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.
