Ethos | Documentary Review

by Allen
(Austin TX, US)

Personally, I get drawn into films like this. Films that try to paint large corporate and political conspiracies. If you are a fan of The Corporation or Why We Fight, you will like Ethos. If you've already seen the other two films I just mentioned, you won't learn anything new but you may have your conspiracies reaffirmed.

Ethos Documentary Review

It's true, our government, the U.S. government, has been rendered helpless against the attacks and infiltrations of corporate desires. The film goes on to explain the many ways that self-serving public corporations have bought their way into power. And not recognizable power. The guys that run these businesses are smart enough to never enter into politics. They stay safe and sound in the background ready to use their influence in any matter that serves their bottom line.

It's interesting to note that, by law, these corporations are mandated to make as much money as they can for their shareholders (those who have invested in the company) with no regard for the stakeholders (those affected by the corporations legally mandated greed).

Capitalism can be a good way to base a society, but the playing field is completely off kilter. For Capitalism to truly exist, the buyers (that's you and me and all the other shoppers) need to have a system or organization that can coordinate purchasing decisions.

As Ethos describes, it is within our power as shoppers that we can control the companies that are destroying the planet and society. If we don't buy Big Macs, McDonald's will stop making Big Macs. It's really as simple as that.

We can watch film after film telling us to be conscientious shoppers. But without coordination we will never make an impact.

If we had a way to get a million people to not buy Big Macs for a month, McDonald's would understand what we want and they will give it to us. Without this type of mass coordination all we end up with is people taking a break from the Big Mac in random manners that most likely won't resonate or affect McDonald's bottom line. And this is where the sinister aspect of corporations lies. The last thing they want is to have their system of influence disturbed.

Lobbyists work our politicians to ensure that nothing of this sort ever happens. It truly is us against them and we are ill prepared to face them.

We are reminded everyday that McDonald's is a happy place. Consumers need to go beyond Wall Street protests which do nothing.

In the U.S. your vote is not cast every two or four years. Your vote is cast each time you make a purchase. You may hate the way McDonald's treats animals and employees, but each time you hit the drive through you are showing that your actions speak louder than your words. And in the end, all McDonald's cares about is your actions.

There could be protests everyday in front of every McDonald's but if people are voting with their dollar each day to support McDonald's, McDonald's will live very well with your despise of them because in the end they are not trying to be liked. They are trying to get your money.

I picked on McDonald's a lot in that rant and McDonald's wasn't even mentioned in Ethos. Although Ronald McDonald's image appeared several times in the film.

Ethos served to remind me that we live in a country that is run by morally bankrupt people. While sad and facing overwhelming odds, we still have hope. But that may be all we have as the next decade will certainly bring about more of the same with the richest of the rich only gaining more power and control.

I am currently looking into finding a moral society that is not afflicted with the cancer of corporations. Sadly, their reach is so vast, it may prove to be impossible to find such a place that has not been corporately corrupted.

This was a good film that, as I have learned writing this review, made me mad.

Have you seen the documentary Ethos? Leave your comments below.

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