Juggling Dynamite

This 2014 documentary is now available on Netflix and iTunes. Given the current epidemic of lying and cheating apparent in our society from sports to business, politics, education and beyond, some context on the behavior is illuminating.

“(Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies” is a documentary feature film that explores how and why people lie. The film is anchored in behavioral experiments that measure our propensity to lie – sometimes even unknowingly. On a more personal level, from little white lies to devastating deceits, people share on camera the true stories of lies they’ve told. Experts examine the reasons behind our behavior and the implications of our dishonesty. Behavioral scientist Dan Ariely brings these elements together and guides us in discovering the complicated truths about lies. Here is a direct video link to the trailer.

Speaking of fraud and dishonesty engendered by those in one’s peer group, banking employees have been following their leadership perfectly.  This story is textbook, see Wells Fargo fined $186 million for fraudulently opening client accounts:

For years, Wells Fargo employees secretly issued credit cards without a customer’s consent. They created fake email accounts to sign up customers for online banking services. They set up sham accounts that customers learned about only after they started accumulating fees.

On Thursday, these illegal banking practices cost Wells Fargo $185 million in fines, including a $100 million penalty from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the largest such penalty the agency has issued.

Federal banking regulators said the practices, which date back to 2011, reflected serious flaws in the internal culture and oversight at Wells Fargo, one of the nation’s largest banks. The bank has fired at least 5,300 employees who were involved.

In all, Wells Fargo employees opened roughly 1.5 million bank accounts and applied for 565,000 credit cards that may not have been authorized by customers, the regulators said in a news conference. The bank has 40 million retail customers.

Danielle was a guest today with Jim Goddard on Talk Digital Network talking about recent developments in the world economy and markets.  You can listen to an audio clip of the segment here.

Noam Chomsky is considered one of America’s most important thinkers [make American think again!], critical minds, and voices of dissent.  His ideas have been the subject of the 1992 documentary “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media” and Michel Gondry’s “Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?” The more recent 2015 documentary “Requiem for the American Dream” is now available on Netflix and iTunes and offers some useful insight and historical context on the forces that have brought the world to a present crossroads.  Also relevant context for the present American election cycle. Worth watching.

In his final long-form documentary interview – filmed over four years – Chomsky unpacks the principles that have brought us to the crossroads of historically unprecedented inequality. Tracing a half-century of policies designed to favor the most wealthy at the expense of the majority, Chomsky lays bare the costly debris left in its wake: the evisceration of the American worker, disappearance of the living wage, collapse of the dream of home ownership, skyrocketing higher education costs placing betterment beyond reach or shackling students to suffocating debt, and a loss of solidarity that has left us divided against ourselves.

Profoundly personal and thought provoking, REQUIEM is a potent reminder that power ultimately rests in the hands of the governed – and is required viewing for all who maintain hope in a shared stake in the future.  Here is a direct link to the trailer.