Chris Hedges

"Drawing on the literature of combat, from Homer and Shakespeare to Erich Maria Remarque and Michael Herr, Hedges shows how human beings are conditioned to embrace what he calls "the myth of war" - the idea that combat is noble, selfless, and glorious. And yet if human history is any guide, nations and imperiums have stumbled and even fallen when they believed the myths peddled about war and about themselves. The reality of war, which Hedges knows first-hand, is about the destruction of culture, the perversion of human desire, and the embrace, ultimately, of death over life."--BOOK JACKET.

An examination of Iraq's history, geography, government, economy, people, and culture with mention of oil and the volatile politics of today.

Drawing on two decades of experience as a war correspondent and based on his numerous columns for Truthdig, Chris Hedges presents The World As It Is, a panorama of the American empire at home and abroad, from the coarsening effect of America's War on Terror to the front lines in the Middle East and South Asia and the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Underlying his reportage is a constant struggle with the nature of war and its impact on human civilization. "War is always about betrayal," Hedges notes. "It is about betrayal of the young by the old, of cynics by idealists, and of soldiers and Marines by politicians. Society's institutions, including our religious institutions, which mold us into compliant citizens, are unmasked."

Critiques the radical mindset that rages against religion and faith, and identifies the pillars of the new atheist belief system, revealing that the stringent rules and rigid traditions in place are as strict as those of any religious practice. The new atheists, led by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, do not make moral arguments about religion. Rather, they have created a new form of fundamentalism that attempts to permeate society with ideas about our own moral superiority and the omnipotence of human reason. Journalist Hedges makes a case against both religious and secular fundamentalism.--From amazon.com.

"Acclaimed New York Times journalist and author Chris Hedges offers a critical -- and fascinating -- lesson in the dangerous realities of our age: a stark look at the effects of war on combatants. Utterly lacking in rhetoric or dogma, this manual relies instead on bare fact, frank description, and a spare question-and-answer format. Hedges allows U.S. military documentation of the brutalizing physical and psychological consequences of combat to speak for itself." --

An extensive selection of poetry, essays, and excerpts from literary works all centering on themes of social protest. Includes the words to the Internationale, p. 511 and the Marseillaise, p. 521. Unfortunately, the index is not complete. Contained in this volume are many of the most stirring, thought-provoking and incisive writings on the struggle of humanity against social injustice ever written. Contributors include Upton Sinclair, Jack London, Euripides, Dante, Zola, and Tolstoy as well as contemporary authors such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, and Mahatma Gandhi.

"Camden, New Jersey, with a population of 70,390, is per capita the poorest city in the nation. It is also the most dangerous. The city's real unemployment - hard to estimate, since many residents have been severed from the formal economy for generations - is probably 30 to 40 percent. The median household income is $24,600. There is a 70 percent high school dropout rate, with only 13 percent of students managing to pass the state's proficiency exams in math. The city is planning $28 million in draconian budget cuts, with officials talking about cutting 25 percent from every department, including layoffs of nearly half the police force. The proposed slashing of the public library budget by almost two-thirds has left the viability of the library system in doubt. There are perhaps a hundred open-air drug markets, most run by gangs like the Bloods, the Latin Kings, and MS-13. Camden is awash in guns, easily purchased across the river in Pennsylvania, where gun laws are lax.Camden, like America, was once an industrial giant. It employed some 36,000 workers in its shipyards during World War II and built some of the nation's largest warships. It was the home to major industries, from RCA Victor to Campbell's Soup. It was a destination for immigrants and upwardly mobile lower middle class families. Camden now resembles a penal colony.In Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges and American Book Award winning cartoonist Joe Sacco show how places like Camden, a poster child of postindustrial decay, stand as a warning of what huge pockets of the United States will turn into if we cement in place a permanent underclass. In addition to Camden, Hedges and Sacco report from the coal fields of West Virginia, Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and undocumented farm worker colonies in California. With unemployment and underemployment combined at far over ten percent, as Congress proposes to slash Medicare and Medicaid, Food Stamps, Pell Grants, Social Security, and other social services, Hedges and Sacco warn of a bleak near future-where cities and states fall easily into bankruptcy, neofeudalism reigns, and the nation's working and middle classes are decimated. A shocking report from the frontlines of poverty in America, Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is a clarion call for reform"-- "In the vein of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author Chris Hedges and American Book Award winning cartoonist Joe Sacco bring us a searing on-the-ground report on the crisis gripping underclass America and crime-ridden poverty enclaves--in prisons, urban slums, and rural communities--metastasizing around the nation"--

