Chris Hedges won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on terrorism for the New York Times. He’s the author of a number of books, including War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002) and American Fascists (2007), the latter book a disturbing look inside right-wing evangelical Christian movements in the United States. He earned his Masters of Divinity at Harvard in 1975, and he served for several years as the Chief of the Middle East bureau of the New York Times.

In other words – yes, the man has a particular political perspective, but he knows his shit. And what he says in his most recent article for Truthdig is truly terrifying:

A victory by Barack Obama may embolden right-wing populists. They will be able to use Obama and “liberal Democrats” as a lightning rod for the failings, growing poverty and incompetence of the state. The elite – as happens in all such moments of confusion, revolt and social chaos – will probably be forced to make an uncomfortable alliance with right-wing populists if they want to survive. The center of the political spectrum will melt…

We have begun a socialist experiment. George W. Bush and John McCain, in stunning repudiations of all they claimed to believe, call for massive state intervention in the financial markets and the use of billions in government funds to buy major stakes in banks. The question is not whether we will build state socialism. This process has already begun. The only question left is whether this will be right-wing or left-wing socialism.

The left – with a few exceptions, like the Progressive Party in Vermont – has largely thrown in its lot with the Democratic Party. Right-wing populists, as is evidenced by the acrimonious split in the McCain campaign, remain clustered around the fiefdoms of large megachurches that stoke hatred and frightening totalitarian visions of a Christian state. The left has no correlating centers of activism, organization or mass support, especially with the decline of labor unions. If left-wing populists do not rapidly build local organizations, as was done in Vermont, to compete with the right-wing populism of the Christian right, the most dangerous mass movement in American history, they will be easily swept aside.

In other words… the Democratic Party is happy to use the efforts of thousands of dedicated volunteers to elect their candidate; don’t expect the Democrats to return the favor, when those thousands of people are demanding mortgage relief, welfare payments, and health care. The Democrats have demonstrated, time and time again, that they are firmly on the side of the corporate masters, and against the people.

I’m hopeful that, with so many people getting experience in organizing their fellow citizens during the Obama campaign, we’ll find it easier to work together to bring about greater economic and social justice. The big difference will be that, instead of working with the support of the Democratic party, we’ll be “out in the cold,” working against the entire corporate-political juggernaut. If you think it’s hard to fight the Republicans with the Democrats on your side, wait until they’ve ganged up on you!

Hopefully the Progressive Party in Vermont can teach us a few lessons…