Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:00,565 --> 00:00:04,465
My favorite quotation is from the Marquis of Condorcet,
2
00:00:05,785 --> 00:00:09,305
18th century, who said that, "Power
3
00:00:10,325 --> 00:00:14,865
and the secret of oppression lies not in the armour
4
00:00:15,045 --> 00:00:17,865
of the oppressor, but in the mind of the oppressed."
5
00:00:20,405 --> 00:00:23,785
So consenting to authority is
6
00:00:23,785 --> 00:00:25,465
what makes authority sustainable.
7
00:00:32,005 --> 00:00:35,785
No regime has the capacity constantly to coerce,
8
00:00:35,895 --> 00:00:38,585
through physical means, a population.
9
00:00:38,975 --> 00:00:43,505
This is, therefore, the role of ideology in
10
00:00:44,035 --> 00:00:48,905
convincing the many that a system that is designed
11
00:00:48,925 --> 00:00:50,465
to exploit them, to oppress them,
12
00:00:51,005 --> 00:00:54,265
and to serve the few, is the natural order of things.
13
00:02:15,755 --> 00:02:19,905
Given the financial damage to date, I cannot see
14
00:02:19,925 --> 00:02:23,025
how we can avoid a significant rise in
15
00:02:23,095 --> 00:02:24,745
layoffs and unemployment.
16
00:02:40,815 --> 00:02:45,145
Over and over again, ideology trumped governance.
17
00:02:45,725 --> 00:02:49,905
Our regulators became enablers rather than enforcers.
18
00:02:50,555 --> 00:02:53,905
Their trust in the wisdom of the markets was infinite.
19
00:02:54,645 --> 00:02:58,425
The mantra became, "government regulation is wrong,
20
00:02:59,225 --> 00:03:00,885
the market is infallible."
21
00:03:01,465 --> 00:03:05,045
You found a flaw in the reality . . .
22
00:03:05,045 --> 00:03:06,125
The flaw in the model
23
00:03:06,195 --> 00:03:09,605
that I perceived is the critical functioning structure
24
00:03:09,675 --> 00:03:12,725
that defines how the world works, so to speak.
25
00:03:12,725 --> 00:03:16,205
In other words, you found that your view of the world,
26
00:03:16,205 --> 00:03:19,205
your ideology, was not right. It was not working.
27
00:03:19,345 --> 00:03:22,485
Precisely. No, that's precisely the reason
28
00:03:23,085 --> 00:03:25,845
I was shocked because I had been going for 40 years
29
00:03:26,025 --> 00:03:28,725
or more with very considerable evidence
30
00:03:28,725 --> 00:03:30,565
that it was working exceptionally well.
31
00:03:31,245 --> 00:03:34,805
I don't blame my fellow economists for pulling the trigger
32
00:03:35,395 --> 00:03:38,605
that created so much devastation in 2008,
33
00:03:38,605 --> 00:03:39,765
and before that and after that.
34
00:03:40,305 --> 00:03:43,165
But I blame them for providing the economic,
35
00:03:43,225 --> 00:03:46,845
the mathematical models, the sermons, a theoretical
36
00:03:47,185 --> 00:03:49,925
and ideological cover, which steadied the hand
37
00:03:50,145 --> 00:03:51,845
of the financiers,
38
00:03:51,845 --> 00:03:54,165
and allowed them to believe that
39
00:03:54,165 --> 00:03:57,045
what they were doing was perfectly okay, consistent
40
00:03:57,115 --> 00:04:00,965
with science, provable mathematically that it was
41
00:04:01,045 --> 00:04:02,405
riskless and therefore
42
00:04:02,405 --> 00:04:06,045
allowed them the mental
43
00:04:06,505 --> 00:04:09,005
and emotional strength
44
00:04:09,065 --> 00:04:11,605
to do a lot more damage than they would've done otherwise.
45
00:04:12,175 --> 00:04:14,965
Economists had been claiming
46
00:04:15,235 --> 00:04:20,125
with extreme arrogance that they
47
00:04:20,555 --> 00:04:23,005
completely understood how to control
48
00:04:23,065 --> 00:04:24,605
and manage an economy.
49
00:04:25,135 --> 00:04:27,485
There were fundamental principles like the
50
00:04:28,005 --> 00:04:32,285
efficient market hypothesis, rational expectations,
51
00:04:32,585 --> 00:04:35,765
and anyone who didn't accept this was dismissed
52
00:04:35,765 --> 00:04:38,805
as some strange kind of moron.
53
00:04:39,385 --> 00:04:41,165
The whole system collapsed.
