we explore the connection between big bucks and the revolutionary drive across the globe as we talk to author and walk over spondon chris hedges. chris hedges is an american author journalist former war correspondent and respected expert on middle east politics the pulitzer prize winner is also a man who is suing the us president and secretary of defense will be talking about that and a range of other issues as mr hedges joins me now for a one on one interview thank you very much for sitting down with r.t. sure we have seen a lot of violence and instability over the past couple of years the arab spring foreign intervention in libya uncontrollable debt problems and riots in the u.s. and throughout europe threats of global recession how do you think these political and economic crises feed off of one another and keep that momentum going well it's all the same crisis which is the collapse of globalization it doesn't work anymore

and it manifests itself through the rise of commodity prices forty seven million americans live in poverty they're not spending half of their income on food but they're now spending about thirty five percent. when you see a rise in gasoline prices. which are going up words in the united states and oil projections will continue to rise up words about four dollars a gallon maybe five dollars a gallon so. we have created a kind of global oligarchy elite which is super national it owes no loyalty to any particular country it has reduced the working class within the united states within the developing world. to a level of almost subsistence existence it tells workers that they have to be competitive on a global marketplace which means they have to be competitive with sweatshop workers in bangladesh or prison labor in china so we are it's

a reconfiguration by corporations of a global economy where the working and and. beleaguered middle class are increasingly caught in a vise. in which there is no escape the system of globalization of unfettered unregulated corporate capitalism doesn't work for the ordinary citizen and that if we are seen ignite popular protest and i think that's the main reason why occupy wall street began in new york emplaced throughout not just the nation but the world what does the occupy movement lack to become a real politic factor in the u.s. and throughout the world right i mean the other thing about the occupy movement is that it had the right target which is wall street at this point washington is an appendage of wall street wall street is where power lies both economic and political and so it it it was

a powerful movement because it articulated these two truths. you know the idea of the one percent the economic inequality coupled with a targeting of where actual power lies the occupy movement has now. felt the full wrath of the state they've been their encampments have been physically eradicated. without question they have been heavily infiltrated the power of the occupy movement was that it spoke for the mainstream and the state's goal is to sever the occupy movement from the mainstream so the occupy movement has got to build walls it's got to develop a kind of self-discipline it's got to set standards which do not allow internal movements within the occupy. organization to sever itself from the mainstream of the threat of the occupy movement in zuccotti park and you were there

was that on weekends you had mothers from new jersey with their kids with strollers this terrified so the occupy movement they have to form agreements by which they can operate and the second thing is that they have to begin to organize around very specific issues i think if the occupy movement organizes around raising the minimum wage from seven dollars twenty five cents an hour which is the federal minimum wage to ten dollars an hour. it can galvanize around an issue seventy percent of americans by the way support a rise of the minimum wage in order to keep labor with it it has to latch on to issues such as the raising the minimum wage that will bring labor out into the street and keep the main stream keep it as the kind of vanguard movement of the mainstream whether it can do that or not i don't know we'll have to see what role do you see for u.s. banks and u.s. corporations how else if not through them can the economy get. overcovered well the the not only are we not in a recovery i mean the the the banks are playing some very dirty game the fact that

we've not regulated the banks the fact that we bailed out firms like goldman sachs and are in essence lending them free money what's the big zero one percent interest for something means they're all back to the speculative games and that's what they are games they don't produce anything they bet against things when one of the reasons the price of petrol is rising is because they're buying up futures and hoarding which is what they do with commodity prices you know basic staples of food rice and everything else and we are headed for another implosion and some of our most respected financial reporters gretchen morgenson and others at the new york times walking around saying this we've done nothing to curb them we have permitted the largest transference of wealth upwards in american history the looting of the u.s. treasury or the tragedy is that the government when the banks were on its knees

didn't step in instead of for instance creating taking ten billion dollars. or one hundred billion dollars in creating regional banks capitalizing those banks leveraging them ten to one loaning you know refinancing mortgages i mean there were all sorts of ways we could to use this kind of money constructively we handed it off to a criminal class and speaking of government where in the us currently in an election year a republican candidates are now battling one another for the opportunity to oppose brock obama come november however skeptics view both parties as more similar than different because we've seen military invasions corporate bailouts and breaks for the wealthiest under both democrats and republicans how can a new political force start to grow in america if it's sort of that the same type of cycle every four years well that's the problem and it's gotten worse because

