Politicians are the Televangelists of the Corporate World: they preach what their financial backers want them to preach (no matter HOW f***ing stupid); this is one of the great Givens of the twenty-first century (which often calls to mind the a**-backward thinking of the Middle Ages). Compilation or not, ETHOS gets its message across most effectively (or the message(s) of the filmmakers whose documentaries comprise the various segments of this one...). I must admit, though, that the admonition to withhold one's financial support of the various criminal enterprises (i.e.; the corporations) profiled herein seems just a tad too late (since-the-second-World-War too late): the REAL damage has already been done- and it was done in large part because We didn't stand up and say ENOUGH! when there was still time to salvage something. I try to be optimistic. STAR TREK (the original series) and comic books taught me that We as a Species could change the world (and, perhaps, the Universe) for the Better. But I'm convinced at this point that we blew it. We're well on our way to the next "Extinction Event," and we did it to ourselves. GOP (Geriatric Older People) TV (Fox "News") played a BIG part in it: the ME (Moneyed Elite) of Reagan's "Mourning in America" have swayed so many simple-minded saps that the Flat Earthers have had The Final Say and it's "No!" to Science and "No!" to Common Sense and it'll STAY that way 'til we're all sucked under. Consider: The Corporate News (as far as I can tell) has made no mention of a recent Friendly Fire incident in which U.$. $oldier$ who had been ambushed called in a Drone strike and were themselves killed by said Drone. And how many newscasters made mention of the fact that there have been (as of this writing) 75 school shootings (or mass shootings, I forget which) since Newtown? Did anyone hear about Lafeyette, CO, where The People PREVENTED fracking by drawing up their own Community Bill of Rights to combat corporations? (The corporations stand poised to rape this area as I write: seismic testing has begun.) Oh, and one last item: Tony "The NitBrit" Blair claims that the current troubles in Iraq "have nothing to do with the Iraq War." He thinks it's an easy sell because the U.$.-backed dictator, the late Saddam Hussein, was such a b****** that some people STILL believe the war was about Weapons of Mass Destruction (which totally ignores the fact that plans had been drawn up to divide Iraq's oil resources a full DECADE before the U.$. invasion). End of screed.

Hosted by twice Oscar nominated actor Woody Harrelson, Ethos explores the mechanisms in our systems that work against democracy, the environment and our own personal liberty.

Harrelson says "it would be illogical to expect politicians to change a system that puts them in power". True, but only if we accept that the system is so far gone that it cannot be changed. Bernie Sanders is a case in point, showing that (although rare) dissident voices can get into the ring.

Another reviewer says the problem with this documentary is that it is clipped from other documentaries. That does seem to be a problem, on top of Harrelson's desire to suggest conspiracy theories are sometimes real.

The film has a big reliance on Chomsky, including his insights into Bernays and Walter Lippmann. While Chomsky is in here, it seems (like everyone else) his footage was taken from other sources. He would have been more than happy to appear for five minutes to discuss these topics...

This documentary should be a mandatory watch, just to make people aware on how the world is in hands of a handful powerful families and that since centuries. Not that it will make any difference as the vast majority of this planet are sheep and will continue being sheep until their last breath. I don't think the powerful families like the Warburgs, JPMorgan, the Rothschilds, and the Rockefellers are scared that a documentary like this will change something in this corrupted system we all live. They perfectly understand, the normal human being is just a sheep you can simply control with consumerism, a handful of dollars, a creature that can be mold like they want it, by brainwashing them with fear and greed. The documentary is well done, with alot of fragments of other revealing documentaries like Zeitgeist. It's a very interesting documentary about how people have been manipulated since centuries, by the powerful families behind the scenes, using media, wars, politics and propaganda as their tools. With the narrating voice of Woody Harrelson, maybe not the best narrating voice but respect to him that he stands for his opinions and that he clearly is not a sheep. We, all together, could make a change, if like explained in this documentary we would boycot certain multi-nationals, by never buying anything from them. But that's just wishful thinking, we all know the vast majority of humans have difficulties for thinking by themselves. The flock is were they belong and nothing is going to change that, not even thousands of documentaries like this one. This planet is doomed and there is no escape from it.