DESPOTISM: A Most Educational Short Film

I’d like to start by thanking Jeff Wells of Rigorous Intuition for first letting me know about this movie.  I downloaded it at least a few months ago and it sat on my desktop unwatched until last night, when I was clearing space and deleting old files.  I figured I should at least watch it before I removed it, and boy howdy am I ever glad I did.  This humble little educational film peeled my eyelids back in a big way.  Today it would be considered subversive entertainment, and yet it was being shown in classrooms around the country back in 1946.  It is a truly remarkable little movie, clocking in at just under 10 minutes and packing as much whallop as any of the “radical” documentaries making the rounds online these days.

It is an artifact from an America long since gone, a nation of informed democracy, economic security, educated voters—and most of all, a nation of meaningful patriotism.  By that I mean the polar opposite of what we hear today—“my country, right or wrong”—this was 1946, where people were proud to be Americans and loved their country because it was right. 

Hold Up a Second, Though...

Yeah....the Good Old Days, right?

Of course, 1946 was also the year that Project Paperclip was underway, and over a thousand Nazi intelligence agents, scientists and war criminals were being smuggled into the United States and given jobs with taxpayer-funded salaries.  1946 was also the year that millions of Japanese Americans were released from prison camps only to find out their homes and businesses were long since gone.

1946 was one year after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—after Japanese leaders had been attempting to negotiate surrender for over a month.  The US military was not interested in negotiation, they were looking to demonstrate the atomic bomb—and prove we were willing to use it—in what was basically a pissing contest with Russia.  The United States flexed their muscles and looked strong, and over 200,000 Japanese civilians, men, women and children were killed. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower was vehemently opposed to the bombings—and it was Eisenhower who gave America the most eloquent and prophetic warning any President has delivered:

“We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

Turn the Lights Off, Start the Movie

Opening Quote: “For one thing...avoid the comfortable idea that the mere form of government can, of itself, safeguard a nation against despotism.”

The concept of “personal responsibility” has been reduced to a campaign soundbite these days, and perhaps it was already a hollow phrase back in 1946.  Still, it’s remarkable to start out a documentary for grade-school kids on this particular note: that defending personal liberty is a personal obligation, and passing that obligation on to your government is the same as giving up your freedom.  (This is why I bitterly oppose seatbelt laws, despite the fact I always wear seatbelts.)

Germany, under president Hindenburg, was a Republic.  And yet, in this Republic...an agressive Despotism took root, and flourished, under Adolph Hitler. When a competent observer looks for signs of Despotism in a community, he looks beyond fine words and noble phrases.

The film then introduced two key scales for establishing “how near a community is to despotism”—the Respect Scale, and the Power Scale.  For instance, when a government is more respected than it is powerful, it’s safe to bet you’re nowhere on the planet Earth.  Actually, I’m kidding, that’s nowhere in the movie...but the principle remains the same.  Basically when a government is more powerful than it is respected, you’ve got a problem on your hands.

The Respect Scale

After Nixon and Carter, someone hit upon a really brilliant idea.  Since the public no longer trusts politicians, they reasoned, perhaps we should just hire an actor to play someone trustworthy.  This was, all bullshit aside, really the only real concept behind Ronald Reagan.  The man was suffering from Alzheimer’s while he was in office.  This was a man who regularly fell asleep during staff meetings, and had difficulty remembering the names of foriegn leaders he would meet. 

I mention all that because Ronald Reagan is considered a hero by many Americans today.  I just thought that was kinda funny.

The Power Scale

In terms of the “Power Scale”—well, hot damn, I gotta point out that I’m a proud citizen of Vermont, or as the aliens call it, “The Only Democracy Left in the USA.” Here in Vermontistan, we have a tradition called Town Meeting Day, where everyone who wants to can meet and vote on stuff—stuff like measures to impeach alleged “President” George W. Bush, for instance.

Here in 2007, it’s painfully clear where the Power Scale is at these days.  We’ve had two consecutive blatantly fraudulent Presidential elections, and America just let it happen.  We’re engaged in a war, which our leaders assure us will take decades, a war that was based upon lies.  We know this because all the documents have been leaked.  We know this because the people who lied to us have since admitted it, notably Dick Durbin’s recent admission that Congress as a whole was in on the PR campaign:

The recent revelation by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that senators knew the intelligence on the Iraq War was being cooked in the lead-up to the invasion refutes the claim that Congress was misled by the White House. As a result of this news, Democratic Presidential candidate Mike Gravel says it’s clearly disingenuous for lawmakers to make the claim that they did not know then what they know now about Iraq.

Laws are routinely passed without the consent of the public, often without anyone even knowing the laws existed, until they show up online as part of congressional record, and already a part of Federal Law.  California voted to legalize marijuana for sick and terminally ill patients, and to this day the DEA, a Federal agency, does violent, armed raids on cancer patients and doctors, destroying and siezing the property of those who are trying to help the sick.

