Listen now (13 mins) | American society spawns trauma and this trauma expresses itself in a variety of self-destructive pathologies, including the erosion of democracy and rise of neo-fascism.
As a trainer in the area of trauma-informed care, and a therapist in private practice in a city that is at the heart of modernity, I understand the truth of this episode. I love that Chris and others are now looking at trauma on a larger level, linking this sickness to our widespread symptoms in society.
Another excellent way to describe modernity was shared through Richard Beck's Existential Theology Substack, citing. Dunningham's book Addiction and Virtue that came out 12 years ago and his insights regarding addiction as the answer to what ails modern society: Arbitrariness, boredom and loneliness.
Modern psychology with all its benefits rarely addresses these deep roots of our sickness. Capitalism and consumerism move right in to promise fulfillment, and to redefine who has worth and who is worthless. So we drink, we gamble, we buy, we worship the celebrities, we seek fulfillment in all that we can stuff inside of our bodies and mind... and our soul does not recognize our choices as medicine.. what can feel like the answer fades quickly.
Oh, if we just get along better...We are facing (probable, planned) extinction in the U.S.through our military expansions, and the inequitable distribution of wealth, therefore it is quite reasonable to be upset, even traumatized. True, our survival depends on mutual support to rid ourselves of abject submission, that is, relationships and they can work both ways. So adult relationships, not asymmetric, sentimental ones.
"Girding our loins" is recommended, here. Controlling our government is necessary here.
It seems the American people are truly shocked and I have empathy for them. However it needs to be said that if they had spent more time on politics over the last 30yrs maybe things would be better? I lived in the US for 22yrs and not many had conversations other than shopping and toys.
We now live in France which is also under threat from M. LePen. Not sure if she can make it next elections but am hoping. The French are an 'ornery' lot!
Keep fighting from the ground up America and yes socialising without 'phones.
I fear Chris is hanging out with the “inner party” types with his fascism critique of hard core Christians. The vast majority of fundamentalist Christians are harmless and basically decent, law abiding, and hard working Americans. They’re just not ready for coed restrooms, 6 gradations of gender, what they see as rewriting of US history… Merle Haggard’s “Oky from Finoky.” And they make up around 30/40% of America’s electorate. Ain’t going away any time soon (their kids are probably more hardcore). EVERYTHING heard on NPR, for instance, is anathema to them, and conservative AM radio makes sure they get an earful every morning to fuel their rage through the day. The latest is an interview with the Canadian Minister of Inclusion (or something) who favors a ban on saying “bless you” when someone sneezes. Keep marginalizing them and they just might fall in line behind a tyrant…
I keep thinking about this article. Mostly because I was nodding along agreeing with what was being read… until… Chris Hedges starting using example over example from the right.
I was stunned. I had been nodding along because I was thinking of personal examples from how the woke left tramatized me.
It’s so interesting how the same problems can to easily be pinned on different perpetrators depending on who’s team you are on.
If you haven’t done so, list to to The Radicalist and “Radical and Back Again, Part III” It’s a wonderful narration of how one woman was all in with the left’s narrative UNTIL they would not listen to her nuanced perspective on a particular issue. Me too sister… me too…
If I understand what you are saying then, on the one hand we create too much and use too much, while on the other the poor don't have enough. Africans live in communal societies closer to nature, but what they wish for and demand is a life style AT LEAST on a par with the poor in America, INCLUDING ACCESS TO FOSSIL FUELS. Giving a greedy, violent and incompetent government control of the means of production and lowering life styles across the board will not solve anything.
I'm struck by how soft and easy-to-please Hedges' followers are ... they are nothing more than a pack of passive pushovers ... they seem totally content to have St. Chris spoon-feed them their weekly dose of darkness and that's it ... beyond that, they seem to demand nothing of him ... as we now stand in the midst of THE most perilous time in human history, they are oblivious to the way he has brazenly gone back on his word by refusing to directly confront tyranny, call out the perpetrators by name and comment on hard news developments ... his followers enthusiastically give him a pass and defend him as a "great journalist" even though he effectively retired with the lockdowns ... I've not seen a single person here express an interest in having him comment on the larger prime-time issues that dominate independent media discourse and shape our lives ... Hedges has in turn developed a cynical pandemic playbook in which he hides behind the plight of Assange ... and give him credit for finding new ways to exploit the Assange case to maintain his place in the independent media food chain ... this week he did a 2-part interview with Stella at her home, and before that devoted a sermon to Assange ... in the meantime, he has not had a word to say about the Maui "wildfires" or the proposed amendments to the WHO pandemic treaty ... I firmly believe that his peculiar PR strategy is no accident ... I believe he was told by TPTB to "stay in his lane" and I'd also bet the ranch he rolled over for them without a fight ... Hedges' followers comport themselves as true cultists - St. Chris can do no wrong and they can find no fault ... these people are actually classic enablers ... they fail to notice that although he denounces the corporate elites in general terms, Hedges has deftly taken sides with them on the issues of climate change and also failed to stand against them on personal medical autonomy ... Hedges flies in the face of his past principles and his followers robotically respond by saying "gimme more!"
Listen to this Article: "Our Collective Trauma is the Road to Tyranny"
Mr Hedges shows a deep understanding of what’s happening at the psychological level ... translating to political outcomes
His is a brave and rate voice of resistance in the best form
I recently moved to a small country town -with land - to prepare for what’s coming and to make true CONNECTIONS with my community
It’s been great so far
He’s lead me to form conclusions that have been beneficial- I thank him for that
I don’t know if we’ll win the struggle and maybe we won’t
But I think we must stand strong and go down fighting
Work to form local communities banding together ... I think it is the best way forward. We must support each other.
