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Death of the Liberal Class Paperback – November 29, 2011

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For decades the liberal class was a defense against the worst excesses of power. But the pillars of the liberal class -- the press, universities, the labor movement, the Democratic Party, and liberal religious institutions -- have collapsed. In its absence, the poor, the working class, and even the middle class no longer have a champion.

In this searing polemic Chris Hedges indicts liberal institutions, including his former employer, the New York Times, who have distorted their basic beliefs in order to support unfettered capitalism, the national security state, globalization, and staggering income inequalities. Hedges argues that the death of the liberal class created a profound vacuum at the heart of American political life. And now speculators, war profiteers, and demagogues -- from militias to the Tea Party -- are filling the void.

Print length

258 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Nation Books
Publication date

November 29, 2011
Grade level

11 and up
Reading age

13 years and up
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.65 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

1568586795
ISBN-13

978-1568586793
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He spent nearly two decades as a correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans, with fifteen years at the New York Times. He is the author of numerous bestselling books, including Empire of Illusion; Death of the Liberal Class; War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning; and Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, which he co-wrote with Joe Sacco. He writes a weekly column for the online magazine Truthdig. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Nation Books; First Trade Paper Edition (November 29, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 258 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1568586795
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1568586793
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 11 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.65 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #406,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,111 in Economic History (Books)
- #1,170 in Political Conservatism & Liberalism
- #2,608 in History & Theory of Politics

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297 ratings

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Chris Hedges

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Chris Hedges is a cultural critic and author who was a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades for The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio. He reported from Latin American, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He was a member of the team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for The New York Times coverage of global terrorism, and he received the 2002 Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. Hedges, who holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, is the author of the bestsellers American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle and was a National Book Critics Circle finalist for his book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. He is a Senior Fellow at The Nation Institute and writes an online column for the web site Truthdig. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University and the University of Toronto.

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Joseph William Marek

This book is highly recommended!

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

You can search YouTube for Hedges' many appearances. Hedges maintains that the age of Liberalism (we would call it Progressivism today) flourished in the late 18th and early 20th centuries, but did not last long past World War Two; and that everything since then has been pandering to the corporate elite. I can’t say that I disagree with him. When he says that the Left has punked out (my choice of words, not his) and become lapdogs of the establishment, I can’t say that I disagree with him there either. His rant against Permanent War is absolutely brilliant (and it includes so many other topics). Hedges has a great respect for Noam Chomsky, and so do I. The portrait of war profiteering that is painted in this chapter is just horrendous. He moves on to discuss the creation (or growth) of government Propaganda during World War One. I have to admit I didn’t know it was this bad, or this all-pervasive. It has never ended, and has only gotten worse. He also discusses how radical, issue-driven theater had to kowtow to the government and big donors. Sad! ... The tale of all the blacklisted writers and performers is equally sad. I had not previously realized the extent of this tragedy; and he also covers how radical writers and artists were disenfranchised by the government and the moneyed classes. He devotes several pages to the cover-up of the murder of Palestinians by Israeli forces. Such atrocities must not be forgotten! When he moves on to a discussion of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X – well, let’s just say that the writing gets better and batter. Sometimes I worry that I don’t fully understand Hedges’ complaints, but that’s my fault, not his. I may be slow on the uptake, but I finally understand Hedges’ definition of “Liberal”. It is someone who cares, and it is someone who does something about it! This book is highly recommended!

6 people found this helpful

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todd french

Exaggerated and unsupported by any evidence

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2019

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I enjoy Hedges and his Youtube talks but was quite astounded that he would willingly publish this rambling, unreadable polemic. This is full of all of the worst logical fallacies and exaggerated assertions. First, he makes constant gloom and doom claims about the country, unsupported by any fact checking or footnotes. These unsubstantiated and often unrelated attacks on everyone (supposed liberals of some sort) are phrased in the most apocalyptic and rambling prose. He uses the straw man tactic to paint a picture of some kind of neoliberal cabal that has repeatedly betrayed the few loyal liberals who seem to include only Hedges and Noam Chomsky. I guess I am old fashioned: good writing shows forethought and a solid grounding in fact or experience. I can't figure out where this is trying to lead. I call myself liberal but wonder after reading what I could wade through in this rambling mess.

15 people found this helpful

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avid readress

Hedges is a valuable intellect in these dark times. ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2017

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Hedges is a valuable intellect in these dark times. His writing (and speaking) is riveting and important. He introduces the reader to other intellectuals and ideas that add even more to the conversation. This is conversational and engaging reading and to amplify another reviewer, I not only learn something every time I read Hedges, but his writing helps me make sense of the world. It may be unsettling reading at times, but so is that foreboding feeling when you know things are very wrong, but you can't quite find the words to truly explain and describe those ills.or their origins.

18 people found this helpful

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wsmrer

Beware

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2013

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Beware

Reading this work by Chris Hedges is like having a dear, close, trusted even admired friend who seems so sad and you say "Tell me what is troubling you."
You may wish you had not posed the question, for your world view will never be as before.

Hedges contrast Truth and Justice against Power and Influence and shows the two camps do not coexist. You will be asked to choose a side and live and work there. You may not wish to make that choice. If so, do not read this book, it's a powerful piece.

"... liberal principles were egregiously betrayed to protect careers, to preserve access to the powerful. Liberals conceded too much to the power elite.

