Quote:
Originally Posted by Greco
Chris Hedges Best Speech In 2018
Critical thinking...remember?
Greco...
Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956) is an American journalist, Presbyterian minister, and visiting Princeton University lecturer. His books include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction; Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (2009);Death of the Liberal Class (2010); Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (2012), written with cartoonist Joe Sacco, which was a The New York Times best-seller; and his most recent Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt (2015). 'America, The Farewell Tour' (2018)
Hedges is a columnist for the progressive news and commentary website Truthdig.He is also a host for the television program On Contact on RT. Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, West Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, NPR, Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times, where he was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years (1990–2005).
In 2001, Hedges contributed to The New York Times staff entry that received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for the paper's coverage of global terrorism. He also received the Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism in 2002.He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, the University of Toronto and Princeton University, where he is a visiting lecturer in African American studies.
Hedges has taught college credit courses for several years in New Jersey prisons. He teaches a course through Princeton University in which the class is composed of half prisoners and half Princeton undergraduates.He has described himself as a socialist and more specifically as a Christian anarchist,identifying with Catholic activist Dorothy Day in particular.
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I listened to his talk (up to 43 min. of it - had other things to do, so did not listen to the Q&A with interviewer), and I must say, while I have also seen many of the things that Hedges talked about, he leaves untouched the entire subject of
"beliefs" per se, of which he himself is part of - being an ordained minister - and, insofar as I am concerned, also part of the problem, if not the entire part of the problem -
beliefs in themselves
belie "the present". Critical thinking of outward circumstances (for those of us that do have a mind) is relatively easy. The miracle happens when one questions one's own mindset.
There is also the problem that never in his talk, and I am saying this most respectfully, did he in any way talk about solutions. The buck always stops with the person holding the buck, right? His entire life is always, as most Americans would agree, supported by his belief system and the American system validates and encourages having beliefs, which in itself - in his case - validates his lifestyle and choices, being an ordained minister. Just my two little cents...
If one throws a pebble into a pond, there are always ripples. But, when one throws a pebble into one's own pond, it is only then that it has an effect on the entire pond. Until that is done, no amount of words - however truthful - will alter the movement and in the case of the American trend - stagnation of the pond. We have all seen this wilful blindness to this even from the beginnings of the understanding gleaned from Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" up to Al Gore's attempt to awaken some intelligence. I am saying this since I have seen that the human brain is connected to all other brains. I do feel and think that true change cannot come about outwardly, but must begin with oneself. Until that is done, I must state quite emphatically that the movement of the pond (of the course and meandering of the stream) of history will continue its abysmal downward spiral.
Always, I must say, thanks for putting up posts of intelligent talks, and always food for
reflection. [One of the meanings of the word
"meditation" derives from its origin - the
Sanskrit word
"ma", which literally means, thinking, pondering, considering,
reflecting... -
the reflection of oneself in that very pond being a key meaning - among its other meanings... something which btw is not mentioned to people who profess to be studying meditation.]
Best regards, Charley