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My favorite quotation is
from the Marquis of Condorcet,
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18th century, who said that, "Power
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and the secret of oppression
lies not in the armour
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of the oppressor, but in
the mind of the oppressed."
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So consenting to authority is
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what makes authority sustainable.
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No regime has the
capacity constantly to coerce,
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through physical means, a population.
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This is, therefore, the role of ideology in
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convincing the many that
a system that is designed
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to exploit them, to oppress them,
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and to serve the few, is
the natural order of things.
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Given the financial
damage to date, I cannot see
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how we can avoid a significant rise in
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layoffs and unemployment.
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Over and over again,
ideology trumped governance.
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Our regulators became
enablers rather than enforcers.
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Their trust in the wisdom
of the markets was infinite.
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The mantra became,
"government regulation is wrong,
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the market is infallible."
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You found a flaw in the reality...
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The flaw in the model
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that I perceived is the
critical functioning structure
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that defines how the
world works, so to speak.
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In other words, you found
that your view of the world,
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your ideology, was not
right. It was not working.
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Precisely. No, that's precisely the reason
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I was shocked because I
had been going for 40 years
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or more with very considerable evidence
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that it was working exceptionally well.
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I don't blame my fellow
economists for pulling the trigger
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that created so much devastation in 2008,
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and before that and after that.
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But I blame them for
providing the economic,
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the mathematical models,
the sermons, a theoretical
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and ideological cover,
which steadied the hand
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of the financiers,
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and allowed them to believe that
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what they were doing was
perfectly okay, consistent
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with science, provable
mathematically that it was
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riskless and therefore
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allowed them the mental
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and emotional strength
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to do a lot more damage than
they would've done otherwise.
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Economists had been claiming
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with extreme arrogance that they
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completely understood how to control
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and manage an economy.
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There were fundamental principles like the
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efficient market hypothesis,
rational expectations,
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and anyone who didn't
accept this was dismissed
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as some strange kind of moron.
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The whole system collapsed.
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The whole intellectual edifice collapsed
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in a most amazing fashion
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and had no effect on the profession.
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None at all. We have a moral
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and political duty to empower ourselves
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and our children to speak
authoritatively about the economy,
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to become acquainted
with the ways of capitalism.
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This is the system, the
economic system we live in.
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So as to prevent economists
from fooling us about
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how capitalism works.
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So economics is to modern capitalism
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that which theology was to the Middle Ages.
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A body of ideology and
very complicated logic,
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because you have to remember
that theology was very logical,
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very Aristotelian during
the Middle Ages, the purpose
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of which is to legitimise
the existing power structures
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and the existing status quo.
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The moment economics entered
the universities in the 19th century,
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it had to be sanitised.
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The inventor of utilitarianism,
Jeremy Bentham, wanted
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to prove that redistribution
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of income was an important
aspect of any good society.
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So he came up
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with a scientific sounding concept.
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The concept of marginal utility.
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So he said, "Okay, suppose you're thirsty.
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You drink a glass of water
and you feel very happy.
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If you're still thirsty
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and you drink a second
one, you'll be happier.
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But the additional utility
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that the second glass gives
you is much less than the one
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that the first glass gave you."
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Diminishing marginal utility
for him was a law of society.
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He said, "Okay, let's
agree that the more we have
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of something that we like,
the less the contribution
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to our wellbeing, to our utility."
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Which means that if you
take a stinking rich person
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who's got lots of pounds
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and a very, very poor person
who's got one pound or none,
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and you take one pound from the rich person
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and you give it to the poor person,
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average utility will rise.
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Why? Because the loss of
utility to the rich person is tiny
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compared to the gain in
utility of the poor person.
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So, if we agree that the
good society is the one
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that allows the greatest
happiness for the largest number
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of people, we need to redistribute income.
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Now, of course, that
would never allow Bentham,
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or somebody like Bentham,
to get a chair at the University
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of Cambridge, at the University
of Durham, at the University
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of Glasgow if he was peddling those views,
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because back then you
had to have a sponsor.
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Somebody had to pay for your chair.
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As if you would find a rich person to pay
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for a mathematical model that was
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concluding, at the
end of it, after the proof,
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that his money had to be
taxed and given to the poor.
