For over two decades, I and a handful of others — Sheldon Wolin, Noam Chomsky, Chalmers Johnson, Barbara Ehrenreich and Ralph Nader — warned that the expanding social inequality and steady erosion of our democratic institutions, including the media, the Congress, organized labor, academia and the courts, would inevitably lead to an authoritarian or Christian fascist state. My books — “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America” (2007), “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle” (2009), “Death of the Liberal Class” (2010), “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt” (2012), written with Joe Sacco, “Wages of Rebellion” (2015) and “America: The Farewell Tour” (2018) were a succession of impassioned pleas to take the decay seriously. I take no joy in being correct.
“The rage of those abandoned by the economy, the fears and concerns of a beleaguered and insecure middle class, and the numbing isolation that comes with the loss of community, would be the kindling for a dangerous mass movement,” I wrote in “American Fascists” in 2007. “If these dispossessed were not reincorporated into mainstream society, if they eventually lost all hope of finding good, stable jobs and opportunities for themselves and their children — in short, the promise of a brighter future — the specter of American fascism would beset the nation. This despair, this loss of hope, this denial of a future, led the desperate into the arms of those who promised miracles and dreams of apocalyptic glory.”
President-elect Donald Trump does not herald the advent of fascism. He heralds the collapse of the veneer that masked the corruption within the ruling class and their pretense of democracy. He is the symptom, not the disease. The loss of basic democratic norms began long before Trump, which paved the road to an American totalitarianism. Deindustrialization, deregulation, austerity, unchecked predatory corporations, including the health-care industry, wholesale surveillance of every American, social inequality, an electoral system that is plagued by legalized bribery, endless and futile wars, the largest prison population in the world, but most of all feelings of betrayal, stagnation and despair, are a toxic brew that culminate in an inchoate hatred of the ruling class and the institutions they have deformed to exclusively serve the rich and the powerful. The Democrats are as guilty as the Republicans.
“Trump and his coterie of billionaires, generals, half-wits, Christian fascists, criminals, racists, and moral deviants play the role of the Snopes clan in some of William Faulkner’s novels,” I wrote in “America: The Farewell Tour.” “The Snopeses filled the power vacuum of the decayed South and ruthlessly seized control from the degenerated, former slaveholding aristocratic elites. Flem Snopes and his extended family — which includes a killer, a pedophile, a bigamist, an arsonist, a mentally disabled man who copulates with a cow, and a relative who sells tickets to witness the bestiality — are fictional representations of the scum now elevated to the highest level of the federal government. They embody the moral rot unleashed by unfettered capitalism.”
“The usual reference to ‘amorality,’ while accurate, is not sufficiently distinctive and by itself does not allow us to place them, as they should be placed, in a historical moment,” the critic Irving Howe wrote of the Snopeses. “Perhaps the most important thing to be said is that they are what comes afterwards: the creatures that emerge from the devastation, with the slime still upon their lips.”
“Let a world collapse, in the South or Russia, and there appear figures of coarse ambition driving their way up from beneath the social bottom, men to whom moral claims are not so much absurd as incomprehensible, sons of bushwhackers or muzhiks drifting in from nowhere and taking over through the sheer outrageousness of their monolithic force,” Howe wrote. “They become presidents of local banks and chairmen of party regional committees, and later, a trifle slicked up, they muscle their way into Congress or the Politburo. Scavengers without inhibition, they need not believe in the crumbling official code of their society; they need only learn to mimic its sounds.”
The political philosopher Sheldon Wolin called our system of governance “inverted totalitarianism,” one that kept the old iconography, symbols and language, but had surrendered power to corporations and oligarchs. Now we will shift to totalitarianism’s more recognizable form, one dominated by a demagogue and an ideology grounded in the demonization of the other, hypermasculinity and magical thinking.
Fascism is always the bastard child of a bankrupt liberalism.
“We live in a two-tiered legal system, one where poor people are harassed, arrested and jailed for absurd infractions, such as selling loose cigarettes — which led to Eric Garner being choked to death by the New York City police in 2014 — while crimes of appalling magnitude by the oligarchs and corporations, from oil spills to bank fraud in the hundreds of billions of dollars, which wiped out 40 percent of the world’s wealth, are dealt with through tepid administrative controls, symbolic fines, and civil enforcement that give these wealthy perpetrators immunity from criminal prosecution,” I wrote in “America: The Farewell Tour.”
