Sound of Freedom surprise hit film of summer

Jim Caviezel champions a Sound of Freedom: Movie Review | Oakville News | Tyler Collins:

July 8, 2023 - "In an especially strong summer at the multiplex, it’s a genuine surprise to have an adult, biographical drama with minimal marketing and a prominent social justice mission to be making the (mostly welcome) headlines it has. That’s the surprise in Angel Studios’ Sound of Freedom: somehow, one of Hollywood’s smallest movie studios has produced the first true sleeper hit film of the year, ... worthy of its quickly growing praise among audiences.

"The film’s real-life subject matter is harrowing to say the least - the film is a biography of real-life former U.S. Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel) who leaves his agency job to begin special operations to free children who have been kidnapped, enslaved, and forced to work in the sex industry.

"Sound of Freedom primarily succeeds because the lead creative team are handling the uncomfortable subject of modern child abduction and sex slavery with the sensitivity and urgency it requires. It’s a deeply uncomfortable plot that’s handled with great care and an appropriate respect for the discomfort audiences will feel. This is the most effective Hollywood film to address the subject, with director Alejandro Monteverde effectively galvanizing action from the audience.... 

"Angel Studios is known for making faith-based movies, but there’s balance in showing the drama and maintaining plot suspense with Tim’s faith-based character motivations to rescue the children he does. That’s also an accurate reflection of the real man the character is based on.... 

"[A] large amount of the film’s box office success over the last few days is attributed to heavily skewed right-wing audiences who were advertised to on extremist American news outlets in the marketing campaign. Don’t mistake the film, however, as propaganda: it’s a balanced story with a deeply moving and necessary message....

"[T]here are some brief moments of on screen distress, .... [and s]ome of the statistics shared about child sex trafficking at the end of the film are stirring and hard to watch, but it’s never so heavy-handed you’re forced to look away.

"Other than the slightly too-long run time and pacing, Sound of Freedom is a well-crafted drama that deserves to be seen in theatres. This is one of the year’s biggest surprises, worthwhile for not just faith-based viewers but all adult audiences."

Read more: https://oakvillenews.org/reviews/sound-of-freedom-movie-review/

Obamas' new Netflix series is stupid propaganda

Netflix Teams Up With the Obamas To Produce Big Government Propaganda | Reason - John Stossel:

October 19, 2022 - "The latest Obama documentary series is The G Word. "G" for government. As Netflix documentaries go, this one is remarkably stupid. It's big government propaganda.

"Obama begins by claiming that he does his own income taxes, saying, 'It's actually easy'.... But that's just silly. It's so complex that millions of us pay to get help.

"Obama's series is hosted by silly comedian Adam Conover. Conover, correctly, calls himself 'an idiot.' He uses his time with the former president of the United States to make lame jokes and, at one point, to make sandwiches. He compliments Obama on how well he cuts the bread. It's not funny.

"The series occasionally covers some serious issues — meat inspection, for example. But instead of honest reporting, actors do a skit suggesting that, without government, meat companies would sell us dead poisoned rats. 'Food regulation was unbelievably successful,' concludes Conover. But food is largely safe today mostly because slaughterhouses cleaned themselves up way beyond what government requires.... One company executive showed me how they voluntarily do extra things like treat beef carcasses 'with rinses and a 185-degree steam vacuum.' Also, 'equipment is routinely taken completely apart to be swab-tested.'

"By contrast, for 90 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected meat with a crude process called "poke and sniff." Inspectors stuck spikes into carcasses and smelled them. They kept using the same spikes, so they sometimes spread disease. The government only stopped poke and sniff in the 1990s.

"A few times, Obama's series admits that government agencies mess things up. Conover mocks the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 'not a name you normally hear after the words "did a great job."' No, but he then claims FEMA fails because it's underfunded.... That's ridiculous. FEMA doesn't fail because it lacks resources. U.S. disaster relief funds have increased by billions. FEMA fails because it's a government bureaucracy, and bureaucracies do wasteful things, like bring bottles of water to hurricane victims but then leave them at an airport. 

"The private sector is more efficient. The G Word sneers at what it calls 'this philosophy that the free market should be trusted over the government.' But Walmart donates supplies much more efficiently than FEMA. They employ sophisticated weather tracking that helps them determine what assets are needed where. They get things to people because they lose money if they don't.

"Obama's series smears those of us who are skeptical of government handouts. 'In the wake of the civil rights movement,' claims Conover, 'some Americans began to resent the fact that the government was now providing assistance to black and brown citizens.' What? We didn't resent welfare because we're racists. We objected because it created a new permanent underclass. Handouts, President Ronald Reagan explained correctly, 'discourage work'....

"Obama's documentary depicts Reagan as a vicious surgeon cutting valuable government agencies, throwing them into a bucket labeled 'free market.' But government wasn't cut under Reagan. Federal spending went up during his terms. It always goes up.... It only grows. Today it's bigger than ever.

"That's fine, says Conover, because Washington rescued us during the COVID shutdowns with 'stimulus checks, small business loans, and corporate tax breaks!' They don't mention how much of that money was stolen or that their spending orgy brought 8 percent inflation.

"For three hours, Obama and his sidekick say government should do more. Whatever the problem, their answer is always more government and more money. Maybe someday a president will point out that government has no money of its own and that spending more than you have is a road to ruin."

Read more: https://reason.com/2022/10/19/netflix-teams-up-with-the-obamas-to-produce-big-government-propaganda/

Vince Vaughn Trumps up a tweetstorm

Last of the Hollywood libertarians: why the outrage over Vince Vaughn's handshake with Trump?- The Telegraph [UK]:

January 14, 2019 - "On Monday night, Twitter was sent a-flutter after photographs and video footage showed [film actor Vince] Vaughn enthusiastically catching up with President Trump and the First Lady at a college football game in New Orleans. Vaughn was spotted shaking hands and briefly sitting next to the Trumps to engage in an animated conversation, before carrying on with his evening.

"When video taken by US journalist Timothy Burke made its way to Twitter, with the caption, 'I'm very sorry to have to share this video with you. All of it, every part of it', it swiftly gained thousands of views and such a polarised response it was difficult to know who was serious, who was mocking, and which side of the spectrum those involved occupied....

