Empire Of Illusion: The End Of Literacy And The Triumph Of Spectacle

“Those who were once born with the virus of inherent evil, the Russian communist or the Iranian, now become evil for a reason. It is not their fault. They are victims. Self-pity is the driving motive in life.”

According to Hedges, the narratives behind professional wrestling matches change to reflect the times. While in the past, wrestling reflected concerns regarding international politics, Hedges argues that contemporary wrestling matches reflect more personal and domestic concerns.

“Wrestling operates from the popular (and often inarguable) assumption that those in authority are sleazy.”

One of Hedges’ main tasks in Chapter 1 is to draw parallels between what happens in the wrestling ring and what happens in the lives of real Americans. Here, Hedges suggests that neither authority figures in the wrestling nor leaders in society are trustworthy nor are they accountable.

“We risk being the first people in history to have been able to make their illusions so vivid, so persuasive, so ‘realistic’ that they can live in them. We are the most illusioned people on earth.”

While the American preference for fantasy grows, the technologies and techniques with which Americans can pander to those fantasies improve. The result is a mutually reinforcing system in which the entire country continues to move further away from reality.

“If Jesus and The Purpose Driven Life won’t make us a celebrity, then Tony Robbins or positive psychologists or reality television will. We are waiting for our cue to walk onstage and be admired and envied, to become known and celebrated.”

In contemporary America, religion and faith, as represented here by the mention of Jesus and The Purpose Driven Life, a bible study book, are replaced by positive psychology and reality television. According to Hedges, all these options can be used as vehicles by individuals driven by a shallow desire to be in the spotlight.

“The camera has created a culture of celebrity; the computer is creating a culture of connectivity.”

Hedges credits critic William Deresiewicz with the notion that the cultures of connectivity and celebrity express the same impulse to be seen. Visibility, Deresiewicz argues, is the most important value in contemporary society.

“This cult of distraction, as Rojek points out, masks the real disintegration of culture.”

Here, Hedges cites Chris Rojek, a professor of sociology and culture at Brunel University in West London and the author of Celebrity (2001). The United States is afflicted with many problems, but one of the largest is the fact that most citizens remain passive in the face of national decline. Hedges returns to this theme many times throughout Empire of Illusion.

“We are a culture that has been denied, or has passively given up, the linguistic and intellectual tools to cope with complexity, to separate illusion from reality. We have traded the printed word for the gleaming image.”

In Chapter 1, titled “The Illusion of Literacy,” Hedges discusses the pernicious effects of celebrity culture, but his underlying message concerns the national decline in literacy. Celebrity culture, Hedges argues, is a consequence of the country’s turning away from the written word in favor of images and pictures.

“She had been promised $1,000 for her first film. She was handed $600 when the scene was done. She also contracted gonorrhea.”

The compact, wry language used in this quote exemplifies the tone Hedges uses in his chapter on pornography. Hedges tackles graphic details with frankness and irony, which mitigates the shocking nature of the topic while also emphasizing the cold ruthlessness of the porn industry.

“Porn destroys intimacy. I can always tell if a man is a porn addict. They’re shut down. They can’t look me in the eyes. They can’t be intimate.”

Chapter 2 features many firsthand accounts of the effects of pornography on individual lives, delivered mostly by those who have worked in the porn industry as actresses. In this passage, an actress reflects not only on the effect porn has had on her life, but on the effect it has on others. 

“The Las Vegas Strip is a monument to our nation’s cult of eternal childishness. It plays off of our fear of growing up.”

Chapter 2 includes an extended reflection on the parallels between pornography, Las Vegas, and the character of the United States. In each case, willful immaturity and superficiality are contributing factors.

“The Abu Ghraib images that were released, and the hundreds more disturbing images that remain classified, could be stills from porn films.”

Hedges claims that both porn and torture deny a person their humanity, and therefore, they exist along the same spectrum. The cruelty and violence of torture against a backdrop of sex makes both participants in the porn industry and consumers of porn highly vulnerable.

“‘The main thing going around now is crystal meth, cocaine, and heroin,’ Meza says. ‘You have to numb yourself to go on set. The more you work, the more you have to numb yourself.’”