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But at the same time, this
mathematical reasoning
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was crucial for getting
economics into the universities.
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So what do they do? They
introduce one assumption,
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that my utility cannot
be compared to yours.
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Mine is personal, strictly
private, so is yours.
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So suddenly we can no longer say
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we need to redistribute income.
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So, you see how, once
it enters the universities,
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an axiom is introduced to depoliticise it.
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And of course, nothing
is more political than a
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depoliticised model of society
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because it means
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that it becomes the greatest
defender of the status quo.
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I'm not a climate change
denier. I love science.
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I believe that if we need to
build a bridge, we need experts
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to build it. It would be stupid
to build it democratically.
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If we all have a view as to what to do
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to build a bridge, the
bridge will collapse,
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and we are going to be
responsible for many, many deaths.
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But the economy is not like civil
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engineering projects.
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The economy is society. It's
you and me. It's everything.
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Anybody who tells you
economics is a science is either fool
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or is trying to fool you.
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As the United States and Great Britain
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and other free nations have prospered,
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we have seen an almost
Newtonian revolution in the
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science of economics.
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We are learning that the way to prosperity
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is not more bureaucracy
and redistribution of wealth,
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but less government and more
freedom for the entrepreneur
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and for the creativity of the individual.
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The manner in which loony economics
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of the right spread out
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and became the dominant
paradigm, which was essential
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for financialisation to emerge,
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that effectively took over the world.
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It was fascinating to watch.
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You and I are living through a
revolution. Over the centuries
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of European history,
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revolutionary change has
sometimes brought freedom
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and sometimes servitude,
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but what we're witnessing
now is a revolution
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of conservative values, of free enterprise
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and of fervent national pride.
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My great regret as a young man
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who was engaging in the debates of the left
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and also looking in awe at the amazing
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capacity of the right
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to impose their own dominant
paradigm on everybody else,
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my great regret was that we
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of the left no longer spoke about liberty.
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We allowed the enemies of liberty
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to appropriate the mantle of freedom.
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But, in reality,
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capitalist relations
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of production are not in sync with liberty.
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Theft has always been
part of human relations...
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Bullying, the powerful
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imposing their will on the powerless...
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But with capitalism,
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theft becomes consented to.
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And this is a very simple
comparison to make.
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Before commodification of
land, the land belonged nominally
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to the landlord, but the peasants
worked the land generation
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after generation. It was their land.
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It was a common land.
That it was nominally owned
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by the landlord
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simply gave the landlord
the right to send the sheriff in
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and take his cut of the harvest.
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And when the sheriff would
take 50% of the produce,
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let's say, on behalf of the
landlord, this was a clear act
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of appropriation, of theft.
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Everybody saw it.
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It could be legitimised
on the basis that God had
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decided that the Lord
would have that right,
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but it was still a violent removal of corn,
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whatever, you could
see it. Contrast this now
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to what happened after
land was commodified.
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You take the peasants,
you throw them off the land.
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What do they do? They
head for the nearest village
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and they knock on the door
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and they say, "We'll do
anything for a loaf of bread."
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Suddenly they are the
proponents of a trade.
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I will give you my labor,
you give me a loaf of bread.
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A legitimate market transaction. Okay.
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And they sign a
contract. It is all voluntary.
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We will work for, you know, 22 hours a day.
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We will drop dead,
and we will receive a loaf
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of bread at the end of
the week, voluntarily.
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So everything depends on consent.
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That is the liberal legitimisation
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of the capitalist process.
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What can we say to their argument
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that capitalism is based on consent?
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What exactly constitutes
a voluntary transaction?
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If I say, "You have this
diamond and I have a gun,
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and I'm going to point it to your head
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and I'm going to propose the
following trade: I'm not going
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to pull the trigger and
you'll give me the diamond."
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Is this a fair transaction,
voluntary transaction?
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No, it's not, because of the bullet
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that would go into your head
and so on, the external force.
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Okay, but let's take
this a little bit further.
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You are lost in the desert, in the Sahara,
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and you're about to die of thirst.
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And I come up to you, you know,
I'm a Bedouin. I have a camel
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and I have a glass of
water, or a bottle of water,
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and I come to you and say,
"Well, would you like that?"