"But those shocked by Vaughn's enthusiasm for Trump might be even more alarmed to discover that this is only the latest example of the actor expressing his right-wing views. Vaughn's ascent in Hollywood was always matched with an increase in volume from the actor about his political opinions – a rarity in the entertainment industry, where stars tend to keep such matters brushed under the carpet and those that do speak tend to veer to the left.

"[I]n 2004, [Vaughn] was shut out of a conference for young Republicans in Washington DC, ... while filming Wedding Crashers ... [b]ecause the gatekeepers weren't convinced that Vaughn was actually a Republican, and was trying to come in for a joke....

"[O]ver the next decade ... Vaughn developed a budding friendship with presidential candidate Ron Paul.... They attended barbecues together and bonded over libertarian views, with Paul's campaign chairman describing Vaughn as 'a great guy who loves liberty'. In 2009, the politician was invited to the premiere of Vaughn's film Couples Retreat. By 2011, Vaughn was officially campaigning for him....

"[Following] Paul's 2012 presidential campaign, Vaughn pivoted back to media, where he buddied up with Fox News commentator Glenn Beck ... to co-produce The Pursuit of Truth, a reality television series. A kind of X Factor for documentary makers ... [it] aired on Beck's own television network, The Blaze, in 2013 and lasted just one season.

"In 2015 [Vaughn] told Playboy that he preferred taxation the way it was before 1913, 'when locally you had sales taxes and property taxes. That seems ethical to me.... the federal government looking into your books to decide what to take from you, that feels wrong.'

"Also in 2015, Vaughn took to the lectern while giving a keynote address at a Libertarian conference at UCLA to explain his approach to drug legalisation: 'If someone’s parents don’t have money they are going to go to prison and have a life wasted. If someone’s parents do have money, they go to rehab. You can’t really go after people that are committing real crimes – forceful crimes, violent crimes – because [courts AND prisons] are so inhabited with people that were using drugs.'

"Later that year Vaughn won the attention of the NRA after expressing his support for gun possession in a profile in GQ [Gentleman's Quarterly]....

"Vaughn's Trumpian handshake ... is one of the first headlines he's won in several years. Perhaps it's the start of a whole new eyebrow-raising phase of his career."

Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2020/01/14/last-hollywood-libertarians-outrage-vince-vaughns-handshake/

'via Blog this'

Eastwood's 'most self-consciously libertarian film'

Clint Eastwood's 'Richard Jewell' Movie Is Remarkably Libertarian- Katya Sedgwick:

December 20, 2019 - "I generally resent recommending art for political reasons..... In the case of Richard Jewell, however, the unusual point of view moves the film in a novel direction and makes it a compelling standout feature. Director Clint Eastwood is an avowed libertarian, and Richard Jewell is probably the single most self-consciously libertarian film he’s ever made.

"Of course, I don’t understand everything about Eastwood’s brand of libertarianism. His support of gun control, for instance.... Moreover, the actor/director has endorsed an array of big-government politicians in California. I am going to give Eastwood a pass on all of that, however, because his job isn’t to be consistent. His job is to create compelling cinema, and he delivers that, film after film.

"Richard Jewell is probably not his strongest work. It leaves little room for suspense and is a bit predictable, in part because we all know the story: Security guard Richard Jewell find[s] a suspicious backpack at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which turns out to be a bomb that kills two people and injures more than 100. At first heralded as a hero, Jewell soon becomes the FBI’s primary suspect and the target of a media rampage.

"It is exquisitely acted, however, with Eastwood’s minimalist directing style shining through. The characters Eastwood introduces are as familiar to the American psyche as they are unusual to meet onscreen: a hard-working and loving, if TV-addicted, single mom; a geeky, libertarian lawyer; an overweight, overzealous copper....

"I can think of two reasons Eastwood continues to create novel but easily recognizable characters. First, he makes films from the point of view of ordinary Americans. Second, he makes libertarian films. Since libertarianism is a very American worldview, one reason blends into the other....

"Most of the films produced in this country today are ideological and amount to some sort of soft Marxism. It’s hard to imagine that in different hands, Jewell’s persona would morph into anything other than a villain or an unfortunate victim of circumstances, but in Eastwood’s reading, he is an individual in his own right....

"Libertarianism is right next door to anarchy, but somehow not many artists are interested in making films representing that outlook. The pent-up demand for this type of entertainment has surfaced since the emergence of the Tea Party in the beginning of President Barack Obama’s first term. Ten years later, there’s finally a movie about healthy, vocal mistrust of the state and the media, and the tension between respect for authority and individual autonomy.

"Nobody in the world can possibly make a film like that except for American artists, and out of all big-name directors in America, Eastwood is the only one who picks up this opportunity.... American filmmakers should try to work with libertarian themes because these creators are in an ideal position to explore them, and taking that kind of risk would lead their craft in a new, interesting direction. We’ve all seen filmmakers’ cookie-cutter wokeness. Show us something new."

Read more: https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/20/clint-eastwoods-richard-jewell-reveals-an-appetite-for-libertarian-entertainment/
'via Blog this'

Ford government scrapping Ontario Film Authority

Doug Ford government scrapping agency that rates films | CBC News:

September 27, 2019 - "The Ford government is dissolving the independent agency responsible for classifying films screened in Ontario movie theatres. The Ontario Film Authority (OFA) will no longer issue film ratings ... according to a Ministry of Government and Consumer Services memo obtained by CBC News.

"'The Ontario Film Authority will be winding down its operations and the ministry will look to the industry to consult on ways to better reflect today's film market,' says the memo from Michele Sanborn, the assistant deputy minister.

"In the short term, says the memo, films screened in Ontario theatres must use the rating issued by British Columbia's film classification body. Longer-term changes are expected next spring. Dissolving the OFA will save the industry $1.5 million to $2 million a year in licensing and classification costs, according to the memo.

"Films that go straight online and are never shown in cinemas don't require a rating from the OFA. The trend toward streaming means the agency approved 1,000 fewer films in 2018-19 compared with the previous year.

"The OFA was designed to operate on a cost-recovery basis, charging filmmakers fees for issuing ratings such as PG, 14A or Restricted.... [T]he agency brought in $2.2 million in revenue, but ran a shortfall of $130,000 ... 'primarily due to the 20 per cent decrease in minutes viewed for English/French language films; and 35 per cent decrease in minutes viewed for adult sex films,' the agency's 2017-18 annual report said.

