America, The Farewell Tour
If you thought you knew Chris Hedges--be surprised. The globally renowned Pulitzer Prize-winner gives us an entirely new view of a nation in crisis in a stunning book that holds both liberals and conservatives to account--as rousingly pertinent for Canada as for the disoriented US. Beautifully written, it clarifies vividly and unforgettably the forces at play in our times. In astonishing, tough, first-hand reportage, Chris Hedges draws on stories from inside communities across America and reveals how the hurricanes of change have allowed an array of pathologies to arise: the opioid crisis, the retreat into gambling, the corporate coup d'état of government, the pornification of culture, the rise of magical thinking, the emboldening of violence and hate, the plagues of suicides, and the global upheaval caused by catastrophic climate change. These are just some of the physical manifestations of a society unravelling. Such ills presage a frightening reconfiguration of our lives--particularly in the face of our neighbour's degeneration as a world power. Donald Trump rode this disenchantment to power. Hedges--who was unsurprised by Trump's victory--shows how neither the left nor the right are addressing the systemic problems. Until the corporate coup d'état is reversed, these diseases will grow and ravage the country. A humane cry for a decent future, this remarkable book is our wake-up call to reality.
Stats for nerds
8recommend
14mentions
13people
2018–2022years
57% recommend43% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- This sounds very much like a society in slow collapse.
There is this book that I have difficulty getting through just because it depresses me so much. Your story reminded me of some if the issues discussed in this book.
I'll put it out there. Highly recommended if you want a sobering take: America: The Farewell Tour by Chris Hedges.
[1]: https://www.amazon.com/America-Farewell-Tour-Chris-Hedges/dp...
- Chris Hedges was a very good reporter, a good author (America, The Farewell Tour, is a must read), and an excellent source of current information. He has replaced Noam Chomsky as the person I go out of my way to listen to about politics, social injustice, etc.
Matt Taibbi is also pretty good as an information source.
- Ever since about the 1960's-1970's, it has been a slow, gradual frog boiling of American culture, institutions, government, community, and society. Look at all the neighbors and people in public who refuse or don't interact with each other. This was not the case 40 years ago. American socialization with strangers and neighbors was entirely different. Americans barely acknowledge the presence of one-another apart from pointing out microaggressions, espousing conspiracy theories, or berating someone for "how so stupid they are for believing X." At some point, if people don't need or want each other, and don't benefit from the presence of one another, it stops being a civilization and starts being a prison colony where the inmates look to escape.
Morris Berman discussed it to a degree in 2000.
Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam (2000) hinted to it. Heck, there are countries now with restaurants that cater to solo diners. That seems really depressing.
The late Chalmers Johnson predicted it convincingly in 2006 and during a few interviews.
America: The Farewell Tour by Chris Hedges (2018).
When America Stopped Being Great: A History of the Present by Nick Bryant (2021).
Most civilizations tend to last an average of 250 years until corruption and other factors causes their effective collapse. I think there is often a combined gradual decline and more sudden decline into effective collapse when civilizations lose their "critical mass" to maintain basic infrastructure and services. There are numerous failed states in the world that perpetually operate on the edge of this condition. Healthy civilizations needs lofty aspirations that don't lead to insolvency.
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-10/four-reasons-c...
- America was already in a long, slow decline for decades.
America: The Farewell Tour book by Chris Hedges
DECLINE of EMPIRES: The Signs of Decay (2003) video by Chalmers Johnson
- The simplified answer: the US is a late-stage civilization in gradual decline since either post-WW2 or about 1960.
The "frog" has been "boiling" slowly for a long time and is almost cooked.
See also:
- America: The Farewell Tour by Chris Hedges
- Chalmers Johnson's Decline of Empires: Signs of Decay https://youtu.be/Q2CCs-x9q9U
- The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon
- The Rise and Fall of the Great Empires by Taylor
- It's worth reviewing Chris Hedges' America: The Farewell Tour and the late Chalmers Johnson's prescient observations and predictions many years ago.
Related
The End of Jobs
2 recommend · 3
American Fascists
1 recommend · 4
End of the World Is Just the Beginning
19 recommend · 38
Death of the liberal class
1 recommend · 2
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
11 recommend · 18
The Closing of the American Mind
7 recommend · 32
Cadillac desert
recommend · 137