The utopian ideology of neoliberalism and global capitalism is a vast con. Global wealth, rather than being spread equitably, as neoliberal proponents promised, was funneled upward into the hands of a rapacious, oligarchic elite, fueling the worst economic inequality since the age of the robber barons. The working poor, whose unions and rights were stripped from them and whose wages have stagnated or declined over the past 40 years, have been thrust into chronic poverty and underemployment. Their lives, as Barbara Ehrenreich chronicled in “Nickel and Dimed,” are one long, stress-ridden emergency. The middle class is evaporating. Cities that once manufactured products and offered factory jobs are boarded up-wastelands. Prisons are overflowing. Corporations have orchestrated the destruction of trade barriers, allowing them to stash $1.42 trillion in profits in overseas banks to avoid paying taxes.
Neoliberalism, despite its promise to build and spread democracy, swiftly gutted regulations and hollowed out democratic systems to turn them into corporate leviathans. The labels “liberal” and “conservative” are meaningless in the neoliberal order, evidenced by a Democratic presidential candidate who bragged about an endorsement from Dick Cheney, a war criminal who left office with a 13 percent approval rating. The attraction of Trump is that, although vile and buffoonish, he mocks the bankruptcy of the political charade.
“The permanent lie is the apotheosis of totalitarianism,” I wrote in “America: The Farewell Tour”:
It no longer matters what is true. It matters only what is ‘correct.’ Federal courts are being stacked with imbecilic and incompetent judges who serve the ‘correct’ ideology of corporatism and the rigid social mores of the Chrtistian right. They hold reality, including science and the rule of law, in contempt. They seek to banish those who live in a reality-based world defined by intellectual and moral autonomy. Totalitarian rule always elevates the brutal and the stupid. These reigning idiots have no genuine political philosophy or goals. They use clichés and slogans, most of which are absurd and contradictory, to justify their greed and lust for power. This is as true for the Christian right as it is for the corporatists that preach the free market and globalization. The merger of the corporatists with the Christian right is the marrying of Godzilla to Frankenstein.
The illusions peddled on our screens — including the fictitious persona created for Trump on The Apprentice — have replaced reality. Politics is burlesque as Kamala Harris’ vapid, celebrity-filled campaign illustrated. It is smoke and mirrors created by the army of agents, publicists, marketing departments, promoters, script writers, television and movie producers, video technicians, photographers, bodyguards, wardrobe consultants, fitness trainers, pollsters, public announcers and television new personalities. We are a culture awash in lies.
“The cult of the self dominates our cultural landscape,” I wrote in “Empire of Illusion”:
This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm, grandiosity and self-importance; a need for constant stimulation, a penchant for lying, deception, and manipulation, and the inability to feel remorse or guilt. This is, of course, the ethic promoted by corporations. It is the ethic of unfettered capitalism. It is the misguided belief that personal style and personal advancement, mistaken for individualism, are the same as democratic equality. In fact, personal style, defined by the commodities we buy or consume, has become a compensation for our loss of democratic equality. We have a right, in the cult of the self, to get whatever we desire. We can do anything, even belittle and destroy those around us, including our friends, to make money, to be happy, and to become famous. Once fame and wealth are achieved, they become their own justification, their own morality. How one gets there is irrelevant. Once you get there, those questions are no longer asked.
My book “Empire of Illusion” begins in Madison Square Garden at a World Wrestling Entertainment tour. I understood that professional wrestling was the template for our social and political life, but did not know that it would produce a president.
“The bouts are stylized rituals,” I wrote, in what could have been a description of a Trump rally:
They are public expressions of pain and a fervent longing for revenge. The lurid and detailed sagas behind each bout, rather than the wrestling matches themselves, are what drive crowds to a frenzy. These ritualized battles give those packed in the arenas a temporary, heady release from mundane lives. The burden of real problems is transformed into fodder for a high-energy pantomime.
It is not going to get better. The tools to shut down dissent have been cemented into place. Our democracy cratered years ago. We are in the grip of what Søren Kierkegaard called “sickness unto death” — the numbing of the soul by despair that leads to moral and physical debasement. All Trump has to do to establish a naked police state is flip a switch. And he will.
“The worse reality becomes, the less a beleaguered population wants to hear about it,” I wrote at the conclusion of “Empire of Illusion,” “and the more it distracts itself with squalid pseudo-events of celebrity breakdowns, gossip and trivia. These are the debauched revels of a dying civilization.”
Michael Hedges was a young musical prodigy with an emerging talent that would take him from small-town Oklahoma to Grammy award-winning artist.
He was a once-in-a-generation force would revolutionize the acoustic guitar and inspire a generation of musicians.
