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David Meadows Profile
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Registered: 09-2003
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The Power of Nightmares


The BBC has been showing a three-part documentary by Adam Curtis (an award-winning journalist and film maker) called "The Power of Nightmares". I don't know if other countries will show it, but if they do then I highly recommend it. It's a thought-provoking slant on the last thirty years of international politics and, well, I'll quote the publicity blurb, which sums it up better than I can:


In the past, politicians promised to create a better world. They had different ways of achieving this. But their power and authority came from the optimistic visions they offered to their people. Those dreams failed. And today, people have lost faith in ideologies. Increasingly, politicians are seen simply as managers of public life. But now, they have discovered a new role that restores their power and authority. Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise to protect us from nightmares. They say that they will rescue us from dreadful dangers that we cannot see and do not understand. And the greatest danger of all is international terrorism. A powerful and sinister network, with sleeper cells in countries across the world. A threat that needs to be fought by a war on terror. But much of this threat is a fantasy, which has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians. It’s a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services, and the international media.

This is a series of films about how and why that fantasy was created, and who it benefits. At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neoconservatives, and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. And both had a very similar explanation for what caused that failure. These two groups have changed the world, but not in the way that either intended. Together, they created today’s nightmare vision of a secret, organized evil that threatens the world. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. And those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.





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Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.
We grow old by deserting our ideals.
--Samuel Ullman, "Youth"
4/Nov/04, 13:26 Link to this post Email   PM 
 
Generalley Cool Profile
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Registered: 08-2003
Location: -NO, YOU prove im NOT diana!
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Re: The Power of Nightmares


i wanted to watch that, i missed it, grrr

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4/Nov/04, 19:09 Link to this post PM  ICQ  MSN  Blog
 
Firlefanz Profile
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Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
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Re: The Power of Nightmares


I'll have to watch out for it. I don't usually check the TV guides.

 emoticon

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- Firlefanz

Reading: Anthology Stories
Rewriting: "The Cloth-Merchant's Daughter", 2nd Lar Elien book

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4/Nov/04, 19:23 Link to this post Email   PM  Blog
 
Lermontov Profile
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Re: The Power of Nightmares


I've seen it, David. As my former tutor pointed out: the argument is an oversimplified one and that whole notion has been with us since the wheel in one guise or another. A far more interesting question is WHY people en masse are willing to go along with it/buy into it.

The 'power of nightmares' on behalf of neo-conservatives and (distorted) Islamic fundamentalist extremists (which both justify in terms of a religious mission to set the wrong - ie not their distorted view of it - world to rights) is used to perpetuate this notion. But WHY are enough people so ready to accept it?

No weapons of mass destruction...no firm links between bin Laden's ilk and Saddam/Iraq, in fact more evidence to the contrary now, yet Bush (and Blair are) still in power.

A substantial number of Americans still believe both of the above - but WHY? Or, more particularly, why are they willing to gloss over those glaring inconsistencies and still vote for the man (and we in the UK will vote Blair back in next year, too, even though the man is clearly a liar, CLEARLY) and his administration?

The answer: because that same substantial number of Americans, enough to vote him back in, perceive themselves, after September 11th, to be AT WAR.

George Bush IS a war-time president (even though he engineered the war..because going into Iraq after Afghanistan did not logically follow in political terms, only in warlike territorial conquest/strategic cushioning terms). Kerry IS NOT.

Now THERE'S a conspiracy for us! emoticon
6/Nov/04, 12:06 Link to this post Email   PM 
 
Alpha Centauri Profile
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Registered: 02-2004
Location: Athens, Hellas
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Re: The Power of Nightmares


I couldn't have said it better, Lermontov! emoticon

Bush needs Bin Laden, so that he can get re-elected.

Bin Laden needs Bush, so he can recruit fanatics more easily.

It's a vicious circle! A conspiracy, indeed!...

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6/Nov/04, 18:09 Link to this post PM 
 
Selwen Profile
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Registered: 09-2003
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Re: The Power of Nightmares


Hello, These movies can be viewed for free at Google video


Selwen
15/Feb/06, 13:19 Link to this post Email   PM  MSN 
 
Rimmer Profile
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Registered: 04-2003
Location: Straylia
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Re: The Power of Nightmares


Thanks, Selwen.

Here's the link to "The Power of Nightmares":

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=the+power+of+nightmares

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15/Feb/06, 21:37 Link to this post   Blog
 


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