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And you say, "Oh, yes please, I'm dying."
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I say, "Okay, well, here's
a document, a contract.
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You give me everything you
own, your house, your car,
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your bank account, everything.
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And I'll give you that bottle of water."
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Now, what's wrong with
that? I was entrepreneurial.
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I was in the Sahara
with water. You were not.
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You are consenting
to it. I'm not forcing you.
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The fact that you will
die if you don't take
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my water is not my business.
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It's your business.
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It is clear to, I think, the vast majority
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of people out there,
that this is no different
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to pointing a gun at someone.
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So, suddenly, the freedom of a transaction,
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the degree to which a
transaction is genuinely voluntary,
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depends on the alternatives
you have when somebody is
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presenting a contracts
with you, Which means
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a fair distribution of
property rights, of artifacts,
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of food, of shelter,
basic goods, is necessary
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before you can have consent,
before you can have freedom.
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Property rights are everything.
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Who owns what? That
determines who does what to whom.
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Now, in capitalism, property
rights are by definition
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asymmetrically distributed.
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The very few own the means of production...
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The Googles of the world,
the Volkswagens of the world,
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the farmland — the very few.
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And the very many who are propertyless
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only own their own labour,
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and they have to sell
it in order to survive.
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And that creates capitalist dynamics.
252
00:16:48,992 --> 00:16:51,479
In other words, most of
property, especially capital,
253
00:16:51,562 --> 00:16:54,732
belongs to the very few
who own but do not work.
254
00:16:54,872 --> 00:16:56,892
And everybody else works but does not own.
255
00:16:57,632 --> 00:17:01,972
And money comes to you
to the extent that you have
256
00:17:02,832 --> 00:17:07,292
the power to extract value
that others have created.
257
00:18:27,092 --> 00:18:29,472
The greatest and most
toxic lie at the heart
258
00:18:29,572 --> 00:18:31,669
of the society we live in is
259
00:18:31,752 --> 00:18:35,789
that wealth is produced
individually by each one
260
00:18:35,872 --> 00:18:39,232
of us separately, and then
somehow the state comes along
261
00:18:39,452 --> 00:18:42,192
and collectivises it
through the tax system.
262
00:18:44,132 --> 00:18:48,872
In reality, everything, every
single item on this planet
263
00:18:49,812 --> 00:18:53,832
is collectively produced and
then privately appropriated.
264
00:18:56,012 --> 00:18:58,312
The steam engine. Okay, it was James Watt
265
00:18:58,902 --> 00:18:59,992
that invented it,
266
00:19:02,212 --> 00:19:06,089
but he was standing on
the shoulders of thousands
267
00:19:06,172 --> 00:19:08,832
of thinkers, inventors, physicists,
268
00:19:09,232 --> 00:19:10,752
engineers, to produce that.
269
00:19:13,702 --> 00:19:16,632
When it comes to our smartphones,
when it comes to our wifi,
270
00:19:17,142 --> 00:19:19,949
when it comes to satellites,
when it comes to all the things
271
00:19:20,032 --> 00:19:24,712
that today Elon Musk is
using in order to go to Mars,
272
00:19:24,852 --> 00:19:26,752
create electric cars and so on,
273
00:19:27,002 --> 00:19:30,032
every single one of those
technologies was the result
274
00:19:30,212 --> 00:19:31,392
of a state investment.
275
00:19:32,142 --> 00:19:33,952
Some state grant.
276
00:19:40,972 --> 00:19:45,789
So every smartphone
consists of little inventions
277
00:19:45,872 --> 00:19:48,512
that were invented by state-run
278
00:19:48,772 --> 00:19:50,952
and state-funded laboratories.
279
00:19:54,092 --> 00:19:56,032
For instance, wifi was
produced in Australia
280
00:19:56,412 --> 00:19:59,952
by the CSIRO, a state
research organisation.
281
00:20:00,302 --> 00:20:01,392
They gave it away for free
282
00:20:02,412 --> 00:20:03,429
and, in the end,
283
00:20:03,512 --> 00:20:06,912
the Australian state got
not one penny for wifi.
284
00:20:07,422 --> 00:20:09,912
Imagine if a company had
developed something like wifi!
