In one of the scariest moments in modern history, we're doing our best at ScheerPost to pierce the fog of lies that conceal it but we need some help to pay our writers and staff. Please consider a tax-deductible donation.
Posted By Joshua Scheer
In this wide‑ranging and deeply sobering conversation, journalist and author Chris Hedges speaks with Bad Faith’s Briahna Joy Gray and they lay out the accelerating collapse of democratic institutions in the United States and the rapid expansion of state repression — from Cop City to ICE raids to the bipartisan assault on protest itself. Drawing on decades spent reporting from war zones and revolutionary movements, Hedges warns that the U.S. is “on the cusp of becoming a police state,” and that the window for organized resistance is narrowing by the day.
The discussion confronts the central dilemma facing anyone committed to justice in this moment: If waiting is counterrevolutionary and the state is escalating its violence, what does meaningful resistance look like now? Hedges argues that resistance is not a question of guaranteed victory but of moral obligation — standing with the vulnerable, the targeted, and the disappeared even when the cost is high. He details how the state’s harshest crackdowns — from terrorism charges against Cop City activists to the criminalization of filming ICE — reveal precisely what forms of dissent the ruling class fears most.
At the same time, the conversation pushes back against fatalism. Millions have taken to the streets in recent years — for Palestine, against police violence, against authoritarianism — and that political energy, Hedges insists, must be organized, sharpened, and sustained. The question is not whether people have power, but whether they recognize it before the authoritarian machinery fully locks into place.
This is a bracing, historically informed, and morally urgent analysis of where we stand — and what the moment demands.
Highlights
1. The State Shows You What It Fears
“You can always tell what works by how the state responds.” Hedges explains why activists opposing Cop City were hit with terrorism and RICO charges — because their tactics were effective.
2. Criminalizing Solidarity
Hedges recounts how activists were charged with terrorism for raising bail money — a sign of how aggressively the state is moving to shut down dissent.
3. The U.S. Is “On the Cusp of a Police State”
Hedges warns that the infrastructure for authoritarian rule is already in place, and the shift could happen “very quickly.”
4. ICE as the Tip of the Spear
From Minneapolis to Princeton, Hedges describes ICE raids as a testing ground for broader domestic repression — and details local resistance efforts.
5. The Myth of Powerlessness
Briana pushes the conversation toward the political potential of mass mobilization:
Black Lives Matter mobilized 20 million people — more than twice the 3% often cited as the threshold for revolutionary change.
6. Resistance as Moral Imperative
Hedges:
“It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose. You must stand with the Palestinians. You must stand with your neighbors being ripped off the streets.”
7. The Powell Memo to Palantir
A historical through‑line from the corporate counterrevolution of the 1970s to today’s surveillance‑state architecture.
8. Liberal Paralysis vs. Popular Power
Hedges argues that Democratic Party leadership refuses to call for mass mobilization because they fear their own base more than authoritarianism.
9. The Danger of Illusions
Hedges cautions against “Pollyannaish” expectations that resistance will be easy — not to discourage action, but to prepare people for the long struggle ahead.
10. “Make Their Lives Difficult”
Hedges describes practical, local forms of resistance — from monitoring ICE to disrupting their operations — as essential groundwork for broader movements.
Editor’s Note: At a moment when the once vaunted model of responsible journalism is overwhelmingly the play thing of self-serving billionaires and their corporate scribes, alternatives of integrity are desperately needed, and ScheerPost is one of them. Please support our independent journalism by contributing to our online donation platform, Network for Good, or send a check to our new PO Box. We can’t thank you enough, and promise to keep bringing you this kind of vital news.
You can also make a donation to our PayPal or subscribe to our Patreon.