1946? Or 2006?

Here's a surprisingly relevant 1946 film on despotic governments. The film grabbed me from the very first phrase of the "despotism expert":

"Avoid the comfortable idea that the mere form of government can, of itself, safeguard a nation against despotism."

A form of government such as, say, democracy. The film pointedly singles out Germany and France of the past, but the ideas reverberate quite familiarly in present-day America. Lack of respect for political dissent, lack of equal opportunity, high concentrations of wealth and political power, regressive tax policies, self-censoring media oligopolies. I wish I could say, "How times have changed," but unfortunately I can't really do so.

(Via Boing Boing.)