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Historic places, forgotten, threatened and threatening at the same time. Made of steel, poured in concrete or blasted out of a mountain: Yesterday’s monuments from the great eras of history come alive again.
Three abandoned sites of the American Dream, three monuments of a mighty nation’s pride. They help us see that there is light and shadow in the American Dream. We visit the Safeguard Base, a former hi-tech protection shield against nuclear missiles, Pennhurst, a model facility for people with disabilities, and a working class vacation paradise: Salton Sea.
Three abandoned sites of the American Dream, three monuments of a mighty nation’s pride. They help us see that there is light and shadow in the American Dream. We visit the Safeguard Base, a former hi-tech protection shield against nuclear missiles, Pennhurst, a model facility for people with disabilities, and a working class vacation paradise: Salton Sea.
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00:01Os lugares da história de história,
00:04homenos e misteriosos.
00:07Abandoned sites que symbolizam o sonho americano
00:09de optimismo e de força.
00:13Symbols da confiança de uma população poderosa.
00:17Light e shadow.
00:23Mas o sonho americano não é para todos.
00:25O sonho prometido é tão frágil
00:27as their buildings from its golden era.
00:34A high-tech fortress,
00:35a shield against nuclear missiles.
00:41You like to think you're smarter than the other guys.
00:43So there was a lot of poo-pooing
00:46about what the Russians had.
00:48A model facility for people with disabilities.
00:52But behind the walls, horror reigns.
00:54I saw a place with more than 3,000 people
00:56where we would put our dog for the weekend.
01:00And a working-class vacation paradise
01:03hiding a deadly poison.
01:06Those dust particles are so small
01:08that it's a huge health problem.
01:11Secret worlds full of undiscovered stories.
01:15The water level would have been
01:17way up around that tree line there.
01:18It's really dropping fast.
01:21Places replete with memories.
01:24And the air was just full of marijuana.
01:27We thought everything was just great.
01:431945, World War II is over.
01:47The big victor, the United States of America.
01:50Leader of the free world,
01:52thanks to its army,
01:53its industry,
01:54and its nuclear weapons.
02:01In 1949,
02:03the Soviet Union
02:03took its first steps
02:05in this new arms race
02:06with its own atom bomb.
02:09It's the beginning of a new conflict,
02:11the Cold War.
02:12We are on the brink of World War III.
02:14It would have been decided here
02:16in North Dakota.
02:23You like to think
02:24you're smarter than the other guys.
02:26You know,
02:27so there was a lot of
02:28poo-pooing about
02:29what the Russians had,
02:31like it wasn't up to our standard.
02:33Well, look what they did first.
02:34They put up Sputnik,
02:36and they did all that technology too.
02:40So...
02:40Allies in World War II,
02:42adversaries in the Cold War,
02:44the USA and the Soviet Union.
02:46Both are leaders of a strong alliance,
02:49and both are armed
02:51with tens of thousands
02:52of nuclear weapons,
02:53enough to blow up our planet
02:55many times over.
02:59The USA wants to gain
03:01a crucial advantage.
03:05One of the men in charge of this...
03:07I'm Clint Eskelson,
03:09and working here is like
03:12being a king on the throne
03:14because this system
03:16is one of the finest systems
03:17the U.S. Army has ever put together.
03:20The system here in North Dakota
03:22is called Safeguard.
03:23It is designed to identify
03:25incoming nuclear warheads
03:27and destroy them.
03:33To achieve this,
03:35Safeguard has dozens
03:36of interceptor rockets
03:37waiting in nuclear bomb-proof silos
03:40for their mission.
03:45Well, this is the co-located missile field
03:47for Safeguard.
03:50Safeguard had 100 interceptors,
03:53and of that was 36 of the Spartan,
03:58which is right here,
04:00and 48 of the Sprints.
04:04First to be launched
04:06would be Spartan.
04:08Under constant control
04:09and guidance by the computer,
04:11Spartan soars to intercept
04:13above the atmosphere.
04:17For intercepts of closer-in targets,
04:20the smaller, quick-response
04:22Sprint missile is used.
04:25Every missile should be able
04:27to destroy multiple warheads
04:29of an incoming rocket.
04:30A system to win World War III.
04:32Would it have worked?
04:34Would it have worked?
04:34Would a system of a system
04:36would not have to have a nuclear first shot
04:41a nuclear first shot?
04:55That safeguard itself could be
04:57the primary target of an attack
04:59as part of the equation.
05:00If we have a nuclear explosion
05:03up above the walls
05:05of this pyramid
05:07is four foot thick,
05:09reinforced concrete
05:11with steel plating on the inside.
05:15The Safeguard pyramid
05:17with four gigantic radar antenna air rays
05:20pointing in all directions.
05:22To process the radar signals,
05:24the pyramid houses
05:25three underground levels
05:27packed with high-tech equipment.
05:30The four faces of the MSR
05:33contain more than 20,000
05:35antenna elements.
05:36Some quarter of a million feet
05:38of proactual cable
05:39connected the elements
05:40through the seven-foot thick face
05:42to corresponding electronic components
05:44inside the building.
05:45Many of the rooms
05:47housing critical equipment
05:48had to be shock-mounted
05:50to survive in a nuclear environment.
05:53Behind each face
05:54stands a feed horn
05:55used to transmit signals to
05:58and receive signals from
05:59from the antenna.
