One of the joys of these winter holiday days is the opportunity to do some catching up. Most days, I peruse the news and words about corporate greed and abuse of power penetrate my consciousness only as far as I can afford to allow them to. But the gift of time that these holydays give enable me to let the words touch me. Chris Hedges is a journalist whose work I respect. I regularly read his columns at “truthdig: drilling beneath the headlines”  I loaded is newest book: Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt onto my iPad several weeks ago, knowing that I could not afford to give it the time it deserved until now. Hedges ability to peer through the venire of so much political punditry   to expose the rotting underbelly of modern life is, dare I say it, prophetic. But prophets are dangerous because they move us beyond the dull passive acceptance of the headlines we are fed by the corporate media and compel us to question the status quo. As I read Hedges latest work, I find myself questioning what it means to be human.

“The book examines the impoverished lives of people and their communities “offered up in the name of profit” and forms of resistance. Hedges is a foreign correspondent, author, and part of the team of  New York Times reporters awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism. He has most recently been in the news for having sued the Obama administration for signing a law that, he and other activists and writers,  believe infringe on their first-amendment rights.”

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hedges, you will find in 3 parts a video of Hedges speaking about life and work.  The final video focusses on Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt which he wrote with graphic novelist Joe Sacco.