Podcast 230

Gone Girl. “Gone Girl” is the movie everyone is going to see these days. The new movie has an unexpected story line about The Media. Did the writer(s), director and producer(s) know they were making a movie about media’s effects on our society? Or did they think – as many contemporary commentators think – the movie is about rape and murder? In a movie about a crime, you never see the inside of a courtroom, a prosecutor or Grand Jury. Even the lawyer acts like a Public Relations man. The ‘case’ is tried in the court of the media, and the media can be manipulated if you are smart enough and have enough money. It doesn’t matter how you become famous, only that you are. Notoriety can make you enough money to pay smart expensive lawyers and PR people who can ‘manage’, ‘spin’, ‘lie’ and create a story line. What ‘Gone Girl’ really says is there are two realities in our society; two separate spheres. There is a fantasy world created by the media where there is no right or wrong, no up or down, right or left, and no absolutes. Everything can be adjusted, walked back, changed, realigned and consequences are dependent on how savvy the protagonist, or victim is when it comes to media. Then there is in fact, the real world. A world where real things happen to real people. A world where hostages heads are cut off, where people get diseases and die, where policy decisions result in catastrophe, where airstrikes alone don’t stop the enemy, where the economy doesn’t get much better, where real people are worried and afraid. In one world people react to things said on television, magazines, talk radio, newspapers, social media and blogs. In the other world, real people act, and there are real consequences. Which world are you living in? Right now media coverage of the 2014 election cycle clearly illustrates the existence of these two worlds. If you’re running for office you’re supposed to follow the majority party’s playbook. Questioning US Border Security, asking whether there should be some kind of quarantine in place for West African arrivals to the US, questioning whether the President is protected, questioning whether the economy is ‘recovering’ is ‘alarmism’, or spreading ‘fear’. On November 4th, 2014 a very real thing will take place. There will be an election, and real people will go to their polling place and vote. One side will win the right to govern and the other side will lose. As the opposition party in the current US Government, republican candidates have a duty to question the competence and leadership of the president and his party, in any language they choose. In one world questioning the competence of our leaders is not acceptable. In the other, it’s essential. Sponsored by X Government Cars and Depotstar. 

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The Bob Davis Podcast

Podcast 228

Predicting the Future. Are TV shows and movies predicting the future? How do humans predict the future? On Wall Street they use computers and physics to create algorithms to tell traders what is happening across a wide spectrum of the market, and help make trading decisions. Other traders and analysis use models and theories like the Elliot Wave Theory, The Dow Theory and other technical analysis disciplines. Some people prefer Astrology, Tarot and other forms of Divination. Some suggest humans don’t predict the future well at all. Aside from the idea we are writing history as it happens, not living it as it is fated, it’s fun to ask whether movies and TV shows have some ability to predict the future, whether the writers and producers of those movies know it or not. Why do we resonate – internationally – on certain movies. ‘Titanic’ was a hugely popular movie, right before 9/11. A whole slew of movies at the end of the 90’s – from American Beauty and Magnolia to Fight Club and The Matrix – seem to predict a much more chaotic and unpredictable world than what we were experiencing during the Clinton Era. Would anyone argue we seem to be living in a world that is increasingly chaotic and unpredictable? Did the movies ‘predict’ it, or ‘depict’ it subconsciously? Or are these movies a subtle form of propaganda, pushing us subconsciously toward this kind of world? Finally, there’s TV. The shows we love. The shows we binge watch. House of Cards, Homeland, Breaking Bad, MadMen, and The Walking Dead. Shows that seem to be depicting a world where people in authority have short term, selfish and cynical views on how to manage, are just managing a government seconds from catastrophe, are losing their grip on reality, or are literally running from crowds of zombies. With the Ebola and Enterovirus outbreaks, border security in question, presidential security in question, thousands of thugs loose in the desert beheading people and keeping western governments at bay, economies slowing down, and confusion about what comes next, it makes you wonder. Will a new era break through, creating chaos and washing away the old, or will be it brought through by people who are free to innovate and solve problems? It’s up to us. Sponsored by Baklund R & D. 

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Podcast 218

It’s complicated. Why are ‘simple’ solutions advocated for complicated problems, and what happens when those ‘simple’ solutions don’t work? With airstrikes beginning against ISIS, apparently many in the US expect ISIS to be ‘destroyed’. Really? Fact is, things are hardly as simple as the commentariat would have us believe. Every crisis contains layers of political, diplomatic, military, corporate, social and other special interests that have to be considered. Then there is the corporate and independent media, and social media. ‘On The Ground’, inside any breaking story, are other, similar layers to be considered by policy makers. Demanding the simple solution plays well on the shout-fests that pass for ‘news’ these days, but seldom play in the real world; One of the reasons we are underwhelmed when things go wrong. People seem to think there was a time when things were easily resolved. Was there? The American Civil War? Prohibition? World War II? The Cold War? When was it ever easy or simple? We’re still getting used to the new complexities of a multi polar – chaotic – world, made more confusing by many new technical innovations with increasingly positive and negative effects. While there are simple solutions to problems every now and then, one has to understand the details to sell those ‘simple’ solutions and selling it can be complicated. History always seems easier when it is written than when it actually plays out. Today, people demand solutions, but they don’t want to know the details. Is this a willful ignorance? A willful refusal to participate or learn? Is it ‘the media’s fault’? Or, is it our fault? Either we pitch in and become informed, or we accept what our elected leaders do. We expect flawless performance from our technology and our leaders and are shocked when it fails. We might be living through a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change our government to be more responsive to individuals, but we’re not going to do it through ignorance and apathy. Sponsored by Autonomous Cad. 

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