About book Days Of Destruction, Days Of Revolt (2012)
A powerful indictment. Hedges and graphic novelist Joe Sacco profile four of the most beat-up places in America: Camden, N.J.; the farm-migrant country of Florida; the Pine Ridge Reservation, and the strip-mine coal country of West Virginia — all scenes of terrible exploitation. Hedges is an unsubtle writer, which is a weakness, inviting a reader's impatience, but it's also a strength, because by the time he is done, we are almost as angry as he is. His target is free-market capitalism and its stranglehold on our politics, and how, in the name of profits, we have allowed native cultures to die, and natural landscapes and thriving cities to wither.As a former Philadelphia Inquirer writer, I found the chapter on Camden especially compelling, for we see the political boss George Norris presented as a kind of power-vampire, enriching himself at the direct expense of Camden's poor — the same Norris who very recently was an Inquirer co-owner and came very close to owning the Inquirer all by himself. In each chapter, Sacco presents an illustrated biography of an individual who is old enough to remember when life was good, only to see the factories close, the coal-mining dust choke the life out of the rural town, the drugs, gangs and alcohol take over. This extremely damning portrait of modern America tries to end on a hopeful note, with the rise of the Occupy movement. But where is that movement now? Would have rated higher if half marks were available. Acceptable historic information although clearly from one perspective. Clearly an exercise in confirmation bias and that is acceptable as long as all parties understand what it is. Be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water being led myopically by emotion and hatred of the evil empire. A possible balance might be Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey and Raj Sisodia.
Do You like book Days Of Destruction, Days Of Revolt (2012)?
A must read. Loved the graphic component to this.
—dmrbankston
Content was good, but the delivery wasn't for me.
—collaredgirl65
