Do we have a political writer in Britain to match Chris Hedges?
I’ve just finished Death Of The Liberal Class and, as much as I’ve made notes and highlighted passages in the text, I know this is a book that will reward repeated reading.
The same can be said of the other books by Hedges I’ve read, including his latest, Wages Of Rebellion.
What makes Hedges unique is his combination of journalistic flair and experience, his wide reading, his perceptive analysis, and a prose rooted in a moral tradition that stems from his training as a minister. He doesn’t just write, he bears witness. This makes for powerful writing and persuasive argument.
The late and wonderful Tony Judt — and especially in his Ill Fares The Land — is the only British writer to match Hedges in the depth of his analysis and his moral outrage at the iniquities of neoliberal crimes. Judt lived in the States for many years before his death and was, in almost every way, an American by then but his roots were in the UK and I claim him for this side of the Atlantic because I’m struggling to find another suitable candidate.
Paul Mason? Owen Jones? Good writers both and with good and important books to their name. The difference, however, is that Hedges has a wider view; when describing pernicious policies and economic doctrine, he’s able to nail the context, expose the historical echoes, and find suitable references to quote.
Reading Hedges is an education in the savage underbelly of US politics and its political history. There are obvious parallels with what is happening here in the UK but I would love to find a writer already ploughing this furrow here.
So that’s the question. Any names? Who should I be reading that shines the same bright light on UK politics that Hedges does for the States?
