Chris Hedges is an award-winning American author, journalist and teacher and an outspoken critic of globalization, war and U.S. foreign policy. Speaking at the Veterans for Peace 25th anniversary convention in Portland, Maine in August, Hedges presented a wide ranging analysis on the rise of totalitarianism in the United States and the need for sustained, creative and nonviolent resistance. While his focus, understandably, was on the United States, there are numerous insights for peace activists in Canada and elsewhere.
Hedges writes a weekly column for Truthdig. His most recent book is entitled “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.”