Are you intrigued by the surge of Left-wing support that buoyed Jeremy Corbyn on election day but starting to glaze over at all the technical arguments about single markets, customs unions and the funding of social care?
Luckily, the world of television has come to your assistance, with a wave of recent documentaries that can help to explain some of the thinking behind this new hunger for a Left alternative in the UK. Previously seen by many as an irrelevant extremist, Corbyn went to the election proposing real change to the market-based economic policies that have ruled Britain for decades. He emerged with 262 seats, still 56 fewer than the Tories and 64 short of a clear majority in the House of Commons but enough to shock most pollsters and pundits and show that something fundamental has changed in the thinking of many British voters.
The 40% of the vote received by Corbyn’s Labour Party on June 8 was the highest vote share of any election loser in almost half a century, and would have been enough to win the last three general elections. It turns out that voters don’t have to be communists to choose a Left-wing prescription for making homes more affordable, improving the NHS, providing free university education being sceptical about economic neoliberalism.
These three thought-provoking documentaries on UK Netflix about neoliberalism will help you to understand the thinking and anger of many of Corbyn’s supporters, and just why the political ground is shaking in Britain and elsewhere.
Requiem for the American Dream
American intellectual and political activist Noam Chomsky argues in this documentary that wealth and influence in the US has been transferred into the hands of a relatively small number of individuals. The Leftist social critic says that that concentration of wealth has resulted in a concentration of power in the hands of “the 1%” that has in turn polarised American society and brought about the decline of the middle class.
Chomsky believes this inequality has had a corrosive effect on democracy and even on solidarity, which in his words “has left us divided against ourselves”. Watch him discuss the documentary here.
Capitalism: a love story
Michael Moore uses this documentary to take us on a journey from the birth of capitalism to the 2008 global financial meltdown and all its negative consequences. 
Moore examines the social cost of corporate interests pursuing profits at the expense of the public good. He questions market deregulation and its benefits for the 1% rather than the other 99% of the population. As usual he pulls np punches, in this case labelling some banks as criminal organizations.
If you want to test whether you find his argument convincing go ahead and watch this provocative and clever documentary on Netflix: You can get a taste of the documentary here. If you want to feel your left wing politics throb, look no further.
Goldman Sachs: The Bank that runs the world
This French documentary by Jérôme Fritel presents a shocking picture of the power and influence of Goldman Sachs. Several issues are exposed in this documentary: the multinational’s ruthlessly competitive internal culture, the huge profits it has made from activities that left its own clients in deep financial trouble, and its penetration of government institutions all around the world. Their control of politics is astounding.
Former employees and clients join government officials from the US and Europe in sharing their experiences to help us understand the bank’s influence in global economics and politics, including reforms to weaken regulation around the world.
The documentary also focuses on the deal between the Greek government and Goldman Sachs that helped to lead Athens into an unprecedented crisis. Here is an overview.
So however you voted, settle down on the couch and do some political homework in the most entertaining and thought-provoking way possible.
by Ana Luiza Versiani
The post What On TV: Corbyn’s Politics in 3 Great Shows appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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