Review: Time for Outrage, by Stephane Hessel

Time for Outrage, by Stephane Hessel, is an international best seller about the ideals of the French resistance, and is a call for younger generations to withstand the temptations of mass consumption in an effort to search for the true meaning of democracy.

Hessel (93) tells high-school students that their reasons for political engagement are not as obvious as his were. Being a concentration camp survivor, resisting for Hessel meant refusing German occupation, and repudiating defeat. 

Hessel writes that the world attitude is indifference, and that there is a reason for the planet’s current state of economic and environmental decline. Instilling doubt within media is an important tool in finding these truths. Who controls the mediums? What is their agenda? It would be naive to think that it is anything but the bottom line. 

 “A true democracy requires and insists on freedom of the press,” Hassel writes. “Its honor and its independence from the state, and from the power of capital and from foreign influence. As early as 1944, the government passed legislation to ensure these freedoms are once again in peril.” 

In a world where the financial elite own mainstream networks and publications, it is hard to think that true unbiased journalism will ever be able to pull itself out of the vices of corporate imposed timidity. Hessel demonstrates how the fundamental principle of democracy implies the eradication of the economic and financial feudalism ruling the world economy. Seeing how so many of my friends and peers choose not to participate in their democracy, some having better reasons than others, I strongly believe that the most important chapter in this essay is Hessel’s assessment of attitude and indifference.  

There is a new war. It is harder to see in Canada because we are bombarded with comforts and luxuries—3000 marketing messages a day. We are perfectly content to have a Conservative “majority” government as long as we can crack a beer, play some x-box, or hit the club, mall, or whatever else it is that people do. We do not want to challenge our illusion of democracy because we are content to accept the fact that we are better off than other countries. We continue to consume without thought, too comfortable to care. 

For a money-driven society, indifference is an important tactic to instill in the public. It hinders creativity and the spirit of debate, which are two elements you do not want when building a nation of obedient workers.  This 30-page essay serves as a manual for people who do not understand the nature of the Occupy movement. It is a means of getting informed and activated. There is a solution. It is so easy to see and is right in front of us. Yet the solution is constantly ignored because our minds have been utterly colonized by consumer culture. This corrupting power of money forms our values as “individuals." We do not have politicians. We have owners. 

“There are unbearable things all around us,” Hessel writes. “You have to look for them; search carefully. Open your eyes and you will see. This is what I tell young people: If you spend a little time searching, you will find your reasons to engage. The worst attitude is indifference.” 

TO CREATE IS TO RESIST

TO RESIST IS TO CREATE