Lord of War

[floppit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_War
We watched this graphic film on holiday - bright idea eh? Anyway it left me with a funny feeling. At the end there's a comment summed up well here:

A brief postscript notes that, while private arms dealers do conduct a lot of business, the five largest arms exporters – the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China – are also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

It struck me that like the wife of the arm's dealer in the movie I would also hope that I wouldn't want to profit from that trade, but I can't help it, I do profit. I wonder how much of our arm's dealing over the last century funds our NHS, roads, even the job I do as I work for the state. I wouldn't give these things up in protest so does that make me equally culpable in the arms trade of my country?

If you haven't seen the film that question will sound really dumb but if you have I think it would make some sense. It's a good, very powerful film.

[charlou]

Hi floppit ... I haven't seen the film (sounds provocative, but depressing?). Your question still makes sense. It's the ripple effect ...

[Trolldor]

Yeah I saw it.
It's capitalism in action, basically.

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Haven't seen it - and now I've noticed it has Nicholas Cage in it I won't bother.

[Ian]

It was pretty much required viewing when I was on my agency's watchfloor. Note that Nicolas Cage's character (based on Viktor Bout) smuggles his arms by maritime ships.

[Feck]

A few British cities are built on the direct profits of slavery ... most on the profits of empire .

I've done work for most of the oil companies, and the US military . Until I get to live on a self sufficient small holding ,where my money comes from, or what I spent it on will always eventually fund things that would make me ill if I was directly responsible for .

[leo-rcc]

Haven't seen it - and now I've noticed it has Nicholas Cage in it I won't bother.

I saw it at a friends house and I wanted the DVD afterward.

[RuleBritannia]

Lord of War is a fantastic film, I'm not the biggest fan of Nick Cage but he's really good in this.

To answer the OP, I had a similar thought when I first saw it. It's a clear example of cognitive dissonance, I don't want to be part of funding death in far away lands, but at the same time I want everything I have in this country which is funded by this death and destruction.

From the Wikipedia article on the film:
A scene in the movie featured 100 tanks, which were provided by a Czech source. The tanks were only available until December of the year of filming. They were to be returned so they could be sold to Libya.

[Animavore]

I thought it was supposed to be an action film when I saw the ad. This sounds like something I might want to see.