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Review: America’s Burning

— by WILLIAM STERR —

It’s election time again in America. There are two choices as to which way to go. Any other choice is a wasted vote or a vote for the opposite side, say those running for office. “You have no choice” because the other side will mean the end of America as we know it, say our politicians.

That is one of the issues discussed in the new documentary “America’s Burning,” produced and narrated by Michael Douglas. The documentary, which starts off posing whether the United States will be able to survive the current polarity in our political system and, indeed, in our daily lives, is intended to be a wakeup call to the societal problems that face us – from many sides – in 2024.

We are treated to a sequence of hypothetical news reports, beginning with one that could have been broadcast today, and leading, step by step over a period of weeks, to full blown civil war.

Writer/Director David Smick (“Stars and Strife”) then takes us through a series of “chapters” dealing with how and why we have the divisions we have today. Chief among these is the class division that exists based on education, jobs and money. He explains how the middle class has been hollowed out by economic conditions that, at the same time, have allowed the upper class to thrive.

There is also, closely associated with this, the separation of people based on these same differences. A particularly telling line, spoken by Douglas, has to do with the perception of people from different parts of our economy: He is “good enough to fix your toilet, but not to have coffee with or introduce to your friends.”

Fortunately, interspersed with the gloom are examples of positive things: people bridging racial and political gaps between groups.

The documentary has its flaws. It praises capitalism while realizing its flaws, but at the same time rejects socialism, yet sees (unspoken) elements of socialism as the necessary tools to rein in capitalism or at least protect its victims. It denounces the Chinese political system, which has raised more people out of poverty than any other system, yet admits that our system is increasingly failing our people. It’s nice to have a vote, but if your vote is meaningless at an elemental level it is nothing more than “the opiate of the people.” And it blames business for its infiltration and control of government, yet has Larry Sommers, who was a financial official in the Clinton administration, which sold out the Democratic Party to Wall Street, and the Obama administration, which kept Wall Street afloat after in 2008 but let Main Street – and millions of Americans – drown without government support.

In general, there is too much glossing over historical and social problems without providing the depth that might reverse a viewer’s opinion of what is being presented as straightforward fact. But then, the film has less than 90 minutes to make its arguments.

This is a glitzy production which is best viewed as a jumping off point for more serious discussions. But even jumping off places serve an important purpose.


Runtime: One hour, 24 minutes
Availability: Currently in selected theaters

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