Chris Hedges

USA America destroy health justice knowledge freedom economy

“We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy.”

― Chris Hedges

violence disease corrupt

“Violence is a disease, a disease that corrupts all who use it regardless of the cause.”

― Chris Hedges

atrocity power privilege

“There are always people willing to commit unspeakable human atrocity in exchange for a little power and privilege.”

― Chris Hedges

corporation marx Adam Smith exploit pollute kill money power

“We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill, and lie to make money. They throw poor people out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars for profit, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, plunder the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women. They worship money and power.”

― Chris Hedges

poor people color street contractor jail revenue profit

"Poor people, especially those of color, are worth nothing to corporations and private contractors if they are on the street. In jail and prisons, however, they can each generate corporate revenues of $30,000 to $40,000 a year."

― Chris Hedges

cult self kill USA psychopath

"It is the cult of self that is killing the United States. This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm, grandiosity and self-importance ; a need for constant stimulation; a penchant for lying, deception and manipulation; and the incapacity for remorse or guilt."

― Chris Hedges

outcast stranger country self befall resist nation blind

"It is better to be an outcast, a stranger in one’s own country, than an outcast from one’s self. It is better to see what is about to befall us and to resist than to retreat into the fantasies embraced by a nation of the blind."

― Chris Hedges

corporation profit war military fear

"The corporations that profit from permanent war need us to be afraid. Fear stops us from objecting to government spending on a bloated military. Fear means we will not ask unpleasant questions of those in power. Fear permits the government to operate in secret. Fear means we are willing to give up our rights and liberties for promises of security. The imposition of fear ensures that the corporations that wrecked the country cannot be challenged. Fear keeps us penned in like livestock."

― Chris Hedges

principles power privilege truth justice

"There are two sets of principles. They are the principles of power and privilege and the principles of truth and justice. If you pursue truth and justice it will always mean a diminution of power and privilege. If you pursue power and privilege, it will always be at the expense of truth and justice."

― Chris Hedges

imaginary virtual world corporation profir deception

“We live in imaginary, virtual worlds created by corporations that profit from our deception.”

― Chris Hedges

society detect lie theft squander liberty freedom

“A society without the means to detect lies and theft soon squanders its liberty and freedom.”

― Chris Hedges

education training success think critically challenge money

"We've bought into the idea that education is about training and "success," defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers. A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death."

― Chris Hedges

capitalism unfettered revolutionary force consume lives

“Unfettered capitalism is a revolutionary force that consumes greater and greater numbers of human lives until it finally consumes itself.”

― Chris Hedges

corporate control intellectual power

“It is one of the great ironies of corporate control that the corporate state needs the abilities of intellectuals to maintain power, yet outside of this role it refuses to permit intellectuals to think or function independently.”

― Chris Hedges

rebel spiritual death

“if we don’t rebel, if we’re not physically in an active rebellion, then it’s spiritual death.”

― Chris Hedges

violence subjugation Palestine Iraq Afghanistan

“The violent subjugation of the Palestinians, Iraqis, and Afghans will only ensure that those who oppose us will increasingly speak to us in the language we speak to them—violence.”

― Chris Hedges

danger believer atheist guise religion science human nature

“The greatest danger that besets us does not come from believers or atheists; it comes from those who, under the guise of religion, science or reason, imagine that we can free ourselves from the limitations of human nature and perfect the human species.”

― Chris Hedges

totalitarism invert corporate democracy patriotism manipul

“Inverted totalitarianism, unlike classical totalitarianism, does not revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader. It finds expression in the anonymity of the Corporate State. It purports to cherish democracy, patriotism, and the Constitution while manipulating internal levers.”

― Chris Hedges