"Human Resources"

[Ed Jewett]

"Human Resources", a documentary about Social Control, examining the history, the philosophy and ultimately the pathology of elite power. The movie is a full two hours and you can download a copy of the video file here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FC6BGEOM

Overall, Human Resources is rough around the edges but still overloaded with gems. Set aside some time to digest this -- and take notes.

Scott Noble does an admirable job of fitting ten hours of material into two. I also appreciated the space he gives to all the people he interviews...there's a metric ton of ideas here and he lets almost all of them unfold and breathe at their own pace. The footage itself is very low-fi and some of the interviews feel like they drag on for too long, or wander in circles. Impressively, those moments are few and far between. Noble can't cover everything, but the scope of this movie alone makes it the most ambitious entry in this strange genre so far, more complete than The Century of the Self and less hysterical than the Zeitgeist franchise.

The film really clicks in the final act, when the focus turns toward the CIA's MK experimentation. I was surprised and grateful to find an extended interview with Dr. Colin Ross, who takes pains to note that "CIA MK" is actually a misleading generalization, obscuring a larger network of projects involving the Army, Naval Intelligence and several other, more opaque agencies. There's a lot of rewindable moments here, tread slowly.

When the perfect documentary about Social Control finally arrives, I'm guessing it will be built on this precise blueprint. This film might be full of cosmetic flaws, but his argument is (mostly) methodical and devastating. A toast to Scott Noble.

http://www.skilluminati.com/research/entry...by_scott_noble/


[Having just watch the movie, I'd add the note that there is nothing there that the core of the Deep Politics Forum leadership and even readership don't know, but there are still many who need to see it.]

[Ed Jewett]

The OP said something about taking notes, but I'll admit to essentially falling down on the job there for a simple reason; the .avi sits on my desktop ready to be re-viewed. I did take some notes; I wrote down nine words, to be more precise, and those since words set up a long-term discussion.

Those nine words, in a five-word phrase, a three-word list, and a one word 'descriptor'.

They are, in inverse order:

"Biscuits", which is the descriptor for the psychological or social services (e.g., anthropology, psychiatrists and others may or may not be included, depending on the task) experts, consultants, instructors, gurus of training, etc. who are involved in current-day US administrative (military, intel, contractor, sub-contractor) approach to "coercive detention" (my phrase, coined as it seems to pair up nicely with "coercive diplomacy"), which sets up a discussion about their role and value in co-ercive mental games amid the war of terror;

"debility, dread and dependency", which given the thrust and content of the film [learning, conditioning, control] begs the question: To what extent is the American media-consuming American public fitting into the stages of the three D's?' and

"the real killers are governments", which has been very evident recently.


***

Since the thread is relatively new and untouched except by the resident professors and my OP, one of whom is our authority/office on thread management, I would suggest the following mini-braid:


Each of the three themes of my nine words can be its own thread, but the best responses must have to integrate all three topics (like a colorful ribbon between the three braids). [The more ribbons, the prettier.]