In this interview by Elias Isquith in Salon, Chris Hedges speaks about his conviction about the coming revolution:
It’s with us already, but with this caveat: it is what Gramsci calls interregnum, this period where the ideas that buttress the old ruling elite no longer hold sway, but we haven’t articulated something to take its place.
That’s what that essay I quote by Alexander Berkman, “The Invisible Revolution,” talks about. He likens it to a pot that’s beginning to boil. So it’s already taking place, although it’s subterranean. And the facade of power — both the physical facade of power and the ideological facade of power — appears to remain intact. But it has less and less credibility.
There are all sorts of neutral indicators that show that. Low voter turnout, the fact that Congress has an approval rating of 7 percent, that polls continually reflect a kind of pessimism about where we are going, that many of the major systems that have been set in place — especially in terms of internal security — have no popularity at all.
All of these are indicators that something is seriously wrong, that the government is no longer responding to the most basic concerns, needs, and rights of the citizenry. That is [true for the] left and right. But what’s going to take it’s place, that has not been articulated. Yes, we are in a revolutionary moment; but maybe it’s a better way to describe it as a revolutionary process.
Read on below and we will talk about this.
No one who is aware of what is happening day by day should be surprised by or even in disagreement with this. True the system grinds on as if nothing is happening, but given the nature of the system what else can it do?
Meanwhile, within the system we have things beginning to bubble. Bernie Sanders' campaign is but one although a significant one. Our country has had socialists run in elections before and many times. They brought reaction but little change.
FDR was able to use the electoral process to bring about some significant and needed changes that helped the system survive to become what it is now. But as time goes on the accumulation of consequences has made it clear that it can not go on much longer.
Hedges will not speculate whether it will go right or left but he does point to the obvious weaknesses on the left. He also discusses the past events where the outcome was always less that certain even though change was inevitable.
As I am almost 80 I have a different perspective than the young. First of all, my abilities are limited as are my resources. Secondly, I will not be around to see much of what will transpire.
My own assessment of the left in this country is not that different from his:
If things unravel [in the U.S.], our backlash may very well be a rightwing backlash — a very frightening rightwing backlash. We who care about populist movements [on the left] are very weak, because in the name of anti-communism these movements have been destroyed; we are almost trying to rebuild them from scratch. We don’t even have the language to describe the class warfare that is being unleashed upon us by this tiny, rapacious, oligarchic elite. But we on the left are very disorganized, unfocused, and without resources.
I would add that we are pretty much without ideas. Oh yes, you can read the thousands of diaries here and easily come to that conclusion. If you read the comments then it is even more clear.
I have some small basis for comparison. I was a leader in the movement in the 1960s and 1970s. We did a lot of activism. We built "parallel institutions". We had an alternative press in stead of the internet, but so far the things we studied and cared about seemed far more substantial in terms of heir use of history and the ideas of those who came before than what I see now.
There is a lot of stuff going on now and Hedges and I both are encouraged by them. Yet when I think about what is needed, I see a large gap. Not only that, but the degradation that has happened to institutions has even more so affected the intellectual life of the people. The influences of the media and the internet have taken a toll. The discussions here reflect that.
Nevertheless, the times they are achangin' and you really don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.
2:29 PM PT: wow! I went to cook and eat dinner and you came to rec this. thanks!