Name: Empire of illusion
ISBN: 9781568586137

Empire of illusion

Pulitzer prize–winner Chris Hedges charts the dramatic and disturbing rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy and illusion. Chris Hedges argues that we now live in two societies: One, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world, that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. In this "other society," serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins. In the tradition of Christopher Lasch's The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, Hedges navigates this culture — attending WWF contests as well as Ivy League graduation ceremonies — exposing an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title

What Hacker News says

1letterunixnameDec 2023

An irreducible problem requiring effort is gaining critical thinking skills, knowledge, perspective, and intellectual and moral honesty and courage. Here are some controversial books that may enlighten the reader to some of the myriad nuances of intersecting problems:

- The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War by Sharlet. 2023.

- Woke Racism by McWhorter. 2021.

- The Case Against BDS: Why Singling Out Israel for Boycott is Anti-Semitic. by Dershowitz. 2018.

- Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Hedges. 2010.

- The Fateful Triangle by Chomsky. 1983.

- Anti-Semite and Jew by Sarte. 1946.

- Mein Kampf by Hitler. 1925.

thread

log_base_loginDec 2017

Without sounding pedantic, I think it's fair to say that the mass media put out a LOT of material into the public domain merely to acquire the largest market share of attention.

It is very rare that I read a story in a newspaper or hear one on television that isn't some form of salacious gossip or eye catching spectacle.

Though I haven't read most of it, Chris Hedges' book: Empire of Illusion, speaks to this with much greater acuity than I can.

I wish we could all just take a breath of fresh air (whoops, there is an allusion to another, though admittedly fairly neutral, piece of media) and remember that we are often much better off without the media dictating what we think should be important. I fear that the fractionism that George Washington cautioned us against in his farewell address is driving most of what we consume from the mass media.

I hesitate even to post this for fear of sounding too alarmist, and for the possible repercussions on myself from the powers that be in their never ending fight to be 'right', but I do think that this is a subject that is important enough to stand up and say "enough is enough". I know I sound paranoid, but as we become ever more connected, it is not as far fetched as it might seem that such things transpire. It is imperative that the power remain in the purview of the public and not those with access to what information money can buy, or cookies can acquire.

thread