Yet another nail in the coffin of the much vaunted so-called democracy of the US (beyond the gerrymandered electorates, the weirdly anti-democratic Electoral College system; the hundreds of millions of dollars it takes to mount a campaign, back room deals and the support of big business/corporations) this exposé of how truly representative candidates are stymied from participation - by uniquely engineered exclusionary laws in most of the states is simply mind-blowing. And yet the US puffs itself up before the world as somehow worthy of emulation??!! Instead of cringing in shame and embarrassment. Brilliantly enumerated - thanks otra vez otra vez Chris Hedges!
Glad to see Ted Lowi ("The End of Liberalism" was his classic) remembered.
I took a class with Lowi in grad school at Cornell. The lectures covered a lot of ground in history, philosophy, and political science that was new to me and the students were all far more broadly read than I was, so it was a struggle and I learned a lot. I can still recall Lowi's comments on an exam essay in red pen: "Stop spewing drivel and parroting lectures!". Ouch.
But, he praised my final paper for the course and pledged to help me get it published. That stuff stays with you for 40 years!
Jill Stein and her running mate of Green Party were arrested/detained twice for attempting to access the debate sites. In 2012 debate between Romney and Obama, for disorderly conduct charge. In 2016 Dr. Stein was presidential candidate on 85% of states’ ballots and again tried to enter the Clinton/Trump debate at Hofstra University. They were speaking and carrying an American flag and were stopped and held physically by police in the parking lot. They eventually sat on pavement and then were charged with blocking a car and taken into detention to a large warehouse and plastic tied to chairs for 8 hours guarded by a dozen troopers, then released on a misdemeanor.
Great job, Chris. I worked in a minor state roll for Nader in Florida in 2000. I'll never forget him getting dragged out of debate he tried to attend with a ticket.
Chris - I think that "support Israel" was a cheap shot on Kennedy.
Kennedy and Cornel West agree on many major issues, including dismantling the the US empire, reigning in corporate power, ending permanent war, taking real action on the climate emergency, protecting free speech, criticizing the bias and lies of corporate media, investing in the people and US communities, and reducing inequality. Kennedy has even called for abolishing the CIA.
It was a shortsighted and divisive cheap shot too that reflects poor strategy..
Things are up for grabs and could go either way. Kennedy has a lot of his support from libertarians and the "populist right". If their views prevail, the Country goes even further to the fascist right (in the likely event that the Democrats sabotage him like they did Bernie, those Kennedy supporters will go to Trump)..
You should be seeking common ground from the left and forcing Kennedy (and the Dems) to the left. That way, Kennedy's people are more likely to go to West, and we begin to form a movement from the left.
Almost every democracy on the planet has had proportional representation for decades. This is long overdue in the U.S. The winner-take-all system that the U.S. and U.K. have is unrepresentative, and is designed to keep non-establishment parties from getting candidates elected. Without changing to a proportional representation system, we'll never get a halfway decent government. Other changes, like eliminating all private campaign contributions and equal TV time for all candidates, are also needed, but changing to proportional representation is fundamentally needed.
Wow.. Just wow. Thank you so much for your clear, reasoned articulation of the political situation in the US. With the 2024 election a year and a half away, if amazes me to see otherwise sensible people become deranged by the prospect of a third party candidate. After the GWB and DJT election debacles, some people are just crazy because of that. Meanwhile, the Orwellian Democrats seize advantage of that fear to hold onto power.
Great take down of the system that has not produced a desirable candidate in either of the two corporate parties in at least the last 30 years. Of course, what you describe is the political collapse of the US. At that point do we become a failed state or a zombie state?
Am I the only person in this hemisphere who has grown tired of hearing Hedges tell us how gloomy things are? ... In this article, he conveys the hopelessness of ever forming a third-party movement with a true voice ... agreed, things look bleak ... he could have also admitted that our only hope lies in the power of local government, but he just won't go there ...