"A spokesperson for Government and Consumer Services Lisa Thompson confirmed Friday the agency is being scrapped, with a 'rapidly changing film market' as the reason.  'The major shift to digital platforms and streaming services has significantly changed viewers' behaviour and impacted the OFA's business and revenues, making it unsustainable,' said Thompson's spokesperson in an email to CBC News."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-film-authority-1.5300584
'via Blog this'

Film shows horror of gov't population control

One Child Nation 2019: Documentary Review - David Edelstein, Vulture:

August 12, 2019 - "You can’t fault China for worrying about the impact of overpopulation ... but the horror that its government unleashed in the name of protecting natural resources and ensuring the health of its people beggars belief. What the country’s 'one-child law' ushered in — with cheerful, propagandistic songs and posters and Chinese 'operas'  — was an ongoing totalitarian nightmare, the scale of which is rarely appreciated outside the so-called People’s Republic. That scale is chronicled by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang’s first-person documentary One Child Nation in infuriating, tragic, grisly detail. The policy ended in 2015 but the trauma still ripples through China and the world. It’s a devastating film, almost too terrible to contemplate.

"Wang begins with the story of her own family, which barely got away with having two children ... her father ... had to talk the village chief out of sterilizing her mother after Nanfu’s birth. The father wanted another child — a boy, of course ... and her parents admit — on camera, wincing but firm — that if he’d been female, he’d have been put in a basket and left at an outdoor market to be picked up. Or to die. The story of Nanfu’s female cousin — who was left in the market — will haunt my dreams forever....

"The uncle who left his daughter to die in the open air is interviewed. He is being eaten alive, metaphorically.... But moral judgments tend to curdle in this context. What, says the village chief, now 74, was he to do? It was policy handed down from on high.... A woman who oversaw that policy still believes that the country would have 'perished' without it, and that the well-being of the collective must always always supersede personal feelings. In contrast, a local midwife who performed 20 sterilizations a day — the women sometimes carried in kicking and screaming on poles, 'like pigs' — ... knows that, 'There’ll be retribution for me. The state gave the orders, but I carried them out'....

"How do we judge so-called 'human traffickers' who sold female babies to orphanages and made a tidy profit? Those girls were given up by families who didn’t want them. Many would have otherwise been killed at birth. It’s easier to condemn the village officials who — after China legalized international adoption, in 1992 — outright abducted babies and sold them to orphanages....

"One useful thing about One Child Nation is that it puts the work of someone like Ayn Rand in perspective. The little Jewish girl who grew up in the Soviet Union had a fierce, undying rage at collectivist repression and the corruption that followed in its wake. You can almost forgive her for going the opposite way and insisting on a society built on unbridled selfishness. Maybe you can. The movie ends on a note of bitter irony. Having lost a large percentage of its young thanks to its one-child policy, the Chinese government is now a two-child nation: 'One is too few, two is just right.'

"Ask the government if the one-child policy was wrong and they will likely respond, What one-child policy?"

Read more: https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/one-child-nation-2019-documentary-review.html
'via Blog this'

David Boaz's top 10 libertarian movies (II)

The 10 Best Libertarian Movies – Noteworthy - The Journal Blog - David Boaz:

February 22, 2019 - "Plenty of movies depict individualism, enterprise, anti-totalitarianism, freedom, and social tolerance. The challenge is picking a Top 10 out of all the choices....

"The Man in the White Suit (1951) A shy scientist played by Alec Guinness invents a cloth that will never wear out and won’t get dirty.... But then the other mill owners, and the unions, realize that its production would mean that people won’t need to buy many clothes.... They join forces to protect their positions and block progress. A metaphor for so much of political activity aimed at stopping innovation, creative destruction, and improved living conditions....

"My Beautiful Laundrette (1985).... Hanif Kureishi thought he was making a savage indictment of Thatcherite capitalism. But to me, the good characters in the movie — white and Pakistani, gay and straight — are the ones who work for a living, and the bad characters are clearly the layabout socialist ... and the British thugs who try to intimidate the young Pakistani businessman. My favorite line:.... 'I’m a professional businessman, not a professional Pakistani. There is no question of race in the new enterprise culture.' I think Kureishi thinks that’s a bad attitude. The joke’s on him.

"Pacific Heights (1990).... "A young couple buys a big house in San Francisco and rents an apartment to a young man. He never pays them, and they can’t get him out, and then things get really scary.... Cato published William Tucker’s book Rent Control, Zoning, and Affordable Housing, and I asked Pacific Heights director John Schlesinger for a jacket blurb, he readily agreed to say 'If you thought Pacific Heights was fiction, you need to read this book'....

"The Palermo Connection (1990).... New York city councilman Jim Belushi runs for mayor on a platform to legalize drugs and take the profits out of the drug trade. The Mafia isn’t happy. His life is threatened. So he decides to go on a honeymoon, in the middle of his campaign — to Sicily.... 

Shenandoah (1965). Some have called it the best libertarian film Hollywood ever made. James Stewart is a Virginia farmer who wants to stay out of the Civil War. Not our fight, he tells his sons. He refuses to let the state take his sons, or his horses, for war. Inevitably, though, his family is drawn into the war raging around them, with tragic results....

"Miss Liberty’s Film and Documentary World offers a somewhat different Top 25 here. Libertarians might also find helpful this warning from the Guardian: 'The Giver, Divergent and the Hunger Games trilogy are, whether intentionally or not, substantial attacks on many of the foundational projects and aims of the left: big government, the welfare state, progress, social planning and equality.”

Read Part I here.

Read more: https://blog.usejournal.com/the-10-best-libertarian-movies-d3fee4afbf38

'via Blog this'

David Boaz's top 10 libertarian movies (I)

The 10 Best Libertarian Movies – David Boaz – Medium:

February 22, 2019 - "Hollywood takes a lot of flak for its liberal leanings.... Still, over the years Hollywood studios and some independent and foreign producers have made plenty of movies with libertarian themes. They’re not movies with John Galt speeches, and most of them aren’t really ideological at all. But the messages or the values are there.... So here are my choices, in alphabetical order…

"1776 (1972) - What could be more libertarian than a movie about ... the document that declared 'all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness'? A rousing Broadway musical effectively transferred to the screen....

