"Hope is not comfortable or easy. Hope requires personal risk." -Chris Hedges

Elliot Adams in DC, December 16th

I saw Chris Hedges last August at the VFP convention. He was one of the main speakers. Actually it was mesmerizing . . . powerful. The problem was that it was like a good science fiction movie. It was done so well that it left you with a feeling of hopelessness and confusion. For me hopelessness is something I don't experience often. He left us with a message that things had gone too far . . . the state and the corporations had too much control. Our only hope would be to flee from the cities and build secure communities to protect ourselves from the effects extreme shortages that were right around the corner.

In spite of the clear and fated picture of doom he seemed to be forecasting, and in spite of my head spinning from his speech like the time I drank too many champagnes at a wedding 40 years ago, I couldn't accept his advice. Luckily there were many others who weren't buying his conclusion believed there was something we could do and needed to do.

I've read and listened to him often since then and his message seems different. Consistent . . . but different. It just took me a while to get it. Typically huge and powerful, it makes sense now. We are confronted by the same monsters, but he tells us how important it is to put our bodies on the line and confront the madness.

"Hope will only come now when we physically defy the violence of the state."

He was there in Washington, DC last December 16th and gave a moving speech, then found his place with 130 other men and women, most of them veterans, who were arrested in front of the White House demanding an end to the wars.

STOP THESE WARS:

On March 19, 2011, a broad coalition of U.S. military veterans consisting of members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, March Forward!, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace will gather at the White House in solidarity to demand peace. The veteran-led action will be supported by a large array of activist groups including ANSWER, Fellow ship of Reconciliation,CODEPINK, Voters for Peace, United for Peace and Justice,World Can’t Wait, Peace Action, United National Antiwar Committee, and the War Resisters League.

Details of the March 19th gathering