06:01Processing equipment
06:03transforms the received signals
06:05into digital form
06:06used by the data processing system
06:09to control the equipment
06:10involved in an engagement.
06:16The two underground levels
06:18were home to the supercomputers
06:20of the U.S. military
06:21in those days.
06:26The radar can do surveillance
06:28if you detect an object
06:30then you can go back
06:32and track that object
06:33and know exactly
06:34where the object is going
06:36and so then
06:38the computer is going to determine
06:40what the intercept process would be.
06:45We had
06:46ten processor units
06:49not one
06:50ten
06:50this was the biggest computer
06:52in the free world
06:53one time.
06:57Ultimately
06:58the multi-processor approach
07:00would deliver
07:01a computing speed
07:02of over 20 million
07:03instructions per second.
07:05Back then
07:06staggeringly fast
07:08today
07:09our smartphones
07:10are faster.
07:11In case of a Soviet
07:12nuclear attack
07:13the safeguard officers
07:14would have been the first
07:15to recognize the danger
07:17on their radar screens.
07:18two officers
07:19would have turned
07:20two keys simultaneously.
07:22The rest
07:23was left to technology.
07:25Safeguard could fire off
07:26100 interceptor rockets
07:27in less than a minute.
07:39And of course
07:40it was very hopeful
07:41that we'd never have to
07:43especially when we would be
07:46in here
07:47and could withstand
07:49the blast
07:49and our family
07:51down in the housing area
07:53couldn't.
07:54You know
07:55that's a hell of a thing
07:56to look at.
07:57Clint Ashgelson
07:58retired now
07:59is one of the last
08:00safeguard veterans.
08:03Today
08:04he lives with his wife
08:05in a village
08:06not far from the facility.
08:08Nowadays
08:08a large scale nuclear war
08:10seems remote.
08:11You know
08:12if the president
08:13gets involved
08:13in that
08:14and says
08:15allows it to happen
08:17it can happen.
08:18You know
08:18I really don't think
08:19that's ever going to happen
08:20but
08:21you could get some crazy guy
08:23and it might happen too.
08:25And
08:27I
08:28I shouldn't
08:28I shouldn't say this
08:29but
08:30our president
08:31of the United States
08:31right now
08:32is a questionable one anyway
08:34so
08:34but I don't think
08:35he'd ever
08:36you know
08:37get that crazy.
08:46For more than a century
08:47America has been thinking
08:49of itself
08:49as the land of progress.
08:51Electricity
08:52trains
08:52cars
08:53telegraphs
08:54and phones
08:55improve the quality
08:56of life
08:56for countless people.
09:01But this brave new world
09:04is not for everybody.
09:05A clinic in Philadelphia
09:07shook the nation
09:08to its core
09:10Penhurst.
09:11When I first came
09:12to Penhurst
09:13I was 21 years old
09:14just out of college
09:15and I had
09:17no preparation
09:18for what I was
09:19about to see.
09:23I saw a place
09:24with more than
09:253,000 people
09:26where we would
09:27put our dog
09:27for the weekend
09:29and something
09:30had to be done.
09:34I'm Jim Conroy
09:35and I'm a scientist
09:37who has studied
09:38the quality of life
09:39among people
09:40with disabilities
09:40for 50 years.
09:44Progress in the USA
09:45tended to benefit
09:46mostly the white
09:47upper and middle class.
09:59They see themselves
10:00as hard workers
10:02happy consumers
10:03and possessing
10:04a sound moral compass.
10:09But what about
10:10those who are mentally
10:11or physically disabled?
10:13The Penhurst Institution
10:15opened near Philadelphia
10:16in 1908.
10:18It's named back then
10:19Eastern Pennsylvania
10:21State Institution
10:22for the Feebleminded
10:24and Epileptic.
10:28It took until
10:29the 1960s
10:30until people started
10:31to ask about
10:32the actual living
10:33conditions
10:34in such facilities.
10:39I drove
10:40from Washington, D.C.
10:42up to here
10:43in my father's
10:45blue Chevy
10:45and I was taken
10:47into a ward
10:47with about 50 men
10:50in various stages
10:51of undress
10:51screaming and
10:53hitting themselves.
10:54It was achingly
10:56horrible
10:57that the richest
10:58nation on earth
10:59could do that
11:00to people.
11:02The idea
11:03of Penhurst
11:05was a good one.
11:06The idea
11:07of a community
11:08that would allow
11:09people with special
11:10needs or who are
11:11differently abled
11:12to thrive and grow.
11:15Unfortunately,
11:16Penhurst
11:16suffered greatly
11:18from the ideas
11:18of overpopulation
11:20as well as
11:21severe underfunding.
11:24In 1968,
11:26television reporter
11:27Bill Baldini
11:28documented the
11:29shocking conditions
11:30at Penhurst.
11:31The 2,800 children,
11:33young and old
11:34alike,
11:34residing within
11:35the confines
11:36of Penhurst
11:37are for the most
11:38part protected
11:39from society
11:40and the granite wall
11:41of ignorance
11:42and social blindness
11:43protects society
11:45from them.
11:50The poorest people
11:52and the most vulnerable
11:52in our society,
11:54that urge
11:54to get rid of them
11:55began here
11:56and that took form
11:57in these institutions,
11:59293 of them
12:00in the United States
12:02and make no mistake,
12:04every other country
12:05in the world
12:05built them too
12:07after we did.
