by

The Disease of Permanent War by Chris Hedges

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
May 18, 2009

The embrace by any society of permanent war is a parasite that devours the heart and soul of a nation. Permanent war extinguishes liberal, democratic movements. It turns culture into nationalist cant. It degrades and corrupts education and the media, and wrecks the economy. The liberal, democratic forces, tasked with maintaining an open society, become impotent. The collapse of liberalism, whether in imperial Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Weimar Germany, ushers in an age of moral nihilism. This moral nihilism comes is many colors and hues. It rants and thunders in a variety of slogans, languages and ideologies. It can manifest itself in fascist salutes, communist show trials or Christian crusades. It is, at its core, all the same. It is the crude, terrifying tirade of mediocrities who find their identities and power in the perpetuation of permanent war.

[…]

via Truthdig

Copyright © 2009 Truthdig

Chris Hedges, who is an Arabic speaker and spent seven years in the Middle East, was the Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times.

see

Becoming What We Seek to Destroy by Chris Hedges

America Is in Need of a Moral Bailout by Chris Hedges

The Looming Collapse of the American Empire by Chris Hedges

12 thoughts on “The Disease of Permanent War by Chris Hedges”

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  10. As an elderly widow, not really ill,but working to keep myself reasonably well, I became interested in politics through the C-Span TV stations and the Internet. I am much,much more than pleased to find Hedges’ articles. He “covers” the war, not as a kind of horse race, as our elections are usually covered by the media, but as the hugely human and political crisis it always is.

    I’ve been thinking there must be a covert conspiracy somewhere pulling the strings of our leaders, but at the same time knowing I must be completely wrong or worse–a little touched. I’m accepting this permanent war disease as an explanation for my crazy thinking. We should be all taking heed

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