if widely reported on that the Department of Defense does it too in war zones.

Thanks -- I really try to research deeply the local politics, history, the current events that reflect the ones our 24/7 media obsesses on people don't look at things with an economic perspective and you really began to see the picture. If someone uses the oil profits to decrease poverty & illilteracy rates will call him a dictator for sure but if Exxon Mobile is there will release publicly (over something that has gotten press attention) that we told him strong over the phone not to do that execution or those mass trials before selling those fighter helicopters (Egypt recently is who I had in mind where Obama lift the weapons freeze during the mass trials giving life sentences for attending a protest.

On edit -- Meant Chevron, not Shell a British multinational -- had Nigeria on the mind because the vote surprises me particularly with the poverty & the oil profits.

[JonLP24]

2. Didn't even read the OP before my post

One thing that has interest me since the end of the Cold War was the rise of the Far Right. Corruption & oligarchies & massive debt. Kosovo -- a lot of corruption and organized crime. Ukraine & Russia are #1 & #2 in most corrupt countries in Europe. Poland is probably about the least corrupt until you get to Germany. Very bad over there with the greed & natural resources in the land while the people lack economic opportunities & organized crime is very powerful.

[geek tragedy]

3. Hedges has been writing the same column for years now.

Typing about revolution, talking about revolution, calling for revolution.

Doing anything to change society?

Nah. Too difficult.

[sabrina 1]

5. Of course he has because the truth doesn't change.

[randome]

7. The boy who cried 'Wolf!' had much the same to say.

It's still Congress that allows the 'elite' to have sway over us. The only thing we need to fix this is representatives who aren't as lazy and shiftless as the GOP.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[sabrina 1]

9. 64% of the population not voting IS a political revolution, it is a vote of no confidence in a

system that serves only the top elite power mongers.

And you can 'blame the voters' all you want, but the fact is that the 'game is rigged' as Warren stated, and more and more people have been opting out and turning to other ways of trying to change things.

AND it is apparently working, so Hedges is not 'crying wolf', he is a reporter who is merely reporting the facts.

Now, however, one candidate who has been listening the voices of the people, voters, non voters, across the political spectrum, a candidate who has been right on the issues for decades, has stepped to say 'well, I am willing to give you a reason to vote IF you were serious about your complaints on so many issues'.

And I believe he will energize those who have given up on our bought and paid for elections, to get back in to take him up on his offer.

It already appears to be happening. We'll see how serious people are about wanting that political revolution, about wanting the MONEY OUT OF POLITICS, or was it just talk?

For me it wasn't so I'm taking Sanders up on his offer.

[randome]

10. The game IS rigged -by Congress. They make the rules.

Complaining that the 'elite' don't treat us fairly is a fool's game. As said above, Hedges always frets about how bad things are without offering a solution.

Congress is where we need to pool our efforts. The rich aren't going to be shamed into behaving better.

And more power to Sanders. Personally I'd prefer him to Clinton but I'll support whoever makes it through the primaries.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]No squirrels were harmed in the making of this post. Yet.[/center][/font][hr]

[sabrina 1]

11. Congress works for those who BUY them, they are at this point, most of them, nothing more than

the tools of their Corporate owners. THAT is how the game is rigged.

Only candidates who refuse those huge bribes, are trustworthy at this point, and the people are now on to this scam.

[raouldukelives]

12. K&R As always.

"That, for me, is what provides hope; and if you are not there, there is no hope at all."

I still believe we can become the people we have been waiting for.

I don't know how Mr. Hedges handles the realities he faces head on. I know they weigh on myself heavily. This helped provide a little insight for me.

[UglyGreed]

13. But we on the left are very disorganized, unfocused, and without resources.

fearful, petty and back biting I may add.