54
00:04:41,825 --> 00:04:44,565
The whole intellectual edifice collapsed
55
00:04:45,225 --> 00:04:46,845
in a most amazing fashion
56
00:04:47,425 --> 00:04:49,045
and had no effect on the profession.
57
00:04:49,625 --> 00:04:52,925
None at all. We have a moral
58
00:04:53,145 --> 00:04:56,965
and political duty to empower ourselves
59
00:04:57,545 --> 00:05:02,125
and our children to speak authoritatively about the economy,
60
00:05:03,465 --> 00:05:07,125
to become acquainted with the ways of capitalism.
61
00:05:07,125 --> 00:05:09,325
This is the system, the economic system we live in.
62
00:05:10,905 --> 00:05:14,245
So as to prevent economists from fooling us about
63
00:05:14,465 --> 00:05:15,485
how capitalism works.
64
00:05:19,185 --> 00:05:22,805
So economics is to modern capitalism
65
00:05:23,235 --> 00:05:26,045
that which theology was to the Middle Ages.
66
00:05:28,245 --> 00:05:32,445
A body of ideology and very complicated logic,
67
00:05:32,715 --> 00:05:35,365
because you have to remember that theology was very logical,
68
00:05:35,555 --> 00:05:38,925
very Aristotelian during the Middle Ages, the purpose
69
00:05:38,985 --> 00:05:43,645
of which is to legitimise the existing power structures
70
00:05:43,905 --> 00:05:45,605
and the existing status quo.
71
00:05:53,905 --> 00:05:58,045
The moment economics entered the universities in the 19th century,
72
00:05:58,045 --> 00:06:00,925
it had to be sanitised.
73
00:06:06,865 --> 00:06:10,645
The inventor of utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham, wanted
74
00:06:10,705 --> 00:06:13,765
to prove that redistribution
75
00:06:13,765 --> 00:06:17,165
of income was an important aspect of any good society.
76
00:06:17,865 --> 00:06:19,365
So he came up
77
00:06:19,365 --> 00:06:22,965
with a scientific sounding concept.
78
00:06:23,625 --> 00:06:25,445
The concept of marginal utility.
79
00:06:26,065 --> 00:06:29,125
So he said, "Okay, suppose you're thirsty.
80
00:06:29,825 --> 00:06:32,525
you drink a glass of water and you feel very happy.
81
00:06:34,185 --> 00:06:35,245
If you're still thirsty
82
00:06:35,245 --> 00:06:37,085
and you drink a second one, you'll be happier.
83
00:06:38,105 --> 00:06:39,405
But the additional utility
84
00:06:39,405 --> 00:06:42,925
that the second glass gives you is much less than the one
85
00:06:42,925 --> 00:06:44,085
that the first glass gave you."
86
00:06:46,525 --> 00:06:50,765
Diminishing marginal utility for him was a law of society.
87
00:06:52,225 --> 00:06:55,445
He said, "Okay, let's agree that the more we have
88
00:06:55,445 --> 00:06:57,965
of something that we like, the less the contribution
89
00:06:57,965 --> 00:06:59,885
to our wellbeing, to our utility."
90
00:07:00,855 --> 00:07:03,765
Which means that if you take a stinking rich person
91
00:07:04,295 --> 00:07:05,405
who's got lots of pounds
92
00:07:06,865 --> 00:07:09,245
and a very, very poor person who's got one pound or none,
93
00:07:10,225 --> 00:07:12,685
and you take one pound from the rich person
94
00:07:13,745 --> 00:07:15,725
and you give it to the poor person,
95
00:07:15,795 --> 00:07:17,805
average utility will rise.
96
00:07:18,065 --> 00:07:22,765
Why? Because the loss of utility to the rich person is tiny
97
00:07:24,125 --> 00:07:26,045
compared to the gain in utility of the poor person.
98
00:07:28,025 --> 00:07:31,365
So, if we agree that the good society is the one
99
00:07:31,365 --> 00:07:34,845
that allows the greatest happiness for the largest number
100
00:07:34,845 --> 00:07:37,245
of people, we need to redistribute income.
101
00:07:40,985 --> 00:07:44,445
Now, of course, that would never allow Bentham,
102
00:07:44,505 --> 00:07:47,685
or somebody like Bentham, to get a chair at the University
103
00:07:47,885 --> 00:07:51,925
of Cambridge, at the University of Durham, at the University
104
00:07:51,925 --> 00:07:55,125
of Glasgow if he was peddling those views,
105
00:07:55,925 --> 00:07:57,325
because back then you had to have a sponsor.