Most pornography actresses depend on illegal substances in order to cope with the brutal working conditions on set. Hedges includes this detail as yet another example of the dehumanizing nature of pornography.

“The language, abuse, and moral bankruptcy of porn shape and mold popular culture. And there is a direct line from the heartlessness and usury of the culture of porn to the hookup parties on college campuses, in which young men and women get hammered, have sex, and do not speak to each other again.”

Hedges links the sexual detachment that characterizes the viewing of porn to the casual sex that takes place between young Americans across the nation. Pornography is not an isolated phenomenon, and according to Hedges, more worrying is the fact that pornography is part of a larger trend in American society.

“All political instruction finally should be centered upon the idea that Auschwitz should never happen again.”

Hedges cites Theodor Adorno as one of many thinkers who believe that a separation of power and morality can lead to dangerous consequences, like the Holocaust. In Chapter 3, Hedges focuses on the separation of power and morality in the higher education institutions.

“The system is stacked against those who do not have parents with incomes and educations to play the game.”

While many higher education institutions tout themselves as diverse institutions, most colleges and universities admit students who come from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Practices like legacy preferences, for example, ensure that students who come from low-income families with fewer connections have less opportunities than those with a privileged family history.

“A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between morality and power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails to understand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speed or ability to consume, condemns itself to death.”

This line compresses the ideas detailed in Chapter 3 and emphasizes the inherent need for structural reform. Hedges proposes that American culture promotes elitist thinking, which systematically undermines the country’s integrity.

“‘The deeper and more pervasive an individual’s positive illusions,’ writes Jopling, ‘the greater their effect of diminishing his range of awareness of himself, other people, and the situation confronting him.’”

Americans who submit to the techniques of positive psychology allow corporations that are indifferent to their wellbeing to be in control. Positive psychology also limits the abilities of individuals to connect to their authentic selves and to each other. The consequences of this disconnection are profound and far-reaching.

“Thanks for helping me understand that. You know, I’d like you to have as much time as you want for the things that interest you. At the same time, I’ve also noticed that when you stay up after nine on school nights, you’re tired the next morning. Do you hear what my concern is?”

Hedges includes a dialogue between a parent and a child to demonstrate the unrealistic nature of positive psychology. In this passage, a parent convinces a child to go to bed by seeing things from the child’s point of view; Hedges believes this approach is not effective.

“The promotion of collective harmony, under the guise of achieving happiness, is simply another carefully designed mechanism for conformity. Positive psychology is about banishing criticism and molding a group into a weak and malleable unit that will take orders.”

Hedges states his thoughts regarding the relationship between positive psychology and corporate manipulation in this passage. The more susceptible a group to conformity, the more likely a corporation can mold them into exactly the consumer the corporation wants.

“The dying gasps of all empires, from the Aztecs to the ancient Romans to the French monarchy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, have been characterized by a disconnect between the elites and reality.”

Hedges aims to contextualize America’s current challenges by reminding readers that many once-powerful societies throughout history have faltered and failed. In fact, the ends of those societies were brought on by the same disconnect from reality that characterizes America today.

“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 in moments of crisis and panic to offer fantastic visions of escape?”

Hedges outlines two possible ways forward for the country. Though Hedges is an advocate for directly confronting crisis with humility and rationality, he is aware that the visions of escape are appealing.

“The cost of our empire of illusion is not being paid for by the corporate titans. It is being paid on the streets of our inner cities, in former manufacturing towns, and in depressed rural enclaves.”

One of the running themes throughout Empire of Illusion involves the impunity of the corporate executives responsible for the economic recession. From the first chapter to the last, Hedges reminds readers that those in charge of elite and corporate institutions will not be the ones who create lasting societal change that benefits all citizens.

“We eat corporate food. We buy corporate clothes. We drive in corporate cars. We buy our fuel from corporations.”

This quote demonstrates the ubiquity of corporations in America. As long as corporations provide all of our goods and services, they are directly responsible for many of the country’s environmental, political, and economic problems as a deeply entrenched part of society.