Book Review: Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
by Chris Hedges
This book is an unpleasant but necessary read. Even if one is not absorbed in any of the spectacles Chris Hedges presents, the significantly large percentage of the population that is in the grip of at least one of them is saddening—and scary. Hedges exposits in uncomfortable detail the manipulation and abuse of both producer and consumer involved in “pro” wrestling, pornography, college solely as corporate obedience training, false and shallow happiness cults, and an American exceptionalism that never existed outside of deceptive fantasy.
It is clear from the objective factual information presented that there is something very wrong with a situation in which so many people struggle to escape the torment of their predicaments, but find no escape available. Originally written in 2009, this book documents the long term and deep seated moral decay that has enabled charlatans to further prey on the poor and those with low self esteem. In reading this after the 2016 elections, it is also clear that Hedges was acutely prescient—the situation has actually worsened, and with the predictable increase in demagogy.
The solution Hedges presents for this dilemma may seem trite, but it’s soundly profound: The world needs more love—that is, not the pabulum of pop songs from the last mid-century, but seeing all fellow human beings in their full personhood and not as objects for one’s ego. It’s worth reading to get the full description of this.
In the audio book version, the narration gets a bit over dramatized for my taste—but the presence or absence of dramatization makes no difference in the substance of the words. In many respects, the anecdotes themselves are the substance.
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