What luck for the rulers that men do not think

Chris Hedges, who is an American journalist, author, and war correspondent, does a remarkable job of pinpointing exactly how the country ended up at this juncture. In his essay, Hedges reveals a truth that many on the left will find profoundly unsettling, but will be unable to effectively counter. In effect, what Hedges is saying is that the collapse of liberalism is to blame for the extreme candidates, and violent rhetoric, that currently infect our political system. Or, to be more precise, liberals allowed themselves to be Co-Opted by the corporate state and, in the process, betrayed the tens of millions of working-class and middle-class voters who made up their constituency.

Now, many of those same voters are angry at what they correctly view as their abandonment by the leaders, and the party, that once championed their cause. Decades of outsourcing, union-busting, and deregulation have combined to shred the social contract that kept the peace between labor and capital. The right is poised to capitalize on this situation in a big way, despite the fact that their policies are even more unfair to those disenfranchised by the current system. The result of this is not pretty.

Liberals seem weak and ineffectual, while the right offers up simplistic remedies peddled by demagogues who at least seem to understand, and share, the sense of betrayal and anger felt by so many. Both major parties have colluded to create this disastrous state of affairs, and the day of reckoning is coming. The situation that now exists practically cries out for a strong leader who will sweep aside all the useless politicians, along with our democratic institutions. I predict resistance will be scant. In fact, the leader will most likely be elected in a democratic election. Possibly the last one we'll see for a long time.