*promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 9:13pm PDT - promote requested by marinara.

Chris Hedges is brilliant. His brain weighs over twenty pounds. It's a fact.

i needed another reason to cry for the world today.

*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by RedSky.

He advocates active resistance, even to the point of saying that it's futility shouldn't deter you. I wonder. It gives me the 'Better to die on your feet than live on your knees' or 'Better to live on your feet than die on your knees' argument.
Also, he points out that receding into some sort of community in 'the hills' that isolates itself from the system is cowardice. This I wonder too as I've considered it from time to time. Refusing to play the game seems to be effective in my view.

Worth listening to even though there are several contradicting points he makes. Blah, ok, just got to about 40 mins in and it got pretty bad. What I hoped was going to be a TED level fact finding talk just ended up being a liberal tirade with thousands of statements that merely begged more questions without any evidence

So the first 20 mins, and the last 20 mins are worth watching I think. The middle is a bit preachy and unfounded by anything other than anecdotes.

^You are a fool.

^Very substantive feedback.

The last 3-5 min was absolutely awesome. I wish more people would think like that.

@GeezusFreek. You're unable even to distinguish between liberalism and leftism. And "begging the question" is a logical fallacy, not some vapid term for intertards to throw around incorrectly. And don't assume I haven't seen your prior thoughtless "contributions" here.

And I yours, and your just as ordered, barbarous.

His own story is proof enough of what he is saying. Here is a man with a prestigious and decades long career in journalism that immediately gets stabbed in the back the minute he questions the corporate propaganda line. His job gone, his visibility gone, his prospects gone. Condemned to a life sentence of giving out Cassandra oracles in obscure forums for thinking for himself.

^Ya, I really enjoyed the last couple of moments. It was what I was hoping for as the entire showing.

Wow, I bet this guy is the freaking life of the party no matter where he goes. You wanna talk about a "Debbie Downer" this dude has got that role down to perfection. I've listened to this for a total of about 12 minutes so far and I'm already trying to think of the quickest way to off myself before I have to listen to any more of this depressing dribble.

Yes we're materialistic, yes Michael Jackson was a freak and we made him that way, yes we're probably the shallowest society to ever exist, friggin get over it. Go fly a kite or watch a spider spin it's web or smell a flower or something but for God's sake shut the fuck up.

That's the sort of mentality that allows these things to continue. If you want to live with your hair on fire that's fine, but don't tell people trying to help you to "shut the fuck up". You're free to quietly bury your head in the sand while we try to work our way out of this mess.

Once you get to a certain point in life I think you'll find that the "Debbie Downer" folks are those with your attitude. I live my life for my kids at this point in time,(and indirectly all of society) and realizing that I'm more interested in trying to positively shape the world they live in rather than living for myself. I'm perfectly happy surrounded by self-aware, intelligent people, which I'm pleased to find nearly everywhere I turn now that I know where to look.

Honestly I think you encompass your insecurity with the one line: "yes we're probably the shallowest society to ever exist, friggin get over it." Perhaps you could personally aspire to not be so shallow instead of fighting against others to make yourself comfortable with it?

Great sift!
>> ^OGjimbo:

Wow, I bet this guy is the freaking life of the party no matter where he goes. You wanna talk about a "Debbie Downer" this dude has got that role down to perfection. I've listened to this for a total of about 12 minutes so far and I'm already trying to think of the quickest way to off myself before I have to listen to any more of this depressing dribble.
Yes we're materialistic, yes Michael Jackson was a freak and we made him that way, yes we're probably the shallowest society to ever exist, friggin get over it. Go fly a kite or watch a spider spin it's web or smell a flower or something but for God's sake shut the fuck up.

(no sound at work, haven't watched, commenting out my ass from other's comments)

Considering democracy comes down to the same sort of popularity contest seen in high school graduations, I don't think it died very hard. Democracy is based on the assumption that the person most attractive to you will do what's best for you. It really doesn't matter how it's supposed to work. It's what is there.

I'm pretty sure he's got a really good point, but he's really not very good at making it.

This whole thing could have been reduced to 10 minutes or less if he wasn't so enthralled with his own voice.

Or maybe he should add that to his speech. I'm sure he could spend another 20 minutes talking about how his own celebrity mindset causes him to inflate a point that could be made in a few sentences into an hour long speech.

Can't make his point clear, so he continues to ramble on endlessly in hopes of accidentally making it...which he never quite does.

While some of this is coherent thought, it skews into the preach zone which then becomes corrupted by political leanings one way or another.

The real problem can be highlighted by using this person as example A -- he's right, and if you don't agree with everything he says, you're wrong. It's this exact kind of thinking on both sides that keeps everything at stalemate, yet everyone seems to ignore it. It's easier to latch onto the ideas you agree with than to consider the other side. The REAL fact is -- contrary to everything this man says -- is that the answer lies somewhere in the middle, but neither side is willing to meet half way...so the problem continues to manifest itself.

I can see this in half the posts I read on sift...the most vocal arguments come from the far left or the far right...neither of which even listen to the other side, they merely use the time reading the others points to think up their equally useless responses.

>> ^hPOD:

Can't make his point clear, so he continues to ramble on endlessly in hopes of accidentally making it...which he never quite does.

