Going over my blog I found that I never wrote about the excellent BBC documentary called “The Power of Nightmares”. The documentary (written and produced by Adam Curtis) goes into the weird transition politics have underwent from basically a optimistic world view to a vision of fear. And it all boils down to one important thing: control. A perfect example of scare tactics is George Bush’s politics. As I wrote before, the US is rapidly becoming it’s own worst enemy. Another fine example is Bush spying on his own citizens under the pretence of it being nessecary because of terrorist activity. Not only is this unconstitutional it also shows his total lack of respect for the US senate and every US citizen.
What is worse is the fact that all this scare tactics are working. Both in the US as in Europe. After the 9/11 attacks both the US and the UK approved some ant-terrorist laws that really collide badly with all previous human rights, all in the name of the greater good (ie. the protection of citizens). But then again: most people don’t know what’s good for them anayway.
The Power of Nightmares gives a great inside look on how both sides of the spectrum (radical Islamist and the western world represented by the US) became who they are now.
Or as the introduction of the programme goes:
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 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 of 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 organised 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.
Although (off course) the series has not been shown on U.S. television, its three episodes were shown in succession on 26 February 2005 as part of the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri, USA. After the film, Curtis made a public appearance and led a discussion in which he expressed pessimism about an eventual American TV airing or DVD release. It has, however, played in some small independent theaters.
Curtis has also stated: “Something extraordinary has happened to American TV since September 11. A head of the leading networks who had better remain nameless said to me that there was no way they could show it. He said, ‘Who are you to say this?’ and then he added, ‘We would get slaughtered if we put this out.’ When I was in New York I took a DVD to the head of documentaries at HBO. I still haven’t heard from him.”
This, off course fits right into the whole picture of the US mass-media being totally controlled by either the government or self imposed censoring. Any idea or opinion against the post 9/11 government and the way they are handling things is seen as a personal attack against either the Bush or the US.
It is the same kind of stupid behaviour that accounts for the Islamic outrage following some stupid cartoons being published in some Danish newspapers.
For those who are interested: all three parts of the documentary are online at Google Videos and can be watched and downloaded for free!
Just check it out:
Part 1 – Baby It’s Cold Outside
Part 2 – The Phantom Victory
Part 3 – The Shadows in the Cave
Free your mind!