after citizens united in two thousand and ten with the creation of these super pacs and obama broke a campaign promise by. reaching out to a super pac of his own i mean in a way he has no choice because this money rules and it has a pernicious effect not only on elections but on the process of legislation because if you are an elected official and you do anything. that angers corporate lobbyists and corporate power then you know that the weight of that super pac will sweep you out of office and not only that but that when you are under attack you won't have a super pac to appeal to so it is essentially destroyed i mean it's all political theater i mean look at what they were republican debate is what's that about colonies supporting the newt gingrich and when thirteen thousand people live on the moon they can apply to be a state you know. the fact is the personal narratives and personal pinions of

political candidates do not matter there is no way to vote in this country against the interests of goldman sachs obama is a more appealing political candidate because he's sane but power i mean look the obama administration has carried out the policies of the george w. bush administration whether in terms of wall street imperial projects a failure to address the suffering of the working class. address the long term unemployment crisis we have cities now filing for bankruptcy states that are talking about filing for bankruptcy and the federal government is doing nothing except squandering four trillion dollars on wars that we're going to lose we're losing and handing money over to a class on wall street that is complicitous in a centrally hollowing the country out from the inside the u.s. claims to promote democracy within america and throughout the world when it comes

to syria the u.s. is calling essentially for regime change sovereign state the u.s. says that syrians deserve democratic transition but when you mention countries like iraq afghanistan and libya shouldn't the u.s. and in some ways learn some lessons before trying to teach more countries about well let's imagine how this sells in the middle east. where we were mubarak's great supporter. you know i don't think anyone in the muslim world thinks that we care much about human rights or democracy we have since the first gulf war planted military base some the size of small cities i think there is at this point absolutely no credibility i'm talking about within the middle east when the united states claims that it would like to bring liberty or democracy to syria. that said the assad regime and i was there under saddam is

a pretty repugnant and horrible regime my feeling on syria and i'm not on the ground and as a reporter you know i i think that finally for one to make those kinds of judgments have to be on the ground but my feeling is that everything should be pushed through to create some kind of a cease fire because in cities like cities like homes at this point aside from the murderous showing and everything else you really have a situation can eat and there is no water and and so rather than pass a resolution that calls for assad's removal or resolution. that you know calls for intervention or anything else i would rather see them work more incrementally if that doesn't happen do you think there's any chance of you last summer european military intervention i don't think so i think the u.s. is so overextended and i think that the situation in syria is so messy there is you know there's no real formal opposition.

you know it's a sort of a mess and they just went through this in libya months and months of hard time believing they do it again in syria we'll have to leave it right there mr hedges thank you for your time and for speaking with r.t. thanks. the people of the united states and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder is a regime as an active program to acquire and develop nuclear weapons and let there be no doubt about we know for a fact that there are weapons there. this we're just being carried out into the direction of dr david kay respected scientist and former u.n.

inspector was leading the weapons search in iraq we are determined to take this apart you have a tremendous a group of dedicated american men and women involved in this with the best assets of the intelligence community can provide. data cheney is not going to be done with this for quite some time david kay wants more time and he says it could take another six to nine months to make a definitive finding ministration is asking congress for hundreds of millions more are six hundred million dollars to fund a continuing search have not yet found shiny pointy things that i would call a weapon before we can draw from conclusions we need to let the iraq survey group complete its work. we were all wrong probably in my judgment. and that is most disturbing. sometimes the true patriots takes the unpopular caress that helps their country and wooden stakes and

even if they come this way at least from tonight patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels and i think these are scoundrels they have no argument now they have no defense for what they did the country is in a terrible international security situation and i think it's perilous so they're attacking the patriotism of other. down the official ante up location q. on phone on pulled talk from the top story. geology law is on the. video on demand all teasing my old girls and streets now with the palm of your. machine on the dot com.

