America: The Farewell Tour Audiobook (Free)

Chris Hedges’s profound and provocative examination of America in problems is “an exceedingly…provocative publication, particular to arouse controversy, but supplying a perspective that should be heard” (Booklist), about how exactly bitter hopelessness and malaise have resulted in a culture of sadism and hate.

America, says Pulitzer Prize­–being successful reporter Chris Hedges, is convulsed by an array of pathologies which have arisen out of profound hopelessness, a bitter despair, and a civil society which has ceased about America: The Farewell Tour to function. The opioid problems; the retreat into gambling to handle economic stress; the pornification of tradition; the rise of magical thinking; the special event of sadism, hate, and plagues of suicides are the physical manifestations of a culture that is being ravaged by corporate and business pillage and a failed democracy. As our society unravels, we also encounter global upheaval caused by catastrophic climate change. All these ills presage a frightening reconfiguration of the nation and the earth.

Donald Trump rode this disenchantment to power. In his “forceful and immediate” (Web publishers Regular) America: The Farewell Tour, Hedges argues that neither politics party, today captured by corporate and business power, addresses the systemic issue. Until our corporate coup d’état is reversed these illnesses will grow and ravage the country. “With a trademark blend of…sharply noticed details, Hedges writes a requiem for the American desire” (Kirkus Reviews) and looks for to jolt us out of our complacency while there is still time.