I recently watched Chomsky's 2015 "Requiem for the American Dream", and I have a lot of thoughts, so try to write down a few points.
Let me talk about Chomsky first. His insight into language and his understanding of power and politics made him a rare and true public intellectual. In China, it is known that this title has long been rotten, and praising power is the cause of its degeneration. As early as 1967, Chomsky's "The Responsibility of Intellectuals" clearly stated: Intellectuals should tell the truth and expose lies. Privilege yields opportunity and opportunity confers responsibilities.
Chomsky started talking about the Great Depression. He said the situation was terrible at that time, but many people still had hope. Opportunities for mobility between social classes still existed, and at that time the United States was still a fast-growing manufacturing power. But soon the United States began to evolve from a manufacturing power to a financial power. The cost of elections is increasing, and large companies have become the largest source of political contributions, which in turn have the greatest influence on policy, regardless of whether the Democratic or Republican party is just a manifestation. The concentration of wealth and the concentration of power form a vicious circle. The richer you are, the more you can influence the manipulation of power; and the formulation of policies can make a few wealthy people richer. This is the silent counterattack of wealth and power against the democratic system, and this is also the requiem of the American dream.
Of course, the attacks and weakening of the democratic system by wealth and power are multifaceted. Advertising, media, and industry regulation are all battlefields without gunpowder. The U.S. elections have rarely touched on real policies recently, and who has sincerely changed it after being elected. Propaganda for both the left and right media is nothing more than creating an illusion and making people believe that they should vote for candidates who will actually harm their true interests. The 2016 general election has allowed social media to play its role in confusing right and wrong. Money can influence the media. The media gives you illusions instead of correct information. Many people don't know the truth and don't understand their ignorance about it.
Over the years, the polarization of views and the proliferation of populism have provoked mutual hatred and fear among ordinary people, and it is also another method of eroding the democratic system. From the perspective of the world, many right-wing forces are in power and Brexit, and the election of Trump in the United States is all these emotions at work. Ordinary people are not enemies, they should help each other instead of attacking each other out of senseless fear and hatred. Looking at the U.S. response to the new crown epidemic this time, it is the bottom and vulnerable groups of society that are most affected, while the rich are almost unaffected. The original intention of a democratic society is to allow the majority of people to share the wealth of society, rather than a very small number of people owning most of the wealth of society.
Everyone has their own dreams, and everyone hopes to live the life they want through their own efforts and be free. However, as ordinary people, we must realize whether we have seen the truth of the world? As ordinary people, we need to be kind to ordinary people like us, rather than hostile each other. Treating each other as equals, uniting and cooperating with each other is the only way to realize everyone's dreams.
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