So then, go forth my troubled rebels, and do what is right; martre yourselves for your brother and win the battles. Nothing less is expected from those who believe in love and in its power. But don’t fool yourself into thinking the entire war can be won by man alone because the disease is not from without, but from within. And only when the sickness is fully purged will the suffering stop, and only one who can stop it, Jesus Christ. Heed the fate of Babylon, so many times destroyed. And forget not that Satan was the highest ranking angel, a mirror image of righteousness.
    Go into the fire, but don’t follow anyone who will obtain the best treatment, the best lawyer, the cleanest cell. Don’t follow those who think man is a god unto himself. Though that tree yields sweet beautiful fruit, it does not sustain the soul.

When we can finally see, touch and taste the high walls - pushing their way up from the already red soil like daisy’s - that separate “the few” from “the many”, will there finally be a mass awakening or movement large enough, brave enough, strong enough, informed enough to take back what is rightfully ours? Will we take our empty stomachs and our posterity to the streets?
  No, not if Winston Smith is any indication. Even as early as today, in the minds of most Americans, 2 + 2 DOES equal 5.

Chris Hedges proudly proclaims there is no evidence that Jesus Christ ever walked the earth.
And this is JC’s answer to that in Matthew 12:

38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

Do you really think you will make a difference? Do you really think you can bring down or change the mindset of these huge conglomerates? Do you really think that effective nonviolent civil disobedience will not trigger a sustained violent response from the powers that be until they run out of bullets?
  Hello!! There aren’t enough people who are awake to the problem to make a difference. Most prefer to REMAIN asleep. The status quo is God. You and yours will be crushed as the Black Panthers were crushed, as the Sandinista s were crushed, as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were crushed, as the Communist countries were crushed, as Panama, Chile, Nicaragua, etc, were crushed, as Africa was crushed. As the peace loving people of this nation ALLOWED them to be crushed, sat back and WATCHED with glee.
  But thanks to a high grade education and a career at the New York Times, you are set financially…no worries in that department, huh?  Must be nice. Plenty of time to make picket signs and skip around the country playing bad-ass?
  You conformed and ran with the pack just long enough to set yourself up. Wish I’d have conformed to the system for some 40 years, I’d be set up too!!
  Hope my ass!! The only reason YOU have hope is because ultimately, it pays your bills. And, my friend, this is the crime you commit against your readers.

Thank you Chris.  Having lived in South America for 13 years I have seen first-hand the effects of the Fascism of the rich as well as the abuse of people and natural resources by Multinational Corporations. The US is becoming a bizarre mutation of a 3rd world country.  I am very scared for the future of the people of this country. Thank you for your courage to speak the truth.  Let’s take this to the streets.  The Left needs to reconnect with the working class and under educated.

From the Constitution of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self evident, That all men are created equal, That they are endowed by their creator, With certain unalienable rights to. Life, Liberty , and the Pursuit of Happiness, That to secure these rights, Governments are formed , But whenever any form of government, Becomes destructive, It is the Right of the People, It is their Duty, To throw off such government”

And reread the last line.

NewOrleansFreethinker,
Part of being mature is accepting what is happening
to you and your society, even though it may be
uncomfortable or down-right depressing. Chris Hedges
is not a pastor, minister, politician or motivational
speaker. As a contemporary philosopher and thinker,
his job is to be the harbinger for our society. 

It seems to me that you have been listening or
viewing his lectures, speeches and interviews with a
tainted eye because in every instance, he has laid
out evidence of what he deems to be an unraveling of
American society. Additionally, he has published many
books that delve deeper into the issues. In fact, in
many of his published works and articles, he provides
solutions and ways that the average citizen can act
to make our county sound again—a step that
philosophers really do not have to take.

I strongly encourage you to take a second look at his
many interviews, appearances, lectures, articles and
books and compare his views in kind with those of Noam Chomsky,
Chalmers Johnson, Sheldon Wolin and others, and you
will see that he is not just an isolated John-the-
Baptist-Crying-Out-in-the-Wilderness figure.

