I watched this little documentary last night.
As with any good documentary it is shown from the light of simply watching what is going on. There is little commentary outside of the events that unfold during the process of filming. As such, it was kind of boring at times, but as the election process slowly unfolded it became apparent how important this idea is in modern day politics. The idea that the actual ideas don’t matter, what the public really wants doesn’t matter, the only thing that matters is how the public perceives the candidate and the issues.
As this film unfolds it shows how a country, Bolivia, in its entirety longed for change. No doubts about it. They wanted something completely different but through creative advertising, both positive and negative, the country voted for and elected the only candidate that had already been president. In less than one year, said president was run out of the country at gun point.
The people knew what they wanted but were duped into believing that it was the opposite of what they thought.
As Ricardo Arjona says, “Una duda pesa mas que una razon.” A doubt is more important than a fact.
The documentary follows a US company that specializes in running campaigns for politicians. They operate in about 15 different countries and use the same type of tactics and ideas that have fueled US campaigns for years. We’re talking James Carville here. Who pretty much does the same as Rush or Beck or.. just behind the scenes and for the other party.
Perception is the reason media are so important and why media moguls giving millions of dollars to a political campaign is a serious conflict of interest. Especially when said media moguls own several “news” sources. It is also the reason the 24 hour ‘news’ stations such as Fox and MSNBC are the downfall of this nation. Instead of informing and reporting on things that have been fact checked and are based on real events, they spout countless hours of opinion and pretend that it is news. Effectively putting into the airwaves what they want us to be thinking about and how to be thinking about. They are not reporting. They are manipulating.
Both sides are doing it. Of course, that is if you consider the one party that we have two.
The great thing about the documentary was how the whole thing ended. The people had made a mistake but that didn’t keep them from getting what they wanted. I think in modern day politics there is a lot less risk involved than what there should be. Maybe we should run a few heads up on pikes to make sure those who are in power are really listening instead of trying to tell us what to listen for.
Peace. Love. and Revolution.