______
THE FILM WILL INCLUDE:
– Intimate interviews with Michael’s family, friends, collaborators, fans and music journalists
– A wealth of archival materials/footage (Red Rocks, Wolf Trap, A&M Studios, Billboard Live)
– Bootlegs, home movies, never-before-seen interviews and backstage moments with Michael
– Fully restored and digitally-enhanced footage from Michael’s dazzling performances.
CURRENT STATUS
More than 25 interviews have been filmed with Michael’s close friends, family, collaborators and fans.
A rough cut of of the film is well underway, with more than 40 minutes of scenes for the film assembled.
The filmmakers are currently seeking executive producers, sponsors & partners to contribute the $250K in funding needed to complete production and edit a full rough cut of the film.
BEHIND THE SCENES
See updates on production & editing of the film, and get a look behind the scenes during the making of ORACLE.
ORACLE – Become a 2025 Sustaining Sponsor!
See behind the scenes of Oracle: the Life & Music of Michael Hedges, and get new perks for becoming a 2025 sustaining sponsor!
Oracle filmmakers partner with IDA for Fiscal Sponsorship
Exciting announcement for the ORACLE documentary – the filmmakers have partnered with the International Documentary Association for fiscal sponsorship!
Michael Hedges – LIVE! (an online event series)
A series of online events this fall – featuring rare, unreleased recordings, conversations with Michael’s family, friends and collaborators, and exclusive clips from the upcoming documentary.
8/17/24 – Remembering Michael Hedges concert
by Taproot | Jun 27, 2024
On a warm summer night in Madison, NJ, more than 200 fans, collaborators, family and friends came together for “Remembering Michael Hedges” – a tribute/benefit concert.
tripliciti guitar trio covers “Ursa Major” by Michael Hedges
by Taproot | Apr 12, 2024
Guitarists Andy McKee, Calum Graham and Trevor Gordon Hall pay tribute to Michael, who they cite as one of their biggest influences, with a cover of “Ursa Major” on their first album as tripliciti.
Behind the Scenes, Editing ORACLE!
by Mischa Hedges | Mar 26, 2024
We’re spending the first few months of 2024 taking a break from production, getting started on the edit!
FILMMAKING TEAM
Mischa Hedges
Producer/Director, Editor
Mischa is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on PBS, Discovery, Hulu and Amazon Prime. He is Michael’s eldest son.
Brendan Hedges
Producer/Director, Writer
Brendan is a writer (WGA West) and director whose work has appeared on PBS, Apple TV, Amazon Prime and GooglePlay. He is Michael’s youngest brother.
Clare Major
Director of Photography
Clare is an award-winning cinematographer specializing in hand-held, camera work. Her work has appeared on HBO, PBS, Netflix, Discovery Channel and NYTimes.
Ling Mai
Cinematographer
Ling is an award-winning cinematographer specializing in music videos and television. His work has appeared on numerous broadcast outlets.
PARTNERS & ADVISORS
TrimTab Media
Production Company
TrimTab Media is an award-winning film production company & marketing agency founded by Michael’s son, Mischa Hedges.
They produce independent documentaries and branded content for progressive clients. Their films include Of The Sea, Women’s March, Ellavut Cimirtuq, Finding Home.
Intl. Documentary Association
Fiscal Sponsor (current)
The IDA supports nonfiction filmmaking and documentary creators through grants and funding programs.
They serve as the film’s current fiscal sponsor, enabling tax-deductible contributions to ORACLE from individuals, organizations and non-profit foundations.
Stropes Foundation, Inc
Fiscal Sponsor (2021-2024)
Promotes the art of fingerstyle guitar by supporting scholarship, education, and the development of archives.
A huge thanks to John Stropes, Richard Phalen and the entire board for their partnership and for believing in the ORACLE documentary from the very start.
PROJECT ADVISORS
Josh Fox
Oscar-nominated filmmaker
Brian Malone
Emmy award-winning filmmaker
Mark Marshall
Producer, Free Willy trilogy
Louisa McCune
Journalist
STORY ADVISORS
Hilleary Burgess
Michael Hedges’ former manager
Bryan Lanser
Audio engineer at Apple Inc.
Randy Lutge
Michael Hedges & Windham Hill Records video archivist
Michael Manring
Recording artist, musician & Michael’s closest collaborator
John Stropes
Music educator, a leading authority on fingerstyle guitar
Jake White
Researcher & writer, Michael Hedges biography
Become a sponsor
This film is being funded in part by Michael’s family, friends, fans, businesses, nonprofits and foundations. A multi-year project of this magnitude requires a significant investment in a highly-talented filmmaking team, extensive footage/music licensing fees, and state-of-the-art restoration of archival materials.
