Days Of Destruction Days Of Revolt

Days Of Destruction Days Of Revolt (2012) is a collaboration between Pulitzer prize winning journalist Chris Hedges and comic reporter Joe Sacco. Of the two I am most familiar with Sacco and read his 2012 book Journalism earlier this year. In this volume the authors investigate the human misery that is taking place in America at the hands of the powers that be. Hedges calls these places "sacrifice zones, those areas in the country that have been offered up for exploitation in the name of profit, progress, and technological advancement." Each section has reporting by Hedges and illustrations from Sacco-most of Sacco's comics are the rendered experiences of a representative person from each location. The first of these places is the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in "Days Of Theft"-which chronicles the poverty, violence, suicide, and alcohol abuse that personifies Indian reservations all over the nation. The next stop is Camden, New jersey in "Days Of Siege." This abandoned city is now home to violent crime and drug abuse after once having been a major industrial center. In "Days Of Devastation" the journalist move onto the mining community Welch, West Virgina that has chewed up and spit men out for more than a hundred years and now lays men low through the excessive pollution that comes from mountain stripping. Something that I know something about after having seen the award winning documentary Harland County, U.S.A. The mostly Latino population of the migrant worker is visited in Immokalee, Florida in the chapter "Days Of Slavery." After this depressing litany of exploitation Hedges and Sacco find hope in the Occupy movement in the final section "Days Of Revolt."  I wish I could be as optimistic as they are in this chapter. But it seems that these injustices do not have to continue and that a push could be made toward stemming or staunching the waves of destruction unleashed by unfettered capitalism. This is especially poignant give that it is an election year. Perhaps, change will come about in the future, but I expect the status quo to march on in lock step in the near future. There is a lot of excellent information and reportage from Hedges and Sacco provides powerful profiles of those who have lived through the worst. It should be required reading for every conservative in the nation.