What I find funny about those who eat up the anti corporatist message is that many who do so fall all over themselves to
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Manchurian Candidate
robert3750 — 11 years ago(September 19, 2014 08:57 AM)
What I find funny about those who eat up the anti corporatist message is that many who do so fall all over themselves to support the likes of Obama, who supported the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, and was eager to prop up the big corporation General Motors. Yeah, that's being REALLY anti-corporatist, all right.
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tom_grainger88 — 11 years ago(September 28, 2014 08:01 AM)
im trying to work out what your point was? 'left wing' (though look at obama, he is further right than the conservative party of the uk, he passes a market based healthcare fix originally conceived by the conservative heritage foundation and proposed and sometimes implemented by republicans, suddenly the same people who proposed it as a conservative alternative to the public option spend years claiming it is maoist socialism now that they are not proposing it, just to make out the other guy is on the left. the us has a centre right party and a far right party, thats the reality, the us spectrum has just shifted so far to the right that if reagan ran today he would be called a socialist, denying that is denying reality, common sense conservatives from 1980 cannot find their place anymore, and anyone actually left of centre is just called communist and screamed down and attacked by the entire mainstream old media) and 'right wing' are both part of the problem so no one should do anything about it?
people are so eager to score partisan points and say hey the other side is worse, no one actually gets around to doing anything about it unless it will show up the other side. how about we try and fix whats broken, get back one man one vote and if we give welfare to anyone it be to those who are not part of the fortune 500.
or you can just be snarky about anyone actually trying to get back free markets, market corrections, massively profitable companies paying any tax rather than getting tax rebates like verizon among others, big money and professional lobbyists out of politics and just oh, i dont know, lets call it original intent. -
tom_grainger88 — 11 years ago(September 28, 2014 08:15 AM)
out of curiosity are you an anarchist/libertarian?
i ask because i always wonder why such do not think that corruption would exist with no government. the other day in a conversation over ferguson someone was saying if we had no government and no police there would be no one with power to abuse, but that seems to ignore the facts of reality. there are times in history with no state backed police and even parts of the world now with such, however, in that vacuum, people do indeed take power and abuse it. only instead of them answering to the people in anyway, they are simply the private militia/security force of whom so ever can afford them. we simply return to hired guns working for the local cattle baron arresting or killing those who cause the local powerholder problems rather than going after criminals if those criminals do not affect the local power structure. private security/mercenaries/whoever is willing to pick up a weapon and use it for personal benefit/ whatever label you use, there will always be those who take what is not theirs, with or without government, with or without a state. if we can instead of abolishing government, repair it and make it answerable and responsive to our needs, the state is far better than the alternative. it does require a truly free press that is not drowned out by tamed talking heads, a vigilant citizenry and the law being applied to all no matter their station in life, but it can be done, there are functioning governments, we just have to remember a sense of duty to ones society before personal profit. which, i believe, is what anarchists and libertarians claim is innate in people, hence the belief everyone can simply get along and help each other with no law or government. if people do have the ability to put the greater good first, then government can be saved.
that is somewhat conflating the police argument i had which the other person declined to respond to and what you said, but i would be interested to hear your reasoning. -
txwaho — 11 years ago(September 27, 2014 11:11 PM)
You are right as rain on all this Tom. The only thing that is wrong is that we have not all gotten together to do something about it. And it's definitely going to get a lot worse before it gets better. It has, just since you wrote this. God Help Us!!
An independent mind is difficult to enslave.
When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are ruled by criminals. -
tom_grainger88 — 11 years ago(September 28, 2014 08:57 AM)
thanks for reminding me of this conversation i saw some replies i never knew about. indeed it has, since i wrote this, not only have corporate powers not been limited, corporations have now gained religious rights, it feels like the supreme court is only interested in individual rights if said individual does not actually exist.
i love your quote by the way. -
gjordan77 — 12 years ago(July 10, 2013 04:08 PM)
Apparently you don't know what the left wing is, but that's okay, american ignorance is nothing new. Keep thinking everything is okay, keep accepting there's nothing to see behind the curtain, nope nothing to see here, just move along, keep your head down, don't question anything
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ChrisB13 — 11 years ago(December 13, 2014 09:28 AM)
They should make a few million more! Perhaps then, the general public will, at long last understand that when corporations run the worldas they already do and have for a very long time, the interests of the citizenry are never served. The only things served are the desires of the corporate machines that run the government! Do you have any idea what these corporations pay in lobbying efforts to ensure their might, wealth and "Hands Off" status? Obviously, you do not! Your throwing the Left Wing designator out there doesn't make it stick to the wall! Big business is, and always has been, the the central theme and focal point in the realm of Right Wing Republicans and NOT Democrats or Liberals!