"Amazing Grace (2007) - John Newton was a slave trader who ... renounced his previous life and became an evangelical minister in the Church of England, an abolitionist, and the author of a beautiful hymn. This movie reminds us that humanity has made great progress toward freedom, that each battle for freedom can be long and seemingly futile, but that the goal is worth time and money and effort.

"Amistad (1997) ... tells a fascinating story about a ship full of Africans who turned up in New England in 1839.... Amistad gives us a picture of a society governed by law.... And when the former president, John Quincy Adams, makes his argument before the Supreme Court, it should inspire us all to appreciate the law that protects our freedom.

"Dallas Buyers Club (2013) ... has a strong libertarian message about self-help, entrepreneurship, overbearing and even lethal regulation, and social tolerance. A homophobic working-class Texan learns in 1985 that he has AIDS ... goes looking for drugs, ... and starts selling them in Texas, mostly to gay men.... You’ll be surprised to see how many armed FDA agents it takes to raid a storefront clinic operated by two dying men.

"East-West (1999) - Films about the devastation of communism are all too rare. This French film (Est-Ouest) about Soviet emigres who returned to Russia after World War II is a lush and moving depiction of, as the New York Times put it, 'the grim reality of life and death in a police state': poverty, executions, and constant fear."

Read Part II here.

Read more: https://medium.com/@davidboaz/the-10-best-libertarian-movies-d3fee4afbf38

'via Blog this'

Hollywood hypocrisy shown by The Favourite

Somebody’s Favorite | Liberty Unbound - Jo Anne Skousen:

February 10, 2019 - "In the wake of last year’s militant #MeToo movement, when actresses haughtily proclaimed, 'We will no longer be pressured into trading sex for jobs' (and bullied other actresses into wearing black at the event to show their solidarity), the Academy this year has bizarrely honored The Favourite with ten Oscar nominations, ... confirming once and for all (as if there were any doubt) that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has zero credibility and doesn’t know what the hell it is doing.

"Loosely based on the reign of Queen Anne and her relationships with Sarah Churchill,Duchess of Marlborough, and a servant named Abigail (eventually Lady Masham), the film suggests that the silly and childlike Anne made all of her decisions based on which woman’s tongue pleased her best — and I don’t mean by talking. The film fairly drips with transactional sex....

"Rachel Weisz, who plays Sarah Marlborough, called the film 'a funnier, sex-driven All About Eve.' In that film, an established star (Margo Channing) befriends an aspiring actress (Eve Harrington), only to see her try to usurp her position in the theater. Similarly, in The Favourite, a young social climber, Abigail (Emma Stone), .... worms her way cunningly — or in this case, cunnilingually — into the favor of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) by befriending and then pushing aside the queen’s long-standing confidante and advisor, Lady Churchill (Weisz), simultaneously finagling a financially and socially beneficial marriage to regain her aristocratic status.

"Don’t misunderstand my objection — I enjoy a good bedroom farce, with doors slamming, lovers hiding, comic timing, and double entendres galore. But this is different. The Favourite doesn’t just joke about sex; it celebrates the use of sex to gain political power, and hypocritically undermines everything these same preening, moralizing Hollywood hotshots stood up for just last year.

"It also seems to justify rape, as long as it’s funny.... When Lord Masham enters Abigail’s servant quarters without being invited, she asks him, 'Are you here to seduce me or to rape me?” He responds, “I’m a gentleman.' 'To rape me, then,' she deadpans, and the audience chuckles....

"All I’m asking is that the Academy pick a side and stick with it. Or admit that it really has no backbone or underlying moral principles whatsoever, and quit pretending to have the upper hand on social morality....

"Liberty readers might well enjoy The Favourite.... It’s bizarre in many ways, but it’s also witty, opulent, and well-acted. It presents three powerful women controlling the throne and politics of England in their own womanly way.... All three women use their sex for trade, but they do it willingly and deliberately, from a position of power rather than victimhood. Is it possible — even probable — that women in Hollywood have been doing the same thing for over a century, and only cried 'outrage!' (and somehow managed to blame Republicans) after they were caught?"

Read more: http://www.libertyunbound.com/node/1953

'via Blog this'

Clint Eastwood: still going strong, still libertarian

Clint Eastwood: Actor, Director, Musician, Politician, and Libertarian · 71 Republic - Brennan Dube:

December 26, 2018 - "Clint Eastwood Jr. was born May 31st, 1930 in San Francisco and his life journey has been remarkable. He will go down as one of Hollywood’s greatest legends and has been in films in each of the last 7 decades. Some of his best hits include ... The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Dirty Harry, Escape from Alcatraz, Million Dollar Baby, and Gran Torino, also having directed the latter two..., Eastwood has ... directed over 30 films and has won several Academy Awards including Best Director on two separate occasions.

"Eastwood has a cemented legacy in America and will forever be remembered for what he has done in Hollywood, but some may not realize just how political Clint Eastwood was.... Eastwood was a very passionate ideological follower of politics and his roots lie in Libertarianism. After being a member of the Republican party ... 1952-1974, Eastwood became an Independent and stayed as one until 1997. Following the 23 years as an Independent, Eastwood then registered as a Libertarian and has apparently been one ever since; he confirmed he was a registered party member in 2009.

"In a 2004 interview with USA Today, Eastwood stated he wasn’t conservative ... but more so libertarian. Eastwood went on to state his life-long belief in leaving everyone alone. On an Ellen interview in 2012, Eastwood reaffirmed his idealistic position in stating his firm belief in social liberalism and fiscal responsibility. Now his rhetoric doesn’t just stay put at just rhetoric, Eastwood has actually held public office.... Eastwood served as Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea ... 1986-1988 and sat on the California State Park and Recreation Commission....

"Some other celebrities who identify as Libertarians are, actor Vince Vaughn, former WWE wrestler Kane (Glenn Jacobs), Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, actor Kurt Russell, and American Idol Star Kelly Clarkson....

"Eastwood’s most recent film: The Mule, opened up in theatres on December 14th and it follows the true story of the eldest known drug mule in history. Clint Eastwood not only plays the mule but also directs the film. This is his first lead acting role since his supposed retirement in 2012.... Check out my review of The Mule here."

