Obey
This is a film based on the book "Death of the Liberal Class" by journalist and Pulitzer prize winner, Chris Hedges.
It charts the rise of the Corporate State, and examines the future of obedience in a world of unfettered capitalism, globalization, staggering inequality and environmental change.
The film predominantly focuses on US corporate capitalism, but the the author hopes that the viewer can recognize the relevance of what is being expressed with regards to domestic political and corporate activity.
It was made completely of clips found on the web.
We're not only dreamers but also doers. We believe in actions not in violence; we believe in collaboration not in segregation. Numbers, figures, and hash-tags are labels to help us organize this chaotic world. Stories, however, give meaning to our lives and unite us to the shared visions.
2013? how prophetic.
but from the resistance movement itself. If is not enough just to "resist". We must choose the highest good which is grounded in spirituality. Without this realization and presence nothing will be changed for the good, including ourselves. True transformation comes from within the person and connects with all humanity. Dr. King and others came to this conclusion...so should we. Peace.
it's all ****** up man, so we gonna burn this world as much as possible for the next 50 years or more if we can, who cares ? dolphins ? pandas ? vegans ? lol use that unhappy emoji and stfu
Hey,Hey, can you hear? We are cooked and the futures already here. It's not our fault, you can hear the cheer. And all the while the end is near.
Bye bye homo sapiens, you will not be missed.
The important content of this film is lost on most Americans, because of the mumbly fast british speaker.. I could only think how effective this would be with a strong american voice, like a Brad Pitt or James Earl Jones or Peter Coyote voice. With all the damn screechy techno noises deleted, it is horrendous and completely detracts and distracts the message. Sad as this was prescient..
Though what he says is interesting at times, i couldn't finish it.
Good god that annoying techno/drum & bass in the background ALL the time gets me. And why the hell is half of the doc in negative colors? Who thought that would be pleasant to watch? Triggers me because if it had normal editing/sound this could be quite great.
Fascinating to see the corporate drones (aka 'sellouts') ignore the facts of this serious documentary.
Explain this "awaiting" bit.
The comments are quite revealing. Unsophisticated and/or uneducated persons revealing their limitations. I put my trust in Chris Hedges and his collaborators , very much aware of what they are doing here and just how they convey info in a breakthrough way to dim media addicts stuck in linear schoolkid comprehension.
I appreciate having a three year period in which to compare the films messages to current time. I am very annoyed by the background sounds.
My ears ... by god the amount of trash some might call music one can putt in to 50 minutes is unbelievable. It is really painful to try to watch this especially on laptop's who are easily distorting the horrid noise in to even more horrid noise.
nice documentary.
A bit wimpy. I think this film needs a clear viewpoint.
Kidding! - very thought-provoking but perhaps too pessimistic. While I despise many of the attributes and dangers of the internet, I am encouraged by the amount of valuable sharing done by those who are truly concerned about our future. For example, in my research today about new forms of sustainable energy, and new kinds of batteries to store it (even organic batteries!) I do feel there are amazing new developments coming very soon, coupled with individual's growing perceptions that change is needed now, that will revolutionize energy and thus make massive changes to the world's power structures! Human consciousness is changing among those who are sensitive to it . Do not underestimate the quiet wave, the undertow of power of people with noble intentions over the loud Hollywood-style blaring of the coarse and spiritually ignorant power-mongers. We will surprise them with our resilience, as people in the 60's did when the boycotted all the products of Nestle to force them to stop peddling baby formula to 3rd world countries. Just when they think we no more than grass under their feet - POW- grass roots power!
Lame.