Show compassion and love to each other
And resist the tyranny as best we can
☮️
As a trainer in the area of trauma-informed care, and a therapist in private practice in a city that is at the heart of modernity, I understand the truth of this episode. I love that Chris and others are now looking at trauma on a larger level, linking this sickness to our widespread symptoms in society.
Another excellent way to describe modernity was shared through Richard Beck's Existential Theology Substack, citing. Dunningham's book Addiction and Virtue that came out 12 years ago and his insights regarding addiction as the answer to what ails modern society: Arbitrariness, boredom and loneliness.
Modern psychology with all its benefits rarely addresses these deep roots of our sickness. Capitalism and consumerism move right in to promise fulfillment, and to redefine who has worth and who is worthless. So we drink, we gamble, we buy, we worship the celebrities, we seek fulfillment in all that we can stuff inside of our bodies and mind... and our soul does not recognize our choices as medicine.. what can feel like the answer fades quickly.
Oh, if we just get along better...We are facing (probable, planned) extinction in the U.S.through our military expansions, and the inequitable distribution of wealth, therefore it is quite reasonable to be upset, even traumatized. True, our survival depends on mutual support to rid ourselves of abject submission, that is, relationships and they can work both ways. So adult relationships, not asymmetric, sentimental ones.
"Girding our loins" is recommended, here. Controlling our government is necessary here.
As with Louis Brandeis's truth about the incompatible nature of wealth and social-political economic equality:
https://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-we-can-have-democracy-in-this-country-or-we-can-have-great-wealth-concentrated-in-the-louis-d-brandeis-3-47-24.jpg
My seminal double-sided, ad-hoc, focus-group tested, very favorable signs, which I simply demonstrate weekly in Portland Maine & Portsmouth NH. --
LOVE
OVER
VIOLENT
EMPIRE
vs.
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
It seems the American people are truly shocked and I have empathy for them. However it needs to be said that if they had spent more time on politics over the last 30yrs maybe things would be better? I lived in the US for 22yrs and not many had conversations other than shopping and toys.
We now live in France which is also under threat from M. LePen. Not sure if she can make it next elections but am hoping. The French are an 'ornery' lot!
Keep fighting from the ground up America and yes socialising without 'phones.
Absolutely crucial analysis. Thanks, Chris.
I fear Chris is hanging out with the “inner party” types with his fascism critique of hard core Christians. The vast majority of fundamentalist Christians are harmless and basically decent, law abiding, and hard working Americans. They’re just not ready for coed restrooms, 6 gradations of gender, what they see as rewriting of US history… Merle Haggard’s “Oky from Finoky.” And they make up around 30/40% of America’s electorate. Ain’t going away any time soon (their kids are probably more hardcore). EVERYTHING heard on NPR, for instance, is anathema to them, and conservative AM radio makes sure they get an earful every morning to fuel their rage through the day. The latest is an interview with the Canadian Minister of Inclusion (or something) who favors a ban on saying “bless you” when someone sneezes. Keep marginalizing them and they just might fall in line behind a tyrant…
Community so important for maintaining mental health.
I keep thinking about this article. Mostly because I was nodding along agreeing with what was being read… until… Chris Hedges starting using example over example from the right.
I was stunned. I had been nodding along because I was thinking of personal examples from how the woke left tramatized me.
It’s so interesting how the same problems can to easily be pinned on different perpetrators depending on who’s team you are on.
If you haven’t done so, list to to The Radicalist and “Radical and Back Again, Part III” It’s a wonderful narration of how one woman was all in with the left’s narrative UNTIL they would not listen to her nuanced perspective on a particular issue. Me too sister… me too…
If I understand what you are saying then, on the one hand we create too much and use too much, while on the other the poor don't have enough. Africans live in communal societies closer to nature, but what they wish for and demand is a life style AT LEAST on a par with the poor in America, INCLUDING ACCESS TO FOSSIL FUELS. Giving a greedy, violent and incompetent government control of the means of production and lowering life styles across the board will not solve anything.
I'm struck by how soft and easy-to-please Hedges' followers are ... they are nothing more than a pack of passive pushovers ... they seem totally content to have St. Chris spoon-feed them their weekly dose of darkness and that's it ... beyond that, they seem to demand nothing of him ... as we now stand in the midst of THE most perilous time in human history, they are oblivious to the way he has brazenly gone back on his word by refusing to directly confront tyranny, call out the perpetrators by name and comment on hard news developments ... his followers enthusiastically give him a pass and defend him as a "great journalist" even though he effectively retired with the lockdowns ... I've not seen a single person here express an interest in having him comment on the larger prime-time issues that dominate independent media discourse and shape our lives ... Hedges has in turn developed a cynical pandemic playbook in which he hides behind the plight of Assange ... and give him credit for finding new ways to exploit the Assange case to maintain his place in the independent media food chain ... this week he did a 2-part interview with Stella at her home, and before that devoted a sermon to Assange ... in the meantime, he has not had a word to say about the Maui "wildfires" or the proposed amendments to the WHO pandemic treaty ... I firmly believe that his peculiar PR strategy is no accident ... I believe he was told by TPTB to "stay in his lane" and I'd also bet the ranch he rolled over for them without a fight ... Hedges' followers comport themselves as true cultists - St. Chris can do no wrong and they can find no fault ... these people are actually classic enablers ... they fail to notice that although he denounces the corporate elites in general terms, Hedges has deftly taken sides with them on the issues of climate change and also failed to stand against them on personal medical autonomy ... Hedges flies in the face of his past principles and his followers robotically respond by saying "gimme more!"