I watched the first five minutes and it came across like a first year undergraduate project to me.

There was plenty of propaganda in WWII, but with the Nazis and Japanese military imperialists you only had to report the facts. People were generally passive after WWII in the States particularly, with the exception of the civil rights movement, due to the six fold increase in wealth and the best standard of living the world had ever known. I defy you to agitate a man with a full belly and all that.

I was with some Brits over the weekend from London and Leeds and they were having a right old moan about the situation.

Yeah, that is sort of proving my point. The first clue I had the first time I went there was coming into the immigration hall at the airport, and there were literally thousands of migrant laborers in line for passport control and visa check. I was minding my own business when an official came by and asked what my passport was. Told him USA, and he asked me to follow him. Picked up a Brit and another American along the way until arriving at a nice cozy little check point for us where they glanced at our passport and said have a nice stay.

As I like to say about the UAE, they may worship Allah, but they also worship the Dollah. No terrorist is gonna interrupt their cash flow.

It's pretty interesting for sure. There are basically three concurrent societies there. The ex-pats, the workers, and the emiratis.

Conspicuous consumption doesn't even begin to describe Dubai. The other ones are at least (slightly) more restrained.

Sort of off topic, but if anyone was wondering where Coolio went, it's Dubai. I was there in 2010 at a beach bar by Jumeirah, and there was a stage setup, and some guy comes out and starts rapping, all the while I'm thinking "this guy is trying to be like Coolio". Just as I turn to the guy next to me to say it, bam, Gangster's Paradise starts. Yep, it's actually Coolio. Apparently it's 1997 in Dubai.

Last edited by doghouse (2013-03-25 06:59:17)

I went to Dubai on business trip about 18 months ago and couldn't not recommend it enough. Bad vibes everywhere: the long line of poor Afghan or Bangladesh girls huddled and frightened waiting to be processed to work as endentured servants (read: slaves) in the airport. Expats rowing with Russkie hookies in the hotel lobby, a couple of aircraft fitters on a three month assignment complaining you could spend two hundred pounds in blink of an eye on a night out, food absolutely unfresh in all the fancy restaurants.

An old hand told me the growth in the last decade had been phenomenal and that in the 90s it had a village feel to the expat community, but he said he felt sorry for Brits coming in with their families at the airport, as he said there's nothing for a family to do here: you can't go outside 9 months of the year because its too hot, and if you could there's nothing worthwhile to di and they ain't going to make any money.

The only other city that I've travelled that has had a similar atmosphere of something not quite right was Mumbai.

When he talks about Freud's ideas he is really talking about the work of Freud's nephew Edward Bernays, in fact that film posted above reminds me of this BBC series called , The Century of Self, I think Sammy will prefer watching this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prTarrgvkjo

Last edited by THAW !!!! (2013-03-25 12:43:03)

The video seems to make out that the undoing of humanity will be through the internet, but the problems he discusses, the mob mentality, the far-right fracturing of societies, violence, that has happen to much larger degrees before the advent of the internet, in fact, I'd say recently, the far-right in this country has been seriously undermined by it's online presence, the fact it can become quickly evident to most internet users, that these far right members are as thick as two-short planks, from what they post on facebook etc. It hasn't helped their cause at all.

It may be different with the tea party in America, but I think what makes these movements different from other fascist parties of the past is the Nazi's were actually able to bully people from the grass roots up. I can't see that happening in a modern country, our systems of control, and police are too strong for this to happen, if they were to dissolve, then maybe, but until then the online threat of the far-right is a sand pit for them to play in.

So is it the internet that is the problem, or the fact people lack access to self-worth, which is the thing that actually underpins a society. Governments it seems have become ignorant to the very principles our societies survived on, and that is civil obedience is gained through allowing it's people to gain self-worth and pride through their endeavours. Obtaining goods, or just being needed (employment) and receiving respect from peers, is enough for people to be satisfied with their identity.

I'm quite cynical to advertising, but even away from that, who we think we are, is still a product of how we perceive ourselves in a capitalist driven society.  We buy clothes that reflect our opinions of our importance, we shun those less, rich, intelligent. But we ourselves are still carrying out rather weak minded rituals of producing self-worth. Even if we like to think otherwise.

I've become acutely aware of this recently to the point where I really wonder where my self-pride is coming from, and whether I need to buy things other than what is necessary to have a healthy opinion of myself. Maybe it is the puritan in me, but I'm slowly beginning to change, I had a job which saw me in expensive clothes, that had me feeling needed, respected, etc. I step away from that because I realised my view of myself was underpinned by objects. It is not a solid foundation for a person. And now I feel vulnerable due to not having the money and respect I had before, but I realise this had to happen in order to become something more real, and honest. It's difficult, but there you go. How much are we willing to admit to ourselves about who we really are. I've learnt even the most deluded and self assured only take a rattling of their faith, whether in money, status, religion, etc to have a long hard look at who they actually are.

Politics is a dirty, seedy business and you need to raise yourself above it as much as possible and command respect in whatever you do: business, family and friends.

Remember it was the Brown Gang, the so called center left in the UK that bailed out the banks with "too big to fail" like some communist institution. What's the latest Orwellian mantra Labour is saying, ah yes, "Business Is Good For Britain". How fucking obvious and stupid is that?

The only system that delivered prosperity and relative freedom was the capitalist one, and I also believe that if my drive and work ethic is greater than another chap's then I am entitled to earn and spend more. I've worked all my life and I have stuff to show for it - and if I don't work hard then there's a guy over the road who will. This is the human condition.

All these Chomsky and Fisk types sound quite plausible, but in reality, they offer nothing but more control and obedience. The present system is broken, due to the dysfunction of the model, lack of long term business strategy, lack of respect for stack holders, corruption and rank intellectually challenged and mediocrities in government ala Bush and Blair.

There ain't going to be any great grass root movment as the herd is too dumb to act, the only solution is to save you and your family. And the only way your are going to do that is by being the best you can in what you do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrkwgTBrW78

You have to save yourself and family first and the only way you will do this is by remaining competitive and having a better work ethic and skill set then your contemporaries. Of course, you have the usual problems in organisations that Joseph Heller has explored in his novels, perhaps better than anyone else, but again, this is related to the human condition.

Along with the crony capitalism, you have the creation of a client vassal underclass, uneducated, contributing nothing and the deliberate class warfare with the destruction of the working class which Blair was a great advocate of. I don't know Kingy, but all these gurus are not going to fix it, so that's why I concentrate on what I can do for my family.