The Liberal Elite has Betrayed the People They Claim to Defend - Chris Hedges on RAI (5/7)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, Chris Hedges says The Democratic Party used to watch out for the interests of labor and even for the poor. But that all changed under Bill Clinton. Although Clinton, like Obama, continues to speak in that feel-your-pain language of traditional liberalism, they've completely betrayed the very people that they purport to represent and defend.
watch full episode: therealnews.com...
Nobody makes it clearer than Chris. Ignore his warnings at your peril.
I think people like Chris Hedges because he speaks truth to power. Some feel uncomfortable when the truth is told in such a direct way. I can understand that people don't like to be told different ways of thinking when they're used to thinking a certain way for a long time.
I don't always agree with Chris but I highly respect him and his critique on a subject matter. Big thanks to Real News for this valuable series.
Chris is one of the few highly intelligent humans fighting for the well being for all humanity.
Thanks Paul, good to see this information exists in the USA! Being from the southern hemisphere, most folks see the USA as totally crazy. Keep up the good work, educating the world that you are not all crazy.
A Great British statesman, whose name eludes me, once said 'We are all in this together'.
A great truth: few are those who can escape to safety and security when things really unravel. Many who feel safe and secure will find that their safety and their security depended upon the polity that perished under their feet.
We shall have no fishies,
on our little dishies
when the boat goes down!
Love this guy. He artfully articulates the problem.
As a liberal myself, I totally agree with him on liberals focusing almost exclusively on identity politics. Of course, like Chris, I totally a billion percent support these issues. But, they seemed to let everything else go. I think this is a boomer mentality. Boomers are focused on the individual and culture, but aren't great at organizing or institution building, like their parents.
Scott Pearson, the boomers focus on identity politics and culture because in their becoming economics was not an issue. The country was still flourishing in the aftermath of the New Deal, so the boomers didn't consider it an issue and, in fact, were antagonistic toward the unions, who were conservative culturally.
We boomers are great at organizing and building. Watch us while we organize and rebuild America, despite best liberal efforts to prevent us from doing so.
The organizations that claim to be Liberal are just dummy decoys that create these identity issues that at the same time create groups that are anti-identity policies and get the fighting so no one is watching or participating in politics. The US is pretty much dead except for a military corporate state ... that sadly is corrupt.
If you know anything about the radical left of the 1960's they were boomers but they protested liberal Republicans like Rockefeller for being a murderer and a billionaire pig, and for running the state of NY like a corporation which as Marxists they hated. They protested him when he sent in the police to violently put down a prison protest for better prison conditions. They protested him as a murder, made pig effigies of him with dollar bills attached. They burnt American flags and dollar bills. They were boomers and yet they were the far left and not liberals like the Rockefellers.
deplorable - Why aren't the young on the streets, it's their turn.
Watching this in 2022 nine years later. Spot on.
Very powerful discussion, my hat is off to Paul and Chris.
A brilliant series of interviews...Chris Hedges should have his own show on TH-cam...a nightly broadcast! Now there's an idea!
RNN - If you have the chance, please organize your "Reality Asserts Itself" series into their own playlists. I have a feeling these pieces will be highly regarded and making them accessible will go a long way.
Excellent analysis, Mr. HEDGES!
There was and never is any excuse for political correctness.
his articulation and clarity are unparalleled. i would start with "war is a force that gives us meaning"
Lol, the table shakes whenever John Jay nods his head.
he says it like it is..makes me want to get a sleeping bag go up in the hills with a rod and a gun and just get off the grid.
Folks the problem with this interview is what can working people actually do and I think Paul Jay really missed the point by glorifying teachers on strike in Chicago. Teachers, civil servants,police, health care workers are part of a protected elite of the work force. Real change doesnt come from these well healed workers. It can only come from grass roots working men and women in factories,stores,walmarts, mines etc. You dont see these workers out picketing because they, unlike teachers and others, are terrified of losing their job. Until these people have had enough were going to see much the same as we have now. cheers
Hedges points out a real concern for me here as well. The mislabeling of values and the people tied to them on the left will lead to a severe backlash against progressivism and an adoption of dubious characters on the right. Given how reactionary people can be I fear it is a cycle doomed to repeat itself.