I suspect this "documentary/recruitamentary" is aimed at the youth in society. No serious documentary would drown out their own narrative with dubstep. But if you're young and used to the trance/rave scene I could see it impacting someone compromised or willing to be compromised. To the rest of us this little more than a psychedelic screen saver of inverted 4 screen negatives and a mixed tape of trance music with a splash of fearful newpaper selling taglines. Here's a little advice, EVERY politician creates a brand during an election. No politician is going to change business/corporations. If you REALLY want to change things, then vote with your wallet, it's the only thing that will force change. Nothing gets a corporation's attention like dwindling sales. And always remember, that "fear" is tool used to short-circuit critical thinking. It feeds the "fight or flight" response that supersedes higher thinking.
join the GREEN party, form cooperatives hurry you're late!!!
some interesting views in this...the real question is..is our society REALLY heading into this direction?
love the soundtrack. does anyone knows the music names?
back to the hills people ! self government , people just have to start getting smarter to the world they live in , understanding marketing is a start
i found this very strange to watch, the music was overpowering, i fell asleep and was woken up by the end when he starts shouting, it invoked an odd sinking feeling in me, i did not follow it very well thanks to the music, i do like the music but it was abit full on, as for the subject matter, ill have to watch it again to give any inteligibale opinion.
I agree that the quad screen, negative look and yukky music were almost a no go for me. But besides that, there were some good points. I haven't read Hedges' book so I don't know if he is as pessimistic as this film is. It seemed sophomoric & hopeless which I don't think he is.
Although I"m not a "right wing Christian" who lives in illusion as the film suggests, I am a spiritual being whose experienced the miraculous in life available to those who let it in.I believe we have other options than just blind rebellion against massive military forces arrayed around us. I also know that even the darkest among us have moments of light and we must encourage more of that everywhere we go.
I agree we must stand up to evil and forces of oppression, but we can't win the physical force game. The time has come for a spiritual revolution of the likes never before seen. We must meet military force with soul and heart force so united, collective and unbreakable that it will move the hearts, minds and souls of those who have lost their way and are enslaved to the corporate juggernaut. They will want to join us because the alternative is so soul-killing that they will leap to opportunity to reawaken their hearts. I have hope, and I will share it with you all very soon...
2. The perfect example can be somewhat illustrated in the lord of the fly . in any giving country take a a random group of people or even better , assemble a multicultural group of people and place them on a deserted island , island capable of all the need to grow and feed the people . leave them there for a year and you will see the same establishment of the world we live today, give them as a ultimate goal to create the perfect utopia and nothing more then what you see in our society will occur , you will find a leader, subordinate and the little people , some will expect to be taken care of while other will control them as a reward of doing just that. NOW take infant without any knowledge of society ,and like animals they will again create the same results but with a harshest system, as in the lord of the fly. int he end the reality is in front of our eyes . we need this , and yes it will auto destruct itself but we will perpetually rise again and repeat the same mistake. war will never end ,exploitation ,bigotry,and power hunger will always be who we are as in the fable of the scorpion and the frog. We simply for the past 20 years been offer a means to open our eyes to who we truly are and the awakening is tougher then expected.
I have been to the end of the enternet! I have watched every single video on the subject ,and all have the same , they offer all of the same, "full description of the problem ,non of the solution " we could do this but then .... from what i have intensively studied of human history i can honestly give this one conclusion, we strive to be controlled , we have gotten the power to be free individual but like teenager we refuse to be accepting the consequence and responsibility of such dream. we want to go and party , but expect clean cloths a free roof over our head and a good meal and please let me borrow the car.
the ideal utopia means that we do get our hands dirty , we need to stand up to tyrannical regime, for example , the people of Palestine, still under the oppressive Israeli , the Iraq people still under the thumb of the American, the native still being crushed by the white man. all this from a Caucasian point of view , but the list is endless, the one thing that was said in this video that only made true sense was that for this to change, the society had to die to be reborn. like the society of old, maybe like the pre-sumerian civilization. but then the cycle will again return, the need for gods,mythical parents .until one will realize that in our true nature we are and will remain sheep begging to be controlled, and amongst us the dreamers and romantics that will again rise and speak of freedom and the rejection of what we have been asking for:"control" so that we feel protected from the boogy man, the thump in the night and tell us comforting story of where our love ones go when they die.
great doc on a lyrical way, but dam does the visual has to be so annoying? and the music is freaking annoying.
information (message) 85% the medium 5%
Standard left-wing liberal propaganda that quickly escalates from economic woes to total state collapse under the current political system yet never offers a credible alternative except for, a never explicitly mentioned, communism. The current system is flawed and all political models are flawed but it is simply a numbers game. The majority must take precedence over the minority, a few must suffer for the majority to live happy lives.