crunch heads to the polls in a runoff but which will define whether nicolas sarkozy will but the latest is you need to sweat from his post by the crippling debt crisis. presidential campaign is not by an escalation of violence as protest against the military has turned from being peaceful island and deadly clashes. russia's north caucuses is rocks by twin towers tops on the republic of dagestan that left thirteen people dead and more than a hundred injured. as the headlines sports news is next with an untruth. hello there thanks for watching the sport and here's a taste of what is coming up majestic malkin strikes twice for the red machine as

russia rallied to beat latvia five to end their world championship opener while luis de carlo didier drogba schools the we're now as chelsea beat liverpool to one at wembley to lift the f.a. cup for seventh time. i am going to be number one rory mcilroy fine school mcquire hollow as he bids to reclaim goal top spot. to start the ice hockey they were russia have got off to a winning start at the world championships a break from you getting maliki and helping them overcome latvia five two in stock and that fear had taken the shot lead me into midway through the first period but nuclear equalized early in the second before markets brace further strikes from alexander pop up and you get increased nets of gave russia a five two victory in other games the usa aged olympic champions canada and overtime and there are also wins for switzerland and sweden. now in football russian champions and he will receive the premier league trophy today after their last game of the season the last home game of the season against spartak moscow

lucienne his abilities man clinched their secondly crown in a row last week a move receive the silverware after today's game at the stadium in sim pages they will be desperate to spoil the party they need to win to keep alive their hopes of playing in the second fine or champions league spot weld a number moscow also after that and host lokomotiv who will be without their choice goalkeeper will make elsewhere and she hosts rubin with both sides battling through the places where black armbands in that game in memory of the victims of the bombings in dagestan this week at the bottom rostov on vulgar faces. each other in a fight to avoid relegation play off spot tatic i am car in the final game of the day. in england chelsea captain john terry says his team deserved to lift the f.a. cup for a seventh time they beat liverpool two one in the final at the wembley stadium ramirez open for the blues early on before didier drogba made it just after the

break liverpool did man to come back with carol pulling one back and it looked like he may have got an equaliser shortly after his header was deemed not to cross the line completely and chelsea hung on. to three feet on the right before the fall for it was the agreement it was the right become one it was more because of the school with. a great side actually to keep him out of the pool for months because i'm afraid we dominated because of the wind however the job is only half done as far as chelsea are concerned they are after a unique double and are already beginning to focus on their champions league final showdown with pine in a fortnight. true crucial week for us we want to finish. for fifteen if you two names we have another chance to win another to two of the most important in europe. looking forward to play this year meanwhile our schools hopes of champions league football next season with dented on saturday they drew

three three with norwich at the emirates robin van persie scored twice to put the gun is three two up before steve morrison got a late equaliser and it means arsenal are no longer assured of a third place finish in fact bottom could leapfrog them into third if they win a struggling aston villa today elsewhere bolton and q.p.r. both need big trees to ease their relegation phase while the battle continues at the top second place manchester united twelve and swans the aim to keep up the pressure on the does manage the city newcastle and city boss man cine feels the title is inside. these charts. but. change. you can we don't know but. it is because the guys that work.

for these. boxing for him a brother has kept his unbeaten record intact but only just after one of the toughest fights of his career against me in las vegas it was billed the fight of the year i may wear the hat to work hard for the forty third win of his career holding off a target before rocking him in the twelfth round to claim a light middleweight belt judges making him the clay winner the unanimous points decision was also a massive payday from a whether he picks up a thirty two million dollars before starting his three month jail term the domestic abuse. defending n.b.a. champions the dallas mavericks have been knocked out of the playoffs they were swept in the first round by the home city rally for one hundred three ninety seven victory in dallas elsewhere the los angeles clippers a two one up in that best of seven series against memphis after a single point victory san antonio need just one more win against after the one hundred ninety ninety victory puts them in their lap while indiana also on the

brink of progressing edging past the longer orlando to go three one up in the contest after a topsy turvy gang. of our guys. were shown a great deal of resiliency. furious comeback by the magic obviously credit to. all their players and coaches for just really fighting down the stretch and making is a heck of a basketball game. a lot of fun out there it's good and good and up on the plus side of. that let's turn to golf where local boy webb simpson has reclaimed the lead at the wells fargo championship although world number two rory mcilroy had the most eye catching round this is him on the far right there in a bunker he could return to the top of the world rankings this week and carded a penalty round of sixty six to put into shots off the lead tied in third along with nick watney but it is simpson who is back out in front of his round of sixty