Identity orientated politics, such as gender identification and equality, race, religious radicalisation etc., serves to deflect from the real issue that once addressed could resolve all of these secondary issues - class inequalities. Chris Hedges is the only political commentator I have heard drawing attention to this political sleight of hand conducted by the media (which is not to say that these other issues are of no import), which explains why he will be largely ignored by mainstream media outlets. The secondary issues are promoted within the mainstream media as it creates the illusion of a progressive society, while posing no real challenge to the political status quo and the elite power base that enshrines the most damaging inequality of them all. Resolve the issue of class inequality and I am sure that all the identity issues will resolve themselves.
Great interview!
Right Neils! I suppose people feel a need to be a part of something and label themselves. Geez, when will they wake up? It's so ego based and detrimental to a harmonious society.
Yeah, Ross Perot warned us about NAFTA years ago!
6 years later... so true!
Beautifully covered
It blows my mind we all talk about it but nobody does a dam thing about it!
Watching this in 2024 and it’s like he could see the future
We got lazy and distracted. Our forefathers warned us to be diligent. So shame on who ?
Thanks for this.
Chris Hedges is a true hero and patriot!
well said
I should have listened to the whole piece before I commented. Your response to me has enlightened me at least that much. Thank you.
Excellent analysis, Mr. Hayes!
Again...Hedges articulate exactly what and where the problems are!!!!!
Great segment, Paul! I've been hoping for years you would focus more on engaging your viewership, and it looks like it's finally here! Thank you!
I was a member of the Rainbow Peoples Party in Detroit in the late 60's, early 70's, I feel like I just woke up from a nights sleep into a really bad dream where nothing we tried to do meant anything to anyone or left any trace. I don't think I want to go back to sleep.
Absolutely!!Americans with their dim-witted loyalty to the Democrat-Republican game--are afraid of 3rd party risk...I don't see what America has to lose..
Problem 1. We use to have an entrepreneur class who may have stayed in a small town and helped build a community. Now everyone is moving to cities and suburbs to be sheeple in a corporation. Move to a small town, build a community. Suburbia is for the dissenting majority of idiots. Find a small open minded liberal town, move there
...you mean : Suburbia is for the conforming majority of idiots ....
Wow.... if this isn't predicting the whole Trump movement, I don't know what is.
Before TV the platform of ideas was much more level, perhaps not perfect, but far more level than today. TV is almost entirely corporate controlled now and broadcasts into every house every day, thus the war of ideas is hugely unbalanced in favour of the rich establishment. Unless we deal with that issue then the table will remain tilted whatever gains for the people are made.
We all have to think about how to tackle this, how to lift the veil that has been pulled over the eyes of the unaware.
Fantastic, illuminating interview!!
Thank you for this light in the dark Chris Hedges
Who writes laws and so-called human rights? Workers need to fight for their "vested interests", for the simple reason that workers are 99% percent of humanity. Welcome to history.
I have asked them to do that a million times and they just simply don't listen. I think these comments are more or less ignored by TRNN.
Man, I remember before Obama, liberals were so fired up. But, after Obama, it's like they disappeared. In fact, they became the same monster they had hated in Bush. Sad : (
I hope he didn’t mean that he supports identity politics.
Also, there are LOTS of awesome insights in the comments here. Wish I could like them all! Great discussions, too. Gives me hope. Dostoevsky quotes = encouraging. Read his stuff, people. You will relate.
Branding is necessary for that aim, and "People-Marts" itself doesn't seem to be a bad name for a brand. Good idea. If you don't brand an idea in America, it is unlikely to sell. If you brand the employee-owned concept, with sophisticated and slick but honest marketing, it just might make it into the states in a big way.
Many Americans like myself live in suburbs. This makes spontaneous protest impractical, unlike in dense walkable cities like Vancouver or London where this is easy to do. Entire concept of starting a protest from my neighborhood is fraught with issues. It's part blessing in disguise of course as I don't ever have to deal with riots. In a major suburban city you'd have to commute for 1 hour to get there, reducing potential participants. I live in America's fourth largest city.
Thank you for sharing.
Exactly this.
Hedges has always had my respect.
Its quite strange in the USA ,middle class means"well-paid worker", in general term its referred to a person which is a "boss that works among workers".
Opening statement "he supports multiculturalism"
The time for debate is over.
Not a single thought of helping? Nice....