Read more: https://71republic.com/2018/12/26/eastwood-director-libertarian/
'via Blog this'

First Purge called "most libertarian film of 2018"

“The First Purge” - The Most Libertarian Film of 2018 - Being Libertarian - Luke Henderson:

July 5, 2018 - "The Purge saga ... revolves around a dystopian US where a new political party, called the New Founding Fathers of America, were elected to office on the platform of initiating a holiday where for one night each year, all crime, including murder, is legal, with the intent of releasing the country’s pent up anger towards the collapsing economy....

"Though it is implied that the government of this franchise is corrupt, audiences don’t get a truly in depth look into how until The First Purge. As the title suggests, the newest film tackles the election of the New Founding Fathers of America ... and their initiation of what would become the murderous holiday. What makes this film stand out from the other three films is that the monstrous corruption of government is not hidden in the slightest.

"In the beginning of the film, the NFFA offers citizens of Staten Island, who have been chosen as the location to experiment with the purge, $5,000 to participate in the night, with more money offered if they kill someone.... Many of the residents take the money because of the hope of a new life it offers....

"In Washington D.C. audiences see the Chief of Staff and the social psychologist who created the concept of a night of murder-induced catharsis overseeing the event via video recording drones. They are disappointed initially as the only murders have come from the insane ... and residents mostly vandalize property, loot business and have 'Purge parties.'

"Around midnight, gangs suddenly appear who begin mercilessly killing. The social psychologist finds this unusual as her hypothesis predicted a high initial murder-rate that would quickly taper off. She goes to a private office to investigate.... [T]he social psychologist finds video of the gangs suddenly appearing out of garages after midnight out of nowhere and the Chief of Staff has her sent to Staten Island to be killed for revealing the truth....

"Frankly, the film left me stunned with its unintentional libertarian messaging on the terrors of a corrupt government, human nature and individuals defending themselves....

"The initial failure of the purge experiment ... tells a lot about how government officials will go to extreme lengths to create situations where their legislation seems essential. Without the meddling of the Chief of Staff, the purge very well could have failed and the population would have seen that in general people just want a release from their frustration, but many of the options to do so aren’t afforded to them. It’s a lesson in the possibilities of decriminalization and legalization of illegal substances and 'obscene' activities.

"Finally, The First Purge offers one of the best arguments for the right to gun ownership and self-defense.... Even the most ardent gun hater can’t deny that a corrupt government using deadly force on its citizens should have been met with the same force.

"Every libertarian should ... see The First Purge.... Films are one of the most effective tools to spreading a message and getting people emotionally invested, so using the market to accomplish this is one of the most libertarian things we can do."

Read more: https://beinglibertarian.com/the-first-purge-the-most-libertarian-film-of-2018/
'via Blog this'

The wackadoo libertarianism of Demolition Man

On ‘Demolition Man,’ Libertarian Action, and the 3 Seashells - Abraham Riesman, Vulture:

October 9, 2018 - "I’m a lover of dystopias, but I’ve always found Brave New World irksome.... But there’s a movie that makes me wonder whether my real problem with Brave New World was simply that it didn’t have enough car chases and zingy one-liners. That film is Marco Brambilla’s 1993 epic Demolition Man, which  ... presents a bizarrely compelling philosophical argument, ultimately becoming a libertarian screed that’s as wackadoo as it is persuasive.

"In it, Sylvester Stallone portrays the titular gent, ... the phallically named LAPD hero John Spartan, whom we meet in the then-future of 1996, patrolling a hellish Los Angeles [in] battle with a crime lord who has an even better name: Simon Phoenix, played by Wesley Snipes.... Phoenix ... prompts Spartan to blow up the building they’re in [and] Spartan and Phoenix are both sentenced to a curious form of imprisonment: cryogenic freezing....

"We’re transported to the year 2032, where everything is … pretty great, actually. Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Diego have merged into a cheery megalopolis called San Angeles, where everyone and everything is chill as heck.... Phoenix is woken up for parole and mysteriously able to break free, killing a warden and a few guards in ... the first murders committed in decades. Baffled and unqualified for dealing with a killer, the cops ... retrieve the legendary Spartan.... Obviously, Spartan will catch Phoenix.... The real magic of the movie lies in its world-building and its message. This is, believe it or not, less a movie of plot or spectacle than it is a movie of ideas.

"The elaboration of San Angeles is a wonder to behold, veering back and forth smoothly between satire and sheer invention.... There are also completely bizarre ideas.... Spartan uses the bathroom at the precinct and informs the cops that they’re out of toilet paper. Everyone giggles and he’s told that no one uses TP anymore — instead, they use 'the three seashells'.... At no point, however, is there any explanation of how one can use three seashells to take care of one’s fecal matter....

"But ultimately, the non sequiturs are overpowered by the commentary. It becomes clear as things progress that Demolition Man is intended to be a libertarian manifesto. Nowhere is that clearer than in the words of the leader of the utopia-rejecting underground, Edgar Friendly [who] delivers a stunning monologue....

See, according to Cocteau’s plan, I’m the enemy. ‘Cause I like to think, I like to read. I’m into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I’m the kind if guy who wants to sit in a greasy spoon and think, Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries? I want high cholesterol. I want to eat bacon, butter, and buckets of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in a non-smoking section. I wanna run through the streets naked with green Jello all over my body reading Playboy magazine.... You wanna live on top, you gotta live Cocteau’s way: what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. Your other choice: come down here, maybe starve to death.

"Has there ever been a rawer, more perfect argument against the nanny state in mainstream cinema?"

Read more: https://www.vulture.com/2018/10/on-demolition-man-libertarian-action-and-the-3-seashells.html
'via Blog this'

White Boy Rick shows underside of Drug War

Casualties of the Drug War | Liberty Unbound - Jo Ann Skousen:

September 28, 2018 - "White Boy Rick is a rough and complex biopic based on the story of Richard Wershe, Jr., the youngest (at 14) undercover drug informant ever to be recruited by the feds to help them go after the kingpins in the drug trade. At times touching, ... at times enraging, the film shows the dark underside of the war on drugs in all its ugly glory: corrupt cops, heartless investigators, violent turf wars, strung-out druggies, and the poverty and despair that often lead people into the trade.

