at no period in american history has our democracy been in such peril or has the possibility of totalitarianism been as real. our way of life is over. our profligate consumption is finished. our children will never have the standard of living we had. and poverty and despair will sweep across the landscape like a plague. this is the bleak future. there is nothing president obama can do to stop it. It has been decades in the making. it cannot be undone with a trillion or two trillion dollars in bailout money. our empire is dying. our economy has collapsed.
how will we cope with our decline? will we cling to the absurd dreams of a superpower and a glorious tomorrow or will we responsibly face our stark new limitations? will we heed those who are sober and rational, those who speak of a new simplicity and humility, or will we follow the demagogues and charlatans who rise up out of the slime in moments of crisis to offer fantastic visions? will we radically transform our system to one that protects the ordinary citizen and fosters the common good, that defies the corporate state, or will we employ the brutality and technology of our internal security and surveillance apparatus to crush all dissent? we won’t have to wait long to find out... // chris hedges, 02.02.09, truthdig
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