106
00:07:58,005 --> 00:07:59,085
Somebody had to pay for your chair.
107
00:08:00,065 --> 00:08:03,325
As if you would find a rich person to pay
108
00:08:03,325 --> 00:08:05,445
for a mathematical model that was
109
00:08:06,815 --> 00:08:10,005
concluding, at the end of it, after the proof,
110
00:08:10,635 --> 00:08:14,005
that his money had to be taxed and given to the poor.
111
00:08:20,025 --> 00:08:22,725
But at the same time, this mathematical reasoning
112
00:08:23,425 --> 00:08:27,005
was crucial for getting economics into the universities.
113
00:08:27,505 --> 00:08:30,445
So what do they do? They introduce one assumption,
114
00:08:31,275 --> 00:08:33,485
that my utility cannot be compared to yours.
115
00:08:34,395 --> 00:08:36,845
Mine is personal, strictly private, so is yours.
116
00:08:37,825 --> 00:08:39,685
So suddenly we can no longer say
117
00:08:39,745 --> 00:08:40,965
we need to redistribute income.
118
00:08:43,665 --> 00:08:46,765
So, you see how, once it enters the universities,
119
00:08:46,985 --> 00:08:49,685
an axiom is introduced to depoliticise it.
120
00:08:50,505 --> 00:08:53,085
And of course, nothing is more political than a
121
00:08:53,085 --> 00:08:54,645
depoliticised model of society
122
00:08:54,715 --> 00:08:55,725
because it means
123
00:08:55,725 --> 00:08:58,725
that it becomes the greatest defender of the status quo.
124
00:09:04,545 --> 00:09:07,925
I'm not a climate change denier. I love science.
125
00:09:08,285 --> 00:09:12,525
I believe that if we need to build a bridge, we need experts
126
00:09:12,585 --> 00:09:16,485
to build it. It would be stupid to build it democratically.
127
00:09:17,945 --> 00:09:21,085
If we all have a view as to what to do
128
00:09:21,085 --> 00:09:22,845
to build a bridge, the bridge will collapse,
129
00:09:23,465 --> 00:09:26,085
and we are going to be responsible for many, many deaths.
130
00:09:27,465 --> 00:09:30,245
But the economy is not like civil
131
00:09:30,605 --> 00:09:32,485
engineering projects.
132
00:09:33,505 --> 00:09:37,085
The economy is society. It's you and me. It's everything.
133
00:09:37,195 --> 00:09:40,325
Anybody who tells you economics is a science is either fool
134
00:09:40,625 --> 00:09:42,205
or is trying to fool you.
135
00:09:44,145 --> 00:09:45,885
As the United States and Great Britain
136
00:09:45,985 --> 00:09:47,725
and other free nations have prospered,
137
00:09:48,265 --> 00:09:51,285
we have seen an almost Newtonian revolution in the
138
00:09:51,285 --> 00:09:52,405
science of economics.
139
00:09:53,465 --> 00:09:55,365
We are learning that the way to prosperity
140
00:09:56,065 --> 00:09:59,085
is not more bureaucracy and redistribution of wealth,
141
00:09:59,625 --> 00:10:02,965
but less government and more freedom for the entrepreneur
142
00:10:03,345 --> 00:10:05,045
and for the creativity of the individual.
143
00:10:05,385 --> 00:10:09,165
The manner in which loony economics
144
00:10:09,245 --> 00:10:10,405
of the right spread out
145
00:10:10,405 --> 00:10:14,125
and became the dominant paradigm, which was essential
146
00:10:14,225 --> 00:10:16,085
for financialisation to emerge,
147
00:10:16,675 --> 00:10:18,165
that effectively took over the world.
148
00:10:18,945 --> 00:10:21,685
It was fascinating to watch.
149
00:10:21,685 --> 00:10:26,645
You and I are living through a revolution. Over the centuries
150
00:10:26,645 --> 00:10:27,925
of European history,
151
00:10:28,885 --> 00:10:31,765
revolutionary change has sometimes brought freedom
152
00:10:32,185 --> 00:10:33,725
and sometimes servitude,
153
00:10:34,705 --> 00:10:38,085
but what we're witnessing now is a revolution
154
00:10:38,265 --> 00:10:42,245
of conservative values, of free enterprise
155
00:10:42,585 --> 00:10:44,725
and of fervent national pride.