Pithy and well spoken.

@ By Frank I thought this was intended to be a sustained act of protest, in any case, I agree. In any case, protests can not be sustained for long in this country. It would have to literally spontaneously erupt. It has to connect to enough people. Perhaps this could be a start. You’ve got to start somewhere.

P.S. I really don’t understand why people might think Mr. Hedges depises atheists. His argument, it appears to me, is directed towards people who depise theists, people of faith, etc. I am an atheist myself. If you cannot see the value of religion I can see how you may take offense. I suggest you look at religious people like Aristide and Martin Luther King, not just the ones you despise (and there are many who are unforgivably despicable).

Robespierre:  Regarding the uprising in Egypt:  “Intense street battles”?  Not exactly!
      “feel-good mumbo jumbo”?  Not that either.

@NewOrleansFreethinker: so, walmart good, muslims bad ... thanks for sharing.

NewOrleansFreethinker

Walmart is the largest employer in the country, and they underpay and undercompensate their employees. Walmart is partially responsible for creating an underclass that can barely afford to shop at the store where they work.  They also import almost solely from China and are partially responsible for the decline in manufacturing in this country.

You are definitely not a brain surgeon.

Thank YOU CHRIS AND TO ADD 6+6=dirty dozen is the
SUPER CONGRESS. The Super Congress takes the place of
the Congress. Dictator takes the place of the Central
Committee=Super Congress.
Sounds too Familiar.. Letter 1903, Trotsky to Lenin=
“The organization of the Party takes the place of the
party itself;the central committee takes the place of
the organization, And finally the dictator takes the
place of the central committee.
Trotsky later writes “No constitutional safeguards
are needed.”  Lenin carried a “NARODNIK” argument
into Russian Marxism.

Robespierre above has been leaning toward blood for some time here on TD.  If blood would create humane societies it would have happened long ago.

We need full, revolutionary action. Post-modernist, San Francisco Buddhist types can yap about “spiritual change,” but in Egypt Mubarak was overthrown with intense street battles, right now in Chile students and teachers are setting up barricades and taking on the state in the streets of Santiago and in Greece the people refuse to surrender and set Athens aflame. If you just want to cater to feel good mumbo jumbo then you’re obviously not suffering. The power elite is quite happy just letting you vent.

Couple of thoughts:
  1.  “The last thin line of defense”?  (expresses insuffuciency, ineffectiveness, desperation. Better
present the facts—that we, the people, acting together in civil disobedience,and using a power deeper than force, can be the stronger of the two—if and when we so choose! If and when we understand what we are doing and how to do it, and most important, why we do it that way.
  2. “Using our bodies”?  It’s really about using our souls, our spirits, our morality, truth and courage to stand against violence and exploitation.  Civil disobedience with soul is unbeatable because the soul is strengthened in right action rightfully performed. Spirit lives!
  3. The lengths to which power will go to try to put down spirit is an indication of the degree to which power fears spirit. Nobody ho-hummed Martin Luther King.  On the contrary, someone assassinated him. And yet ... his spirit is alive and well.
  That’s hard to wrap your mind around without a whole lot of spiritual exercise and faithful commitment to humane values.

I love Chris Hedges.  What is the overriding issue of Oct 6th?  Bill McKibben is organizing a protest throughout August to urge Obama not to sign the Keystone XL Pipeline agreement which allows the oil companies to build a pipeline from Northern Alberta to Texas.(???)

The pipeline will carry sludge from the Tar Sands.  Check out the Tar Sands, you will be horrified.  Indigenous people have had their sacred lands violated including non-human life.  The Boreal forest in Alberta is being clear-cut.

I will be in DC from Aug 27-29 (and probably in jail one of those days).  I am filming the protest and hopefully getting some good interviews.  I am just wondering if Hedges protest is a generic ‘You suck’ protest or one that addresses a particular issue.