In this prescient 1947 film, a disgruntled Mr. Williams, angry at having to pay his income tax and irritated that he has to walk a mile to the post of
In this prescient 1947 film, a disgruntled Mr. Williams, angry at having to pay his income tax and irritated that he has to walk a mile to the post office to buy stamps (no wonder people were thinner then), grumbles about the "powers of Congress. Today we would call it the power of Big Government. Mr. Williams falls asleep, bubbles appear on the screen, and he has a surrealist nightmare in which the federal government is no more. Each state now has their own currency and militia. The bank forecloses on his mortgage because theres no FHA loans. Theres no regulation of patents, so his company goes under. Youll have to look out for yourself when your loose your job! his boss sneers as he fires him. There is no income taxbut theres also no minimum wage, unemployment benefits or social security. Charles wakes up, it was all a bad dream! Charles writes a speech for his club about the virtues of the federal government. Ironically, everything he praises are programs the current Republican administration is trying to dismantle: We know the food we eat is pure. Why? Because it is inspected by the laws made through the power of Congress Congress even limits the number of hours we work and the minimum salaries were paid. Even though we gripe about federal taxes (we see a gas station gauge with gas at 23 cents a gallon) we get our magnificent National Forests and protection of our health in return. Has his dream has turned Mr. Williams into a bleeding heart liberal? Maybe notthese powers reach right into our home, into our very lives! Could he mean the Patriot Act? This film was made when Americans still had visceral memories of the Great Depression. They remembered what it was like when the Hoover administration stood by and let big business run the country. America is on the verge of having Mr. Williams nightmare today, minus the bubbles.
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