Generation Zero
Encyclopedia
Generation Zero: The Truth About the Financial Meltdown is a documentary film written and directed by Stephen K. Bannon and produced by David Bossie
for Citizens United
.
, in their effort to prevent their children from having to suffer the horrors of The Great Depression and World War II
overly nurtured and protected them, unwittingly instilling in them an outlook of selfishness and irresponsibility. The Greatest Generation also put into place many institutional protections against the kind of financial recklessness that led to the Great Depression. After they all retired and died, the documentary alleges these protections and rules were gradually removed or ignored, and the financial crisis of 2008 happened as a result of the next generation's selfishness and irresponsibility. It suggests the generation that grew up as the hippies of the 1960s eventually came to power and promoted their outlook upon the financial markets, taking reckless risks -- because having enjoyed prosperity all their lives, they believed there could be no downside to their decisions.
Convention and was shown shortly after at the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference
. The film premiered in March 2010 in Washington, DC with additional screenings in New York
and Los Angeles
.
, Bruce Bartlett
, John Bolton
, Charles Krauthammer
, Newt Gingrich
, Heather Mac Donald
, David Frum
, Dick Morris
and Barry Ritholtz.
David Bossie
David N. Bossie is an American political activist. Since 2000 he has been President and Chairman of conservative advocacy organization Citizens United.-Early life:...
for Citizens United
Citizens United
Citizens United is a conservative non-profit organization in the United States. Its president and chairman is David Bossie.-Overview:Citizens United describes its mission as being dedicated to restoring the United States government to "citizens' control" and to "assert American values of limited...
.
Subject matter
The film examines the causes of the economic collapse of September 18, 2008. The film surmises that the Greatest GenerationGreatest Generation
"The Greatest Generation" is a term coined by journalist Tom Brokaw to describe the generation who grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity within the war's home front made a decisive...
, in their effort to prevent their children from having to suffer the horrors of The Great Depression and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
overly nurtured and protected them, unwittingly instilling in them an outlook of selfishness and irresponsibility. The Greatest Generation also put into place many institutional protections against the kind of financial recklessness that led to the Great Depression. After they all retired and died, the documentary alleges these protections and rules were gradually removed or ignored, and the financial crisis of 2008 happened as a result of the next generation's selfishness and irresponsibility. It suggests the generation that grew up as the hippies of the 1960s eventually came to power and promoted their outlook upon the financial markets, taking reckless risks -- because having enjoyed prosperity all their lives, they believed there could be no downside to their decisions.
The Fourth Turning
The documentary is at least partially based on Generational Dynamics theory and the ideas developed in the book The Fourth Turning by Strauss and Howe. According to this theory, America is currently in an Unraveling period which will lead to a major Crisis period.Release
The film made its debut at the Tea PartyTea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...
Convention and was shown shortly after at the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference
Conservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States....
. The film premiered in March 2010 in Washington, DC with additional screenings in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Interviews
The documentary interviews many prominent and influential economic and political commentators, including Michael BaroneMichael Barone (pundit)
Michael Barone is a conservative American political analyst, pundit and journalist. He is best known for being the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics, a reference work concerning US governors and federal politicians, and published biennially by National Journal...
, Bruce Bartlett
Bruce Bartlett
Bruce Bartlett is an American historian who turned to writing about supply-side economics. He was a domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan and was a Treasury official under President George H.W. Bush....
, John Bolton
John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
, Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer
Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
, Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
, Heather Mac Donald
Heather Mac Donald
Heather Lynn Mac Donald is an American political commentator and thinker notable for her advocacy of secular conservatism. She has advocated her positions on numerous subjects including crime prevention, immigration reform, academia, the art world, and politics. She is a prolific essayist...
, David Frum
David Frum
David J. Frum is a Canadian American journalist active in both the United States and Canadian political arenas. A former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, he is also the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency...
, Dick Morris
Dick Morris
Dick Morris is an American political author and commentator who previously worked as a pollster, political campaign consultant, and general political consultant....
and Barry Ritholtz.
Complete interview list
- Michael BaroneMichael Barone (pundit)Michael Barone is a conservative American political analyst, pundit and journalist. He is best known for being the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics, a reference work concerning US governors and federal politicians, and published biennially by National Journal...
- Bruce BartlettBruce BartlettBruce Bartlett is an American historian who turned to writing about supply-side economics. He was a domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan and was a Treasury official under President George H.W. Bush....
, Former United States Treasury Department official - John BoltonJohn R. BoltonJohn Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
, Former U.S. Ambassador - Arthur BrooksArthur C. BrooksArthur C. Brooks is an American social scientist and musician. He is the president of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. Brooks is best known for his work on the junctions between culture, economics, and politics...
, President of the American Enterprise InstituteAmerican Enterprise InstituteThe American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and... - Lou DobbsLou DobbsLouis Carl "Lou" Dobbs is an American journalist, radio host, television host on the Fox Business Network, and author. He anchored CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight until November 2009 when he announced on the air that he would leave the 24-hour cable news television network.He was born in Texas and lived...
