Thursday, August 17, 2006

Disappointment, Oliver Stone and the Neocons

In Oliver Stone (see Selected Articles), I was confronted by the spectacle of the disappointed liberal. Clearly he was struggling to come to terms with the fact that, as a result of the failure of Vietnam and his own cinematic exposes of that failure, the world had not become a better place. America is still futile fighting wars in distant lands. In twenty years or so - if I am still in this game - I shall expect to be interviewing disappointed neocons about how, as a result of their adoption of certain reductive political, strategic and economic positions, the world once again failed to become a better place. It is strange how the big picture always seems to elude the best and the brightest, even when, like Stone, they make a fetish of their study of history. So here it is, the big picture: the world never becomes a better place and all theories and ideologies are equalised in failure.

4 comments:

  1. I think evidence Stone sesms to have lost taste for the fight is his film apparently isn't from a conspiracy viewpoint regarding 911, the evidence for which I believe is pretty damning.
    Try Google Video and these for an initial look at this issue if interested.
    "MIT Engineer WTC Controlled Demolition". How anyone can believe WTC7 in particular, not hit by any plane, came down as a result of anything but explosives is baffling.
    "In Plane Site"- very good for a look at the Pentagon visual evidence.
    "Loose Change" for a pretty in depth look at the whole thing, recently shown at the House of Commons at the instigation of Michael Meacher, former Minister for Environment.
    Interestingly amongst others, Morgan Reynolds, Chief Economist for the Dept of Labor at the time of 911, is pretty adamant that Bush and the gang were behind 911. As is Andreas von Beulow, former German Minister for Defence.

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  2. Could the world be more beautiful and brave than it is?

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  3. Just to add, that's a great final line, Bryan.

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  4. Thanks, Andrew. And thanks for all the comments.

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