Mike Butcher

“The Trap: What Happened to Our Dreams…” is a new series of films by Adam Curtis (“The Power of Nightmares”, “Century of the Self”) that tells the story of the rise of today’s narrow idea of freedom. It shows how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today’s idea of freedom. This model was derived from ideas and techniques developed by nuclear strategists during the Cold War. It was then taken up by genetic biologists (like Richard Dawkins), anthropologists, radical psychiatrists and free market economists, until it became a new system of invisible control. Highly recommended. Here’s a review, the Wiki page and the BBC page. The end result – says this vision – is that governments are no longer in control and the market can’t save us either. Fab.