Ever notice? ... Hedges will quickly point out the deep-seeded divisiveness among us and then reach into his bag of wedge issues to tell us our problem is Trump-MAGA ... The problem in America IS NOT Trump-MAGA ... the problem is the Elite's relentless pursuit of the goals of UN Agenda 21/30, and he obviously has no intention of ever going there ... I've followed him very closely since 2011 ... he has never even mentioned Agenda 21, the Book "the Fourth Industrial Revolution, The Great Reset or the World Economic Forum ... NOT ONCE, EVER! ... BTW, those Trump-MAGA types actually want the same things we do, like fair elections ...
Did you know? ... Hedges has cynically labeled those of us who openly question the motives and tactics of our elected officials as "conspiracy theorists" ... that's right and he's done it more than once ... ... if you happen to believe that 9/11 was an inside job as I do, Chris has in fact called us conspiracy theorists ...
Ever notice? ... although his core message has always been to confront tyranny, Hedges threw the working class under the bus with COVID once the March 2020 lock-downs were declared ... he has since refused to stand with us against the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports ...
Did you know? ... Hedges actually stood with big pharma and endorsed their "safe & effective" narrative just 30 days after the explosive court-ordered FDA FOIA release that revealed over 1200 deaths and 34,000 adverse events in the first 10 weeks of their COVID vaccine trial ... and after taking sides with big pharma in a 2022 interview with Krystal & Kyle, he also openly admitted that he does not trust Moderna and Phizer ... clearly this man did not give a hoot about the consequences ...
Ever notice? ... Hedges' position on the climate change aligns perfectly with the "existential threat" narrative pushed by unhinged Davos converts Al Gore and John Kerry ... more people are waking up to the existential threat BS, but Hedges keeps pushing it ... did you see how Gore and Kerry acted like complete, unhinged jack-asses when discussing this topic at the recent Davos conclave? ... great company Chris!
I've got all the details, all ya gotta do is ask ... times, dates and context for some truly damning, head-scratching quotes by St. Chris ... all ya gotta do is ask!
The only possible rational for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signing a law into power, which prevents construction workers from taking water breaks — is that some of the rich and powerful are knowingly trying to kill-off and eliminate surplus population of people who are not rich and powerful.
My most recent double-sided, ad-hoc, focus-group tested, and 100% approved Demonstration signs, which I employ daily in Portland Maine & Portsmouth NH. simply say:
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
and on the other side:
DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALISM
LOVE FOR
PEOPLE
Since, "these 'TIMES' they are a-changing" — hopefully toward the long arc of history to social, political, and economic progressivism in the human interest of all people of our world — not only for purely economic, militarist, and further inequality merely focused on the UHNWIs and self-appointed "Masters of the Universe".
However as the 'TIMES' reports here that "China’s leadership, which recently issued regulations demanding that A.I. chatbots must promote “socialist core values” — totally misses the point that Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for over four years at Chinese Party Congress sessions, where he 'upped the ante', accepting that broad focus on both leveraging technology and equality for the people verses excessive 'GINI Coefficient of Wealth Inequality' by the uber-rich should be reduced to a moderate 'mean' for all people to prosper, nearer to China's broad 'fair deal' of a GINI of 0.70, than America's world leading and excessive GINI of 0.90.
IMHO, the real value of any advanced country's economic, political, social, and progressive equality efforts as Xi committed to 'socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics' and invited Biden to 'see him' and commit to 'democratic socialism with American characteristics'.
The only possible rational for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signing a law into power, which prevents construction workers from taking water breaks — is that some of the rich and powerful are knowingly trying to kill-off and eliminate surplus population of people who are not rich and powerful.
