Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Movie Monday - Hearts and Minds, 1974
This entry is going to be short because I got the flu shot about three weeks ago. OK, you ask: How is she going to connect a short posting and the flu shot?
Because I have not gotten this shot in over 5 years and I've been healthy, flu-wise, all that time. This year, I stumbled, got the shot and have been miserable for about two weeks. So miserable that last Friday, Knitting Friday, I really thought I had written an entry for a while. Of course, I hadn't.
Since I can't crawl back to bed today, I'll make this short and then medicate myself to face the day. (Fisherman's Friend are effective cough drops.)
Unfortunately, Hearts and Minds, the 1974 documentary on the Vietnam War, is being shown on TCM as I type; which means unlike Starz and Encore, it won't be repeated often.
If you've lived through the Vietnam War or if you weren't born until years later; watch this movie. Not so much to understand that particular war but to understand the clash of imperialism (US, here) with the third world (Vietnam.) To understand the post WWII foreign policy of the US. To understand why we're going to have a rough time dealing with China as they ascend to the first economic power in the world. China remembers.
I guess you could say the Vietnam War is just a dot in modern American falsehoods when it comes to our relationship with other countries when they stand in the way of US mentality: We want it and we want it now.
The sinking of Maine, the Gulf of Tonkin, WWDs in Iraq - a straight progression.
Hearts and Minds puts faces and reality into a volatile period of American foreign killing. Our assessment of our enemy was brutal; our bombastic puffing of victories disgusting; our use of napalm, war-crime worthy.
But as you watch this film, realize that the establishment press finally "got" it with Vietnam. Walter Cronkite famously, albeit much too late, announced his opposition to this war on his highly-watched nightly news show.
Fast forward to today and view our "Yes, Master, whatever you say." establishment press and try to name the times any of them opposed the Iraqi and Afghanistan invasion. Your fists are still clenched.
Santayana famously said: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
It's worse than that: We are becoming those who can't even discover our true history.
Watch the movie.
Because I have not gotten this shot in over 5 years and I've been healthy, flu-wise, all that time. This year, I stumbled, got the shot and have been miserable for about two weeks. So miserable that last Friday, Knitting Friday, I really thought I had written an entry for a while. Of course, I hadn't.
Since I can't crawl back to bed today, I'll make this short and then medicate myself to face the day. (Fisherman's Friend are effective cough drops.)
Unfortunately, Hearts and Minds, the 1974 documentary on the Vietnam War, is being shown on TCM as I type; which means unlike Starz and Encore, it won't be repeated often.
If you've lived through the Vietnam War or if you weren't born until years later; watch this movie. Not so much to understand that particular war but to understand the clash of imperialism (US, here) with the third world (Vietnam.) To understand the post WWII foreign policy of the US. To understand why we're going to have a rough time dealing with China as they ascend to the first economic power in the world. China remembers.
I guess you could say the Vietnam War is just a dot in modern American falsehoods when it comes to our relationship with other countries when they stand in the way of US mentality: We want it and we want it now.
The sinking of Maine, the Gulf of Tonkin, WWDs in Iraq - a straight progression.
Hearts and Minds puts faces and reality into a volatile period of American foreign killing. Our assessment of our enemy was brutal; our bombastic puffing of victories disgusting; our use of napalm, war-crime worthy.
But as you watch this film, realize that the establishment press finally "got" it with Vietnam. Walter Cronkite famously, albeit much too late, announced his opposition to this war on his highly-watched nightly news show.
Fast forward to today and view our "Yes, Master, whatever you say." establishment press and try to name the times any of them opposed the Iraqi and Afghanistan invasion. Your fists are still clenched.
Santayana famously said: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
It's worse than that: We are becoming those who can't even discover our true history.
Watch the movie.
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