In the span of two years, Chris Hedges—formerly
a foreign correspondent for publications like The Christian Science
Monitor and the New York Times, currently a Princeton-based
columnist and a senior fellow at the Nation Institute—wrote two seemingly contradictory books on religion and
politics. American Fascists (2007) examined the similarities
between the present American Christian right and European fascism a
century ago; I Don’t Believe in Atheists (2008) compared the
overreaching secularity of some on the left to their Christian
fundamentalist counterparts.
It’s to Hedges’ credit that these apparent contradictions never came
to my mind when reading his previous books, nor his newest, Empire
of Illusion. Rather, this ability to observe from divergent
perspectives only bolsters his credibility as a journalist and author.
(My only objection to Empire of Illusion concerns his very few
references to “morality” and “values,” which muddy an otherwise lucid
and accurate commentary.)
Empire of Illusion is divided into five sections: “The
Illusion of Literacy” (investigating the damaging effects of
celebrity), “The Illusion of Love” (pornography), “The Illusion of
Wisdom” (“elite” educational institutions), “The Illusion of Happiness”
(the “power” of positive thinking), and “The Illusion of America”
(government and nationalism). All are part and parcel of an ascendant
rat’s nest fueled by a mainstream aversion to reality. Whether
examining the world of professional wrestling or corporate America’s
insistence that happiness stems from conformity, Hedges imparts that
ignoring “reality” begets self-destruction: “Cultures that cannot
distinguish between illusion and reality die. The dying gasps of all
empires, from the Aztecs to the ancient Romans to the French monarchy
and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, have been characterized by a
disconnect between the elites and reality.”
Platonic references are prevalent, as the unenlightened cave
denizens’ fixation on the “illusions” of reality provides a seamless
link to the book’s subject matter. Hedges reserves the most derision,
though, for those who lack self-awareness. It makes no difference that
he himself sought education at Harvard, which he criticizes as
perpetuating “blind deference to authority,” or that he condemns the
contemporary US war occupations while claiming not to be a pacifist.
The little hope there is in Empire of Illusion is reserved for
those of us who, like everyone else, adhere to the cult of illusion,
but do not yet bow down to the cult of the self.