Summary: Hollywood projects our dreams and fears on the big screen. Studying films gives us perspective on ourselves.. Today we look at “The Lone Ranger”. . . “The Lone Ranger” is a powerful movie whose incoherence reveals much about America. First, it shows (as do so many movies) our discomfort with heroes. Rather than make …
Summary: The history of the State-sponsored oppression of Black Americans (1776-1964) is the story about one of our two great national sins. Rather than confess and repent, many Americans prefer to take refuge in lies (the other, our treatment of Native Americans, is resolved by amnesia). However comforting, this both divides us and diminishes our ability to see ourselves clearly …
American faux history: why did the South leave the Union? Read More »
Summary: The campaign of Ron Paul reminds us of two of the three great lies that comprise such a large fraction of American history: slavery, stealing land from the Indians, and the role of government in US economic development. These not only exacerbate divisions in our society but provide a weak foundation for us — preventing us from clearly …
American faux history: could we have avoided the Civil War? Read More »
Summary: Why do political regimes die? Perhaps because of accumulated false memories, incidents in the past with which they cannot bring themselves to see. Too many of these can cripple a people’s OODA loop (observation-orientation-decision-action loop) and hence their ability to cope with the present and chart a realistic course into the future. We may have reached that point. A …
The easy way to rule: leading a weak people by feeding them disinformation Read More »