"The story is set in mid-’80s Detroit, against a backdrop of empty factories, rat-infested playgrounds, and worn-out homes in worn-out neighborhoods. Richard Wershe Senior (Matthew McConaughey) is a hustler with a gun dealer’s license.... He loves his family, but he can’t provide a good life for them. He has a license to sell registered guns at a meager profit, but the real money is in the 'upsell' — the illegal homemade silencers he offers along with them. 'The gun is the burger — but these are the fries,' he tells Rick, explaining how fast food servers are trained to make you think you want something you don’t really need. 'Now go out and sell you some fries.'

"Ironically, FBI agents Snyder (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Byrd (Rory Cochrane) and Detective Jackson (Brian Tyree Henry) ply Rick with a burger and fries as they enlist his services as an undercover narc, threatening to arrest his father for illegal firearms sales if the boy doesn’t comply. This scene was particularly poignant to me, because several of my students at Sing Sing have told me that McDonald’s is the drug of choice for recruiting young drug runners in the streets.... Oh, so subtly, with a burger and fries, the film equates the Feds, the dealers, and Rick’s father....

"The scenes that follow show Rick immersing himself in the drug culture, with its fast money, easy women, and useless luxuries.... Hopelessness in impoverished neighborhoods often leads people to seek instant gratification and engage in risky behaviors. It makes no sense to save for the future when there isn’t a future in sight.... It’s all a pipe dream, mostly found at the bottom of a crack pipe. So grab a few laughs and some ass while you can. There isn’t going to be any more where you’re going.

"The feds are no better than the drug lords, and probably worse, because they claim to be the good guys. Driven by moral relativism, they see no problem with getting kids high, sending them into dangerous situations in order to catch drug dealers, and then leaving them to deal with their addictions — and their incarcerations — when they’re no longer useful....

"Rick Wershe may have been the youngest teen to be recruited as an undercover informant to avoid arrest, but he certainly isn’t the only one. According to an article by Tony Newman of Drug Policy Alliance, it has become all too common to bust people for minor possession and then threaten them with decades in prison unless they provide evidence on someone else -– and for those frightened, untrained informants to end up dead. Rick didn’t end up dead, but he might as well have, when his handlers stood idly by as he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole — for selling cocaine. It was the longest sentence for a nonviolent crime ever imposed, until Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for running the Silk Road website.

"I watched the tears quietly trickle down 17-year-old Rick’s cheeks in the closing scenes of the film as he spoke through prison glass to his equally distraught father, and the tears quietly streamed down my cheeks too. I know too many of these young men — now middle-aged — who have been incarcerated since they were teens because they were enticed into a drug trade that is only lucrative and deadly because it is illegal. There are no good guys in the war on drugs. There is only bad law. And bad schools. And bad neighborhoods without hope."

Read more: http://www.libertyunbound.com/node/1899

'via Blog this'

Free Richard Wershe Jr. on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreeRickWersheJr 

Anthem Festival premieres libertarian films

A FreedomFest Report | Liberty Unbound - JoAnn Skousen:

July 23, 2018 - "FreedomFest, LasVegas, July 2018.... We wanted this year’s event to involve our attendees more directly — not just sitting in chairs listening to speakers, but participating actively in the discussion. So we lengthened our Q&A times, reduced the number of breakout sessions, created a scavenger hunt ... added 'conversation circles' in the evenings [and] expanded our 'FreedomFest after Dark' activities with Karaoke ... and clubbing at a local night spot....

"Others found their way to the Anthem Libertarian Film Festival — and some never left.... We had the best films and the best attendance in our eight-year history, with four world premiere films, five SRO screenings, 11 hard-hitting panels, and films that inspired us even as they told stories that outraged us. Libertarian films can be depressing when they’re set in dystopian futures or focus entirely on the hopelessness of big government; what I loved about this year’s lineup is that they offered hope for a brighter future through greater freedom, greater courage, greater understanding, and greater technology. And the production values of our films this year were top notch.....

"One of my favorites was the Best Comedy winner The Inconsiderate Houseguest (Rob and Letitia Capili), which offers a subtle (Rob claims 'unintended') and unexpected theme about immigration beneath its quirky story about an uptight, rule-oriented roommate. 'Subtle' is the key here; messages don’t need to shout if they are presented well. Storytelling can be more powerful than a lecture because of the emotional connection it creates with the audience....

"The $2,500 Anthem Grand Prize went to Skid Row Marathon (Mark Hayes, director), an inspiring documentary about L.A. Judge Craig Mitchell who, troubled by the outrageous mandatory sentencing he was forced to impose, started a running club to help former felons regain their self-confidence and restart their lives.... Club member Rafael Cabrera was on hand for the Q&A following the screening. The film also won the $500 AnthemVault Prize for Best Original Score, featuring music composed by club member Ben Shirley. I defy you to watch this film with a dry eye.

"Saber Rock (Matt and Thomas Locastro, directors), about a young Afghan interpreter for the American military who was targeted for assassination by the Taliban when he began teaching children about the principles of freedom, won the Anthem award for Best Short Documentary. The real Saber Rock attended the festival and gave an impassioned opening night speech to the FreedomFest crowd.... He was awarded Anthem’s Special Jury Prize for heroism and received a standing ovation from the audience.

"Festival judge Gary Alexander argued at the judges’ meeting that America Under Siege: Antifa was one of the most important films at the festival because it reveals the truth behind the rising violence against free speech. Meanwhile, the gentle tone of Off the Grid with Thomas Massie won the hearts of festival attendees, who awarded it the Audience Choice trophy. Director Matt Battaglia follows the brilliant MIT graduate and inventor around the Kentucky farm that he built and maintains with his own hands as he talks about the priorities in his life and why he went to Congress.... A second Audience Choice trophy was awarded to Jimmy Morrison for his film The Housing Bubble, which features interviews with FreedomFest regulars Doug Casey, Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers, Gene Epstein, Tom Palmer, and others....

"The Anthem Libertarian Film Festival is one of the fastest-growing features of FreedomFest, and also the best kept secret. Film aficionados can purchase a FilmLovers Pass for all four days [that] includes all the films, plus film panels featuring top FreedomFest speakers and entrance to the exhibit hall. You can’t attend the FreedomFest general sessions or breakout sessions with it, but come on — with films and panels like these, who needs FreedomFest?"

