Cheer Up, It's Only the End of the World - Chris Hedges
For the first time in a long time, I had trouble getting up today. I've been reading a lot of Chris Hedges lately and he can be very depressing. To get an idea of how depressing, watch the first 10 minutes of this speech, which pretty much sums up the Hedges world view and prognosis.
Hedges can be persuasive. It is his business to be persuasive. Although he may not make precisely this claim for himself, he's a prophet in the Biblical sense, preaching truth to power, gloom and doom, collapse of empire. The reason for collapse is moral decay of the entire society. Sound familiar?
Of course his facts are more or less credible, but we are entitled to look a little deeper.
Chris has spent a lot of time in the very worst "bleeding edges" of modern civilization. He's entitled to have a dark view. He's also a Presbyterian Minister, which saddles him with a unique set of assumptions. He sees things in moral terms. He does not shrink from apocalyptic vision. But in the end, he needs to wrap up his sermon with a justification of what he sees as core Christian doctrine: "love is the answer". To me, his twist on Christian doctrine is a bit unique -- he feels that our rebellion (born out of compassion) is ultimately hopeless but ultimately the only thing we can do. Constant rebellion is what Hedges preaches -- not too terribly different from what I think of as the actual message of Jesus. Listening to Hedges preach, you can well imagine that there are many people in power who would like Hedges to share Jesus' fate.
I think Chris Hedges is a voice that deserves a hearing. But other very wise observers of the human condition look at the same facts and react differently. On a personal level, not everyone will keep you from finding a reason to get out of bed ...
It is my view that Hedges is crippled by his attempt to see the world in terms of the tattered remains of his Christian faith. Hedges would be the first to admit that his faith is not "mainstream". As would be expected of a prophet, Hedges reserves his most vitriolic rhetoric for the Christians who don't see Christianity the way he does. Of course, many Christians would view Hedges as a heretic.
The speech mentioned above is "Samsara" in a nutshell. The impermanence of all things, including civilizations and even life on Earth. Buddha taught that we must accept this. The idea is not to somehow pretend that bad things won't happen. The idea is to be able to live our lives without the suffering caused by obsessing over the situation - clinging to the world as it is. We can inflict even more suffering on ourselves by being kept awake at night with fears of the way the world might be in the future. On a more practical level, Zen teaches us to see and accept the world as it is -- such a response allows us to avoid the mind set of panic that underlies all of what Hedges is saying. The first step in fixing a problem is to see the problem for what it is. Perhaps there are one or two other reasons for our problems, besides moral decay ... Through right action and right thoughts in the present, we can insure that we make the best possible personal contribution to the future (karma). But really, the future, like the present, is ultimately unknowable, even by experts like Chris Hedges.
It's not immediately obvious that Hedges is in a state of panic. To see what I mean, take a look at his interview with Noam Chomsky. "Noam Chomsky is America's greatest intellectual"* and he hardly disagrees with Hedges on the seriousness of our situation. However, at every point, he challenges Hedges on the practical details. After following a few rounds of this discussion, you begin to suspect that Hedges may be giving up too soon - lost in generalities and moral outrage.
In this particular interview, Chomsky keeps coming back to his belief that mass action (a particular species of "revolt" recommended by Hedges) can achieve results and has done so in the past. In the big picture, Chomsky sees civilization as threatened, but there is nothing inevitable about it. Again and again, Chomsky shows that he understand the tools of mass persuasion much better than Hedges. They are, at the same time, more insidious and less effective than Hedges would have us believe. Chomsky is the expert, Hedges is the preacher and story teller.
The fact is that the universe does not care what happens on Planet Earth. It's not good or bad. It's not a tragedy or a success story. More and more, what happens on Planet Earth is up to us and we are getting mixed reviews so far. We need to recognize the limitations of being human. The future is, after all, a human idea -- a story we tell ourselves. Chris Hedges tells the story in a way that keeps me up at night. Chomsky reminds me that there is still much to be done.
So be in the moment, accept reality as it is and chose effective, compassionate action. And get some sleep ...
* "The World As It Is", page 94. I hardly disagree with Hedges' assessment of Chomsky. What is worth noting, however, that Chomsky disagrees with Hedges on matters of fact at almost every turn. Chomsky also steadfastly resists Hedges' tendency to make sweeping generalizations and that support the single-minded moralistic and apocalyptic conclusions that Hedges reaches.
