Great film. Very nice. Great to watch while reading C. Wright Mill’s The Ruling Class.

I love how all of the ads targeted the wrong demographic.

The film raises the question: Is it better to rule the world, or to save it?  Initially presenting both sides,the films downgrades detestably in the third portion, leaving the viewer with an intense dissatisfaction at the conclusion. After clearly presenting the case that there is indeed a ruling class, the film answers the original question. Their answer is a resounding: rule the world. This kind of thinking is precisely the reason we are in our present environmental dilemma.  We have borne witness to environmental denigration since the Industrial revolution yet industry has continually been allowed to dump toxins in the name of progress. Many will say that we have made great strides in cleaning up industry over the past century and a half, and this is undoubtedly true, yet we are still seeing polluted rivers, drained marshlands, and continual species extinction.  It is not time to pat ourselves on the back just yet.  It has ceased to be a matter of gradual change. There needs to be sweeping reform now. 

The film sends the clear message that we should simply become complacent social automatons and give in to the corruption of the upper echelon.  I strongly object to the direct quote from the film; What must never change is the belief that doing well is also doing good.  Doing well is defined by social values, which currently revolve solely around money; the coolest car, the biggest house, the nicest clothes, and this is clearly not good.  The overwhelming majority of the products that we purchase contain carcinogenic substances, environmental toxins, and are produced by child labor at the behest of multinational conglomerates.  Emphasis on social values such as these lead an entire nation of people into deep debt within a vicious lifelong cycle of buying. Not only does money not buy happiness, but studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between consumption and satisfaction.

Another quote from the film speaks to the same issue. It was roughly; Equate national interest with self interest and no moral roadblocks remain on the road of ambition. This is an absolutely detestable outlook that permutes, propagates, and compounds our national issues over successive generations.

To paraphrase Michael Pollan, we now stand on a moral and existential precipice.  If we do not make more than token efforts to improve the current environmental conditions we will surely fall off the edge and the only thing waiting for us at the bottom is extinction.

Coming from those “nickle and dimed”, I too have thought about the fall of the empire and how we would be viewed as humans and not the sand beneath the pyramid. I’d rather be free range plankton, than a barnacle on a destructive barge.