285
00:20:10,462 --> 00:20:11,389
They would be one
286
00:20:11,472 --> 00:20:13,712
of the biggest corporations
in the history of the world.
287
00:20:38,692 --> 00:20:43,319
There is nothing easier
for the human mind than
288
00:20:43,402 --> 00:20:47,732
to start developing the conviction that one
289
00:20:48,252 --> 00:20:53,212
deserves all the goodies
that one has; to consider
290
00:20:54,772 --> 00:20:56,239
whatever it is that we have accumulated,
291
00:20:56,322 --> 00:20:59,692
whether it's a few records
in our record collection
292
00:21:00,152 --> 00:21:03,412
or a few trillion dollars,
to consider this to be
293
00:21:05,132 --> 00:21:06,172
deservedly ours.
294
00:21:07,912 --> 00:21:09,249
And it is very easy at the same time,
295
00:21:09,332 --> 00:21:10,572
if you don't have any property,
296
00:21:11,592 --> 00:21:13,052
to begin to hate those who do.
297
00:21:16,122 --> 00:21:18,012
Firstly, we don't deserve what we have.
298
00:21:18,552 --> 00:21:20,649
If you have something
— I say to my daughter...
299
00:21:20,732 --> 00:21:23,212
You have an iPhone, you have
a laptop, you have this and that,
300
00:21:23,442 --> 00:21:25,332
it's the accident of birth.
301
00:21:26,232 --> 00:21:27,329
If you were born in a different
302
00:21:27,412 --> 00:21:28,812
family, you wouldn't have anything.
303
00:21:29,242 --> 00:21:33,092
It's got nothing to do
with your deserving that.
304
00:21:35,912 --> 00:21:40,049
At the same time, hating those
305
00:21:40,132 --> 00:21:42,692
who actually have a lot more than you do
306
00:21:43,032 --> 00:21:44,172
is to miss the point.
307
00:21:45,192 --> 00:21:47,132
And the point is that we live in a society
308
00:21:48,122 --> 00:21:51,292
that is grossly inefficient at distributing
309
00:21:53,082 --> 00:21:54,932
bits of the pie that we
collectively produce.
310
00:21:55,752 --> 00:22:00,572
It is grossly inefficient in
terms of maintaining a balance
311
00:22:01,042 --> 00:22:02,229
between human beings
312
00:22:02,312 --> 00:22:03,952
and between humanity and the environment.
313
00:22:04,992 --> 00:22:07,332
So effectively we live in a stupid world.
314
00:22:08,192 --> 00:22:09,729
And if we want
315
00:22:09,812 --> 00:22:12,649
to be angry at something, we
should not be angry at those
316
00:22:12,732 --> 00:22:14,092
who want to take away what we have
317
00:22:14,672 --> 00:22:16,729
or those who have a lot
than more than we have,
318
00:22:16,812 --> 00:22:18,852
we should be angry at
the stupidity of the system.
319
00:22:19,472 --> 00:22:21,972
We should be working together
to design a better system,
320
00:22:22,412 --> 00:22:27,169
a system which is more
in sync with the natural ebb
321
00:22:27,252 --> 00:22:29,212
and flow of the human spirit.
322
00:22:35,452 --> 00:22:38,862
What made you into this searing critic
323
00:22:39,402 --> 00:22:40,622
of the capitalist model?
324
00:22:41,332 --> 00:22:42,379
Well, to begin with, I believe
325
00:22:42,462 --> 00:22:45,369
that we should always be
critical of the world we live in.
326
00:22:45,452 --> 00:22:47,979
Whether you live under
feudalism or in ancient Athens,
327
00:22:48,062 --> 00:22:50,819
or you know, in China, you
should always be critical because
328
00:22:50,902 --> 00:22:53,782
unless you're critical, there
is no scope for improvement.
329
00:22:57,162 --> 00:22:59,262
The legitimising story
330
00:22:59,812 --> 00:23:02,299
that I was taught when I was a young man,
331
00:23:02,382 --> 00:23:06,599
before neoliberalism took
over, the liberal story is founded
332
00:23:06,682 --> 00:23:10,742
on Adam Smith, the
original political economist
333
00:23:11,042 --> 00:23:12,582
who legitimised capitalism.