12:11At Penhurst,
12:12patients are removed
12:13from society
12:14and thus from
12:15the gene pool.
12:17The goal?
12:18To improve
12:19the population
12:20through reproduction control.
12:25Eugenics is the name
12:27of this pseudoscience.
12:29It segregates the disabled,
12:31sterilizes
12:32or even kills them.
12:33It's sad climax
12:34is the mass killing
12:36during the Nazi era
12:37in Germany.
12:37Very few people know
12:39that the eugenics movement
12:40began in 1880,
12:43roughly,
12:43and it happened
12:44in America
12:45and Britain.
12:46It's important
12:47to realize
12:48that the writings
12:48of our great jurist
12:50Oliver Wendell Holmes
12:51were used by Hitler
12:53in his writings
12:54in Mein Kampf.
12:55It took until 1970
12:57for a law
12:58to be passed
12:58in the USA
12:59which gave people
13:00with disabilities
13:01more rights.
13:04Jim Conroy
13:05was working
13:06on a study
13:06how to implement
13:07this law.
13:08The Penhurst
13:10longitudinal study
13:11was set up
13:11after the federal court
13:14in Philadelphia
13:16decided
13:17that Penhurst
13:18by its very nature
13:19was unconstitutional.
13:21Now,
13:21the entire world
13:22is moving
13:23in the right direction
13:23largely because
13:25of what happened here.
13:27Penhurst
13:28is only shut down
13:29for good
13:29in 1987,
13:31almost 20 years
13:32after the Baldini footage
13:33was broadcast
13:34to the world.
13:39On the last day
13:40in November,
13:42two men
13:42were still here.
13:43The superintendent
13:44and the local commissioner
13:46and I
13:46turned off the lights,
13:48locked the door,
13:48and the two gentlemen
13:49went to their new home.
13:52Today,
13:52Jim Conroy
13:53heads a foundation
13:54to keep the memory
13:55of the history
13:56of Penhurst alive.
14:04In many ways,
14:05the American dream
14:06is most alive
14:07in the West
14:07and California.
14:12But outside
14:13the big cities,
14:14away from the glitz
14:15and glamour
14:16of Hollywood,
14:17the southern part
14:18of America's
14:18economically strongest state
14:20is a hot
14:21and dry desert.
14:22And in the middle
14:23of this desert,
14:24you can find
14:25Salton Sea,
14:27California's
14:27largest lake.
14:32My earliest memories
14:33of coming to Salton Sea
14:34from when I was
14:36about 8 or 10 years old.
14:37My family and I
14:38would come down here.
14:39We'd go fishing
14:39for the whole weekend.
14:41We'd go home
14:42with dozens,
14:44sometimes hundreds,
14:45of fish.
14:46It was an enjoyable
14:47place to come.
14:51My name is Randy Brown,
14:52and back then
14:53when I was a kid,
14:54Salton Sea was
14:55nothing like it is today.
14:58Today,
14:59Salton Sea
14:59is a dangerous
15:00salt lake
15:01in the desert.
15:07The Salton Sea
15:08lies in an area
15:10that's below sea level.
15:12The soil there
15:13is very salty
15:14because of its
15:15previously having
15:16been covered
15:17by the ocean.
15:19The Colorado River
15:21brought sediment down
15:23and created a dam
15:25and dried out
15:27that valley.
15:28Then,
15:29over tens of thousands
15:30of years,
15:31whenever the river
15:31would flood,
15:32it would fill
15:33that valley
15:34and create
15:34the Salton Sea.
15:36And then,
15:36the lake
15:37would dry up
15:38and maybe 20 years
15:39later,
15:40it would flood again.
15:41That happened
15:42for the last time
15:43in 1905.
15:44A dam broke
15:45in the lower course
15:46of the Colorado River.
15:49The low ground
15:51of Salton Sea
15:51is flooded.
15:53Business-savvy townspeople
15:54put fish in the lake
15:55and that created
15:57a vacation paradise
15:58from nothing.
16:01A sea in the desert
16:03with its wide,
16:04sandy beaches,
16:05no tides
16:06or dangerous undercurrents
16:07and with literally
16:09millions of fish
16:10ready for the taking.
16:18This paradise
16:19attracts mostly
16:20the poorer population
16:21who cannot afford life
16:22on the Pacific coast.
16:24We didn't have
16:24a lot of money
16:25growing up,
16:25so it was a nice place
16:26for my parents
16:27to bring me
16:28and my brothers
16:28and sisters
16:28and spend the weekend
16:30without spending
16:31a lot of money.
16:32Looking back now,
16:33it really was
16:34kind of the
16:35ordinary man's paradise.
16:37Salton Sea
16:38lies in one of the
16:39most intensively
16:40farmed regions
16:41of the United States.
16:4348% of the population
16:44in the Imperial Valley
16:46depends on agriculture
16:47for their living.
16:49The runner
16:50from these immense
16:51irrigated fields
16:52flows directly
16:53into the Salton Sea.
16:55Due to this
16:55and other factors,
16:57the amount of salt
16:58and fertilizer
16:58in the lake
16:59grows year by year.
17:01When the Colorado
17:02river flows in,
17:04it brings salt.
17:05The water evaporates
17:06and the salt
17:07stays behind.
17:08So slowly but surely,
17:09this lake became
17:10more and more salty
17:11and the game fish,
17:14the fish that people
17:15were trying to catch,
17:16eventually were unable
17:18to breed
17:18because the water
17:19got too salty
17:20and they started
17:21to die off.
