Just because the fiscal cliff may have been averted–at least for now–doesn’t mean all the economic issues and problems facing this country have magically disappeared along with the manufactured crisis. From exorbitant student loan costs to skyrocketing credit card charges and mortgages that are higher than the actual worth of homes, many Americans continue to suffer at the greedy hands of the big banks.

“Forget the charade of the fiscal cliff,” Chris Hedges tells CBC Radio’s “Day 6 with Brent Bambury.” “It is a gimmick, a ruse, a sleight of hand by big banks and financiers to mask what is actually taking place in the United States.”

And what exactly is taking place is not a pretty picture, according to Hedges. The Truthdig columnist says the fiscal cliff is really “a massive debt peonage by the 1 percent” that is meant to enslave everyone and everything from citizens and states all the way up to the federal government.

Listen to the entire segment below.

— Posted by Tracy Bloom.