Hedges can be persuasive. It is his business to be persuasive. Although he may not make precisely this claim for himself, he's a prophet in the Biblical sense, preaching truth to power, gloom and doom, collapse of empire. The reason for collapse is moral decay of the entire society. Sound familiar?
Of course his facts are more or less credible, but we are entitled to look a little deeper.
Chris has spent a lot of time in the very worst "bleeding edges" of modern civilization. He's entitled to have a dark view. He's also a Presbyterian Minister, which saddles him with a unique set of assumptions. He sees things in moral terms. He does not shrink from apocalyptic vision. But in the end, he needs to wrap up his sermon with a justification of what he sees as core Christian doctrine: "love is the answer". To me, his twist on Christian doctrine is a bit unique -- he feels that our rebellion (born out of compassion) is ultimately hopeless but ultimately the only thing we can do. Constant rebellion is what Hedges preaches -- not too terribly different from what I think of as the actual message of Jesus. Listening to Hedges preach, you can well imagine that there are many people in power who would like Hedges to share Jesus' fate.
I think Chris Hedges is a voice that deserves a hearing. But other very wise observers of the human condition look at the same facts and react differently. On a personal level, not everyone will keep you from finding a reason to get out of bed ...
It is my view that Hedges is crippled by his attempt to see the world in terms of the tattered remains of his Christian faith. Hedges would be the first to admit that his faith is not "mainstream". As would be expected of a prophet, Hedges reserves his most vitriolic rhetoric for the Christians who don't see Christianity the way he does. Of course, many Christians would view Hedges as a heretic.
The speech mentioned above is "Samsara" in a nutshell. The impermanence of all things, including civilizations and even life on Earth. Buddha taught that we must accept this. The idea is not to somehow pretend that bad things won't happen. The idea is to be able to live our lives without the suffering caused by obsessing over the situation - clinging to the world as it is. We can inflict even more suffering on ourselves by being kept awake at night with fears of the way the world might be in the future. On a more practical level, Zen teaches us to see and accept the world as it is -- such a response allows us to avoid the mind set of panic that underlies all of what Hedges is saying. The first step in fixing a problem is to see the problem for what it is. Perhaps there are one or two other reasons for our problems, besides moral decay ... Through right action and right thoughts in the present, we can insure that we make the best possible personal contribution to the future (karma). But really, the future, like the present, is ultimately unknowable, even by experts like Chris Hedges.
It's not immediately obvious that Hedges is in a state of panic. To see what I mean, take a look at his interview with Noam Chomsky. "Noam Chomsky is America's greatest intellectual"* and he hardly disagrees with Hedges on the seriousness of our situation. However, at every point, he challenges Hedges on the practical details. After following a few rounds of this discussion, you begin to suspect that Hedges may be giving up too soon - lost in generalities and moral outrage.
In this particular interview, Chomsky keeps coming back to his belief that mass action (a particular species of "revolt" recommended by Hedges) can achieve results and has done so in the past. In the big picture, Chomsky sees civilization as threatened, but there is nothing inevitable about it. Again and again, Chomsky shows that he understand the tools of mass persuasion much better than Hedges. They are, at the same time, more insidious and less effective than Hedges would have us believe. Chomsky is the expert, Hedges is the preacher and story teller.
The fact is that the universe does not care what happens on Planet Earth. It's not good or bad. It's not a tragedy or a success story. More and more, what happens on Planet Earth is up to us and we are getting mixed reviews so far. We need to recognize the limitations of being human. The future is, after all, a human idea -- a story we tell ourselves. Chris Hedges tells the story in a way that keeps me up at night. Chomsky reminds me that there is still much to be done.
So be in the moment, accept reality as it is and chose effective, compassionate action. And get some sleep ...
* "The World As It Is", page 94. I hardly disagree with Hedges' assessment of Chomsky. What is worth noting, however, that Chomsky disagrees with Hedges on matters of fact at almost every turn. Chomsky also steadfastly resists Hedges' tendency to make sweeping generalizations and that support the single-minded moralistic and apocalyptic conclusions that Hedges reaches.
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