War, we have come to believe, is a spectator sport. The military and the press have turned war into a vast video arcade game. Its very essence-death-is hidden from public view.
Chris HedgesRead
The moral nihilism of celebrity culture is played out on reality television shows, most of which encourage a dark voyeurism into other people's humiliation, pain, weakness, and betrayal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques celebrity culture and reality television for promoting a lack of moral values and encouraging viewers to take pleasure in the suffering of others.
Chris Hedges highlights the detrimental effects of celebrity culture, particularly as showcased in reality television. He argues that such shows often promote moral nihilism—a belief that there are no objective moral values—by inviting viewers to engage in voyeuristic tendencies, reveling in the humiliation and suffering of others. This reflects a troubling societal trend where entertainment is derived from the misfortunes of individuals, raising questions about empathy, human decency, and the values we prioritize.
Themes
CelebrityCultureVoyeurismHumiliationMoralityReality Television
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the impact of reality television on society.
More from Chris Hedges
All quotes →As long as we think abstractly, as long as we find in patriotism and the exuberance of War our fulfillment, we will never understand those who do battle against us, or how we are perceived by them, or finally those who do battle for us and how we should respond to it all. We will never discover who we are. We will fail to confront the capacity we all have for violence.
Chris HedgesRead
The few surviving Armenians no longer ask to go home. They do not ask for restitution. They ask simply to have the memory of their obliteration acknowledged. It is a moral obsession, the lonely legacy passed onto the third and fourth generation who no longer speak Armenian but who carry within them the seeds of resentment that will not be quashed.
Chris HedgesRead
It is better to be an outcast, a stranger in one’s own country, than an outcast from one’s self. It is better to see what is about to befall us and to resist than to retreat into the fantasies embraced by a nation of the blind.
Chris HedgesRead
Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.
Chris HedgesRead
There are two sets of principles. They are the principles of power and privilege and the principles of truth and justice. If you pursue truth and justice it will always mean a diminution of power and privilege. If you pursue power and privilege, it will always be at the expense of truth and justice
Chris HedgesRead
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