Weekend Economists Go Out with a Boom August 24-26, 2012

[Ghost Dog]

36. Chris Hedges on 'Empire of Illusion' and a Vignette of The Fall of Berlin 1945

... I came across a nice, compact interview with Chris Hedges which illuminates his thesis of the decline of the American Empire and the illusions and the end of rational thinking that accompanies it. Empires seem to give off quite a bit of flash in their latter stages, rather like the last gasp of a dying star.

The interviewer does a particularly nice job of drawing Hedges out.

I would like to add an observation I made in thinking further this afternoon about the Sophie Scholl piece I put up earlier this morning. There is something about gardening that focuses the mind.

...


This is an almost perfect illustration of the credibility trap. One cannot allow the illusion to falter, even a little, to the bitter end. And as the fraud fades, the force intensifies, becoming almost rabid. Because that illusion has become the center of a hollowed person's being, their raison d'être, and mythological justification.

If the ideology had been a lie, then they are not heroes and gods on earth, but monsters and criminals, and their life has been meaningless, without credibility and honor.

/... http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com.es/