Read more: http://www.libertyunbound.com/node/1874

'via Blog this'

Tommy Chong's long fight for legal cannabis

'Grandfather of Pot' Tommy Chong reflects on a lifetime of fighting to get weed legalized - Paul Haber, W5, CTV::

April 6, 2018 -  "Tommy Chong, best known as one half of the comedy duo Cheech and Chong, celebrated his 80th birthday this year and admits to W5 to smoking weed.... For most of his adult life, cannabis has been illegal, yet Chong has continued to smoke it openly and publicly.... In Chongs’s mind, weed has never been illegal, 'so I never even give it any thought,' he says....

"It was at the age of 17 when he smoked his first joint. Chong remembers it well. He tells W5, 'that changed my life. I smoked a little bit of the joint, got high, listened to Ornette Coleman, Lonely Woman for the first time, I remember it so well. And then, then about a week later, I ended up quitting school and I became a blues musician'....

"In the early 1960s, Chong moved to Vancouver where he ... continued to smoke marijuana even though local authorities were cracking down on drug use and arresting people en masse.... Chong managed to avoid arrest and kept smoking because, to him, weed was more than a psychedelic drug. He believed in the drug’s healing powers. He says he found cannabis helped him creatively with his music.

"It was in Vancouver where Chong met his future comedy partner Cheech Marin.... Their brand of comedy was considered counter-culture by many experts, as the pair focused mainly on drug use and the effects of weed on people’s behavior.... They reached the biggest audience yet in 1978 with the release of their first feature Hollywood film, Up in Smoke — a movie that many credit with establishing the ‘stoner’ comedy genre.

"It has been 40 years since Up in Smoke was released and Chong has maintained his advocacy for pot. He even claims cannabis has helped him beat cancer twice, though he admits he does not know how. 'Yeah, right now I’m cancer free,' Chong tells W5. 'I don’t know what it does, I think it affects the immune system.'

"Now, with cannabis legal in many parts of the U.S., Chong has gone into business with his son Paris selling branded marijuana products called “Chong’s Choice” in the United States.

"As the laws in Canada are being drafted to decriminalize cannabis, Chong has these words for the Canadian government: 'Now if they're smart and Canada’s smart, they will keep the taxes within reason.'"

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/grandfather-of-pot-tommy-chong-reflects-on-a-lifetime-of-fighting-to-get-weed-legalized-1.3872791


'via Blog this'

Five great libertarian movies (video)

5 Great Libertarian Movies! - Reason.com - Nick Gellespie & Todd Krainin:

March 2, 2018 = "Forget the Oscars! Here are five great movies made over the past quarter-century that any libertarian will (must?) enjoy.

1. The Incredibles (2004) - This Pixar film directed by Brad Bird is so full of speeches extolling individualism, personal greatness, and self-fulfillment it sometimes sounds like it was scripted by Ayn Rand....
2. The Barbarian Invasions (2003) - Québécois director Denys Arcand's brilliant sequel to The Decline of the American Empire is the single best depiction of the depredations of socialized medicine....
3. Dallas Buyers Club (2013) - This based-on-a-true-story movie about a rodeo rider and a drag queen routing around the Food and Drug Administration brought home Oscars....
4. Joy (2015) - Jennifer plays real-life "Miracle Mop" inventor Joy Magano, who helped make cleaning your floors easier while making herself rich. The film is a paean to capitalism's genius at allowing self-expression and self-fulfillment....
5. Ghostbusters (1984) ... was perfectly in synch with the Reagan Revolution's valorization of business and demonization of government.... [T]he real villain of the movie is ... an Environmental Protection Agency bureaucrat named Walter Peck, who shuts down their operation and puts the city at risk. Hilarity ensues."

Read more: https://reason.com/archives/2018/03/02/5-great-libertarian-movies/1
'via Blog this'

GOP calls It's a Wonderful Life screenings illegal

GOP to Libertarian Legislator: Your It's a Wonderful Life Screening Is Against the Law - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

December 5, 2017 - "Could it be a crime to give your fellow Americans a chance to enjoy a theatrical screening of that modern American myth, It's a Wonderful Life? The Nebraska Republican Party thinks it is. Or at least it thinks it of political benefit to say it is, in their quest to unseat one of America's few sitting Libertarian state legislators, state Sen. Laura Ebke.

"Ebke switched her party allegiance from GOP to L.P. in 2016, and she's up for reelection as a Libertarian in 2018. The Republicans are running Al Riskowski, a man who formerly ran the Nebraska Family Alliance. That's a conservative activist group obsessed with the legalities of gambling, gender identity, suicide, and 'human trafficking'....

?Ebke sponsored two screenings of the movie to celebrate the revival of a local theater in her hometown that had gone under when the switch to digital projection swept the industry. On Friday, the state GOP denounced the events in a press release. 'Not only is Ebke in potential violation of state law herself for attempting to bribe voters,' the email declared, 'but she is also putting those who attend the screenings at risk of committing a violation as well.'

"By giving voters a free movie, the Republicans claim, Ebke is bribing voters. That's a class II misdemeanor under state law, punishable by six months in jail and a thousand-buck fine. And so is accepting such a bribe.

"Undeterred, Ebke held two more screenings in other towns after the threat went out, and she has two more planned.... Ebke says that 'we read the rules' and that the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission (NADC) 'says that it's acceptable to use campaign contributions for social events for constituents.' She notes that the governor does something comparable when he hosts tailgate parties.....

"The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Republicans 'are reviewing the situation to determine whether to pursue any legal action'.... Ebke says neither she nor any constituent she's met takes this threat at all seriously, though she wouldn't put it past the GOP to go ahead and file some sort of complaint with the NADC. If they do, she's confident that it will go nowhere."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/12/05/libertarian-state-sen-laura-ebke-breakin
'via Blog this'

Film chronicles cancer doctor's battles with FDA (video)

Synopsis - Burzynski, the Movie:

"Burzynski, the Movie is an internationally award-winning documentary originally released in 2010 (with an Extended Edition released in 2011) that tells the true story of a medical doctor and Ph.D biochemist named Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski who won the largest, and possibly the most convoluted and intriguing legal battle against the Food & Drug Administration [FDA] in American history.