My most recent double-sided, ad-hoc, focus-group tested, and 100% approved Demonstration signs, which I employ daily in Portland Maine & Portsmouth NH. simply say:
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
and on the other side:
DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALISM
LOVE FOR
PEOPLE
Since, "these 'TIMES' they are a-changing" — hopefully toward the long arc of history to social, political, and economic progressivism in the human interest of all people of our world — not only for purely economic, militarist, and further inequality merely focused on the UHNWIs and self-appointed "Masters of the Universe".
However as the 'TIMES' reports here that "China’s leadership, which recently issued regulations demanding that A.I. chatbots must promote “socialist core values” — totally misses the point that Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for over four years at Chinese Party Congress sessions, where he 'upped the ante', accepting that broad focus on both leveraging technology and equality for the people verses excessive 'GINI Coefficient of Wealth Inequality' by the uber-rich should be reduced to a moderate 'mean' for all people to prosper, nearer to China's broad 'fair deal' of a GINI of 0.70, than America's world leading and excessive GINI of 0.90.
IMHO, the real value of any advanced country's economic, political, social, and progressive equality efforts as Xi committed to 'socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics' and invited Biden to 'see him' and commit to 'democratic socialism with American characteristics'.
There has not been progress or support for the Palestinian people in a long while. Meanwhile the Dems are embarrassingly unrecognizable and we’re back in another destructive war. The two party state is what we’ve got, a third party candidate would still be working within this system. RFK Jr is the best choice in this two party system. I will not vote for either of the current leading candidates, Trump or Biden.
Thank you Chris. These are crucial words and a crucial reality. Those 2 parties are full of criminality and corruption.
Yet another nail in the coffin of the much vaunted so-called democracy of the US (beyond the gerrymandered electorates, the weirdly anti-democratic Electoral College system; the hundreds of millions of dollars it takes to mount a campaign, back room deals and the support of big business/corporations) this exposé of how truly representative candidates are stymied from participation - by uniquely engineered exclusionary laws in most of the states is simply mind-blowing. And yet the US puffs itself up before the world as somehow worthy of emulation??!! Instead of cringing in shame and embarrassment. Brilliantly enumerated - thanks otra vez otra vez Chris Hedges!
Glad to see Ted Lowi ("The End of Liberalism" was his classic) remembered.
I took a class with Lowi in grad school at Cornell. The lectures covered a lot of ground in history, philosophy, and political science that was new to me and the students were all far more broadly read than I was, so it was a struggle and I learned a lot. I can still recall Lowi's comments on an exam essay in red pen: "Stop spewing drivel and parroting lectures!". Ouch.
But, he praised my final paper for the course and pledged to help me get it published. That stuff stays with you for 40 years!
Jill Stein and her running mate of Green Party were arrested/detained twice for attempting to access the debate sites. In 2012 debate between Romney and Obama, for disorderly conduct charge. In 2016 Dr. Stein was presidential candidate on 85% of states’ ballots and again tried to enter the Clinton/Trump debate at Hofstra University. They were speaking and carrying an American flag and were stopped and held physically by police in the parking lot. They eventually sat on pavement and then were charged with blocking a car and taken into detention to a large warehouse and plastic tied to chairs for 8 hours guarded by a dozen troopers, then released on a misdemeanor.
Can you spell fascism any better than this?
Great job, Chris. I worked in a minor state roll for Nader in Florida in 2000. I'll never forget him getting dragged out of debate he tried to attend with a ticket.
Chris - I think that "support Israel" was a cheap shot on Kennedy.
Kennedy and Cornel West agree on many major issues, including dismantling the the US empire, reigning in corporate power, ending permanent war, taking real action on the climate emergency, protecting free speech, criticizing the bias and lies of corporate media, investing in the people and US communities, and reducing inequality. Kennedy has even called for abolishing the CIA.
It was a shortsighted and divisive cheap shot too that reflects poor strategy..
Things are up for grabs and could go either way. Kennedy has a lot of his support from libertarians and the "populist right". If their views prevail, the Country goes even further to the fascist right (in the likely event that the Democrats sabotage him like they did Bernie, those Kennedy supporters will go to Trump)..