Sponsorship packages start at $1,000, include various benefits and are tax-deductible.
Our nonprofit 501c3 fiscal sponsor is the International Documentary Association.
CHOOSE A SPONSOR LEVEL
Review 2025 sponsorship benefit packages and let us know how much you plan to contribute.
To make your contribution by paper check:
– Fill out the form to right so we can track your donation
– Make check out to:
“International Documentary Association (IDA)”
and write “Oracle Documentary 2403” in the memo
– Send check to:
International Documentary Association
Attention: Fiscal Sponsorship
3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1810
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2622
FILM SPONSORS
More than 1,000 individuals and organizations have contributed funding to make this film possible.
Official Sponsors contributing $1,000 or more are acknowledged below.
Executive Producers ($100,000+)
Seeking 2-4 sponsors or grants at this level
Associate Producers ($50,000+)
Seeking 2-4 sponsors or grants at this level
Contributing Producers ($25,000+)
Seeking 5-7 additional sponsors or grants at this level
Mischa Hedges
Ray-Yen Chang
Sergio De Acha
Oracle Donors ($10,000+)
Seeking additional sponsors or grants at this level
Graham Nash
The Harold Hamm Foundation
Jeff & Bina Titus
Kirkpatrick Foundation
Rainer Park
Magic Farmer Donors ($5,000+)
Seeking additional sponsors or grants at this level
Cynthi Stefenoni
Enid Arts Council
Jake White
Matthew King
Park Avenue Thrift
William Phillips
Phillips University Alumni Association
Rickover’s Dream Donors ($2,500+)
Bryan Owen • Calum Graham • Enid High School Class of ’72 • Jeffrey Joe • Karen Haskell • Michael Pascarello • Ray D. Carroll • Robert Randleman • William Ackerman / Imaginary Road Studios
Ragamuffin Donors ($1,000+)
Aaron Shearer Foundation • Andy McKee • Anthony & Phyllis Leocha • Arthur Goldliner • Ben Burgess • Bert Mackie • Bil King • Bryan Lanser • Bruce Howard • Carl Bennett • Chad Van Baalbergen • Chris & Amy Keeney • Christopher Sharron • D’Addario Foundation • Daniel P. DeLap • David Cook • David Taylor • Eldon James • Ethan Mayer • Graham Nash • Iliani Matisse & Anne Richards • Janet Winterrose • Joan Shinkle • Joel & Kelly Champlin • John Conover • Joseph & Shirley Rayburn • Joan & John D’Addario Foundation, Inc. • The Harp Guitar Foundation • Kemi Nakabayashi • Kenneth Chow • Lanakila Lesū • Laura Sefchik • Lillian Dignan • Mark Allen • Mark Dropkin • Mark Whidden • Martin Kretzmann • Martin Posen • Matt Guthrie DeLange • Michael “Bootz” Bootzin • Michelle Green • Mindy Rosenfeld • Nick Peters • Pazala Foundation • Anonymous • Pete Moylan • Rich & Geri Cook • Richard Campagna • Roger & Carolyn Lang • Scott & Christy Williams • Thomas Thompson • Tom Schotland • Valerio Piccolo • Veston Rowe • Ibanez Guitars • Simon Clark • Ronald E. Hammer, PhD • William Threadgill • Roxane Hreha • Michael & Luann Simon
SPECIAL THANKS
2025 Sustaining Sponsors (become one today!)
Sergio De Acha • Kenneth Chow • Daniel DeLap • Mark Dropkin • Bruce Howard • Takao Inoue
Richard Kozak • Eric Neel • Roy Ola • Rainer Park • Tom Schotland • Scott Swift
2024 Sustaining Sponsors
Ben Burgess • Daniel P. DeLap • Denny Rauen • Chris & Amy Keeney • Laura Sefchik • Lillian Dignan • Graham Nash • Jake White • Jane Tanaka • Jeffrey Joe • Joan Shinkle • John C. Tarlton and Jennifer S.F. Dearborn • Mathew King • Mark Dropkin • Rainer Park • Robert Randleman • Ryan Knowlin • Sergio De Acha • Sherri Clearlake • Steve Vai • William Threadgill • William Phillips • Phillips University Alumni Association • Michael & Luann Simon
All supporters will be acknowledged in the film’s end credits.