ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
AutCuddly
Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
bettycjung
11/8/17. If you are wondering why there is so much mental illness these days, this documentary may provide a partial explanation. Looks like those who have all the money will continue to have all the money, so forget about the working man. Of course, our happiness doesn't always depend on what happens to the economy, but if one has to work for a living, there is no other recourse to move ahead. What is perhaps the saddest thing in all this is when you take away the American Dream, you take away Hope, and that is worst thing of all.
Larry Silverstein
Although my headline above is satirical, I did find this documentary to be taut and concise(at only 1 hr. and 16 min. long), and although I'm fairly well versed on the subject I did learn quite a bit from it.I thought perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the doc was citing the memorandum of Lewis Powell, in the 1970's, who would go on to be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. In this memorandum, which he wrote for the Chamber of Commerce, basically the game plan was written for the rich and powerful individuals and corporations, which is still being used today some 4 decades later.President Ronald Reagan liked the Powell memorandum so much he distributed it to all his Administration officials, and apparently used it to back many of his doctrines. These included slashing taxes for the wealthy(the infamous "trickle down" economic theory), raising taxes for the middle class and the poor( but couching the terms as "revenue enhancements"), marginalize or destroy unions, and deregulate business as much as possible.The film is quick to point out that Republican Administrations were not alone in this wealth re-distribution. Under President Clinton, the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act was abolished, which had very successfully prohibited banks and savings and loans from using depositors money for risky investments. Now, it was the Wild West all over again with banks packaging mortgages into the infamous derivatives, which I believe led primarily to the economic meltdown of 2008.Also, Clinton backed and fostered the NAftA Treaty, which since its' inception has cost countless American jobs, held workers' wages stagnant, and put them further into debt in all three countries.Manipulation of the media is another goal of the rich elite, or oligarchy. In 1983, there were 50 major media companies, and now we are down to 6--Time-Warner,Comcast, CBS, NewsCorp, Viacom, and Disney. Investigative reporting is becoming a thing of the distant past, and any reporter that seriously challenges those in power will most likely be fired. Six extremely powerful and rich families, such as the Koch Brothers, Joseph Coors et al. have formed private foundations to manipulate the media and promote their agendas. We even saw this in the recent Federal Government shutdown, and near default when certain groups showed they were virtually willing to do anything to de-fund "Obamacare" Next on their "hit list" will be Social Security and Medicare cuts, while major corporations shield their profits overseas and often not only do not pay their fair share of taxes but receive enormous rebates from the U.S. government.I could write all day on this, but let's say the movie offers some possible solutions towards the end for citizens to fight back and try and reclaim some of the wealth that has moved to the rich and widened the gap between the wealthy and the other 99% of us. Unfortunately, I personally believe it will take another crisis of some sort to get people motivated enough to demand major changes in this rigged system.The documentary was directed by Frances Causey and Donald Goldmacher, and narrated by Thom Hartmann.
OJT
It's an unbelievable true story on how smart capitalist forces have ruined the American dream. It's all about getting as much money as possible, and to fool media and about everybody else and how they still are trying to ruin social security and medical care, and make America going into a heavy economical crises.These has also made it legal in any way to fool people into giving up their rights, privileges and regulations of the free economy. Today the system is completely out of control, and those having lots of money are allowed to do anything which we formerly would appreciate as illegal.The last 30 years the average American has had a great decrease of standard of living, not 50 millions are down and right poor. 1/3 make less than $ 15.000 a year. 1/5 makes less than $ 20.000, which is just a little above the average worker's income. As a comparison the average worker's income in Sweden is $ 60.000 and in Norway is now $ 90.000! In average!!!! God knows what it is in Saudi Arabia!This film tries to give hope; but I must say it's very unlikely that this is possible as long as the rich corporates are now controlling the whole society, including the president. But this might also be the reason for the U.S. soon is soon history a great nation, but rather a poor one. I hope I'm wrong, but I really can't see how you'll get out of this situation in getting back your money!A good eye opener!
Anna "Scout" Wise
HEIST fully exposes the roots of the economic downturn and lays the blame on some parties that you wouldn't even expect. If you want answers as to why the middle class had to sacrifice so much in this recession then see HEIST. You will be outraged to find out that many benefited from the losses of the poor and middle class in this country. Moreover, you will be outraged by how far corporations and commercial banks went to ensure that the American people were totally bankrupt of a financial future. They took Congress, they took the media, the bashed the unions, and they outsourced jobs, there is no lengths they will not go to to make more money. Fortunately HEIST goes on to give the audience solutions. A must-see before you vote!