156
00:10:46,345 --> 00:10:50,405
My great regret as a young man
157
00:10:51,665 --> 00:10:53,845
who was engaging in the debates of the left
158
00:10:53,905 --> 00:10:58,445
and also looking in awe at the amazing
159
00:10:59,005 --> 00:11:00,165
capacity of the right
160
00:11:00,305 --> 00:11:03,205
to impose their own dominant paradigm on everybody else,
161
00:11:03,945 --> 00:11:05,765
my great regret was that we
162
00:11:05,765 --> 00:11:08,165
of the left no longer spoke about liberty.
163
00:11:08,665 --> 00:11:11,045
We allowed the enemies of liberty
164
00:11:11,625 --> 00:11:13,285
to appropriate the mantle of freedom.
165
00:11:18,945 --> 00:11:20,085
But, in reality,
166
00:11:23,555 --> 00:11:24,605
capitalist relations
167
00:11:24,605 --> 00:11:27,685
of production are not in sync with liberty.
168
00:11:32,295 --> 00:11:35,885
Theft has always been part of human relations —
169
00:11:37,545 --> 00:11:40,225
bullying, the powerful
170
00:11:40,665 --> 00:11:43,025
imposing their will on the powerless —
171
00:11:44,245 --> 00:11:45,465
but with capitalism,
172
00:11:47,795 --> 00:11:49,705
theft becomes consented to.
173
00:11:50,045 --> 00:11:52,345
And this is a very simple comparison to make.
174
00:11:54,225 --> 00:11:58,845
Before commodification of land, the land belonged nominally
175
00:11:59,025 --> 00:12:03,005
to the landlord, but the peasants worked the land generation
176
00:12:03,005 --> 00:12:04,445
after generation. It was their land.
177
00:12:04,445 --> 00:12:07,445
It was a common land. That it was nominally owned
178
00:12:07,665 --> 00:12:08,805
by the landlord
179
00:12:08,905 --> 00:12:12,565
simply gave the landlord the right to send the sheriff in
180
00:12:12,565 --> 00:12:14,125
and take his cut of the harvest.
181
00:12:16,465 --> 00:12:19,605
And when the sheriff would take 50% of the produce,
182
00:12:19,695 --> 00:12:23,445
let's say, on behalf of the landlord, this was a clear act
183
00:12:23,445 --> 00:12:24,765
of appropriation, of theft.
184
00:12:25,555 --> 00:12:26,605
Everybody saw it.
185
00:12:27,625 --> 00:12:31,125
It could be legitimised on the basis that God had
186
00:12:31,235 --> 00:12:33,285
decided that the Lord would have that right,
187
00:12:33,665 --> 00:12:37,205
but it was still a violent removal of corn,
188
00:12:37,725 --> 00:12:42,645
whatever, you could see it. Contrast this now
189
00:12:43,265 --> 00:12:45,245
to what happened after land was commodified.
190
00:12:45,665 --> 00:12:49,325
You take the peasants, you throw them off the land.
191
00:12:49,395 --> 00:12:51,965
What do they do? They head for the nearest village
192
00:12:52,465 --> 00:12:53,485
and they knock on the door
193
00:12:53,585 --> 00:12:56,485
and they say, "We'll do anything for a loaf of bread."
194
00:12:59,645 --> 00:13:02,805
Suddenly they are the proponents of a trade.
195
00:13:04,125 --> 00:13:06,325
I will give you my labor, you give me a loaf of bread.
196
00:13:07,205 --> 00:13:10,485
A legitimate market transaction. Okay.
197
00:13:10,705 --> 00:13:13,485
And they sign a contract. It is all voluntary.
198
00:13:13,905 --> 00:13:18,125
We will work for, you know, 22 hours a day.
199
00:13:18,785 --> 00:13:21,925
We will drop dead, and we will receive a loaf
200
00:13:21,925 --> 00:13:23,845
of bread at the end of the week, voluntarily.
201
00:13:25,865 --> 00:13:29,005
So everything depends on consent.
202
00:13:31,155 --> 00:13:33,885
That is the liberal legitimisation
203
00:13:34,345 --> 00:13:35,565
of the capitalist process.
204
00:13:40,395 --> 00:13:42,445
What can we say to their argument
205
00:13:43,035 --> 00:13:46,005
that capitalism is based on consent?
206
00:13:49,755 --> 00:13:53,605
What exactly constitutes a voluntary transaction?
207
00:13:58,065 --> 00:14:01,125
If I say, "You have this diamond and I have a gun,
208
00:14:02,225 --> 00:14:04,165
and I'm going to point it to your head
209
00:14:04,545 --> 00:14:08,125
and I'm going to propose the following trade: I'm not going
210
00:14:08,125 --> 00:14:09,645
to pull the trigger and you'll give me the diamond."