334
00:23:14,652 --> 00:23:19,342
Adam Smith put forward the argument that
335
00:23:20,512 --> 00:23:22,339
while greed is truly sinful
336
00:23:22,422 --> 00:23:26,462
and horrible, in the context of capitalism
337
00:23:26,602 --> 00:23:27,729
it can be harnessed.
338
00:23:27,812 --> 00:23:31,222
It's like raw energy that can be harnessed
339
00:23:31,882 --> 00:23:34,342
and put in the service of the public.
340
00:23:35,212 --> 00:23:38,102
Because society does not need sermons.
341
00:23:38,442 --> 00:23:41,422
It doesn't need moralising. It doesn't need
342
00:23:41,932 --> 00:23:43,382
more prayers.
343
00:23:43,572 --> 00:23:47,772
What it needs is more food,
more shelter, more goods,
344
00:23:48,922 --> 00:23:50,809
that will lift people out
345
00:23:50,892 --> 00:23:52,452
of abject poverty and starvation.
346
00:23:55,472 --> 00:23:58,892
Yes, capitalism is a place full of selfish,
347
00:23:59,512 --> 00:24:04,252
greedy individuals who nevertheless
and in spite of themselves,
348
00:24:04,592 --> 00:24:06,612
are producing the good society,
349
00:24:07,032 --> 00:24:10,732
as long as their greed is kept
in check through competition
350
00:24:11,872 --> 00:24:14,492
due to the miracle of the market.
351
00:24:15,512 --> 00:24:19,412
The market, like an invisible
hand behind their backs,
352
00:24:19,622 --> 00:24:22,492
takes their greed and converts into virtue.
353
00:24:24,432 --> 00:24:28,982
Now, this is the propaganda.
What is the reality?
354
00:24:36,042 --> 00:24:38,319
The market system that Adam Smith was
355
00:24:38,402 --> 00:24:39,822
envisioning doesn't exist.
356
00:24:41,322 --> 00:24:44,702
His view was that this only
works. Greed becomes good,
357
00:24:45,052 --> 00:24:49,422
only if you've got tiny little
family owned enterprises
358
00:24:50,762 --> 00:24:53,622
in complete competition with one another.
359
00:24:54,052 --> 00:24:58,182
None of them has any
capacity to change prices
360
00:24:59,132 --> 00:25:02,822
through monopoly,
oligopoly, cartel-like behaviour.
361
00:25:03,482 --> 00:25:05,302
He was indeed against the corporation.
362
00:25:05,522 --> 00:25:08,062
He was against public limited companies.
363
00:25:08,682 --> 00:25:11,182
He was against the idea of shareholders.
364
00:25:12,122 --> 00:25:15,379
So, his view of capitalism,
has nothing to do with
365
00:25:15,462 --> 00:25:17,542
what we understand as capitalism today.
366
00:25:20,042 --> 00:25:22,382
The notion of competitive capitalism
367
00:25:22,612 --> 00:25:26,939
that Adam Smith was referring to died in
368
00:25:27,022 --> 00:25:28,822
around 1870, 1880.
369
00:25:30,482 --> 00:25:33,862
So the idea of the brewer,
the baker, and the butcher goes
370
00:25:34,122 --> 00:25:37,582
and is replaced by
Edison, by General Electric,
371
00:25:37,682 --> 00:25:41,159
by Ford... today, by Google,
Facebook, and Amazon and so on.
372
00:25:41,242 --> 00:25:44,422
That is not competitive capitalism.
373
00:25:45,012 --> 00:25:48,222
It's a market of monopolists.
374
00:25:49,052 --> 00:25:53,022
What we now have is
a gigantic concentration
375
00:25:53,402 --> 00:25:56,302
of market power in very,
very few corporations
376
00:25:56,402 --> 00:25:58,849
and very few shadowy financial firms
377
00:25:58,932 --> 00:26:00,182
that control the corporations.
378
00:26:29,422 --> 00:26:32,562
Is there a conflict between
democracy and capitalism?