"His victorious battles with the United States government were centered around Dr. Burzynski’s gene-targeted cancer medicines he discovered in the 1970’s called Antineoplastons, which have currently completed Phase II FDA-supervised clinical trials in 2009 and ... been given permission by the FDA to begin the final phase of FDA testing – randomized controlled clinical trials....This documentary takes the audience through the treacherous, yet victorious, 14-year journey both Dr. Burzynski and his patients have had to endure in order to obtain FDA-approved clinical trials of Antineoplastons....

"[T]he Food and Drug Administration engaged in four Federal Grand Juries spanning over a decade attempting to indict Dr. Burzynski, all of which ended in no finding of fault on his behalf. Finally, Dr. Burzynski was indicted in their 5th Grand Jury in 1995, resulting in two federal trials and two sets of jurors finding him not guilty of any wrongdoing."

Read more: http://www3.burzynskimovie.com/synopsis/#.Wb6aJtQrLn5
'via Blog this'

What's William Shatner doing at FreedomFest?

Is Star Trek Icon William Shatner a Libertarian? | The American Conservative - Todd Seavey:

July 24, 2017 - "'Is there a free mind? Are our minds free? Are we programmed by something up there to follow our fate? Or are we programmed by Mom and Dad at a very early age? So is there free will? Do we make choices?'

"So wondered William Shatner during his July 21 speech at the annual Las Vegas convention of libertarians and other free-marketeers called FreedomFest. He urged the audience to stick to its principles, not compromise as he says he did when he directed Star Trek V by giving up on his original vision of having the real God attack the crew with an army of lava men in the film’s climax.

"Compromising principles is a mistake, suggested Shatner. 'Nobody can tell you what to do. Somewhere inside us is a core.'

"Is William Shatner a libertarian, you might ask? If not, what’s he doing there? Well, it seems more like he’s an environmentalist worried about overpopulation — and he’s a Canadian, of course — but he’s also expressed some populist longings for someone to sweep away the bureaucrats and make American democracy work again. And he avoids commenting on Donald Trump....

"None of this makes him too much weirder than a previous FreedomFest speaker who went on to bigger things, namely Donald Trump. I suppose the question is how big you want the libertarian tent to be. You probably want a tent big enough to let in optimists who still believe we can invent and build things, but not a tent so big that it lets all the carny-barkers inside....

"[A] decade or two ago ... it seemed that the worst thing that could happen to the libertarian movement is that it might get too screechy and radical and alienate mainstream Americans.... Nowadays, I worry more that in American politics, even the most radical road always leads back to the same mushy centrist middle, with a few highly predictable TV pundits guarding that middle against the emergence of any truly new ideas. So, if Shatner is unlikely to express a precise, coherent philosophical argument, I should at least root for him to leave crowds slightly confused, even if he says something stupid. That can spur thought.... Absent utopian unanimity, one should root for competition, always....

"Let my fellow libertarians fight viciously and devolve into factions (pausing to enjoy the occasional near-meaningless Shatner speech or other entertainment). Like small and decentralized states, the factionalism might afford a better chance for truth to survive out there somewhere than would one bland, homogeneous consensus version of the philosophy with all the rough edges polished and gleaming."

Read more: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/is-star-trek-icon-william-shatner-a-libertarian/
'via Blog this'

New documentary on web outlaw Kim Dotcom

The martyrdom of Kim Dotcom | Stuff.co.nz - Philip Mathews:

July 23, 2017 - " Controversial internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom is interviewed in his Auckland waterfront apartment in 2016. There is tasteful decor, natural light, sea views and directly behind the man himself, an upside down US flag on a cushion.

"Given that the US was into its fifth long year of trying to extradite Dotcom to face trial on copyright and other charges, that shot seems like one of Dotcom's famous provocations – in your face, Uncle Sam.... Annie Goldson​, director of the documentary Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web, can't remember who art-directed the two-day interview, but thinks it was Dotcom himself....

"Detailed, neutral and at times sympathetic, Goldson's documentary started to take shape in 2014 when Dotcom, already a folk hero and political martyr in New Zealand after the raid on his Coatesville mansion in 2012, made the ill-judged decision to enter politics. Does anyone remember Internet Mana? The shaky alliance between the techno-radicals of Dotcom's Internet Party and Mana's old school socialists crashed into the 2014 election campaign like a runaway train.

"It climaxed at a political circus called the Moment of Truth. Dotcom flew investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald ​to Auckland and crossed live to free-speech heroes in hiding Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. Five days before the election, the Auckland Town Hall was packed with activists and journalists who expected this stunt to topple the Government....

"On election night in 2014, when it was clear Internet Mana had failed, Dotcom blamed himself and his toxic brand, and largely disappeared from public life. Now he is reclusive in his luxury pad, separated from his wife Mona (their story is a charming romantic interlude in the film). After two years of negotiations, Dotcom agreed to an interview and offered access to his archives, including home movies of family life in Coatesville before everything soured....

"[T]he biography that Goldson constructs suggests someone who always yearned to be famous. He played up the Dr. Evil role but long before he was even called Dotcom, the 20-year-old Kim Schmitz​ was turning up to a Munich nightclub in a flash white suit, posing as though he had already made it.... It was the classic Jay Gatsby​ myth, the self-invented phony. Even arrests were good for business – the notorious hacker could rebrand as a security consultant. In the background there was a tough childhood with a violent alcoholic father....

"There are good interviews in the film, shedding light on complex areas of freedom and copyright. Greenwald is there. The musician Moby is there. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales is there. US technology journalist Greg Sandoval calls Dotcom 'a PR genius". Movie producer turned scholar Jonathan Taplin argues that 'he's a criminal ... he should be in jail'. 

"No one can agree on Dotcom and the film won't change that. It is not just his personal style that provokes strong opinions. Instead, as Goldson notes, there is something about these internet guys, 'these individuals' we have created.... Think of Dotcom and Assange and, more recently, Peter Thiel​. What do they have in common? They are transnational, mostly apolitical, loosely libertarian. They represent a different, more confusing world to come."

Read more: https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/94791949/the-martyrdom-of-kim-dotcom
'via Blog this'