"The tragedy of the liberal class and the institutions it controls is that it succumbed to opportunism and finally to fear. It abrogated its moral role. It did not defy corporate abuse when it had the chance. It exiled those within its ranks who did. And the defanging of the liberal class not only removed all barriers to neofeudalism and corporate abuse but also ensured that the liberal class will, in its turn, be swept aside."

`The future is not bright' is a growing awareness that has its roots in many sectors of society today, and while causes mount in abundance saviors may be a long time in coming. Down into the dark tunnel and hope light will appear in time.

OK, but it is a great work and puts words and reasons behind the story of our times. Backing up at least to Woodrow Wilson's, where others might have chosen a more recent period as a turning point, the author unraveled a sad tale. Chris Hedges does mark the election of "Reagan, the corporate pitchman" as a point for acceleration into the following decades of corporate control of all branches of society; media, journalism, academia, government, religion and even art.

Perhaps the bright light is that Hedges lays one root cause as being the liberal classes' acceptance of the permanent war establishment and its propaganda successes from the Wilson era on. A time could come when that is finally viewed as too foolish to support any longer. Let's hope -- not likely is it?

Suffer if you must, but do not miss this seminal work from the Conscience of Our Time Chris Hedges. He is a master at answering the many requests for "why", Verifiable facts.

30 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Pizzaro

Alarmingly incisive; 100% free from cliches

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2011

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This book is superbly informed and gripping to read. Be sure to read the opening pages that are offered by Amazon.com, pages 1-5. It seems at first to be the account of just one sincere, dislocated American, but his case is not an isolated one. It profiles a growing legion of disaffected Americans who comprise a potentially explosive sector of the population. These people feel betrayed and angry because they've been plowed under by corporate greed and abandoned by the political parties who have forsaken them. The specifics of their lives differ, but they are united in being cut loose from a fair chance at a decent life. These people are boxed in without hope because of the decades-long abdication of principled actors and reformers in American political life. Now the chickens have come home to roost. Corporations have taken over and now the extent of the cancer is plain. The villians are liberals whose nature was to be co-opted by the system, the liberals who found it was a short journey from the anti-war demonstration to the grant application, the liberals who always sold out the American radicals when the going got tough. Now the liberals find themselves all but destroyed as a result of their collusion and co-optation. The beneficiaries of liberal default are the corporations who cannot see beyond their balance sheets and are destroying America.

All the casualties are represented by the desperate, idealistic man in the first 5 pages of the book. We are not talking immigrants or minorities here, but loads of native-born caucasian Americans, some of whom are war veterans. They feel betrayed, perplexed and at the end of their tether. As Noam Chomsky says later in the book, these people who often appear on talk radio and say, "I'm a God-fearing, responsible citizen. I love my country. I've worked hard all my life. I'm not asking for a handout. I'm fed up with the unresponsiveness of political parties and finding no opportunities available. I'm angry and I've got a gun. I don't know what to do." The seeds for fascism and nihilism in America are here.

The account is lucidly presented and scary. The steam boiler of chaos is being stoked by politicians who are in the pocket of corporations and the Americans who are excluded as a result. The corporations are either blind to this, or will find a way to use this tide of potential chaos for their own purposes.

98% of the book analyzes how this developed. It's an extended exposition of how corporate influence co-opted political responsibility. It is cliche-free, concise, fresh and brisk in its treatment. It is not a rehash of tired partisan diatribes. The final two chapters chart a way out. It's enormously ominous and significant.

42 people found this helpful

Ade in the zone

Another good book from Mr Hedges

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

the author goes into good detail describing how the Liberal class gradually disappeared from the usa

Ron

Not that im conservative...

Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2020

Verified Purchase

Totally the opposite. So, yeah, liberalism is sold out, defeated and broken. This book is a pretty good argument for going far left. Chris hedges: one of americas best journailsts. Says something that hes on rt. I mean, i dont know what...

Ronald W. Maron

"We have met the enemy and he is us.".....Pogo

Reviewed in Canada on February 16, 2011

Verified Purchase

Like the proverbial frog that finds himself in the pot of ever hotter water, we, too, have become oblivious to the increase in decadence and corruption in our daily lives. The decrease in the compassion for all others, the ever increasing gross materialism, the spread of narcissism throughout our culture and the holding on to the misnomer of "American exceptionalism" has engulfed us without us even being aware of the change.

In a style of reporting that even Howard Zinn would approve of, Chris Hedges clearly lays out the road map of where we, as a passionate country, began and where we are now; a nation that looks down on the less fortunate as being less than human, a nation that treasures the 'sacred' words of Limbaugh and Beck, a nation that professes its Christianity in every poll but behave as if the Crusades have never ended, a nation that has taken the concept of freedom of speech and stretched it into the prevalence of hate speech, a country that feels that the 2nd amendment was meant to arm the Conservatives against the Liberals, and, finally, a country that answers the question of "Am I my brother's keeper?" with a resounding "NO!".

While some may view the author's determination as being caused by a 'sour grapes' attitude developed towards the New York Times, I do not. I see this book as a last ditch plea for the American public to come to attention, become informed and to begin to take action against the past three decades of corporate take-overs. For as the author states, if we do not do so very quickly as a country, all we have left to do is to simply and selfishly save ourselves from the morass that envelopes the country.

11 people found this helpful

Fred

Future Guide

Reviewed in Canada on January 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

Chris presents and truly eye-opening insight into the current political state of western democracies and in particular the failure of liberals to act as they should have as an opposition to neo-liberalism and corporatocracy. The revolution when it comes will ironically come from the right.

One person found this helpful

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