"This book strives to set the record straight, to educate, to enlighten and to enliven the people against the corruptions of empire--corruptions that stretch from Columbus's first steps on Hispaniola through yesterday's murderous drone attack. The prevailing myth is that America's prized possessions and greatest exports are democracy and the dream of freedom. The naked truth, say Abu-Jamal and Vittoria, is that the American dream is illusory and America's greatest export is in fact murder - and that along the way to the kill, it thieves, suppresses, and tyrannizes. More than a history book, this is a lively, irreverent, and spirited alternative to the orthodoxy of American exceptionalism"--Amazon.com.

Pulitzer prize–winner Chris Hedges charts the dramatic and disturbing rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy and illusion. Chris Hedges argues that we now live in two societies: One, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world, that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. In this "other society," serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins. In the tradition of Christopher Lasch's The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, Hedges navigates this culture — attending WWF contests as well as Ivy League graduation ceremonies — exposing an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title

La civilisation industrielle est en train de détruire la Terre , le nier, c'est subir la domination d'une idéologie dont l'ambition est d'annihiler le vivant ou de le réduire en esclavage. Ce recueil de textes porte sur le changement de stratégie et de tactiques qui doit se produire si nous voulons construire une résistance efficace. Il y est question d'interposer nos corps et nos existences entre le système industriel et toute vie sur la planète. Il y est question de contre-attaque. De nombreux livres sur l'écologie tombent dans le piège de ne proposer que des solutions individuelles (de consommation) ou en ne présentant que des états des lieux catastrophiques sans parler de stratégies de résistance collectives. La collection Ecologie en résistance se présente comme l'antidote d'une écologie qui ne cesse de tomber dans la compromission. Les auteurs de ce recueil de textes ont comme objectif de répondre aux trois questions suivantes : « Peut-on résister ? Pourquoi résister ? Comment résister-? »

Includes information on abortion, Antichrist, apocalyptic violence, Bible, religious broadcasting media, George W. Bush, Christian Right, Christians, conversion process, converts, creationism, democracy, Democratic Party, dominionism, education system, elections, Darwinʼs theory of evolution, fundamentalism, homosexuality, Islam, Jesus, Jews, lesbians, liberalism, love, male church leaders, cult of masculinity, secular media, moral certitude, Nazism, Rhetoric of persecution, poverty, racism, Rapture, Republican Party, Pat Robertson, Satan, science, secular humanism, sin, televangelists, terrorism, totalitarian movements, Trinity Broadcasting Network, universities, Ur-Fascism, war, women, etc.

This time, The Sisterhood might be their own worst enemies…Through all their adventures, the bond of the Sisterhood has remained steadfast and unshakeable. But for the first time, the Sisterhood verges on falling apart when the ladies have to choose between two difficult assignments. The first job guarantees a huge paycheck; the second offers a presidential pardon—and a chance to finally emerge from hiding. For the sake of their union, the gals put aside their differences and focus on a new mission. A mysterious Washington, D.C. political operative needs them to track down a computer hacker who has stolen a highly classified list of fundraisers’ names. With a presidential election looming, the girls soon realize the job is a lot more dangerous than they had anticipated. Will their client come through with his promise? And can the ladies stop fighting—and stay alive—long enough to see it happen?

"Revolutions come in waves and cycles. We are again riding the crest of a revolutionary epic, much like 1848 or 1917, from the Arab Spring to movements against austerity in Greece to the Occupy movement. In [this book], Chris Hedges--who has chronicled the malaise and sickness of a society in terminal moral decline in his books Empire of illusion and Death of the liberal class--investigates what social and psychological factors cause revolution, rebellion, and resistance. Drawing on an ambitious overview of prominent philosophers, historians, and literary figures he shows not only the harbingers of a coming crisis but also the nascent seeds of rebellion"--Provided by publisher.