17:24And sometime
17:24in the mid-70s,
17:25we had noticed
17:26that the shoreline
17:28was just covered
17:29in dead fish,
17:30like a blanket.
17:32and then it happened
17:33the next year
17:34and the next year
17:34and it went
17:34from being this
17:36something that had
17:37never happened before
17:38to eventually
17:39happening every year.
17:40Today,
17:41fish bones and shells
17:42line the shoreline.
17:44The water from
17:44the Colorado River
17:45has been re-channeled
17:47to San Diego.
17:49Farmers have switched
17:50to less water-intensive crops.
17:55Since this change,
17:56the water that flows
17:57into the lake
17:58has slowed
17:59to a trickle.
18:01So this is the,
18:02what they call
18:02the sunken city,
18:04which has been
18:05underwater for
18:0675 years or more.
18:20When I came here
18:21as a kid in the 70s,
18:22the water level
18:23would have been
18:24way up around
18:25that tree line there.
18:26So that's a good
18:28several hundred yards,
18:30couple hundred meters away.
18:32And now,
18:33as you can see,
18:33it's way down.
18:36So it's,
18:37it's really dropping fast.
18:40In 2015,
18:41Randy Brown
18:42was the first person
18:43to walk around
18:43the entire Salton Sea
18:45in more than
18:4650 degrees Celsius
18:47heat and extreme humidity.
18:49It's his way
18:50of raising awareness
18:52about the lake's
18:53slow death.
18:54Timarons 10,
18:559,
18:568,
18:567,
18:576.
18:59Back to North Dakota
19:00in the Midwest
19:01to find a slumbering relic
19:03from a once looming
19:04World War III.
19:05Agriculture dominates
19:07most people's lives
19:08here as well.
19:12But during the Cold War,
19:14another important employer
19:15existed here,
19:16the U.S. Army.
19:17They started
19:18with the construction
19:19of a nuclear fortress
19:21in 1970.
19:25The first time
19:26I came onto the site
19:27was probably
19:28late June of 1972.
19:32Everybody that worked here
19:33was aware of
19:34what the project
19:35was about.
19:37For a lot of us
19:38that worked out here,
19:39it was a very nice job,
19:40very good job.
19:46My name is Carol Goodman,
19:47and when I worked here
19:48at the site,
19:49my position was called
19:51administrative
19:51non-supervisory employee.
19:56The U.S.A.
19:57invested billions
19:58into defense systems
19:59to protect their country
20:00against Soviet
20:01nuclear missiles.
20:04Seventeen so-called
20:05safeguard bases
20:06are planned.
20:07Their main mission,
20:08protecting U.S.
20:09nuclear missiles.
20:12This is the Minuteman
20:14intercontinental
20:15ballistic missile.
20:17One thousand
20:18of these missiles
20:19are on a 24-hour alert
20:20throughout the northwestern
20:21and midwestern portion
20:22of the United States.
20:24These are located
20:25at Minot Air Force Base,
20:27North Dakota.
20:28Grand Forks Air Force Base,
20:29North Dakota.
20:30The pyramid
20:31and its missile fields
20:33are the heart
20:33of the safeguard bays.
20:35Clustered around them,
20:36you find more buildings.
20:38Among them,
20:38a church,
20:39a gym,
20:40and a community center.
20:43One of the immediate
20:45problems was housing.
20:46Facilities were made
20:47available by the Army
20:49for military
20:50and key civilian personnel
20:51assigned to the site.
20:53All were part
20:54of the only
20:55new army base
20:56installed
20:56since World War II.
20:59At the peak
21:00of employment
21:01for the safeguard system,
21:03there were 3,100
21:03people working.
21:04So you saw
21:05businesses grow,
21:06you saw new businesses
21:07open.
21:08You start seeing
21:10things you never
21:11even thought of before.
21:12You know,
21:12how long it took
21:13to get into
21:14your local bank
21:15to cash a check
21:17and waiting in line
21:19for a table
21:20at a restaurant.
21:21The nuclear fortress
21:22becomes the driving force
21:24behind a small
21:24economic boom
21:25in North Dakota.
21:28Now,
21:29people don't have
21:30to rely only
21:31on farming
21:32to make a living
21:32and that makes
21:33safeguard very popular
21:35with the locals.
21:41In faraway
21:42Washington, D.C.,
21:43the program
21:44is controversial,
21:45politically
21:46and militarily.
21:48Safeguard
21:49costs billions.
21:51And whether
21:52it really
21:53can protect
21:53the USA
21:54in a nuclear war
21:55is uncertain.
22:00of the
22:00Bei A-B-M.
22:01Sie müssen
22:02Sie natürlich
22:02auch immer
22:02an die
22:03andere Seite
22:03denken.
22:04Wenn Sie
22:04selber
22:05A-B-M.
22:06Systeme
22:07entwickeln,
22:07können Sie
22:08damit
22:08an
22:09Sicherheit
22:09grenzen
22:10der
22:10Wahrscheinlichkeit
22:10ausgehen,
22:11dass sie
22:11die
22:11Gegenseite
22:12auch
22:12machen
22:12wird.
22:13Das heißt,
22:13Sie
22:13müssen
22:13gleichzeitig
22:14Ihre
22:14Offensiv-Kapazitäten
22:16weiter massiv
22:17aufbauen,
22:18um
22:18sicherzustellen,
22:19dass Sie
22:19diese
22:21Antiraketensysteme
22:22überwinden
22:23werden.