211
00:14:09,825 --> 00:14:11,645
Is this a fair transaction, voluntary transaction?
212
00:14:11,785 --> 00:14:13,725
No, it's not, because of the bullet
213
00:14:13,725 --> 00:14:15,805
that would go into your head and so on, the external force.
214
00:14:15,955 --> 00:14:20,165
Okay, but let's take this a little bit further.
215
00:14:20,185 --> 00:14:22,325
You are lost in the desert, in the Sahara,
216
00:14:23,385 --> 00:14:24,925
and you're about to die of thirst.
217
00:14:25,505 --> 00:14:29,125
And I come up to you, you know, I'm a Bedouin. I have a camel
218
00:14:29,425 --> 00:14:32,885
and I have a glass of water, or a bottle of water,
219
00:14:33,265 --> 00:14:34,925
and I come to you and say, "Well, would you like that?"
220
00:14:35,345 --> 00:14:36,925
And you say, "Oh, yes please, I'm dying."
221
00:14:37,545 --> 00:14:39,965
I say, "Okay, well, here's a document, a contract.
222
00:14:40,145 --> 00:14:43,685
You give me everything you own, your house, your car,
223
00:14:43,835 --> 00:14:45,365
your bank account, everything.
224
00:14:45,865 --> 00:14:47,125
And I'll give you that bottle of water."
225
00:14:48,065 --> 00:14:50,885
Now, what's wrong with that? I was entrepreneurial.
226
00:14:51,245 --> 00:14:53,045
I was in the Sahara with water. You were not.
227
00:14:54,385 --> 00:14:56,565
You are consenting to it. I'm not forcing you.
228
00:14:57,185 --> 00:14:58,805
The fact that you will die if you don't take
229
00:14:58,805 --> 00:14:59,965
my water is not my business.
230
00:14:59,965 --> 00:15:00,685
It's your business.
231
00:15:05,265 --> 00:15:08,085
It is clear to, I think, the vast majority
232
00:15:08,085 --> 00:15:10,405
of people out there, that this is no different
233
00:15:10,985 --> 00:15:12,925
to pointing a gun at someone.
234
00:15:13,705 --> 00:15:17,845
So, suddenly, the freedom of a transaction,
235
00:15:18,865 --> 00:15:21,765
the degree to which a transaction is genuinely voluntary,
236
00:15:22,035 --> 00:15:25,805
depends on the alternatives you have when somebody is
237
00:15:25,805 --> 00:15:30,485
presenting a contracts with you, Which means
238
00:15:30,845 --> 00:15:34,805
a fair distribution of property rights, of artifacts,
239
00:15:34,825 --> 00:15:38,845
of food, of shelter, basic goods, is necessary
240
00:15:38,845 --> 00:15:41,485
before you can have consent, before you can have freedom.
241
00:15:59,285 --> 00:16:00,285
Property rights are everything.
242
00:16:00,905 --> 00:16:05,685
Who owns what? That determines who does what to whom.
243
00:16:14,385 --> 00:16:17,885
Now, in capitalism, property rights are by definition
244
00:16:18,825 --> 00:16:20,165
asymmetrically distributed.
245
00:16:20,785 --> 00:16:24,045
The very few own the means of production —
246
00:16:24,705 --> 00:16:27,845
the Googles of the world, the Volkswagens of the world,
247
00:16:28,065 --> 00:16:30,005
the farmland — the very few.
248
00:16:33,185 --> 00:16:35,925
And the very many who are propertyless
249
00:16:36,755 --> 00:16:37,965
only own their own labour,
250
00:16:38,305 --> 00:16:40,245
and they have to sell it in order to survive.
251
00:16:43,385 --> 00:16:45,125
And that creates capitalist dynamics.
252
00:16:48,985 --> 00:16:51,485
In other words, most of property, especially capital,
253
00:16:51,555 --> 00:16:54,725
belongs to the very few who own but do not work.
254
00:16:54,865 --> 00:16:56,885
And everybody else works but does not own.
255
00:16:57,625 --> 00:17:01,965
And money comes to you to the extent that you have
256
00:17:02,825 --> 00:17:07,285
the power to extract value that others have created.
257
00:18:27,085 --> 00:18:29,465
The greatest and most toxic lie at the heart
258
00:18:29,565 --> 00:18:31,745
of the society we live in is
259
00:18:31,745 --> 00:18:35,865
that wealth is produced individually by each one
260
00:18:35,865 --> 00:18:39,225
of us separately, and then somehow the state comes along
261
00:18:39,445 --> 00:18:42,185
and collectivises it through the tax system.
