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The stock market’s recent volatility has left many on Wall Street and international investors jittery. In the UK, blame is being laid at the feet of what is called “Black Box” trading, which, according to The Guardian, is “a term used when investment strategies are determined by powerful computer algorithms rather than more traditional stock-picking techniques. The capacity of computers to digest large volumes of data in an instant, identifying trends in a market, means that some hedge funds have effectively devolved trading decisions to the black boxes they have created.” In 2009, 70% of all share transactions in New York were estimated to be this high-frequency trading. But perhaps this is the culmination of the “unfettered capitalist” trend. Today, defenders of the so-called free market insist that government regulation of any sort is simply interference in the workings of “the market,” a system that is considered to have a life of its own, that can function best when left alone without the interference of governments and even human beings. Well known BBC film maker, Adam Curtis explores the origins of theories of systems as applied to nature, society, and economics in his newest three-part documentary, “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace,” the title of which is taken from a poem by Richard Brautigan. Curtis is best known for his award winning documentaries, The Power of Nightmares, Century of the Self, and The Trap. This latest film, which aired in3 parts on the BBC in the UK this past May 2011, explores the idea that humans are being governed by our own creations. Yesterday, we focused on part 1 of the film, Love and Power. Today, we’ll feature Part 2, which Curtis himself describes in this way: “This is a story about the rise of the machines and our belief in the balance of nature. How the idea of the ecosystem was invented, how the idea inspired us and how it wasn’t even true. [It is] [t]he idea that we are all components in systems, nodes in a global network. We dreamed the systems could stabilize themselves through feedback and create a perfect balance in nature’s ecosystems and in human society and in capitalism, without politics and the old hierarchies of power. But power hasn’t gone away. It never does. ” As with his earlier documentaries, Adam Curtis uses vintage and stock footage alongside original interviews, overlaid with provocative music, to critique capitalism, and Western hegemony, and in this case, the idea that technology will save the world.

Thank you Gifts:

All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace – DVD – $100

Adam Curtis Super Pack (4 films: Century of the Self, The Trap, Power of Nightmares, All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace) – $250

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