22:23Então, isso é meio que em duas mãos, onde eles precisam de mais dinheiro.
22:56E isso levou a negociação do SALT-1.
23:04O SALT-1 é um acordo que limita as armas nucleares.
23:08Na mesma hora, a U.S.A. e a União Soviética signaram o so-called ABM Treaty.
23:13Cada lado pode ter apenas uma base de base de base de base.
23:18A base de base de North Dakota foi terminada, mas não pode proteger o país todo por si mesmo.
23:25Eu não me lembro exatamente como isso começou a circulação entre as pessoas que trabalhavam aqui.
23:31Todo mundo era aware das SALT-1s que estavam tomando, porque isso começou em 1972, 1973,
23:38até 1974, quando isso estava sendo construído.
23:42Nós não tínhamos mensagens, ok, isso vai acontecer, isso vai acontecer, isso vai acontecer,
23:49isso vai ser fechado, muitas pessoas vão ser transferidos.
23:52Mas foi evidente, que as coisas iriam iria acabar.
23:57No 1 de April de 1975, a Fortressa Núclea foi operacional.
24:03Seis meses depois, a U.S.A. cancê-se todo o financiamento de base de base de base de base
24:10de base de base de base de base de base de base.
24:14O país foi fechado depois de menos de um ano.
24:20As pessoas começaram a se mover, então a população se derrotou muito rapidamente.
24:24Foi uma época depressiva, eu lembro disso.
24:28E isso me lembro muito tempo.
24:30E isso me levou muito tempo para a atmosfera mudar para mudar.
24:34Porto da Dakota o mundo, a província do meio do nosso centro, no meio do meio da U.S.A.
24:41Carol Goodman works for the county
24:44And actively supports
24:46The preservation of the pyramid
24:52Far away in the east
24:54In Pennsylvania
24:55The place where the Declaration of Independence
24:58Was signed
24:58And where you can find the symbol of freedom
25:00The Liberty Bell
25:03Proclaim liberty throughout all the land
25:05Unto all the inhabitants thereof
25:08The lettering on it promises
25:10But this promise does not hold true
25:12For all people
25:16Even as late as the 1980s
25:19People with disabilities
25:20Were separated from the rest of society
25:22And had to live out their lives
25:24In institutions such as Panhurst
25:28You can't imagine how isolated
25:31It felt
25:33And how empty
25:36These people's lives were
25:38Because there was just
25:41Nothing for them to do
25:45My name is Judith Gran
25:47I'm a lawyer specializing
25:49In the rights of persons with disabilities
25:52Who worked on the Panhurst litigation
25:56At the beginning of the 20th century
25:59Land 50 kilometers outside of Philadelphia
26:02Is still affordable
26:03The location seems perfect
26:05There is a river
26:06And a railroad connection
26:08It's easy to transport people and goods
26:11However
26:12For the patients in Panhurst
26:14This remote location is dangerous
26:20When a person came to Panhurst
26:22They may never see their family again
26:25Because that's how hard it was to travel
26:27To such a remote area
26:28Because of that
26:29The family doesn't have
26:31A very accurate idea
26:33Of the care
26:33That their loved one is getting
26:36In 1968
26:37The conditions at Panhurst
26:39Became public for the first time
26:43A legal battle ensued
26:45Which dragged on for years
26:49When I first visited Panhurst
26:52It was many years after the original exposé
26:55That Bill Baldini did in the 60s
26:59I had seen photos of conditions there
27:03And I knew that people were really warehoused
27:06And treated worse than animals in the zoo
27:10There is a reason for this comparison with the zoo
27:13In his 1968 investigative film
27:17The reporter Bill Baldini compares the way animals are kept at zoos
27:21With the conditions in Panhurst
27:25Some zoos in the United States spend more money
27:28For the daily upkeep of their large animals
27:30Than the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania allows Panhurst
27:33To spend on its 2,800 retarded children
27:37Five of the largest zoos spend $7.15 per day on their wards
27:42Panhurst can only afford $5.90
27:47My first feeling when I first saw the conditions of the institution
27:52Was sadness
27:54I think grief
27:56That people were torn away from their communities
28:02And their families
28:03And forced to live in such abnormal and unnatural conditions
28:13For the first time in 1970
28:16A law formulates a precise definition of people with mental disabilities
28:21Simultaneously, requirements are set for institutions
28:25That accommodate people with mental disabilities
28:29Panhurst does not meet these requirements
28:32It still takes another 17 years
28:35And several lawsuits for the institution to be shut down
28:41The main points of Judge Broderick's ruling
28:46Were that Panhurst had violated people's rights
28:51To safety and freedom from harm
28:54And freedom from restraint
28:56Adequate food, shelter, medical care
29:00All the basic things that people are entitled to
29:05Since that time, Pennhurst is one of the worst examples
29:09Of the government's mistreatment of mentally disabled people in the USA
29:13But not the only one
29:14The legal fight for the facility
29:17Leads to clinics and institutions across the country
29:20Being inspected
29:22And shut down
29:23I've seen firsthand
29:26The harms of segregation
29:29And the benefits of inclusion
29:33And I can't imagine ever going back
29:37To thinking that anybody should have to be
29:41Taken away from a normal environment
29:46Slowly the idea prevails that people with disabilities
29:50Should not be locked away, but included
29:52A sea change after decades of horror
30:00It was wonderful to see the success of our efforts
30:05To make sure that the services in the community were of good quality
30:10So that nobody in Philadelphia now has to leave their home community
30:17To receive services
30:21By now 293 institutions like Pennhurst have been shut down
30:27It's the end of a dark period
30:32Four, three, two, one, fire
30:44In the mid-70s, the United States is a heavily armed superpower
30:49The unchallenged leader of the West
30:55At the same time, the brief era of the safeguard complex in North Dakota comes to an end
31:01Especially in the patriotic Midwest
31:04And the West, the self-image of a nuclear superpower starts to fade
31:15I still believe that as far as people
31:17We can all get along
31:19But the governments are the ones that to me cause the problems
31:25And the other thing is money
31:28Our whole world, especially now, is all about money
31:31But like I say, I'm just a dumb guy living here
31:34The smart guys are supposed to be figuring that out
31:39Hello, my name is Neil Holman
31:41Everybody calls me Buzzy
31:45North Dakota
31:46One of the most sparsely populated states in the U.S.