You should be seeking common ground from the left and forcing Kennedy (and the Dems) to the left. That way, Kennedy's people are more likely to go to West, and we begin to form a movement from the left.
Almost every democracy on the planet has had proportional representation for decades. This is long overdue in the U.S. The winner-take-all system that the U.S. and U.K. have is unrepresentative, and is designed to keep non-establishment parties from getting candidates elected. Without changing to a proportional representation system, we'll never get a halfway decent government. Other changes, like eliminating all private campaign contributions and equal TV time for all candidates, are also needed, but changing to proportional representation is fundamentally needed.
Wow.. Just wow. Thank you so much for your clear, reasoned articulation of the political situation in the US. With the 2024 election a year and a half away, if amazes me to see otherwise sensible people become deranged by the prospect of a third party candidate. After the GWB and DJT election debacles, some people are just crazy because of that. Meanwhile, the Orwellian Democrats seize advantage of that fear to hold onto power.
Cornel West looks to be my candidate of choice do gsr in this early election cycle. Please unzombify yourself and consider 3rd party.
PS your individual vote should count in electing the POTUS not an electorial college official.
Great take down of the system that has not produced a desirable candidate in either of the two corporate parties in at least the last 30 years. Of course, what you describe is the political collapse of the US. At that point do we become a failed state or a zombie state?
Am I the only person in this hemisphere who has grown tired of hearing Hedges tell us how gloomy things are? ... In this article, he conveys the hopelessness of ever forming a third-party movement with a true voice ... agreed, things look bleak ... he could have also admitted that our only hope lies in the power of local government, but he just won't go there ...
Ever notice? ... Hedges will quickly point out the deep-seeded divisiveness among us and then reach into his bag of wedge issues to tell us our problem is Trump-MAGA ... The problem in America IS NOT Trump-MAGA ... the problem is the Elite's relentless pursuit of the goals of UN Agenda 21/30, and he obviously has no intention of ever going there ... I've followed him very closely since 2011 ... he has never even mentioned Agenda 21, the Book "the Fourth Industrial Revolution, The Great Reset or the World Economic Forum ... NOT ONCE, EVER! ... BTW, those Trump-MAGA types actually want the same things we do, like fair elections ...
Did you know? ... Hedges has cynically labeled those of us who openly question the motives and tactics of our elected officials as "conspiracy theorists" ... that's right and he's done it more than once ... ... if you happen to believe that 9/11 was an inside job as I do, Chris has in fact called us conspiracy theorists ...
Ever notice? ... although his core message has always been to confront tyranny, Hedges threw the working class under the bus with COVID once the March 2020 lock-downs were declared ... he has since refused to stand with us against the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports ...
Did you know? ... Hedges actually stood with big pharma and endorsed their "safe & effective" narrative just 30 days after the explosive court-ordered FDA FOIA release that revealed over 1200 deaths and 34,000 adverse events in the first 10 weeks of their COVID vaccine trial ... and after taking sides with big pharma in a 2022 interview with Krystal & Kyle, he also openly admitted that he does not trust Moderna and Phizer ... clearly this man did not give a hoot about the consequences ...
Ever notice? ... Hedges' position on the climate change aligns perfectly with the "existential threat" narrative pushed by unhinged Davos converts Al Gore and John Kerry ... more people are waking up to the existential threat BS, but Hedges keeps pushing it ... did you see how Gore and Kerry acted like complete, unhinged jack-asses when discussing this topic at the recent Davos conclave? ... great company Chris!
I've got all the details, all ya gotta do is ask ... times, dates and context for some truly damning, head-scratching quotes by St. Chris ... all ya gotta do is ask!
The only possible rational for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signing a law into power, which prevents construction workers from taking water breaks — is that some of the rich and powerful are knowingly trying to kill-off and eliminate surplus population of people who are not rich and powerful.