Back in 1946, at least while the lights were off and the sound was rolling in the classroom, things were perfectly clear:

The test of despotic power is that it can disregard the will of the people.  It rules without the consent of the governed.

Economic Distribution

One sign of despotism is the concentration of land ownership in the hands of a very small number of people.

Consider Ted Turner, who owns more than two million acres of land.  He uses most of it to raise Buffalo—he’s got over 40,000 of them.  As for humans, well...he’s not too big on the human race.  He’s donated a billion dollars (nothing is ever small with Ted) to the United Nations, and it’s interesting to note that a lot of that money is earmarked towards “population control” programs.  It’s interesting because it’s certainly not white folks who are “over-populated”—the hidden subtext in all the well-intentioned, scholarly and earnest discussions of the “poplulation problem” is always the fact they’re talking about poor, non-white human beings. 

Ted Turner is also interesting because of some comments he’s made in the past about the human species—one of which is worth really thinking about:

“A total population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal.”

A final statistic: 40% of the population of the United States owns less than 1% of the wealth.  The richest 1% of the United States owns more than 38% of the wealth. 

FUN QUIZ: Which infamous socialist conspiracy theorist wrote the following?

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks...will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered… The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”

If you guessed “Eugene Debs”—you’re wrong.  If you guessed “Thomas Jefferson”—you’re right!

Information

A community ranks low on the information scale when the press, radio, and other channels of communication are controlled by only a few people, and when citizens have to accept what they’re told.  In communities of this kind, Despotism stands a good chance.

The logic of “National Security” is a subtle way of saying “you have to accept what you’re told.”

Of course, subtlety is increasingly a lost art form—not only in our culture, but also in this essay, where I’m making my own conclusions more and more obvious.  Here’s a few quality quotes from The Decider:

“I’m the commander—see, I don’t need to explain—I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being president.”

“I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.”

“I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.”

Speaking of Bush II, it’s worth juxtaposing one more of his quotes with a line from Despotism:

“These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion.”—He said this to Congress, on September 11, 2001.

“When legislatures become ceremonial assemblies only, and have no real control over lawmaking, their community rates low on a power scale.”

Education

See how a community trains it’s teachers.

Here the documentary shifts to a classroom full of older-looking women listening to a vaguely German-sounding instructor, who intones: “Bear this in mind.  Young people cannot be trusted to form their own opinions.  This business about open-mindedness is nonsense.  It’s a waste of time trying to teach students to think for themselves.  It’s our job to tell them.”

...and, when teachers put such training into practice, Despotism stands a good chance.  These children are being taught to accept uncritically whatever they are told. Questions are not encouraged.

End of Lesson

What sort of community do you live in?  Where would you place it on a Democracy to Despotism scale?  To figure out which way it is likely to go in the future, you can rate it on the Economic Distribution and Information scales.

Having woven a tapestry, I would now like to burn it.  Despotism was written by Harold Lasswell, a professor at Yale.  Lasswell was a major figure in the realm of political science, which is a euphemistic was of saying Lasswell was an elitist who had contempt for the average human.  That’s not a spurious accusation, folks.  I’m talking about the man who wrote “men are often poor judges of their own interests, flitting from one alternative to the next without solid reason.”

You see, Lasswell was a firm believer in Propaganda.  He was not being critical but pragmatic when he wrote: “propaganda relies on symbols to attain its end: the manipulation of collective attitudes.” Like his contemporaries Walter Lippman and Edward Bernays, Lasswell did not have any qualms about his cynical manipulation.  To him, propaganda was “a mere tool...no more moral or immoral than a pump handle.”

It was strictly mathematics—it’s still math today. 

Are you familiar with the Magic Bullet Theory?  It’s also been called the Hypodermic Needle Theory, but you can imagine why that label never quite caught on.  It’s often attributed to Harold Lasswell.  The basic model is that, through media, people are directly and immediately infected with ideas.  Today we can easily recognize this metaphor as an early, crude form of Memetics. 

The concept is often attributed to Lasswell, but it’s interesting to note that this made him uncomfortable—he insisted it was more subtle than simply pumping people’s heads full of your bullshit until it started to come out of their mouths.  To Lasswell, it wasn’t just the repetition of information—it was the control of symbol systems, something that had to be developed over the course of months, if not years.

Do you know what one of the central case studies behind Magic Bullet Theory was?  The 1938 “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast, which was a sociological experiment in mass panic and hysteria, not a “prank gone wrong.” You can read more about this by clicking here.  (Seriously, if you don’t believe me, read the evidence before dismissing me, you will enjoy it.  If you do beleive me, why?)

Further Reading for Curious Primates

Over at Skilluminati Research, we’ve got a short, potent read on The Foundation of Supreme Executive Power in the US Federal government.

For further brainfood about the US Education system, I highly recommend starting right here.

If you’re not familiar with the shared global surveillance/eavesdropping system known as ECHELON, educate thyself.