31:52A large part of the U.S. nuclear arsenal is stationed here
31:56In 1970, the construction of a unique missile fortress started for the protection of the nuclear arsenal
32:03And that meant lots of jobs for the region
32:08When this place was built, there was like 1,200 people a shift out here
32:14So that was a big deal
32:18Site preparation in North Dakota was progressing on schedule
32:22In order to be ready to receive the large complex assemblage of equipment
32:26Over 8,000 tons of steel reinforcing bars
32:30And more than 58,000 cubic yards of concrete were required
32:34I was doing carpenter work at that time
32:37And working for like six bucks an hour
32:41And everybody up here was making big money
32:45So anything would have been great
32:48Not all Americans embrace the nuclear efforts of their military
32:53The Vietnam War and fear of nuclear annihilation trigger protests
32:58Even picketing the construction site of the new base in North Dakota was considered
33:06My dad said, don't you go up there
33:08I said, I won't
33:11Well, after hearing that
33:12And two other buddies I had
33:16We said, we gotta go up there
33:21There was a couple of hippies
33:24Going at it
33:26And the air was just full of marijuana
33:28And we thought everything was just great
33:33The protest in North Dakota remained peaceful and relaxed
33:36Almost cheerful
33:37The police do not interfere
33:40When I got home that night
33:42My dad said, what'd you do today?
33:45I said, drove around a little bit
33:46I said, I went to work out at the farm for a while
33:51The local newspaper covers the protest
33:55Well, the next morning in the Grand Forks Herald
33:58They had taken a picture
34:00That was me and my two buddies
34:01And he'd seen it
34:05And he was pissed off
34:09It's one of the maddest he's ever been at me
34:12I think, it wasn't that I came here
34:14But I lied to him
34:15Ever since, Buzzy has been fascinated by the nuclear fortress
34:19After it's shut down
34:21The few maintenance jobs
34:23Stayed in the hands of the government
34:25But in 1991
34:27The facility is handed over to the state of North Dakota
34:30And his chances improved
34:32And a dream came true
34:34The first year I was just a heavy equipment operator
34:39The second year they made me foreman
34:41The third year they made me site manager foreman
34:49But the old missile base continues to fall apart
34:53Neil Holman and his crew tear down the civilian buildings step by step
34:57They are still looking for a new purpose for the pyramid
35:08Would I like to see it reopen?
35:11I would love to see it reopen
35:12Probably not as an anti-ballistic site
35:15But since it's here
35:17The infrastructure is still good
35:20So use it for something
35:22There are plans to convert the pyramid into a data center
35:26Until then
35:27Neil Buzzy Holman
35:28Will keep on cutting the grass here
35:33The day of the free ride is open
35:38Let's return to Salton Sea
35:40Once a Californian vacation paradise
35:43Today it's an affordable retirement community at best
35:48We had a friend
35:50He toured the area everywhere
35:53He knew where all the camping stuff was
35:56So he told us to go along with him
35:59So that's how we got started down here
36:05I am Jane Southworth
36:07And my husband Wendell Southworth
36:10We had a lot of fun
36:12Met a lot of nice people
36:14And I really kindly miss it
36:17The Southworth story is typical of America's white middle class
36:22Since the 80s retirement benefits have been dwindling for many
36:27The day of the free ride is over
36:31The Southworths retire in their mid-60s
36:34At that time they still live in the Los Angeles region
36:37But their retirement benefits won't allow them to live big
36:43Their dream, Bombay Beach
36:46To live at the place where they had been vacationing for years
36:55Well we put our house up for sale on Riverside and sold it
36:59First people that looked at it bought it
37:01So we had to move out here and had no other place to live
37:05People were friendly and, you know, it just
37:09Like, we put our mobile home out here
37:11And we'd go off and wouldn't lock the door
37:14Everybody was watching for you, you know
37:17In the 70s Salton Sea is a vacation paradise for tens of thousands of city dwellers
37:23Every year
37:23The town sees some changes in the 90s
37:27The lake recedes
37:29And instead of vacationers
37:31It's retired folks
37:32Who cannot afford other places
37:34Who start to come
37:39They don't want to have their good times ruined
37:41In spite of the dying lake right in front of them
37:46I had a Porsche engine in it when I bought it
37:50With the dual carburetors and all that good stuff
37:54They get up and move pretty good
37:56Because there's no weight to them
38:08You're just free to drive
38:10And free to drive
38:13No matter where you go
38:14You could go just about anywhere you wanted to go
38:16Uphill, downhill and all around town
38:20The most popular meeting point in Bombay Beach
