On the verge of the 2014 midterm elections, a group of wealthy progressive activists in Hollywood and business have released “20 Short Films You Can’t Afford To Miss.” The group they formed is called “We The Economy,” a collectivist-sounding name that advocates for a collectivist agenda.
Founded by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen and director and CNN host Morgan Spurlock, the group says their project “aims to drive awareness and establish a better understanding of the U.S. economy. Told through animation, comedy, musical, non-fiction, and scripted films, WE THE ECONOMY seeks to demystify a complicated topic while empowering the public to take control of their own economic futures.”
The films have found an audience in the mainstream media, with USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, and CBS News all hopping on board to promote them. This prompted pop culture and film critic Christian Toto to ponder, “Fair? Remotely balanced? Or one-side progressive propaganda gussied up as facts by a willing media machine before an election with a strong Republican trend?”
Some of the videos are more “indirect” in their criticism of capitalism and free markets than others. The “Cave-O-Nomics” film, directed and co-written by Spurlock, lays out how the economy came into existence. Near the end, however, it veers off on a tangent on how government regulations help customers and make everything better for everyone.
Toto rightly describes “This Won’t Hurt A Bit” as “a not-so-veiled cry for government-run medicine. It also argues President Richard M. Nixon’s scotched health care reform plans were just like ObamaCare.”
The films are broken into “Chapters.” Chapter 1 is “What is the economy?” Chapter 2 is “What is money?” Chapter 3, “What is the role of our government?” Chapter 4, “What is globalization?” Chapter 5, “What causes inequality?”
Example of liberal progressive bias is in the “What causes inequality?” chapter.
Adam McKay, millionaire director “Anchorman” and co-founder of Funny Or Die, made a film called “The Unbelievably Sweet Alpacas.” It’s a cartoon tale of three alpacas, played by Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Sarah Silverman (all of whom are rich), who are ready to join the workforce and “make all of our dreams come true.”
As the alpacas march off to the lollipop factory to get their jobs, they discover things aren’t fair. The first alpaca, “Happy,” is the daughter of the CEO, gets to be “VP of synergy,” a job no one understands but it pays well because her dad is rich. Happy’s father is shown in a painting holding a copy of The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, because everyone knows Rand is evil.
The second alpaca, Giggles, has an engineering degree in lollipop manufacturing. She gets shipped overseas because it’s cheaper to run a factory over there because the “countries are poor and have a lot less regulation.”
The third alpaca, Sunshine, doesn’t have rich parents and went to a public high school that “had metal detectors and our books were 30 years old.” She doesn’t get anything. The boss alpaca, voiced by millionaire Andy Richter, calls her gullible, then informs her that she should take after her rich friend who had rich parents.
Poor Sunshine then goes off on a rant right out of Elizabeth Warren’s teleprompter. “The system has become rigged. Government has been favoring the rich at the expense of the poor. The rich pay lower tax rates than ever, but minimum wage hasn’t kept up with inflation.”
After that, a talking lollipop steps in to point out how the 3 ponies represent how the economy has favored the rich since 1970. He recites the same Democratic talking points on how the majority of wealth has gone to the top, like they were a stagnant group of people and there’s no social mobility at all.
And that’s the theme of most of these videos. Ironically, they’re made by people who are now incredibly wealthy, but all weren’t born that way. Somehow, through some sort of magic, they managed to improve their economic status in a “system that was rigged against them,” but they have no faith others can.
The whole series, which could have been an inspirational one about how life is what you put into it, is nothing more than an attempt to push Democratic Party talking points on people through celebrity infused propaganda films.
It’s multi-million dollar in-kind donation to Democrats in the last 2 weeks of a crucial election where the balance of power in the United State Senate hangs in the balance.