Today William Gibsonpointed to this short film on despotism.
When I started it up it looked like it would be another funny, dated educational film. After watching it, I'm not laughing. Watch it now. I'll wait.
From my perspective it's a clear, well thought out lecture on the dangers and possibilities of loss of democracy. I also noted that some of the comments on the Internet Archive page labeled it as Marxist propaganda. That's another sign to me that the content is accurate and all the more frightening.
As I've mentioned recently, I've been watching HBO's Rome and thinking about all things Roman. The Romans lost their republic and gained, for a while, an empire. But they paid for it in blood. They gave up their freedom for protection and entertainment. The Roman republic had their own Osama Ben Laden, too. He was called Vercongetorix. And the fight against him allowed Julius Caesar to seize power (lot of good it did him).
So, let's look at the factors. How concentrated is the media and information about the current war? How concentrated is wealth and respect? How free and open is education?
I remain hopeful for the world, for the United States, but I am also deeply concerned. Can our freedom and democracy be lost? Certainly. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
politics
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