Four Horsemen

Filmmaker Ross Ashcroft's complex documentary aims to present a kind of unified theory of everything concerning America's decline. The film's title refers to four interrelated internal and external problems for the U.S. that may eventually prove catastrophic: financial corruption, wealth inequality, and the chokehold that corporations have on government; the continued exploitation of other countries rich in natural resources but already high in poverty; the rise of terrorism in response to said exploitation; and environmental disasters, including climate change, from unfettered use of fossil fuels. Four Horsemen argues that the root problem here lies in the systemic issues of wealth creation for the few and powerful at the expense of everyone else and future generations. The bulk of the running time is devoted to the consequences of deregulation in financial services, which led to the Great Recession in 2008 and a government bailout that the majority of Americans did not support. According to the high-profile interviewees here—including Noam Chomsky, Joseph Stiglitz, and Max Keiser—the forces behind those epochal events have since only grown more powerful, controlling both political parties and further stealing from the futures of an easily-distracted and fatalistic public. A powerful, thought-provoking condemnation of the evils of economic inequality, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)