There is a point here, which I'll address in a moment. I first need to call out this disease in the bottom of your post.
>> ^hPOD:


I can see this in half the posts I read on sift...the most vocal arguments come from the far left or the far right...neither of which even listen to the other side, they merely use the time reading the others points to think up their equally useless responses.

You're doing exactly what you're criticizing. As am I, admittedly, by addressing your negative post directly, but I'm hoping to defend the people on the sift as a whole. I find most of the regulars on this site to be very sharp and engaging.

This portion of your post resembles cynicism. Cynicism is what happens when people have lost hope in the government system that works for them. When this sets in, people discontinue listening to others' ideas and lash out at those who pose legitimate food for thought as wasting their time. It's hard to sit and think about a situation that perhaps you would rather not be in. It is much easier to live day-to-day and pretend the issue doesn't exist. Let's attempt to be aware of that line of self-delusion and dispense with it to move forward.

As for Mr. Hedges' point; The point is nothing more than to make you think about the situation we find ourselves in. If you're waiting for someone to come along and give a simple, predefined cause and effect along with a prescription for continued success, you'll be waiting a long time. This is a very complicated downfall that has more to do with mass psychology than it does with the actions of individuals. There will always be people without a notable conscious; those who live for greed. Sadly so long as we don't expect people to contribute to our government (meaning the governing of people as a practice, not a particular national government) on an individual level the number of people who can be easily exploited will continue to rise and the greedy can very easily take advantage of the populous. This is Chris' point. Stop. Stop fighting with each other. Stop labeling those around you. Think about what you're doing and where we're going. Let's all sit down and discuss this.

There is a real danger here in the age of ever diminishing attention spans and increasingly effective marketing based on soundbites rather than ideas. We need to ensure that we focus on ideas where it really matters. Mr. Hedges isn't trying to make a "point" and he's not trying to tell you what to do. He's trying to start a discussion.

Do note that I did not apply what I said to *every* member of VS, but *half* of them...and IMO, though not scientifically provable, I'm correct in this assessment. About 50% of any thread is riddled with one side or the other side sifters, with almost no in-between and no attempt to even try to understand their opposition. The way you addressed this, you applied what I said to everyone, which I never did.

Onto the meat of the subject, you claimed my post was negative (in so many words), however, it wasn't negative, it was merely in disagreement with the speakers approach, which is a completely different thing. As for cynicism, I can admit it creeps into the equation, however, that doesn't mean I can't listen too and hear what other intelligent people, such as yourself for instance, have to say.

As for the final things you said, I'd agree if you cut out the entire middle portion of the video -- in which he preaches -- if that part didn't exist, I'd agree with you that his point was in attempting to start a discussion, however, he tried to steer the discussion to where he wanted it. He didn't merely speak of a specific subject objectively in the interest of starting a discussion, as he went into a mini-soap-box rant in the middle portion, rendering objective discussion almost moot as his speech became suggestive in nature. At least, this is my opinion on the matter.

>> ^Truckchase:

>> ^hPOD:
Can't make his point clear, so he continues to ramble on endlessly in hopes of accidentally making it...which he never quite does.

There is a point here, which I'll address in a moment. I first need to call out this disease in the bottom of your post.
>> ^hPOD:

I can see this in half the posts I read on sift...the most vocal arguments come from the far left or the far right...neither of which even listen to the other side, they merely use the time reading the others points to think up their equally useless responses.

You're doing exactly what you're criticizing. As am I, admittedly, by addressing your negative post directly, but I'm hoping to defend the people on the sift as a whole. I find most of the regulars on this site to be very sharp and engaging.
This portion of your post resembles cynicism. Cynicism is what happens when people have lost hope in the government system that works for them. When this sets in, people discontinue listening to others' ideas and lash out at those who pose legitimate food for thought as wasting their time. It's hard to sit and think about a situation that perhaps you would rather not be in. It is much easier to live day-to-day and pretend the issue doesn't exist. Let's attempt to be aware of that line of self-delusion and dispense with it to move forward.
As for Mr. Hedges' point; The point is nothing more than to make you think about the situation we find ourselves in. If you're waiting for someone to come along and give a simple, predefined cause and effect along with a prescription for continued success, you'll be waiting a long time. This is a very complicated downfall that has more to do with mass psychology than it does with the actions of individuals. There will always be people without a notable conscious; those who live for greed. Sadly so long as we don't expect people to contribute to our government (meaning the governing of people as a practice, not a particular national government) on an individual level the number of people who can be easily exploited will continue to rise and the greedy can very easily take advantage of the populous. This is Chris' point. Stop. Stop fighting with each other. Stop labeling those around you. Think about what you're doing and where we're going. Let's all sit down and discuss this.
There is a real danger here in the age of ever diminishing attention spans and increasingly effective marketing based on soundbites rather than ideas. We need to ensure that we focus on ideas where it really matters. Mr. Hedges isn't trying to make a "point" and he's not trying to tell you what to do. He's trying to start a discussion.

The "criticism" so far: He doesn't speak good. Where's my power-point? I want TED Talk! It's not Fair&Balanced!

Chris Hedges has delivered a grave and chilling warning. His speech is a siren call. A réveille. People are free to raise specific criticisms.

100% right.

oops, double post

He started his speech off calling Michael Jackson a pedophile.

*quality

This video has already declared quality - ignoring quality request by dystopianfuturetoday.