You already knew American democracy was in deep trouble. But this film will blow your mind anyway.
According to a report in Business Insider 1 earlier this week, 40 million Americans have filed for unemployment since the start of the coronavirus pandemic — even as America’s billionaires have seen their net worth skyrocket by half a trillion dollars.
To understand the sheer levels of greed, corruption, and outright contempt for American democracy that got us here, look no further than the critically acclaimed documentary Requiem for the American Dream, featuring legendary public intellectual Noam Chomsky.
With stunning precision, Chomsky breaks down the principles, policies, and propaganda narratives that have allowed corporate interests and wealthy elites to exercise a corrupting influence on the U.S. government, and details the devastating consequences for poor people, the middle class, and the American Dream.
Combining Noam Chomsky’s rare explanatory powers with breathtaking footage, Requiem for the American Dream is at once a remarkable piece of cinema and an extraordinary teaching tool — indispensable viewing at a time when widening economic and racial inequalities are being exposed like never before.
“Brilliant. Chomsky is a master of distilling complex histories and powers into their most essential elements.”
— Dr. Wendy Brown | Author, In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Anti-Democratic Politics in the West
“Chomsky tells this compelling horror story with moral authority and charismatic calm. The camera seems to speak his mind, moving back and forth between his memorable face, historical footage, vivid images, and collages cut from the currency of greed.”
— Dr. Nancy Folbre | Author, Greed, Lust and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas
“This short, sharp, smart film serves as one of the best entry points to the discussion of inequality.”
— The Hollywood Reporter
“Could very well be embraced as the final word on economic inequality in the United States.”
— RogerEbert.com
“[Chomsky] melds history, philosophy and ideology into a sobering vision of a society in an accelerating decline.”
— The New York Times
“Chomsky’s critique extends beyond left and right, resulting in a lucid analysis that’s breathtaking in its simplicity, and all the more scary for it.”
— TimeOutNy
“If you want to understand neoliberalism in the U.S. over the past 40 years, you must watch Requiem for the American Dream.”
— Dr. Robert Pollin | Distinguished University Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