, Former CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
anchor and talk radio host - David FrumDavid FrumDavid J. Frum is a Canadian American journalist active in both the United States and Canadian political arenas. A former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, he is also the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency...
, Former speechwriter for George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... - John FundJohn FundJohn H. Fund is an American political journalist and conservative columnist. Currently a senior editor of The American Spectator,...
, columnist for the Wall Street Journal - Victor Davis HansonVictor Davis HansonVictor Davis Hanson is an American military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professor, notable as a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics for National Review and other media outlets...
- Newt GingrichNewt GingrichNewton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
, Former Speaker of the United States House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives... - Steven HaywardSteven HaywardSteven Hayward is a Canadian novelist and short story writer.Born in Toronto, Hayward attended the University of Toronto and York University. His first book, Buddha Stevens and Other Stories, won the 2001 Upper Canada Writer’s Craft Award; prior to that, the individual stories that would eventually...
- Neil HoweNeil HoweNeil Howe is an American historian, economist, and demographer. He is best known for his work with William Strauss on social generations and generational cycles in American history. He is currently the president of LifeCourse Associates, a consulting company he founded with Strauss to apply...
- David KaiserDavid KaiserDavid Kaiser is an American physicist and historian of science. He is Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science and department head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's program in Science, Technology, and Society...
- Roger KimballRoger KimballRoger Kimball is a conservative U.S. art critic and social commentator. He was educated at Cheverus High School, a Jesuit institution in South Portland, Maine, and then at Bennington College, where he took a BA in philosophy and classical Greek, and Yale University...
- Dr. Charles KrauthammerCharles KrauthammerCharles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
, columnist for The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation... - Lawrence KudlowLawrence KudlowLawrence "Larry" Kudlow is an American economist, television personality, and newspaper columnist. He is the host of CNBC's The Kudlow Report. As a syndicated columnist, his articles appear in numerous U.S. newspapers and web sites, including his own blog, Kudlow's Money Politic$.-Early...
, television host of The Kudlow Report on CNBCCNBCCNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers... - Heather Mac DonaldHeather Mac DonaldHeather Lynn Mac Donald is an American political commentator and thinker notable for her advocacy of secular conservatism. She has advocated her positions on numerous subjects including crime prevention, immigration reform, academia, the art world, and politics. She is a prolific essayist...
- Myron MagnetMyron MagnetMyron Magnet was the editor of City Journal from 1994 through 2007 and is now the magazine's Editor-at-Large. The Manhattan Institute's quarterly journal of urban affairs, City Journal focuses on endemic urban dilemmas such as welfare, housing, taxes, and crime from a free-market, conservative...
- Thaddeus G. McCotter, Republican Congressman from MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
- Richard MiniterRichard MiniterRichard Miniter is an investigative journalist and author of two New York Times best-selling books, Losing bin Laden and Shadow War....
, editor at The Washington TimesThe Washington TimesThe Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
and author - Daniel J. MitchellDaniel J. MitchellDaniel J. "Dan" Mitchell is a libertarian economist, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is a proponent of the flat tax and tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty-Personal life:...
, Ph.D., fellow at the CATO InstituteCato InstituteThe Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
and former economist for the United States Senate Finance Committee - Stephen MooreStephen MooreStephen Moore may refer to:* Stephen Moore , Irish politician*Stephen Moore * Stephen Moore , English actor* Stephen Campbell Moore , English actor...
, editorial board of the Wall Street Journal - Peter MoriciPeter MoriciPeter Morici is an American macroeconomist and Professor of International Business at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a graduate of SUNY Albany in New York State where he received his Ph.D in Economics in 1974.- Career :From 1974 to 1976, Morici...
- Dick MorrisDick MorrisDick Morris is an American political author and commentator who previously worked as a pollster, political campaign consultant, and general political consultant....
, former advisor to President Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation... - Michael NovakMichael NovakMichael Novak is an American Catholic philosopher, journalist, novelist, and diplomat. The author of more than twenty-five books on the philosophy and theology of culture, Novak is most widely known for his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism...
- Michael Panzner, author
- James Quinn
- Barry Ritholtz
- Peter SchweizerPeter SchweizerPeter Schweizer is a conservative author and a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.Schweizer's book Do as I Say : Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy received praise from conservative political pundits including Bill O'Reilly. Schweizer's book Reagan's War was the basis of the...
- Amity ShlaesAmity ShlaesAmity Ruth Shlaes is an American author and columnist from New York, who writes about politics and economics.-Education and career:...
, Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations and member of the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal - Tobin Smith
- Shelby SteeleShelby Steele-Awards:*National Book Critics Circle Award in the general non-fiction category for the book The Content of Our Character.*Emmy and Writers Guild Awards for his 1991 Frontline documentary film Seven Days in Bensonhurst.-External links:**...
- John Xenakis, author of Generational Dynamics: Forecasting America's Destiny
External links
- Generation Zero official website
- Generational Dynamics independent study