379
00:26:37,022 --> 00:26:40,079
The one thing I learned
during my political life,
380
00:26:40,162 --> 00:26:42,562
which is fairly recent, since 2015,
381
00:26:43,392 --> 00:26:45,492
is when a bill comes to parliament,
382
00:26:47,802 --> 00:26:51,652
somewhere in it you will
find, if you follow the money,
383
00:26:52,442 --> 00:26:56,092
some vested interest that
has created circumstances
384
00:26:56,752 --> 00:26:59,692
for the corrupt enrichment
of some oligarch.
385
00:27:00,712 --> 00:27:05,092
If you follow the money,
you will find the essence
386
00:27:05,352 --> 00:27:08,052
of corrupt power of oligarchy
387
00:27:09,012 --> 00:27:12,012
embedded in the DNA of what passes
388
00:27:12,352 --> 00:27:14,452
as really existing capitalism.
389
00:27:25,432 --> 00:27:29,932
So if you're Goldman
Sachs, effectively you have
390
00:27:30,092 --> 00:27:32,692
a society-given right
to print your own money.
391
00:27:33,362 --> 00:27:35,909
When you have that capacity, it's so easy
392
00:27:35,992 --> 00:27:37,372
to buy political power.
393
00:27:38,072 --> 00:27:41,409
To buy political influence. All you need
394
00:27:41,492 --> 00:27:45,852
to do is just fund the various
political parties, the media,
395
00:27:46,352 --> 00:27:49,529
the think thanks campaigning
for the policies that ensure
396
00:27:49,612 --> 00:27:51,009
that your ATM in your living room
397
00:27:51,092 --> 00:27:52,612
will continue to produce money.
398
00:28:01,472 --> 00:28:03,652
We have captains of industry
399
00:28:03,792 --> 00:28:06,892
and masters of finance
that accumulate war chests
400
00:28:07,282 --> 00:28:09,932
with which, effectively, to buy politics.
401
00:28:13,392 --> 00:28:17,042
Democracy and capitalism
are natural enemies.
402
00:28:19,292 --> 00:28:23,922
Think about it. In
democracy, you have one vote
403
00:28:25,002 --> 00:28:26,562
independently of your means.
404
00:28:29,702 --> 00:28:31,732
Capitalism is all about power
405
00:28:32,322 --> 00:28:35,172
that is proportional to money.
406
00:28:36,162 --> 00:28:39,852
Whether you're in the shops,
on Amazon, in the internet,
407
00:28:40,192 --> 00:28:43,212
or in a shareholders meeting,
the more money you have,
408
00:28:43,992 --> 00:28:45,289
the more decision-making power
409
00:28:45,372 --> 00:28:46,732
you have, the more votes you have.
410
00:28:47,112 --> 00:28:51,492
So exploitative power,
extractive power, the power
411
00:28:51,592 --> 00:28:54,729
to make other people do
things against their will on your
412
00:28:54,812 --> 00:28:59,012
behalf is what in capitalism
gives you more votes.
413
00:29:00,202 --> 00:29:04,052
Democracy should be and
can only be conceived as
414
00:29:04,872 --> 00:29:09,292
a process, a political
project of ending the capacity
415
00:29:09,432 --> 00:29:11,929
of the haves to make the have-nots do
416
00:29:12,012 --> 00:29:13,172
things on their behalf.
417
00:29:29,592 --> 00:29:30,592
Once upon a time,
418
00:29:32,412 --> 00:29:34,802
power was one
419
00:29:35,502 --> 00:29:37,522
sphere, one realm.
420
00:29:38,742 --> 00:29:42,892
The lord of the land, the baron, the king
421
00:29:44,272 --> 00:29:49,212
in medieval Europe, let's say,
had all the power. Capitalism
422
00:29:49,812 --> 00:29:52,852
ruptured this unitary realm of power,
423
00:29:53,342 --> 00:29:55,652
split it into two different realms,
424
00:29:56,112 --> 00:29:57,452
the political and economic.
425
00:30:01,672 --> 00:30:05,129
And as it did, the political sphere was
426
00:30:05,212 --> 00:30:06,612
increasingly democratised.
427
00:30:06,952 --> 00:30:09,249
Why? Because all the
important decisions were
428
00:30:09,332 --> 00:30:10,532
moving to the economic sphere.
