Delusions of American Syndicalism

As Morris describes members-only unionism, it is based on voluntary membership, and does not rely on NLRB-recognized exclusive representation (which recognizes exactly one union as the representative of an entire bargaining unit)--Life-Long Wobbly

It has often been noted, that within his directorial framework, Frank Capra was very dark in his journey toward his egalitarian, if heavily Westphalian, utopia, and this is just as true for Lost Horizon as for his more successful films. The point of contention for a skeptical viewer resides as much in Capra's wobbly axis as it does in the metaphor as a struggle for faith. The script falters, unsure of itself and the price of doubt, and fails to acknowledge that even the nirvana of Shangri-La is striated on the belief of ethnographic European superiority.

It also illustrates the danger of allowing adamant visionaries too much power in Hollywood. Capra must have known something about the Wobbly anarchy which in his time was just beginning to fade, not really libertarian, simply a reversal of polarity toward labor rather than managerial processes, which, in the Depression era collectivism of the American village, was dangerous. Dissimilar to any president since, Hoover actually faced the threat of rebellion, and his passing of the reigns to a benevolent blue blood like Franklin was simply the course of genealogy from which the country has never recovered. These days it isn't so simple, of course. We've moved from leftist radical to "the liberal progressive spectrum," to quote Krugman, who looks increasingly frail.

As an historical artifact, Lost Horizon is absolutely worth viewing, and sets a precedent for future surrealist poses, even if they obfuscate their way toward disaster, but critically, the metaphor is rife with contradiction, particularly as it relates to how the original pilot was vanquished. Someone would have heard a struggle, found a body, so the European passengers must have been dead in the first place, with the exception of Conway, whose brother George cannot accept the truth, and thus perishes trying to give his brother back to the world as the absolutely essential Foreign Secretary.

Is Maria's discontent analogous to Lucifer's rebellion? Does Capra feel evil is the reality set against sedate metaphysics? 

The man was a loon, and his amputee lama Perrault just as sinister as Ahab, his legacy problematic, very much alive. The number of human beings who can recall what any existence was like prior to Its A Wonderful Life is dwindling, as it must, but we believe in Stewart's triumph with the bump on his head in our collective noggins, and that, too, is the folly of American sentiment. Bill Gates certainly contributed to what he became, and deserves credit in his current status as the last American tycoon, whether or not his ferocity with his geniuses was trumped up, but circumstances played a part in his fate, like smaller computing units, and he and his wife should be able to see damaged potential and offer it a hand while they're curing malaria for Africans.

There is a mind here.