As corporate corruption spreads in politics and the economy, Americans are gradually becoming disillusioned with the United States government &- or at least they should be, said Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges.
A former foreign correspondent for The New York Times, Hedges discussed his new book “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle” on Wednesday at an installation of the Cambridge Forum at the First Parish Church.
Before lecturing to a full house of about 75 people, Hedges was introduced by moderator John Buehrens, a Unitarian Universalist minister who, like Hedges, graduated from the Harvard Divinity School.
“If you find yourself feeling disillusioned, you should find yourself asking why you were disillusioned in the first place,” Buehrens said as he opened the forum.
Calling the current administration “Brand Obama,” Hedges said that despite all the hope President Barack Obama promised during the election, a significant portion of people’s tax revenues are still going to Wall Street and the defense budget.
One of the main factors Hedges said led to the economic situation the U.S. currently finds itself in was the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed during former President Bill Clinton’s years.
He explained that though it was peddled by the Clinton administration as something that would benefit American workers, it was “great if you were in corporations but disastrous if you were a worker. . . . With the passage of NAFTA, Democrats gleefully climbed into bed with corporations.”
Since then, Hedges said the situation has not improved at all for the working class in America.
“The assault on the American working class. . . . shows no sign of abatement,” he said.
Another complaint Hedges had about the current administration was the much-debated health care system.
He said the current health care system needed to be abolished, but said he does not foresee such a thing occurring because of the hand corporate lobbyists have over the discussion on health care in Washington.
He also said the economic state of the U.S. and the nation’s current economic policies are causing the U.S. to rapidly decline. He argued that it was economic breakdowns like the one currently happening in the U.S. that brought about the rise of leaders like Slobodan Milosevic and Adolf Hitler. These leaders took advantage of the hopelessness felt by their people and exploited it, he said.
“How do we limit the damage those in power do to us?” Hedges said. “We must become as militant as those seeking our enslavement.”
Hedges also suggested that audience members should do what they could to make a difference, no matter how small.
Though he acknowledged that it is difficult to take moral stances, he said, “If we don’t find our moral core, we have nothing to fight with.”
Attendee Ed Imbier said he found the lecture depressing.
Imbier said he went to the forum because he was “beginning to understand that the U.S. is extending its reach and becoming an empire.”
Others, though, agreed with Hedges’ opinion, suggesting lobbyists were really the ones influencing on the government.
“I think generally I would agree that the U.S. has turned into a corporate state,” said attendee and financial planner David Gray.
Tim Jones, also at the event, said he went to the forum to experience the fervor that went through the crowd during the lecture.
“I wanted to be with like-minded people,” Jones said. “It’s a real wake-up call.”
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