Citizenfour

Loners will save the world.

But our culture has shifted to one of belonging. The millennials are all about being a member of the group, they don't want to stand out, don't want to be ostracized, their goal is to be drones, to play the game so they can win.

True dat.

But I don't want to give a pass to the baby boomers. Ever notice that on HBO the twentysomethings have their show, "Girls," and the thirtysomethings have theirs, "Togetherness," but there's no boomer show? Because the boomers can no longer exhibit vulnerability. They finally took away Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz's license to make television, not that "thirtysomething" was a ratings juggernaut, but the truth is boomers are past introspection, they're in their glory years, or days, listening to Bruce Springsteen without a care in the world, all about lifestyle. But can that lifestyle be challenged?

The biggest story in the world today is that there is no story. And when something dramatic transpires, no one can do anything about it. Putin invades Ukraine and we're mum. But even that did not penetrate our mobile culture, wherein it's all about me all the time, I'm a star in my own world that no one is paying attention to, even though I hunger for the spotlight. Right and wrong are irrelevant. It's all about money and fame. And Ed Snowden hates that.

He laments the change of our culture in to one based on personalities.

And ain't that interesting, isn't that what Brian Williams is? Bill O'Reilly too? The news is subservient to them, they make the big bucks and cozy up to those in power and we're all the worse for it, because the truth is everybody's climbing a greased totem pole and the only ones who know it are at the top keeping the rest of us down.

Towards the end of this highly-reviewed movie, which is nowhere near as riveting as the hype, one of the characters, only in this flick the characters are real people, makes an amazing statement. He says that "What we used to call liberty and freedom we now call privacy. And now people are saying privacy is dead." That's what we're all fighting for, liberty, right?

When we're not fighting the government itself.

I understand the right wing position but I don't agree with it. We need a government, government does good things. Just like John Oliver said Sunday night, that we need highway taxes to fund infrastructure updates. Do you expect the private sector to take care of that?

But even more ludicrous is all the Second Amendment talk, how the government is gonna take our guns away so we must stockpile them, so we can shoot each other, because if you believe a gun can protect you from the government you didn't watch "Citizenfour," you're an idiot, because just like karate is no match for a gun, a gun is no match for the internet and electronic surveillance. You can wait for the drone to get you, but the truth is they'll kill your rep and wipe out your life with a few keystrokes long before that.

You'd expect people to be up in arms about "Citizenfour" but the truth is they're afraid. That's the government's job, with the media fanning the flames. If we don't let the agencies run wild, the terrorists are gonna bomb Oklahoma or Arkansas, so you'd better lay your rights down now. That's right, under the head fake of fighting "terrorism" we're all laying down to the government and the corporations and anybody who blows the whistle is a pariah.

You remember pariahs, don't you?

They used to be people like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, before they revolutionized the world and titillated your fantasies. Were these popular people in high school, did they get along?

Of course not. But at least they were smart. Like Snowden.

That's the revelation. Listening to Ed talk you're blown away. He gets the concepts, he can articulate them. But instead the newspapers are subjecting us to the proclamations of nitwits and clickbait rules online. Because you can't handle the truth.

And what is the truth anyway?

Turns out those climate change-denying scientists were paid for their positions.

But you probably didn't see that, just like you didn't see "Citizenfour," because you don't have HBO. And why would you need it? Susan Wojcicki and YouTube are gonna save the world! But the truth is there are very few good creators out there and HBO got there first.

So what is going on?

Do we live the lifestyle we fight for, or line up and protest?

And if you do protest, expect to be excoriated by the press. Because they're the story, not you. How they hang with the rich and powerful, envious of their perks and frequently partaking of the crumbs that fall off the table.

There's something hollow at the heart of America. Right and wrong used to matter. There was enough money for everybody, you could survive on a service job. But as the classes separated, the rich realized what was going on and desired to maintain their perch and keep the underclass down via subterfuge and fear.

And having gone to crummy schools, the underclass can't grasp the facts, even when they're staring them in the face.

So we're dependent on lone wolves to shake it up. Snowden says he's only the first, you can get him but others will follow in his wake.

Is this true?

Yes, for a small cadre of selfless people who put their morality before their pocketbook.

But everybody else is hustling to get ahead. In an ill-defined game where the cards are stacked against them and the odds keep getting longer every day.

Once upon a time, "Citizenfour" would incite a national debate. Now it's just grist for the mill, Snowden's character has already been assassinated, the flick will come and go as quickly as Beyonce's overhyped album.

Then again, Kanye lobbies for her recognition over and over again. With no one shouting him down.

And that's the way it is in America today, the sideshow is the main show.

And you know what happens when you're not paying attention to the main event... Your pockets get picked and you end up broke and busted on the side of the road. But now it's even worse, you'll have nowhere to go, you'll be powerless, because the government will limit your movement.

That's right, all this hogwash about taxes and government employees are the sideshow. The main event is how they've got our number and we're living in "1984" and if you believe it can't happen here...

The truth is it already has.

Watch this movie.


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