My most recent double-sided, ad-hoc, focus-group tested, and 100% approved Demonstration signs, which I employ daily in Portland Maine & Portsmouth NH. simply say:
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
and on the other side:
DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALISM
LOVE FOR
PEOPLE
Since, "these 'TIMES' they are a-changing" — hopefully toward the long arc of history to social, political, and economic progressivism in the human interest of all people of our world — not only for purely economic, militarist, and further inequality merely focused on the UHNWIs and self-appointed "Masters of the Universe".
However as the 'TIMES' reports here that "China’s leadership, which recently issued regulations demanding that A.I. chatbots must promote “socialist core values” — totally misses the point that Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for over four years at Chinese Party Congress sessions, where he 'upped the ante', accepting that broad focus on both leveraging technology and equality for the people verses excessive 'GINI Coefficient of Wealth Inequality' by the uber-rich should be reduced to a moderate 'mean' for all people to prosper, nearer to China's broad 'fair deal' of a GINI of 0.70, than America's world leading and excessive GINI of 0.90.
IMHO, the real value of any advanced country's economic, political, social, and progressive equality efforts as Xi committed to 'socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics' and invited Biden to 'see him' and commit to 'democratic socialism with American characteristics'.
The only possible rational for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signing a law into power, which prevents construction workers from taking water breaks — is that some of the rich and powerful are knowingly trying to kill-off and eliminate surplus population of people who are not rich and powerful.
My most recent double-sided, ad-hoc, focus-group tested, and 100% approved Demonstration signs, which I employ daily in Portland Maine & Portsmouth NH. simply say:
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
and on the other side:
DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALISM
LOVE FOR
PEOPLE
Since, "these 'TIMES' they are a-changing" — hopefully toward the long arc of history to social, political, and economic progressivism in the human interest of all people of our world — not only for purely economic, militarist, and further inequality merely focused on the UHNWIs and self-appointed "Masters of the Universe".
However as the 'TIMES' reports here that "China’s leadership, which recently issued regulations demanding that A.I. chatbots must promote “socialist core values” — totally misses the point that Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for over four years at Chinese Party Congress sessions, where he 'upped the ante', accepting that broad focus on both leveraging technology and equality for the people verses excessive 'GINI Coefficient of Wealth Inequality' by the uber-rich should be reduced to a moderate 'mean' for all people to prosper, nearer to China's broad 'fair deal' of a GINI of 0.70, than America's world leading and excessive GINI of 0.90.
IMHO, the real value of any advanced country's economic, political, social, and progressive equality efforts as Xi committed to 'socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics' and invited Biden to 'see him' and commit to 'democratic socialism with American characteristics'.
IMHO the most significant issue is the GINI Coefficient of Wealth
Inequality which is produced by massive greed and the slight-of-
hand to excellently camouflage the distortion of far more faux-
wealth through 'Negative Externality Cost' looting by the self-
appointed "Masters of the Universe" — rather than ‘Positive
Externality Profits' (PEP) — for 'we the people' of our world.
BTW, cute but scam propagandist terms like the worn-out SRI,
and ESG — could better be employed for all the people with
serious and honest investment candor through PEP (Positive
Externality Profits) for the people.
As my two most recent double-sided demonstration signs simply say:
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
and on the other side:
DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALISM
LOVE FOR
PEACE
second one:
‘NEGATIVE
EXTERNALITY
COST’
LOOTING
and on the other side:
‘POSITIVE
EXTERNALITY
PROFITS’
FOR PEOPLE
There has not been progress or support for the Palestinian people in a long while. Meanwhile the Dems are embarrassingly unrecognizable and we’re back in another destructive war. The two party state is what we’ve got, a third party candidate would still be working within this system. RFK Jr is the best choice in this two party system. I will not vote for either of the current leading candidates, Trump or Biden.
You were going fine till ‘apartheid state of Israel.
The phenomenon you talk about is the same all over the western world. The uni party rules.