nine putting him on top of the leaderboard this is him here and a shot ahead of da points on ryan more. than his england simon dyson he leads the spanish open but only by a single shot after he double bogeyed the last hole he will be kicking himself after reeling off five birdies before the disaster on the eighteenth spain's public but it has a bow and danged sword and killed in a just behind tied in second place and they will begin their final round shortly. elsewhere defending moto g.p. champion casey stoner will start on pole for today's portuguese graeme pray the astray and lead a honda one to win qualifying estoril although next to nothing separated him from teammate danny drives and those chasing all so weren't far behind britain's carol croce will complete the front row standings the day you'll get over enzo will start for from the grid ahead of his yamaha teammate ben spies but american colonnade was

is out he frankly his collarbone when he was hit by randy dipping a bike here. very painful stoner meanwhile is a happier man and hopes to carry his good form into the wrecks. we thought we needed something extra like we had this morning and you know we just need a little bit more regroup but you know we create a little bit more regroup and then the turning just went you know we just had nothing in that last corner long last sector and we're losing a lot of time this hopefully we can do something in the morning and you know make this poll worthwhile because you know it's been a good weekend for a city and you know it would be lovely if we could finish it off. and we will finish off on two wheels because one of the wells all with a cycle races has got underway in the russian capital the five rings of last guy last five days and brings together riders from old i were the world from a cost as this report. for you the first one hundred fifty kilometer stage of the five rings of moscow road race was held and the crew loves

a good track built for the one nine hundred eighty summer olympics it ends with a garden ring race in moscow on victory day the ninth of may which commemorates the sylvia defeats of the nazis cyclists from over twenty international teams will be penciling proponents over the next few days to mean you know it so you are going for boars everything in the world evolves including this race but the five rings of moscow has a rich history dating back from the one nine hundred twenty s. in recent years we have noticed better organization of the savannah and this particular race features athletes who compete at the olympic games in london professional athletes are usually associated with the highest possible levels of health however one group of cyclists are defying the odds for those suffering from what can be a debilitating condition they are in the team known as type one so named as members are sufferers one day b.t.s. and are making their international debut in moscow is definitely

a lot tougher for them they have a lot more things to pay attention to socially during the race before the race and after the race always paying attention or blood sugar if it's if it's a little too low blow too high they need to adjust it up to more range that they would like to be on and i always pay attention to it for them too tight one cyclist managed to impress right from the off and finish the race in the top thirty crossing the finish line only around three minutes behind the eventual winner of the first stage is good very so therefore i am a little afraid the ball is at all. and then all the more than one hundred six children on the roof of this alone lives today and we have as young guys on the . stage when there was serbian even stitch of the turkish to south kano with a time of three hours fifty four minutes and nine seconds he claimed the race

leader's a yellow jersey coming out until my fraction after a frantic still sold on the finishing line today was a really special day for me because we no longer lots but it's a special win because i never want to hear that you gave me a really special feeling when i crossed the line in front of the people first now i'm going we have to think about the next four days the cambridge is here which is going to be really hard so four more days of cycling and head for muscovites in the city more used to gridlock than bicycles being kings of the road five rings of moscow is one of the all the cycling races in the world a change to scar and five day format's back in the year two thousand and to day one hundred seventy four cyclists from twenty nine teams are battling for a price on the twenty four thousand euros over the course of seven hundred and thirty kilometers. of artsy moscow how about that for

a fact that solis wolf and i were at the whether he's next.

this is science degree do. me to feel. civilization lose direction. but is there life science losing possible. the.

frogs heads to the polls in a runoff flood which will define whether nicolas sarkozy will with the latest to sweat from his part is to fight a crippling debt crisis. the presidential campaign is marred by escalating violence as protests against the military rulers turn from being peaceful and and and deadly clash it's. also in other news the trains this week russia's north caucuses as a result by twin tower attacks and the republic of dagestan that left thirteen people dead and more than a hundred injured. plus an anti-government rally is expected in moscow a day before leadin a place he returns to the ground and may trim it that if needs will take a look at that next seal the outgoing president.