429
00:30:11,802 --> 00:30:16,129
This democratisation was
only accepted by the proponents
430
00:30:16,212 --> 00:30:18,652
of liberalism to the extent that all the
431
00:30:19,202 --> 00:30:23,372
important decisions were
migrating from the political sphere
432
00:30:23,672 --> 00:30:25,932
as the political sphere was democratised.
433
00:30:28,392 --> 00:30:31,332
Let me remind you that in
the 19th century, liberalism
434
00:30:32,072 --> 00:30:34,132
was against the idea of democracy.
435
00:30:34,642 --> 00:30:37,932
John Stewart Mill, the archetypal liberal,
436
00:30:38,432 --> 00:30:39,532
was an anti-democrat.
437
00:30:44,282 --> 00:30:46,892
More recently, we had another split.
438
00:30:47,072 --> 00:30:51,172
The economic sphere was dissected between
439
00:30:52,302 --> 00:30:54,932
industrial power and financial power.
440
00:30:55,592 --> 00:30:57,852
So the banker acquired power
441
00:30:58,472 --> 00:31:00,292
and not the Henry Fords of the world.
442
00:31:01,432 --> 00:31:03,212
So this is what has been happening.
443
00:31:04,632 --> 00:31:07,852
We are now in a world
where the financial realm
444
00:31:08,452 --> 00:31:09,452
controls our lives.
445
00:31:10,342 --> 00:31:12,892
Industrial power is second.
446
00:31:13,832 --> 00:31:16,732
And the political
sphere has lost all power.
447
00:31:17,002 --> 00:31:18,249
Democracy is confined
448
00:31:18,332 --> 00:31:20,759
to the least powerful
sphere, the political sphere.
449
00:31:20,842 --> 00:31:25,412
This is why this fragile
flower is being crushed.
450
00:31:26,642 --> 00:31:29,209
When I was six, the secret
police broke down our front
451
00:31:29,292 --> 00:31:30,412
door and abducted my father.
452
00:31:31,472 --> 00:31:33,452
I'm not a great friend of the state,
453
00:31:34,792 --> 00:31:38,572
but I am equally not a great friend
454
00:31:38,872 --> 00:31:43,452
of any privateer with excessive
power over other citizens.
455
00:31:44,512 --> 00:31:48,292
The only guarantee we have,
the only weapon we have against
456
00:31:48,812 --> 00:31:51,692
concentrated power, is democracy.
457
00:31:54,232 --> 00:31:56,572
And allow me to finish off by reminding you
458
00:31:56,992 --> 00:31:58,972
of Aristotle's definition of democracy.
459
00:31:59,512 --> 00:32:04,452
It is a system of government
in which the poor govern
460
00:32:04,642 --> 00:32:07,732
because, by definition,
the poor are in the majority.
461
00:32:11,482 --> 00:32:15,212
What we are experiencing
today is an oligarchy
462
00:32:15,402 --> 00:32:18,492
that is pushing us towards
an ecological catastrophe.
463
00:32:40,492 --> 00:32:42,812
A capitalist system
predicated upon profits,
464
00:32:43,312 --> 00:32:44,412
is driven by profits.
465
00:32:44,552 --> 00:32:46,299
That's a tautology, but it's also the truth
466
00:32:46,382 --> 00:32:47,412
about capitalism.
467
00:32:48,352 --> 00:32:52,092
So economic activity is
being channeled into the areas
468
00:32:52,782 --> 00:32:54,092
where there's money to be made.
469
00:32:55,112 --> 00:32:57,212
Now moneymaking
470
00:32:58,072 --> 00:33:00,409
and serving human interests are not
471
00:33:00,492 --> 00:33:02,092
necessarily one and the same thing.
472
00:33:02,542 --> 00:33:05,732
Right now, we are facing
a man-made disaster
473
00:33:06,592 --> 00:33:07,932
of global scale.
474
00:33:09,672 --> 00:33:13,932
Our greatest threat in thousands
of years: climate change.
475
00:33:16,192 --> 00:33:17,652
If we don't take action.
476
00:33:18,432 --> 00:33:20,452
The collapse of our civilisations
477
00:33:21,752 --> 00:33:23,889
and the extinction of much
478
00:33:23,972 --> 00:33:26,852
of the natural world is on the horizon.
