The irony is that Chris Hedges is one of those who is in power when it comes to mass communication.

I mean “The Hurt Locker” starts with one of his quotes.

His many inches long screed is just a longer version of that bumper sticker that says “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”

As good as his prose is, his reasoning is horse shit.

The argument that what we all need to do is to get really angry and yell and take extra-political measures is what people gathered to joke about. Civil disobedience is useless and silly when it becomes a rebellion with out cause or good leader.

The phantom left that he refers to reminds us of a left that died but not because of the reasons he offers.

It died because the most clear and present examples of the left proved to be unsustainable. They were predicated on the idea that broad social needs can be met through group know-how without regard to entrepreneurial spirit.

It was shown over time that the political arena became the new bed for self-advancement (eg: purges) and the realm of production became fought over turf for the natterings of self-important tools (eg: quotas and steering committees).

I, for one, prefer the reverse.

I will take powerful companies over powerful politicians any day (nattering in congress and production fights left to giant, scary, multinationals).

This silly reduction that Hedges does repeatedly in this article make it laughable (but probably worth keeping for some cultural studies class).

This article is to political discourse what Geertz’s “Negara” was to social science. Its just pretty words and polished turds.

He really should be writing novels instead of doing political analysis.

Being a half-assed lefty Hunter Thompson is yesterday’s fad.