262
00:18:44,125 --> 00:18:48,865
In reality, everything, every single item on this planet
263
00:18:49,805 --> 00:18:53,825
is collectively produced and then privately appropriated.
264
00:18:56,005 --> 00:18:58,305
The steam engine. Okay, it was James Watt
265
00:18:58,895 --> 00:18:59,985
that invented it,
266
00:19:02,205 --> 00:19:06,145
but he was standing on the shoulders of thousands
267
00:19:06,165 --> 00:19:08,825
of thinkers, inventors, physicists,
268
00:19:09,225 --> 00:19:10,745
engineers, to produce that.
269
00:19:13,695 --> 00:19:16,625
When it comes to our smartphones, when it comes to our wifi,
270
00:19:17,135 --> 00:19:20,025
when it comes to satellites, when it comes to all the things
271
00:19:20,025 --> 00:19:24,705
that today Elon Musk is using in order to go to Mars,
272
00:19:24,845 --> 00:19:26,745
create electric cars and so on,
273
00:19:26,995 --> 00:19:30,025
every single one of those technologies was the result
274
00:19:30,205 --> 00:19:31,385
of a state investment.
275
00:19:32,135 --> 00:19:33,945
Some state grant.
276
00:19:40,965 --> 00:19:45,865
So every smartphone consists of little inventions
277
00:19:45,865 --> 00:19:48,505
that were invented by state-run
278
00:19:48,765 --> 00:19:50,945
and state-funded laboratories.
279
00:19:54,085 --> 00:19:56,025
For instance, wifi was produced in Australia
280
00:19:56,405 --> 00:19:59,945
by the CSIRO, a state research organisation.
281
00:20:00,295 --> 00:20:01,385
They gave it away for free
282
00:20:02,405 --> 00:20:03,505
and, in the end,
283
00:20:03,505 --> 00:20:06,905
the Australian state got not one penny for wifi.
284
00:20:07,415 --> 00:20:09,905
Imagine if a company had developed something like wifi!
285
00:20:10,455 --> 00:20:11,465
They would be one
286
00:20:11,465 --> 00:20:13,385
of the biggest corporations in the history of the world.
287
00:20:38,685 --> 00:20:43,335
There is nothing easier for the human mind than
288
00:20:43,395 --> 00:20:47,725
to start developing the conviction that one
289
00:20:48,245 --> 00:20:53,205
deserves all the goodies that one has; to consider
290
00:20:54,765 --> 00:20:55,965
whatever it is that we have accumulated,
291
00:20:56,315 --> 00:20:59,685
whether it's a few records in our record collection
292
00:21:00,145 --> 00:21:03,405
or a few trillion dollars, to consider this to be
293
00:21:05,125 --> 00:21:06,165
deservedly ours.
294
00:21:07,905 --> 00:21:09,325
And it is very easy at the same time,
295
00:21:09,325 --> 00:21:10,525
if you don't have any property,
296
00:21:11,585 --> 00:21:13,045
to begin to hate those who do.
297
00:21:16,115 --> 00:21:18,005
Firstly, we don't deserve what we have.
298
00:21:18,545 --> 00:21:20,725
If you have something — I say to my daughter—
299
00:21:20,725 --> 00:21:22,925
you have an iPhone, you have a laptop, you have this and that,
300
00:21:23,435 --> 00:21:25,325
it's the accident of birth.
301
00:21:26,225 --> 00:21:27,405
If you were born in a different
302
00:21:27,405 --> 00:21:28,445
family, you wouldn't have anything.
303
00:21:29,235 --> 00:21:33,085
It's got nothing to do with your deserving that.
304
00:21:35,905 --> 00:21:40,125
At the same time, hating those
305
00:21:40,125 --> 00:21:42,685
who actually have a lot more than you do
306
00:21:43,025 --> 00:21:44,165
is to miss the point.
307
00:21:45,185 --> 00:21:47,125
And the point is that we live in a society
308
00:21:48,115 --> 00:21:51,285
that is grossly inefficient at distributing
309
00:21:53,075 --> 00:21:54,925
bits of the pie that we collectively produce.
310
00:21:55,745 --> 00:22:00,565
It is grossly inefficient in terms of maintaining a balance
311
00:22:01,035 --> 00:22:02,245
between human beings
312
00:22:02,305 --> 00:22:03,885
and between humanity and the environment.
313
00:22:04,985 --> 00:22:07,325
So effectively we live in a stupid world.
