THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES - part 1 review

[swilton]

- The Power of Nightmares -

Hi DU friends and collegues -
Review of Part I - Baby It’s Cold Outside

I connect with so many of you with my progressive political beliefs, I wanted to take this opportunity to share this must-see video with you - I know many of you will be informed or reinforced by the video because it explains the phenomena of neo-conservatives and their influence in contributing to the rise of the military industrial complex from the 1980s until the present. You know, the usual subjects.

The theme of the movie The Power of Nightmares which is divided by Netflix into three one hour segments, is that fear is used as a mechanism of coercion to control populations. Examples are provided by our own government from the Cold War up to the present threat from terrorists as well as Islamic terrorists.

That such a vehicle would be needed was recognized by political theorist Leo Strauss who was influential on neo-conservative thought. Strauss recognized that governments were becoming increasingly challenged by their inability to satisfy liberal public demands. Strauss disciples such as Irving Kristol saw the political unrest of the 1960s - early 70s as a way that the governments were unable to satisfy public demands and the need for a strategy to control the public. Problematic for the neo-cons was the ‘untidiness’ of the social movements of the 60s and early 70s; the neo-cons associated the US debacle in the Vietnam War with this untidiness. The identification of a threat that would unify the public through nationalism was a way to control such public unrest or prevent it from happening in the future.

During the Cold War this threat was embodied in the former USSR. This segment, Baby It's Cold Outside, shows examples of the neo-con influence on the Regan Administration through Rumsfield, Richard Perle, Richard Pipes and Paul Wolfowitz who played prominent roles in our political institutions during the Reagan Administration. During the 1980s, there was an ongoing debate about the political-military strength of the USSR which was based upon the contradictions between the CIA intelligence estimates which were quantifications based upon numbers and the neo-con estimates whose threat predictions that were largely based on myths. Along the way, the neo-cons co-opted the ideologues from the religious right whose leaders were equally threatened by the social challenges from the 60s and 70s. Of course the neo-cons didn’t go away after the Regan Administration left Washington, DC - and of course we are still experiencing the weight of the military industrial complex through the exponential growth of the budget deficit to pay for our grossly inflated military budget.

This segment of the movie also provided illuminating footage that illustrated the genesis of Islamic political theory and terrorism. This segment covered the leadership of the Moslem Brotherhood; its founder’s political philosophy and how this philosophy influenced Egyptian political dynamics to include the assassination of Sadat and to today with Bin Laden.

I found the video offered through Netflix or as a premium through the community radio station that I listen too. (WPFW/89.3 for those in the Washington DC metro area).

If there is enough feedback on this first segment, I will review the second and third parts. Thanks for listening.

[Sinti]

1. You can get all three parts online for free

Here:
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares

People don't seem to have the attention span to watch 3 hours of video though. They also don't seem to accept complex and subtle views of geopolitics. It's a black and white world out there - that's why I like comic books, very colorful.

I'm contemplating seeing if I can cut it up into 3 minute (or less) segments, taking just the most salient bits - like samples in the market. I do appreciate your trying to get this info out, good luck :)

[swilton]

2. Thanks

I'm not as adept as I would like to be as getting videos online. I guess I should learn from my sons. I guess the online part would be for storage...

I have heard from about Leo Strauss for a got bit of time and the neo-con ilk - but never put the group into context. I loved the way this video did that. I have worked in the government since the 80s. I had heard of the reputations that the neo-cons had when Bush brought them in. But I was never able to project the damage that they would do and the philosophy that was driving it. Having said that, certainly I did recognize the impact of trying to 'beat the Vietnam War syndrome' - but all of the Bush II foreign policy practices goes back to the 1980s and to Leo Strauss. To me this movie clearly explains all of that...phenomenal analysis. It is too recent for this to be considered history - but this has been put brilliantly into historical perspective. :hi:

[Sinti]

3. Some of it could be considered history - this started in the '50s-60s

All three pieces together explain things really well, and would help people avoid the next trip down the primrose way, if only they would pay attention. In my house, the minute 43 was elected we knew where we were going, by whatever means they felt were necessary. It's so very hard to deprogram people when they continue to get more programming in their daily media. I can get them to come around (talking in person and one-to-one), but I can't make it stick.

I really like the broad lens perspective and common sense delivery of this series. I hope you can get people to listen, I'm trying to do the same :)

[BrklynLiberal]

4. I could swear I saw this on TV..cannot say what channel..but I remember something about this...