Chris Hedges' Empire of Illusion | The New School (1hr 22min)

[JohnyCanuck]

Run time: 82:23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EpeF1fcji0   Posted on YouTube: December 16, 2009 By YouTube Member: thenewschoolnyc Views on YouTube: 35487   Posted on DU: April 03, 2011 By DU Member: JohnyCanuck Views on DU: 363

 
Journalist Chris Hedges discusses his recent book Empire of Illusion: the End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. In it, he charts the dramatic rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy, and illusion. Hedges argues we now live in two societies: one, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world and can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth; the other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic where serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins.