Review of “Empire of Illusion” by Chris Hedges

As you can see from the book cover, the title is longer than my post title. I think the author could have omitted the subtitle, which almost acts as a table of contents. There weren’t very many chapters and the book isn’t long, but it seemed longer than it was because the author ranted on the subjects he covered. I was especially tired of hearing details from porn stars about what goes into a modern shock-porn movie. I don’t think the author had much to say on the other topics (e.g. higher education, politics, finance) either because they were repetitive and filled with vague references to a conspiracy by the “elite.”

Most of the examples of collusion he discusses are public knowledge and not conspiracies, but Hedges frames them for emotional impact; I suppose that is what investigative reporters do to make a living. I prefer facts to be presented in a logical order so that I can come to my own conclusions, rather than being told on every page that it’s a conspiracy.

If you remove about half the text, the part telling the reader what they already know, this book does present evidence for what the title claims. However, it is incomplete and only focuses on a few topics of interest to the author. Anyone could have written this by reading several newspapers and a few books, skimming social media, and taking the time to connect the dots. That introduces the problem of how the dots are connected and not everyone is going to see a conspiracy behind every social and economic trend.

That leads to my final point about this book: Hedges never connects the dots to complete the picture, not even speculatively. Each category he examines is presented in a standalone chapter and the only big picture he paints is ambiguous, more references to vague conspiracies. Who is conspiring and why is this something I don’t already know? How are the pornography and educational sectors connected? He doesn’t say.

Failing to justify the grandiose title, and possibly with a publisher’s deadline looming, Hedges throws in a couple of pages of optimistic encouragement for us idiots who are completely deceived by the web of conspiracies he’s woven. I do feel deceived — by Hedges, not the porn industry, educators, politicians, or any of the other groups he derides. I know they’re full of shit …