SMH at the obnoxious overly done production. Four minutes in and Im done.
This is scarier than the news,i feel we should go to war with those at the top, lets get rid off the rich by force thats the only way
This is not a documentary, just an op-ed and one with absolutely zero supporting facts. It does manage to make a few decent points, but they're completely lost in the jungle of garbage.
While I found myself generally agreeing with this documentary, I wish the author had a basic education in Marxism. I found the lack of the use of the term 'exploitation' disappointing. This documentary ended up being, mostly, another "things are bad" film. Yes, a lot of us know that. What concretely do we need to do? I wish someone would outline the framework of an alternative society.
Here are some starter points:
Community based, bottom-up, decentralized infrastructure and government.
Energy independence for communities.
Agricultural independence for communities.
Water independence for communities.
Abolition of or alteration of our notions of property, currency, and commodity.
The creaters of the surplus value in the economy control the distribution of it.
GAaaHh! The music/and or random sounds are so frack'in distracting. Frustrating as heck, I just want to hear the hopefully insightful information without having to focus all my attention on trying to hear the actual presenters voice.
its a nice documentary but the fact that the "split screen" effect and the "white on black"(picture negative) effect were used on 47 of the 52minutes of the film it makes it super annoying to watch.
So basically what this guy says is: "We're f*cked, but don't worry about it. Ok, you can worry, but under no circumstance should you do something about it."
The quad video split really became annoying early on.
The doc. comes off more as a Prophet's visions than an enlightening discussion of any of the issues raised. If you're stoned, it might be fun.
I read/experience this doc as saying that our only hope or expectation of a reasonable existence is a moral one achievable through personal resistance. I don't see much suggestion that there is a broad based or plausible solution to overturn the direction in which humanity is moving. As well, it appears obvious that this is the case and this based on what I have observed and experienced over the 72 years of my life. Human existence is not eternal but rather temporal. No argument there. This doc points how how our extinction appears to be evolving. Either obey or resist. It is a choice which many do not even recognize they have.
After reading through all of the comments here, some people have complained that the movie gave no solutions for the future, and none gave any solutions at all.
Everyone is waiting for a hero, everyone is afraid to stand up.
And when one does? He is mocked and ridiculed and discredited.
Humans want to be cared for. They are forever seeking the love of a parent.
So, let's come up with an idea right now, and get everyone in the world to do it.
Don't obey question all especially energy toxic banking
What a dire outlook. This is a person or group that has lost hope. They seem to have a very low opinion of people. Could this be an NWO attempt to lower our resistance.
Interesting documentary.
I always imagine humanity going through phases and options endlessly till it cant do it anymore.
Flipping the table is always a option during any experiment.
I found myself looking at the right side of the screen a lot.
This video gives me the impression that the presenter just read his first Chomsky/Pilger book and felt obligated to shoot off on a tangent to warn the rest of us about the bloody obvious. He talks of 'what will happen' while being seemingly oblivious to the fact that he is prophesying trends that have nearly always been part and parcel of the human race. He decries a social system that takes power out of the hands of politicians, while placing it in incorporated interests, yet fails to mention that humanity's experiments in alternative power structures have failed due to their own shortcomings.
I in no way disagree that we as a race have a moral imperative to tirelessly search for ways to bring the greatest benefit to the greatest number. Unfortunately, it seems that soapboxing about our imperfections is more painless and popular then finding realistic ways of achieving that goal.
