Monday at the Movies: Volume 2

This train of thought started with an innocent conversation a few months ago. One of my coworkers has a degree in philosophy, so I asked her "I wonder what big idea is being challenged at the moment?" All the big ones seem to have been queried ad infinitum. What is truth? What is knowledge? What is meaning? What is this all about?

And then as the stock market suddenly turned south, I turned to her and said, "You know, no one seems to really question free market capitalism, I think its about time". And I do. I mean, think about it, in the "west" we have sufficiently attacked and attempted to change communism, marxism, tyranny, dictatorships...I mean most of these systems (both political and economic...they tend to be sides of a coin) are thought of as abominations, or at the very least, a system that needs to make way for progress. Well if we are such fans of progress, what's beyond capitalism (free-market or tightly regulated)? So we're on this roller coaster - been on it for a while - the market goes uuuupppp and dooown. People suffer, regardless. Right now, the pain is just more acute, and of course we are helped along by our friends the media. But is there a system of exchange that is more fair? Of course, this could be a massive discussion. One I plan to pick up from time to time. No one wants to talk about the economy, because its boring, right?

I am thinking that there is a choice here. If enough people got together to choose, then the people holding all the cookies would no longer be the school yard bullies. We blame the rich and greedy investment traders and billionaires. But who gave them all the power? Their money? No, our quiet, docile and complacent acceptance that money=power. Its just an idea. A great BIG idea, but the nice thing about ideas, is that we can get new ones. Slavery was once an idea.

So, Monday at the movies has proven to be the least popular sort of posting here on Big Picture. Well, that's just not going to phase me, in the least. I know, who has time to watch the computer? Well, this is worth watching. Its long, I'll warn you. But it begins a very good conversation.

I don't know very much about the maker of this documentary. I am choosing to show Zeitgeist Addendum, instead of Zeitgeist. (Part 2 and Part 1 respectively.) I'll show part 1 eventually, save that one tucked in my pocket for a rainy day. Please don't think I accept everything I see at face value. I like to watch things that make me think MORE. And this one did just that.

Zeitgeist Addendum