There's a high-pitched whine throughout the video. I have tinnitus but it isn't me. It goes away when I mute the video. Other than that these interviews are some of the most important I've ever seen.
Okay nevermind it's not throughout.
Unfortunately I share Chris Hedges' fears: The global economic elites are hell bent on driving wages down in the western nations, while at the same time holding out the promise of rising wages in the developing world, thus creating a 'new' consumer class elsewhere. This strategy is working, for the most part, especially since unions are suppressed basically world-wide. Once living standards get really bad for MOST Americans, it is right wing reactionairies who will rally the people.
I've been waiting for this.
At least with this series they have put Park # of # in the video description. If you visit the TRNN main website you'll find the parts easier to locate. None the less, the issue with main video titles continues to be a real blind spot for the youtube TRNN channel.
The problem with this being one of several parts is that you have no numbers in the videos' titles. How am I supposed to know which video starts this series?
I wish that Obama was more like Chris Hedges
a note on electoral engineering: when a left party and a right party contend for votes, each will make concessions to 'peel-off' some middle ground votes. when the 'right' party energizes its base by drifting further right, it pays the left party to occupy the middles that the right has abandoned. this process has resulted in a two party system, famously characterized by gore vidal as "a right-wing party, and a farther-right-wing party. it is foolish to chide the democrats for leaving the poor and working classes behind- they are in the 'getting-elected' business, not the fairy-godmother business.
when you discover neither party suits you, it is time to consider alternatives. the first consideration should be, politicians are not our friends. is there a system where the people control the administration of the nation? yes, there is. it's called 'democracy.
Al Loomis. Thanks for that post, I hope more people read it! ( never heard that explanation before )
It's really simple to explain with facts. Liberal or conservative - neither was at any time in recent history a friend of the working man. To say that liberals were a champion of the working class before Clinton is simply selective history. It's called FREE TRADE, GLOBALISM & THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM. Nobody is talking about the connection with our monetary system in regards to labor. When a nation taxes the life out of it's public via the IRS you can NEVER have a thrifty working class.
"America is a prison." - Zobo the Clown
Eye opening stuff.
Organize to mandate proportional voting results in your state. That will help all of us who can't any longer stomach the Feds, the Dems & the GOP. Until that happens in your state, refuse to vote in all national elections. Chis's assessments are absolutely correct.
why do you just leave?
Come Europe!
Yes, and I agree. But even if the union bosses had not been 'paid off', as long as mega corporations are able to shift production to countries with much lower wages + much lower safety standards, there is very little unions can do, especially those in the manufacturing sector. The corp simply closes the plant + moves elsewhere.
Liberal in KKKanada fought Free Trade every day...until they got in power.
We were buying t-shirts up here saying "Free Canada, Trade Mulroney"
What are we doing about it?
Consumer-owned enterprises might be better. $1 of purchases equals 1 share I say. The problem might be arranging a way to pay dividends to consumers, though it's possible with today's payment card technology. Once people start earning dividends from the places they buy, their attention to the way these places operate will skyrocket.
Yup. Follow the money.
I'm an ad guy and I agree. Goebbels knew what he was doing and the right is taking a page from his playbook. It's going to take finding some real American heroism on the part of the masses. Not the jingoistic, rah rah jarhead american hero... something else, something an old lady to a iron worker could embody. Something a kid in the ghetto and a kid in the suburbs could get behind. It's just such a monolithic challenge.
you mean there is no change we can believe in?
I would hit the streets and fight we must fight I feel so alone ...doesn't anybody elyse feel like this is upside down ............Chris name a date we need a leader, please........
Personally, I think any extreme wealth indicates a systemic succession of wrong doing. However, the majority of people don't resent great wealth, but the means in which it is gotten. THIS...is where we live in this country!
.
And that is why things will go on as they have. What is enough? It has been pounded into our heads NO ONE should tell us what is enough. The world is our oyster, right? Take all you can, eat all you can, and most importantly get it cheap!
Millionaire Hedges should know.
They want you to believe this.
Any chance of getting Chris Hedges to do a an interview type program for TRRN?
TheZeitgeistMovement
It's time for a fundamental change in the very foundations of society. Find your local chapter and do something.
