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Requiem for the American Dream: Noam Chomsky & 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power
Fimmakers Peter D. Hutchison, Kelly Nyks and Jared P. Scott have taken interviews of legendary author/speaker/activist Noam Chomsky and woven them into a coherent narrative of the corruption of our American socio-economic-political systems. In addition to being a requiem, the film is also a post mortem—descriptions of the strategies and tactics that have transformed the United States of America into an oligarchy.
The Ten Principles are:
Reduce Democracy
Shape Ideology
Redesign the Economy
Shift the Burden
Attack Solidarity
Run the Regulators
Engineer Elections
Keep the Rabble in Line
Manufacture Consent
Marginalize the Population
In less than 73 minutes Chomsky articulates these strategies and tactics used by the wealthy and powerful to achieve their goals. The goals have been met. We are a large population of humans supporting the wealth and power of 1% of the country’s population—and suffering the consequences.
This is yet another must-see documentary about socio-political-economic injustice in the United States of America. When confronted with our national shame I often think of two stanzas from The Rolling Stones' song, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
I shouted out,
‘Who killed the Kennedys?’
When after all
It was you and me
Yes, documentaries of this ilk can be demoralizing, disheartening. Yet, they are also part of the solution; and as implied by Mick Jagger’s accusation, we are the ones who can revive our democracy.
The film concludes with a sentiment expressed by Chomsky’s close friend, the late Howard Zinn. Chomsky quotes:
‘What matters is the countless small deeds of unknown people who lay the basis for the significant events that enter history. They’re the ones who’ve done things in the past. They’re the ones who will have to do it in the future.’
Requiem for the American Dream is available from Netflix, Vimeo, and iTunes.