On the show, Chris Hedges discusses political violence with Mark Rudd, author, and former leader of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

The Weather Underground, a clandestine revolutionary organization that carried out a wave of bombings in the 1970s, was seen by my father and other clergy members who were involved in Vietnam anti-war protests as one of the most self-destructive forces on the left. These members of the clergy, many of whom, including my father, were World War II veterans, had often became ministers because of their experiences in the war. They understood the poison of violence. One of the most prominent leaders of Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam (CALCAV), to which my father belonged, was the Catholic priest Philip Berrigan, who was a highly decorated Army second lieutenant who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. The young radicals of the Vietnam era, including Mark Rudd—who in 1968 as a leader of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led the occupation of five buildings at Columbia University and later helped form the Weather Underground—did not turn to those on the religious left whose personal experiences with violence might have saved SDS, the Weather Underground and the student anti-war movement from self-immolation. Blinded by hubris, intoxicated by the lust for violence and hypermasculinity and infected with the disease of moral purity, the leaders of the Weather Underground destroyed the largest anti-war movement in the country. It was, perhaps, the single most important blow to the left since the witch hunts led by Senator Joe McCarthy. The leaders of the Weather Underground dismissed the nonviolent left as useless cowards, claiming they were the only true revolutionaries. They embarked, as have many of those in today’s black bloc and antifa, on a campaign that proved to be counterproductive to the social and economic goals they said they advocated.
Rudd, 50 years later, plays the role once played by the priests Phil and Daniel Berrigan, Martin Luther King and Rabbi Abraham Heschel. His book Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen is a brutally honest deconstruction of the dangerous myths that captivated him as a young man. I suspect that many of those in the black bloc and antifa will no more listen to his wisdom than did the young radicals five decades ago who dismissed the warnings from those on the religious left for whom violence was also not an abstraction. Rudd sees his old self in the masked faces of the black bloc and antifa, who advocate violence and property destruction in the name of anti-fascism. These faces, he said, ignite his deep embers of “shame and guilt.”

Mark Rudd’s memoir is Underground: My Life With SDS and the Weatherman.

#QuestionMore #RTAmerica #OnContact

Get exclusive content and watch full episodes now by downloading the Portable.TV app: https://bit.ly/DownloadPortable

Telegram: https://t.me/RTAmerica

Check out our other shows!

NO show does it like this. It’s TIME for The News on RT America: https://bit.ly/NRSSHOW

It’s her take on all things political and she presents ALL the angles: News.Views.Hughes with Scottie Nell Hughes, NVH: https://bit.ly/NVHSHOW

What’s your NEWS IQ? Give us 30 minutes, and we’ll take you across the globe! In Question with Manila Chan, IQ: https://bit.ly/IQ_SHOW

Steve Malzberg sinks his teeth into the slander, hypocrisy, bias and lies of MSM. MMM…Delicious! Eat The Press: http://bit.ly/EatThePress

Candid conversations with the most outspoken guy in Hollywood! Dennis Miller + One!
Dennis Miller Plus One: http://bit.ly/DennisMillerPlusOne

Let our TV time-machine bring you the week’s highlights and a closer look at the BIGGEST stories, Just Press Play: http://bit.ly/JustPressPlayShow

Author and social critic Chris Hedges conducts fascinating in-depth interviews with the fiercest critics of the establishment. Watch all episodes at https://bit.ly/2QIkQZg

Yep, it’s Gov. Jesse Ventura and you’re living in his WORLD! Come along for the ride.
The World According To Jesse: http://bit.ly/WATJSHOW

They’re watching you. Are you watching them? Are you WATCHING THE HAWKS?
Watching The Hawks: http://bit.ly/WTHSHOW

Follow the twists and turns of the global economy with Boom Bust, the one business show you can’t afford to miss. Boom Bust: http://bit.ly/BoomBustShow

Do you keep missing the forest for the trees? Let Holland Cooke show you the Big Picture, The Big Picture: http://bit.ly/TheBigPictureShow