Truman tried to push through Universal Health care, yet now we live in the Walmart Nation where the working class works two or three jibs at minimum wage without benefits. The solution is stepping outside the realm of the Democratic/Republican establishment and starting a movement that terrifies the power elites by giving voice to the suffering of the working class.
to mr. hedges. there is a way. that way is to take a chapter from the fascist right and their "shock doctrine" strategy. the only way to stop the corporate oligarchy short of another great depression, is to get money out of politics. and how do you do that? you create a diversion issue that convinces everyone including the center that money in politics is ruining their lives. you get in thru the side door, you legislate money out of elections, you put power back into the peoples hands.
Anyone who thinks being "liberal" is a good thing is just as "conservative" as people they assume are politically far from them. In America, the spectrum of acceptable discourse is so small that to be on either side of the spectrum is still being extremely reactionary, jingoistic, nationalistic, and generally strongly right wing. In the traditional political spectrum, as seen through a world perspective, the US spectrum seems dangerously right wing and narrow in it's deviations.
If you are refering to "we" as the rich elite, apprerently, you did not listen to what Hedges was saying.
think more than that we need a simple rallying cry and more mass demonstrations. Something I think everyone can gather around is the idea that "THE GOVERNMENT IS BROKEN!" Something simple like that both the "left" and the "right" can agree on that strips away all of the petty crap, and kick out the whole lot of em. Democrats don't like the government either.
To be truly independent, you must not forget waste/sewage treatment and recycling. To be truly independent and not reduce our standard of living, where we can still have things like the internet, telephones, vehicles, etc. we need to be able to miniaturize all production. 3D printers, nanotechnology, and advanced biological science come to mind. This is not impossible, but it represents the larger problem that can and should be solved together with the things you already mentioned.
Hedges both right and wrong. Seems unaware given time unions (private sector) will self destruct, collectively bargain their jobs away. I was a UAW member, watched thousands of good people loose good jobs including mine. Fact: GM Blue collar workers were but pennies short of $80 an hour (including fringe) a few years ago. Competitive? Why can't we compete?
unions are useful, but politics is political: you must get democracy, so that ordinary people can use the vote to override the money spent by elites to control politicians.
Al Loomis: one way to override the elite 'buying' politicians is to limit the amount of money parties are allowed to spend on campaigns and have it funded by the tax payer. It would also make politicians even more accountable to the electorate and deter the careerist politicians from entering the political arena, although the temptation to accept financial back-handers will remain an issue. Our politicians need to be financially akin to the people they are meant to serve, not self-serving businessmen.
As accurate as Chris is about our situation, we must not give in to our fears. If you want to fight back, learn about the United Front Against Austerity, and agitate for a Wall Street sales tax on all derivatives and credit default swaps past the million dollar mark.
09:54 "...step out of the system and VOTE that way..." You're not making sense, Chris! As long as you keep handing in your vote you are sanctioning the system, not stepping out of it. Or do you believe that abandoning the (current) electoral process altogether is irresponsible as some people keep claiming?
a suggestion to real news: number these things in the titles
1. Credit Unions.
2. Time banks.
3. ???.. Profit?
Trish cared for only untill we can reopen factorys the workers need REAL JOBS with the new energy this can be done...........
Once again my brothers into the fray. The elite seek to destroy my brother and my sister.
CRY! HAVOC! And let slip the dogs of war.
Correct. There are no restrictions in the 1st Amendment. Interestingly enough, there are none in the 2nd Amendment either.
The Dystopia is now here. Not as bad as it can get, but its' working on it.
wait, wait, wait! Politicians LIE? Lie and BETRAY? I... I can't take it, my world is shattered, this can't be!
:-)
Just opt out as much as you can. As the cash dries up for those corporations, they will wither and die. And you may have a better chance to survive the great coming breakdown. I don't mean extreme "survivalist" style, but little by little, change your food choices, establish supportive networks, reduce consumption, educate yourself, substitute natural healing products for big-pharma items and so on ... Just one day at a time ...
biodiesel is easier to make & store than other fuels. Veg oil IS biodiesel, depending on what you do. Original diesel engines were made just for veg oil. engineer775 managed to get a diesel engine running off charcoal lighter fluid too.
Cool.
I think CH is just being honest, he is not PC, he really likes liberalism. But CH admits liberalism is a big joke now. Corporations rule, liberal elite is muzzled, etc.