The 10 Best Chris Hedges Columns of 2018

If only Chris Hedges weren’t so right all the time. The Truthdig columnist’s frequent displays of prescience have bordered on out-and-out clairvoyance at times, as he has spotted developments such as the rise of hard-right populism (to name just one example) so far in advance.

While that capacity makes him an especially capable and vital writer, one who not only registers shifts but also shapes the cultural conversations around them, it frequently means that readers had better strap in before taking in his latest essay.

Clearly, Truthdig readers were there for it all over the last year, tuning in weekly for the reality checks Hedges was uniquely able to provide in his pieces. He fixed his sights on what many others in the media treated as the most glaring problem with which the U.S., if not the international community, was faced: President Donald Trump. But for Hedges, the current occupant of the Oval Office didn’t serve as a catch-all for the country’s political woes, nor did Trump’s considerable presence obstruct Hedges’ view of many other critical issues calling out for attention.

Below is an incomplete list of what we consider to be Hedges’ most exemplary work in 2018. Only the top story was chosen according to more tangible metrics like traffic, number of comments, and other parameters commonly referred to under the general heading of “analytics.” The rest we chose to highlight the impressive range of topics Hedges tackled — some that received, at best, passing attention from mainstream outlets when they were given any airtime or column inches at all.

Click on the headline to read the full story.

The Coming Collapse By Chris Hedges Every day the foundations of our institutions decay more, but American society is emotionally unable to grasp the mortal danger that approaches.

The Useful Idiocy of Donald Trump By Chris Hedges The oligarchic and military elites have a handmaiden in the Oval Office, and he won’t be ousted as long as he serves their interests.

The ‘Gig Economy’ Is the New Term for Serfdom By Chris Hedges The capitalist elites want everyone else to be temp workers trapped in demeaning, low-paying, part-time, service-sector jobs without job security or benefits.

Scapegoating Iran By Chris Hedges The wars in the Middle East are the worst strategic blunders in American history. But don’t expect U.S. politicians and generals to accept responsibility for the mess when they can blame it on Iran.

Et Tu, Bernie? By Chris Hedges Sen. Bernie Sanders, once an independent maverick, has been politically neutered by the Democratic Party establishment and is becoming a parody of himself.

Saying Goodbye to Planet Earth By Chris Hedges Climate change is not simply an environmental problem—it is a planetary transition. We will survive only if we rapidly evolve to create new forms of civilization.

The Rule of the Uber-Rich Means Tyranny or Revolution By Chris Hedges Their greed will crush society and the ecosystem unless they are driven from power.

Teaching ‘Les Misérables’ in Prison By Chris Hedges Victor Hugo’s epic novel about an ex-convict’s fight to find redemption gave my incarcerated students a lens to see their own lives and struggle for dignity in a society as heartless to the poor as 19th-century France.

Guns and Liberty By Chris Hedges American gun owners find a false sense of political power in their firearms, and the controlling elites are more than happy to let them keep their destructive illusions.

Thought Police for the 21st Century By Chris Hedges Google, Facebook and other companies are “protecting” us by imposing a censorship that drains the remaining blood of democracy and free expression.