314
00:22:08,185 --> 00:22:09,805
And if we want
315
00:22:09,805 --> 00:22:12,725
to be angry at something, we should not be angry at those
316
00:22:12,725 --> 00:22:14,005
who want to take away what we have
317
00:22:14,665 --> 00:22:16,805
or those who have a lot than more than we have,
318
00:22:16,805 --> 00:22:18,845
we should be angry at the stupidity of the system.
319
00:22:19,465 --> 00:22:21,965
We should be working together to design a better system,
320
00:22:22,405 --> 00:22:27,245
a system which is more in sync with the natural ebb
321
00:22:27,245 --> 00:22:29,205
and flow of the human spirit.
322
00:22:35,445 --> 00:22:38,855
What made you into this searing critic
323
00:22:39,395 --> 00:22:40,615
of the capitalist model?
324
00:22:41,325 --> 00:22:42,455
Well, to begin with, I believe
325
00:22:42,455 --> 00:22:45,415
that we should always be critical of the world we live in.
326
00:22:45,445 --> 00:22:48,055
Whether you live under feudalism or in ancient Athens,
327
00:22:48,055 --> 00:22:50,895
or you know, in China, you should always be critical because
328
00:22:50,895 --> 00:22:53,775
unless you're critical, there is no scope for improvement.
329
00:22:57,155 --> 00:22:59,255
The legitimising story
330
00:22:59,805 --> 00:23:02,375
that I was taught when I was a young man,
331
00:23:02,375 --> 00:23:06,615
before neoliberalism took over, the liberal story is founded
332
00:23:06,675 --> 00:23:10,735
on Adam Smith, the original political economist
333
00:23:11,035 --> 00:23:12,575
who legitimised capitalism.
334
00:23:14,645 --> 00:23:19,335
Adam Smith put forward the argument that
335
00:23:20,505 --> 00:23:22,415
while greed is truly sinful
336
00:23:22,415 --> 00:23:26,455
and horrible, in the context of capitalism
337
00:23:26,595 --> 00:23:27,735
it can be harnessed.
338
00:23:27,805 --> 00:23:31,215
It's like raw energy that can be harnessed
339
00:23:31,875 --> 00:23:34,335
and put in the service of the public.
340
00:23:35,205 --> 00:23:38,095
Because society does not need sermons.
341
00:23:38,435 --> 00:23:41,415
It doesn't need moralising. It doesn't need
342
00:23:41,925 --> 00:23:43,375
more prayers.
343
00:23:43,565 --> 00:23:47,765
What it needs is more food, more shelter, more goods,
344
00:23:48,915 --> 00:23:50,885
that will lift people out
345
00:23:50,885 --> 00:23:52,445
of abject poverty and starvation.
346
00:23:55,465 --> 00:23:58,885
Yes, capitalism is a place full of selfish,
347
00:23:59,505 --> 00:24:04,245
greedy individuals who nevertheless and in spite of themselves,
348
00:24:04,585 --> 00:24:06,605
are producing the good society,
349
00:24:07,025 --> 00:24:10,725
as long as their greed is kept in check through competition
350
00:24:11,865 --> 00:24:14,485
due to the miracle of the market.
351
00:24:15,505 --> 00:24:19,405
The market, like an invisible hand behind their backs,
352
00:24:19,615 --> 00:24:22,485
takes their greed and converts into virtue.
353
00:24:24,425 --> 00:24:28,975
Now, this is the propaganda. What is the reality?
354
00:24:36,035 --> 00:24:38,335
The market system that Adam Smith was
355
00:24:38,395 --> 00:24:39,815
envisioning doesn't exist.
356
00:24:41,315 --> 00:24:44,695
His view was that this only works. Greed becomes good,
357
00:24:45,045 --> 00:24:49,415
only if you've got tiny little family owned enterprises
358
00:24:50,755 --> 00:24:53,615
in complete competition with one another.
359
00:24:54,045 --> 00:24:58,175
None of them has any capacity to change prices
360
00:24:59,125 --> 00:25:02,815
through monopoly, oligopoly, cartel-like behaviour.
361
00:25:03,475 --> 00:25:05,295
He was indeed against the corporation.
362
00:25:05,515 --> 00:25:08,055
He was against public limited companies.
363
00:25:08,675 --> 00:25:11,175
He was against the idea of shareholders.
364
00:25:12,115 --> 00:25:15,455
So, his view of capitalism, has nothing to do with
365
00:25:15,455 --> 00:25:17,535
what we understand as capitalism today.