38:23Then and today is the ski inn
38:25It lies 68 metres below sea level
38:28Which makes it the lowest bar in the Western Hemisphere
38:32The fact that the Southwurst started working again every day wasn't planned
38:37A friend of Jane's is to blame
38:39She wanted the bar, the ski inn
38:42She wanted to buy it
38:43But she didn't have any money
38:46So it was, well
38:48We'll help you out
38:49We'll put the down payment down
38:51Well we had $80,000 invested in down payment on it
38:55Well we had to save our investment
39:02Oh we went to work
39:04Just went to work
39:06Work, work, work
39:08Caught it, got all the deals caught up
39:11The ski inn became a hot tip among adventure tourists
39:15They praised the drinks
39:17And called the food daring
39:19Wendell sat on that chair and rested all the time
39:24Well he can't cook
39:27He burns everything
39:30So he was the bartender and I was the cook
39:34But I started out as a bartender
39:36So I could do it all
39:38I didn't need him
39:4225 years, you've got a long time to work it out
39:44Yeah
39:45The Southwurths ran the ski inn for 25 years before selling it in 2019
39:50With the money from the sale
39:52They're both in their 90s
39:54They retired for good this time
39:55Others are just getting started
39:57Artists from San Diego and Los Angeles bought properties at affordable prices
40:02And are beginning to show their art
40:04It looks as if Bombay Beach is about to change again
40:08And they have, they have bought a lot of property down here
40:13Especially, you know, things that have gone up for taxes
40:15Because then they get it cheap
40:17They just pay the taxes and it's theirs
40:20A renaissance for the arts
40:22Giving up is not an option
40:25Even more so for the Southwurths
40:27Being so close to the old shoreline
40:40The underbelly of the American dream
40:43It has to do with economic loss
40:45And the loss of dignity
40:47No other name says that like Pennhurst
40:51Where thousands of mentally disabled people were locked away
40:56There are people that come here with a respect in their heart
40:59And a curiosity as to what this place is
41:02There is another brand of people that come here
41:04That have absolutely no respect
41:09It is my great hope
41:10That the reason
41:12Is because they just don't understand
41:15I really enjoy teaching them
41:20My name is Jim Werner
41:21I'm the operations manager here at the Pennhurst Historic Site
41:29Pennhurst started admitting people with mental disabilities in 1908
41:36At the beginning
41:38This is an improvement for those who were forced to live in prisons before
41:45After the institute was shut down
41:47There was no use for Pennhurst anymore
41:49The psychiatric clinic starts to fall apart
41:54From 1987 to 2008
41:57The site was abandoned
41:58It was like walking into a forest almost
42:00Anywhere
42:03Massive amounts of damage happened at the hands of vagrants and vandals
42:09We've reclaimed most of our courtyards at this time
42:16What kind of started turning the site around
42:18Was that influx of revenue from a successful business venture
42:23Today, Pennhurst is owned by private investors
42:26They want to keep the memory of the institution's dark history alive
42:30A project that needs to be economically viable
42:33Other than renting out the place as an event venue
42:37So-called paranormal excursions are a big hit
42:44Or put simply, ghost hunting
42:47Jim Werner guides these ghost tours across the grounds
42:52When a person thinks of
42:53Oh, I wonder if there's a ghost in that building
42:56Well, our buildings kind of have the look
42:58Like there should be ghosts in them
43:00About twice a week
43:01Up to 20 ghost hunters meet up here
43:06We take them around the property
43:07We teach them about what was here
43:09Why it was here
43:10How it was here
43:10And how it ended
43:12Tonight, we're going to be here for around eight hours
43:14Of paranormal investigation
43:16We're going to be heading over to our Rockwell tunnels
43:18Which were opened last year
43:20Lots of different paranormal events
43:22Things like shadows
43:23Noises
43:24Different voices that have been heard
43:26So what we have, everyone
43:28Is some really cutting-edge paranormal investigation gear
43:32That you guys are going to have an opportunity to use tonight
43:34We have some EMF meters
43:37These are meters that measure electromagnetic fields
43:40We also have a thermal imaging camera
43:44So if we get an anomaly
43:46You can click it
43:48And then finally, one of the newest pieces of equipment we have
43:52Is a spirit box
43:54This device reportedly allows spirits and entities
43:57To communicate and form words
44:02It is said that the ghost tours were a compromise
44:06That everyone agreed upon
44:07But of all places
44:09Does it have to be this place of real suffering
44:11Where people look for ghosts?
44:15Is there anyone in here?
44:18Would you like us to leave?