479
00:33:29,642 --> 00:33:33,372
This is all wrong. People
480
00:33:33,512 --> 00:33:36,212
are suffering, people are dying.
481
00:33:37,272 --> 00:33:40,052
Entire ecosystems are collapsing.
482
00:33:40,752 --> 00:33:43,812
We are in the beginning
of a mass extinction,
483
00:33:44,112 --> 00:33:46,452
and all you can talk about is money
484
00:33:46,872 --> 00:33:49,732
and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.
485
00:33:50,632 --> 00:33:51,632
How dare you?
486
00:34:00,812 --> 00:34:03,892
GDP is an atrocious measure of progress.
487
00:34:06,952 --> 00:34:11,852
All you need to know is that
a bushfire increases GDP.
488
00:34:14,902 --> 00:34:18,332
There is absolutely no correlation between
489
00:34:19,262 --> 00:34:21,932
prosperity, genuine human
490
00:34:22,762 --> 00:34:25,372
enjoyment, and GDP growth.
491
00:34:28,072 --> 00:34:32,452
But at the same time,
GDP is the only metric
492
00:34:33,392 --> 00:34:35,972
of the success of
capitalism in capitalist terms.
493
00:34:36,672 --> 00:34:37,872
And the reason is very simple:
494
00:34:38,782 --> 00:34:40,932
capitalism is a process of accumulation.
495
00:34:42,842 --> 00:34:44,972
It's all about growing capital.
496
00:34:46,832 --> 00:34:51,212
But for GDP to grow,
for capital to accumulate,
497
00:34:52,392 --> 00:34:55,172
you need an ever expanding
realm of the marketplace.
498
00:34:58,312 --> 00:35:02,972
Living creatures,
biodiversity, when they have no
499
00:35:03,902 --> 00:35:06,932
protection from the steady encroachment
500
00:35:07,072 --> 00:35:09,652
of the market, they get wasted.
501
00:35:09,962 --> 00:35:13,872
They get used up, they're
chewed up and spat out.
502
00:35:16,842 --> 00:35:21,619
And it is this which brings
together the natural tendency
503
00:35:21,702 --> 00:35:23,422
of capital to accumulate under capitalism
504
00:35:23,972 --> 00:35:27,142
with the physical depletion of the planet.
505
00:35:30,722 --> 00:35:33,982
We need to make one
evolutionary step beyond capitalism.
506
00:35:34,482 --> 00:35:36,502
We need to democratise economic life,
507
00:35:38,092 --> 00:35:40,012
democratize the way corporations are, run,
508
00:35:40,732 --> 00:35:43,829
democratise finance, in order
to save democracy, in order
509
00:35:43,912 --> 00:35:47,059
to save liberalism, in order
to save hope for the world.
510
00:35:47,142 --> 00:35:48,142
Thank you.
511
00:35:51,782 --> 00:35:55,092
Capitalism is consistent
neither with democracy,
512
00:35:56,192 --> 00:36:00,212
nor with the survival of the
human species upon this plant.
513
00:36:00,432 --> 00:36:03,849
To put it bluntly, either we move
514
00:36:03,932 --> 00:36:06,092
beyond capitalism or we die.
515
00:36:50,952 --> 00:36:55,132
The market will always create
profits for the corporations
516
00:36:55,632 --> 00:36:57,829
by depleting the natural resources
517
00:36:57,912 --> 00:37:00,092
to which the market will
always assign a zero price.
518
00:37:09,032 --> 00:37:13,412
So the question is, how can
you ameliorate for this drive?
519
00:37:22,832 --> 00:37:23,832
Can the state do it?
520
00:37:29,192 --> 00:37:30,332
No, the state cannot do it.
521
00:37:40,432 --> 00:37:42,713
Our states, our democracies,
have completely been usurped
522
00:37:42,912 --> 00:37:44,112
by the concentration of money.
523
00:37:52,242 --> 00:37:55,109
Effectively, our politics has
been purchased by those
524
00:37:55,192 --> 00:37:58,329
who have an interest in
depleting the natural resources
525
00:37:58,412 --> 00:37:59,412
of the planet.
40518
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