Two of the best political documentaries I've seen

[wufwugy]

First is a docu that goes deeper into the fundamentals of US foreign policy than even the best films like No End in Sight or Why We Fight or others I can't think of now. It's about as foundational of political policy and history as it gets, which without a doubt is about oil, and extremely interesting

Six parts, you might be able to find better quality elsewhere, but this is totally fine.

YouTube - BLOOD AND OIL (1 of 6) MOVIE

The next is the best lecture I've seen explaining our economic situation (and I've watched quite a few). It explains the history, the real problems, and the solution; and is about as spot on as it gets.

The visuals are bad by design on this copy, but it's the audio that matters, and if you want good visuals I'm sure you can find a torrent or buy it, but really it doesn't matter.

Capitalism Hits the Fan Movie | Professor Richard D. Wolff


I adore documentaries and lectures and other forms of information that deal with important issues like this, but these two stand above most others because they tackle the problems from a much more important philosophical perspective i.e. they tackle the roots of what's going on, which is sadly a rarity in even some of the most insightful works.

[Deanglow]

thank god you didn't say loose change and zeitgeist

[a500lbgorilla]

YouTube - BLOOD AND OIL (3 of 6) MOVIE

This made me laugh a bit.

[a500lbgorilla]

bump, blood for oil was an interesting watch. I'm interested to hear if anyone saw anything explicitly, or implicitly for that matter, wrong with it.

I almost brought it up in conversation but thought twice, since it was a documentary I saw on the internet.

[wufwugy]

The theme of Blood and Oil suggests that pretty much every war we have can be traced to oil. Since the film was more about history, they didn't bother speculating on other wars like Afghanistan. My speculation is that Afpak is curiously positioned in the one area that US can control Persian Gulf or Caspian Sea activity coming from China, India, and Russia.

Iran has the best positioning, but invading them would be a deathblow to the US

[surviva316]

thought it was interesting it just mentioned vietnam as like a "meh, whatever" and moved on even though it's like the biggest military campaign in US history. this made me at least think twice about taking the whole big theory without at least the slightest grain of salt.

thoughts?

[wufwugy]

thought it was interesting it just mentioned vietnam as like a "meh, whatever" and moved on even though it's like the biggest military campaign in US history. this made me at least think twice about taking the whole big theory without at least the slightest grain of salt.

thoughts?

Korean War as well.

But that's not really a big deal given that the Cold War involved a bunch of proxy hot war. I'll admit I don't know much about the Vietnam or Korean wars, but they could easily be rooted in geopolitical Cold War proxy, which I believe is what most historians believe anyways.

Also, theory of war itself predicts that it's mostly about resource acquisition. We tend to just trick ourselves into thinking we go to war for other reasons. War against communism and terrorism are mainly just propaganda

[a500lbgorilla]

The theme of Blood and Oil suggests that pretty much every war we have can be traced to oil. Since the film was more about history, they didn't bother speculating on other wars like Afghanistan. My speculation is that Afpak is curiously positioned in the one area that US can control Persian Gulf or Caspian Sea activity coming from China, India, and Russia.

Iran has the best positioning, but invading them would be a deathblow to the US

I don't follow. I had to google afpak.

You're saying that The afpak wars... are an extension of America's foreign policy since the end of WW2? Mainly, we want oil and we will have oil. And all foreign policy decisions flow from this one statement.

edit or rather the oil is secondary and that we are positioning ourselves for an eventual war with China/India/Russia? The documentary suggests that eventual war will be over oil, and that even the last world war was won because of our oil supply.

[a500lbgorilla]

thought it was interesting it just mentioned vietnam as like a "meh, whatever" and moved on even though it's like the biggest military campaign in US history. this made me at least think twice about taking the whole big theory without at least the slightest grain of salt.

thoughts?

That's a good point that I didn't appreciate on my first watch-through

Korean War as well.

But that's not really a big deal given that the Cold War involved a bunch of proxy hot war. I'll admit I don't know much about the Vietnam or Korean wars, but they could easily be rooted in geopolitical Cold War proxy, which I believe is what most historians believe anyways.

Also, theory of war itself predicts that it's mostly about resource acquisition. We tend to just trick ourselves into thinking we go to war for other reasons. War against communism and terrorism are mainly just propaganda

The movie was kind of nebulous on the whole cold war thing, as I remember it. Could the Cold War be put into terms of Wanna-be and Actual-be Superpower's desire for oil?

[wufwugy]

I don't follow. I had to google afpak.

You're saying that The afpak wars... are an extension of America's foreign policy since the end of WW2? Mainly, we want oil and we will have oil. And all foreign policy decisions flow from this one statement.

edit or rather the oil is secondary and that we are positioning ourselves for an eventual war with China/India/Russia? The documentary suggests that eventual war will be over oil, and that even the last world war was won because of our oil supply.

Pretty much

Not necessarily categorically, but primarily and fundamentally

[wufwugy]

That's a good point that I didn't appreciate on my first watch-through



The movie was kind of nebulous on the whole cold war thing, as I remember it. Could the Cold War be put into terms of Wanna-be and Actual-be Superpower's desire for oil?

I can't say for certain because I haven't really studied the Cold War, but I do know that the struggle for resources is by far the most important aspect of why war exists, the Cold War was 'cold' largely due to proxy 'hot war' (think: Charlie Wilson's War), and that oil runs the world.

[a500lbgorilla]

Well, I'm definitely going to watch Charlie Wilsons War now. Only because it's an awesome movie and you've reminded me.