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gengar843 — 10 years ago(May 09, 2015 07:01 PM)
First of all, it's not corporations that run the world, it's the governments that collude which do the damage. If a corporation brings a billion dollars to the bribe table and no one takes the money, there is no damage, only jail time for the bribers.
Second, I agree that left-wingers tend to make better paranoia movies because they are so much better at labeling who is the victim, who the oppressor and who the savior. Right-wingers spend too much time combing their hair and trying to make a good impression on people who really don't care.
Third, this movie sucks eggs.
Fourth, the original movie was not a stab at McCarthyism but, quite the opposite, at how easy it is to infiltrate the United States through communism. In Manchurian Candidate, it happens that the mother is psycho and her son is used as the pawn. It's really quite what it is. And McCarthy was right.
It used to be "I'm NOT a communist." Now it is, "What's wrong with being a communist?" So McCarthy was right. -
ChrisB13 — 10 years ago(May 10, 2015 07:52 AM)
McCarthy and his henchmen were not right! As Americans, they were as wrong as I can ever imagine wrong to be! You write like someone who is not altogether aware that our country is one of free thought and that, at one time, it was not a crime nor was it illegal to be interested in or have membership in the Communist Party. Even after President Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act in 1954, the party survived in this countryin fact it still does! It would, perhaps, be a good thing if you educated yourself in these matters so you can come to understand exactly how wrong Senator Eugene McCarthy was and why he was wrong. Communism, when taken too far, is not unlike any other political ideology insofar as it can, and often does, become dangerous. The Communism of Karl Marx was born from Socialism, yet another ideology that can be questionable! It was Marx who held the belief: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." This is not, in and of itself, a recipe for disaster! Another idea from Karl Marx had was: "Free the lower class from poverty and give the poor a fighting chance." Is this something that makes your blood run cold? No, it isn't! The test, however, and most important aspects of any idea that sounds right or good would be how one would go about accomplishing them. Therein lies the rub, I believe!
It was a very different time in our history that allowed such varied thoughts to be open for discussion and belief. Throughout our history, the brightest and best minds in our country partook of all manner of ideology and considered it. I, for one, hope we always will! You cannot simply discard an idea because it has been thought of or has been primarily associated with Communism, Socialism, Capitalism and whatever else is out there. It's not unlike anything else we ponder, examine and do. You consider all aspects and then you take what you need or want and leave the rest behind! It is, I believe, the way intelligent man has always come to its conclusions.
For you to state the following: "It used to be "I'm NOT a communist." Now it is, "What's wrong with being a communist?" So McCarthy was right." is not only short sighted, it is disingenuous. Even though we've come so far as to reject Communism in its final versions, based on what we've seen from those countries who employ it, we can still learn from it in today's world. No, I am not a Communist but I can still consider the thoughts of someone who can make a case for some of its best tenets without condemning that person to the fires of hell or ruin his or her life for it! McCarthy couldn't and that's only part of what was wrong with him and his movement. To cast people into the abyss and accuse them of being UN-American and worse is just wrong! Those whose names were on the Hollywood Blacklist were not, for the most part, true Communists and everyone knows it! They knew it thenbut when a person becomes so powerful as to hold every aspect of your life in their hands, we all suffer the consequences. We all lean toward some political system. Is it not a matter of degree which would then render our thoughts "off the wall" or off the charts? I don't think that anyone sits so squarely in the middle that it renders him or her the perfect political specimen!
I think you might avail yourself of and see a couple of great films having to do with McCarthyism and being an American. One is "Good Night and Good Luck" and the other is "1776." There are, of course, hundreds of writings and articles you could consider concerning these matters but, in the end, nothing is absolute! No matter how hard one may try to make it so, nothing is written in stone. It's not one way or the other, black or white or my way or the highway. Grey areas do exist and there is "wiggle room" in our way of life, our laws and our Constitution. It was designed to be so and thank God the framers and lawmakers thought to make it so. -
hackraytex — 10 years ago(September 04, 2015 05:45 PM)
It is impossible for Hollywood to make a political movie that is not biased toward the left. I think they are still traumatized by the Hollywood 10 hearings of the the 1950's.
Long ago, I stopped expecting anything different from a Hollywood political movie. it is a pleasant surprise when a Hollywood movie does put the conservative viewpoint and related issues in a positive light.