44:22There isn't sufficient government funding
44:24To maintain such a memorial
44:27We wouldn't be able to pay people
44:30To rehab items
44:32For us to display
44:34And for us to pay historians
44:36To come in and tell the story
44:38Unless we had those bedrock money makers
44:42That being the way it is
44:44Keeps this from being a Walmart
44:45It keeps this place from being a barren field
44:48Where what was here is lost to history
44:51The current revenues barely cover the upkeep of the building
44:54Any plans to open a museum
44:56Of the history of psychiatry
44:58Are wishful thinking
45:01If I could do anything with this site
45:04I would invest in the rehabilitation
45:07Of as many buildings as possible
45:09I would love to turn this place
45:12Into an interactive museum
45:15A place of, as my good friend Dr. Jim Conroy says
45:19A place of conscience
45:20Jim Werner is a father of two disabled daughters himself
45:24Therefore, approaching the story of Pennhurst with respect
45:28Is close to his heart
45:34Salton Sea was once a booming region
45:37A manifestation of the American dream
45:40Today the area looks like the vision of a dystopian future
45:43Where civilization as we know it has ceased to exist
45:46For a long time
45:48This has attracted dropouts
45:50People who want to find themselves
45:52The homeless and artists
45:53Why would I exist in something
45:56That's akin to an apocalyptic wasteland?
45:58Is that what you're asking?
46:00It's good practice
46:02It's...
46:03Who knows what the future holds?
46:05We might all have to live like this one day
46:12We're in East Jesus
46:14This is a artist community and museum
46:20Hello, my name is Brian Finch
46:22I am a volunteer here
46:25And I've been associated with the place
46:26About three years now
46:28Hi, I'm Copper
46:30I'm a traveling artist
46:32And currently the volunteer summertime caretaker
46:36East Jesus is an artist colony
46:39Not far from the shoreline of Salton Sea
46:41Built in the middle of the desert
46:43Shacks, abandoned trailers
46:45And slapped together accommodations
46:48Everything is makeshift on purpose
46:50Just like the life plans of the people here
46:53They all have one thing in common
46:55They can't afford anything else
46:58I think all it is
47:00Is people are trying to live however they can
47:03There's people that moved out here because
47:05They had to make a choice
47:07Between say healthcare and housing
47:10They couldn't afford both of them
47:13Most of the people that come out here
47:15And create work
47:17Are normal nine to five people
47:19Who don't like being normal nine to five people
47:22A lot of us like to come out
47:25And be weird in the desert
47:30To them, life on the edge of Salton Sea is freedom
47:33However, the environment is hostile
47:36In the summer, temperatures run up to 50 degrees Celsius
47:40And there's a looming environmental disaster
47:43Waiting right outside their front doors
47:45What looks like danger for only a few
47:48Turns out to be a massive health problem
47:51Upon closer inspection
47:56You might say, well, it's the desert
47:58How many people live there?
47:59So there are actually 600,000 people
48:02That live in the two valleys
48:05Surrounding the Salton Sea
48:06The people there are poor
48:08They're Hispanic
48:10They have very little political power
48:12And as the Salton Sea is dried up
48:15These beaches create a huge health hazard
48:17For these people
48:19The water is evaporating
48:21What's left is dust, salt
48:23And fertilizer residues
48:26The wind that blows constantly in this area
48:29Picks up all of this
48:30And spreads it in the atmosphere
48:32Government agencies calculated
48:35The cost of refilling the Salton Sea
48:37At 5 billion US dollars
48:41That's considered cost prohibitive
48:43But the fact that this situation
48:45Will create 50 billion dollars in medical cost
48:48Is swept under the rug
48:50Because the dust is responsible
48:52For an increase in asthma
48:53And other lung disease
48:55It affects me personally as well
48:57Since myself and my family
49:01Developed asthma while living here
49:02I never had problems before
49:04Without a political lobby
49:06It will be hard for people at Salton Sea
49:09To save their lake
49:10And the air they breathe
49:12The dust particles are microscopically small
49:14And toxic not only for the respiratory system
49:18But actually those dust particles are so small
49:20That it also gets into the body
49:22And affects your heart
49:23The health of your brain
49:25Your immune system
49:26Can even create problems
49:28For pregnant women with the fetus
49:30So it's a huge health problem
49:32But for the East Jesus artists
49:34Life here is their own version
49:36Of the American dream
49:37It is a place
49:39Where you can find your own true self
49:41A refuge from materialism
49:46Far away from the financial constraints
49:49That they and America's middle class
49:51Have to struggle with every day
50:03Well originally I got a degree in art
50:05And then shortly after graduating
50:08Found myself with three jobs
50:11And none of them were doing art
50:14I got the third job
50:16Because I needed gas money
50:18Between jobs one and two
50:21And because I do not want to go back
50:24I found myself here
50:27They take care of tourists
50:30And as a byproduct
50:31They create art
50:32To fill the statues park of East Jesus
50:37Hello
50:38Thank you for visiting
50:46This place helps me live the lifestyle
50:48That I've always wanted to live
50:50Which is being my own boss
50:52And a lot of people say
50:54Oh well you're living the dream
50:56And I'm like
50:57I mean you could too
50:58It's simply a decision
51:01To do it a different way
51:02And this is clearly a different way
51:05So I like it
51:08In the end
51:09One thing is true
51:10In America
51:11Everybody has to find their own dream
51:15And there's not a blueprint for that
51:20I don't know if the American dream really did exist
51:22The idea that you could have the freedom
51:26To apply yourself
51:27And be able to buy your own home
51:30If that existed
51:31That's gone
51:33America
51:34The land of unlimited opportunity
51:36America
51:38The bulwark against Bolshevism
51:43That world order is history now
51:45No matter if it's healthcare
51:47Water
51:48Or infrastructure
51:49Today money rules the world
51:55And unless there's a commercial angle to it
51:57Many of the symbols
51:59Of what America once was
52:01Have been left to their decay
52:31That must have been left to them
52:33Obrigado.
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