Love the music
I agree with the general framework of this documentary insofar as very powerful corporations use public relations to influence public opinion and perhaps to the extent that we live in an inverted totalitarian state.,
However, the documentary is vague and uninformative, it focuses way too much on rhetoric. I'm surprise that the documentary doesn't really define its key term such as "Obedience" and it hardly explains why we live in an obedient culture. Conventionally, obedience just means responding to commands from authority, but so far I don't really hear any media commanding us to do anything; I think it's encouraging, tempting, requesting, and asking us to buy products, but I hardly hear anything that has any semblance to commanding.
It keeps on talking about "corporate elites", "corporations", "media manipulation", etc, but it doesn't give us the facts, evidence, and sources at all. It doesn't clarify who the corporate elites are and it doesn't specify the methods being used to manipulate the populace. This documentary looks way too half-ass in terms of informativeness when I contrast it with Adam Curtis' documentaries. The thing I love about Adam Curtis is that he uses his sources, gives details, provides facts, and takes time to gradually build up to the conclusion. This is why most of his documentaries come in series, because Curtis knows that he needs more time to gather as many information and sources as possible to gradually build up to the desirable conclusion. While the documentary seems to focus more on its cinematic and artistic qualities, Curtis focuses more on gather information from actual historical figures.
Another problem I have with this documentary is that it is disproportionately preachy. It keeps on condemning and make value judgments on anything, but doesn't inform it's audience. I don't have problems with condemnation and value-judgments, but we need more facts and information. It encourages us to be rebellious out of pure moral conviction, but doesn't provide even the sketchiest plan on how to improve or revolutionize society. I hate zeitgeist, but at least Peter Joseph provides a dubious plan on how to improve society, but this documentary just simply says "Just rebel by refusing to listen." end of the story.
There is too much rhetoric and less clarity, precision, and informativeness. I consider myself to be a liberal, but I'm getting tired of other liberals preaching by condemning the system and giving really vague instructions on what we should do. I like the overall message of the documentary, but it is too poorly executed. For all I care, the intellectual quality of this film is too elementary or even worse preschool.
bad choice of music.
Although I agree with the film's premise, I feel that their choice of the "enemies" are very limited as well as archaic and prejudiced in scope.
I could not take it after five minutes of mind numbingannoying raging imagery accompanied with headache music. I wanted to rip my eyes out.
I think were already there... The corporate power structure has us by the short hairs. I agree that the infotainment production style is crap. But this message needs to be spread far and wide.
The negativism in this documentary is as annoying as the negative imageary and the 4way split screen does nothing but destract a viewer away from the dialogue. Continual negativism with no suggested solutions
to the delemmas we may eventually face makes this documentary a waste of time to watch and serves no purpose other than to vent about something the narrator cant do anything about.
Chris Hedges is so very right on...read his books...start with Empire of Illusion...you will be astounded and a bit enlightened...cheers all...
Pointless documentary. Doesn't bother to examine what “freedom”
might actually look or feel like. Also various digs at corporations, but who ever put the documentary together seems to forget they did so with a Sony HD Camera, maybe edited with an Apple Imac, and so on.
Only good point, was about how the current political system in the west offers little choice. Part of the problem is a lot of people don't agree on what an "alternative system" might look like. In the UK its pretty easy to stand as Independent MP/councilor/make your own political party. Its just £500($762). Its getting people to VOTE for you that's the hard part. In the UK most people up don't even bother to read a parties manifesto, they just vote for whatever party their parents vote for.
Only good news in the UK is that UKIP has gained ground, (lots of things bad about the party, but its against the E.U super-state and has been very critical of E.U subsides to farmers in the E.U). **basically E.U subsides means it harder for an African farmer to grow crops.
The only way to stop the corporation; is to stop purchasing products from them, our money is what gives them all the power.
only purchase products from independant murchants not linked to corporations.