366
00:25:20,035 --> 00:25:22,375
The notion of competitive capitalism
367
00:25:22,605 --> 00:25:27,015
that Adam Smith was referring to died in
368
00:25:27,015 --> 00:25:28,815
around 1870, 1880.
369
00:25:30,475 --> 00:25:33,855
So the idea of the brewer, the baker, and the butcher goes
370
00:25:34,115 --> 00:25:37,575
and is replaced by Edison, by General Electric,
371
00:25:37,675 --> 00:25:41,175
by Ford . . . today, by Google, Facebook, and Amazon and so on.
372
00:25:41,235 --> 00:25:44,415
That is not competitive capitalism.
373
00:25:45,005 --> 00:25:48,215
It's a market of monopolists.
374
00:25:49,045 --> 00:25:53,015
What we now have is a gigantic concentration
375
00:25:53,395 --> 00:25:56,295
of market power in very, very few corporations
376
00:25:56,395 --> 00:25:58,895
and very few shadowy financial firms
377
00:25:58,925 --> 00:26:00,175
that control the corporations.
378
00:26:29,415 --> 00:26:32,555
Is there a conflict between democracy and capitalism?
379
00:26:37,015 --> 00:26:40,155
The one thing I learned during my political life,
380
00:26:40,155 --> 00:26:42,555
which is fairly recent, since 2015,
381
00:26:43,385 --> 00:26:45,485
is when a bill comes to parliament,
382
00:26:47,795 --> 00:26:51,645
somewhere in it you will find, if you follow the money,
383
00:26:52,435 --> 00:26:56,085
some vested interest that has created circumstances
384
00:26:56,745 --> 00:26:59,685
for the corrupt enrichment of some oligarch.
385
00:27:00,705 --> 00:27:05,085
If you follow the money, you will find the essence
386
00:27:05,345 --> 00:27:08,045
of corrupt power of oligarchy
387
00:27:09,005 --> 00:27:12,005
embedded in the DNA of what passes
388
00:27:12,345 --> 00:27:14,445
as really existing capitalism.
389
00:27:25,425 --> 00:27:29,925
So if you're Goldman Sachs, effectively you have
390
00:27:30,085 --> 00:27:32,685
a society-given right to print your own money.
391
00:27:33,355 --> 00:27:35,965
When you have that capacity, it's so easy
392
00:27:35,985 --> 00:27:37,365
to buy political power.
393
00:27:38,065 --> 00:27:41,485
To buy political influence. All you need
394
00:27:41,485 --> 00:27:45,845
to do is just fund the various political parties, the media,
395
00:27:46,345 --> 00:27:49,605
the think thanks campaigning for the policies that ensure
396
00:27:49,605 --> 00:27:51,085
that your ATM in your living room
397
00:27:51,085 --> 00:27:52,605
will continue to produce money.
398
00:28:01,465 --> 00:28:03,645
We have captains of industry
399
00:28:03,785 --> 00:28:06,885
and masters of finance that accumulate war chests
400
00:28:07,275 --> 00:28:09,925
with which, effectively, to buy politics.
401
00:28:13,385 --> 00:28:17,035
Democracy and capitalism are natural enemies.
402
00:28:19,285 --> 00:28:23,915
Think about it. In democracy, you have one vote
403
00:28:24,995 --> 00:28:26,555
independently of your means.
404
00:28:29,695 --> 00:28:31,725
Capitalism is all about power
405
00:28:32,315 --> 00:28:35,165
that is proportional to money.
406
00:28:36,155 --> 00:28:39,845
Whether you're in the shops, on Amazon, in the internet,
407
00:28:40,185 --> 00:28:43,205
or in a shareholders meeting, the more money you have,
408
00:28:43,985 --> 00:28:45,365
the more decision-making power
409
00:28:45,365 --> 00:28:46,445
you have, the more votes you have.
410
00:28:47,105 --> 00:28:51,485
So exploitative power, extractive power, the power
411
00:28:51,585 --> 00:28:54,805
to make other people do things against their will on your
412
00:28:54,805 --> 00:28:59,005
behalf is what in capitalism gives you more votes.
413
00:29:00,195 --> 00:29:04,045
Democracy should be and can only be conceived as
414
00:29:04,865 --> 00:29:09,285
a process, a political project of ending the capacity
415
00:29:09,425 --> 00:29:12,005
of the haves to make the have-nots do
416
00:29:12,005 --> 00:29:13,165
things on their behalf.
417
00:29:29,585 --> 00:29:30,355
Once upon a time,
418
00:29:32,405 --> 00:29:34,795
power was one
419
00:29:35,495 --> 00:29:37,515
sphere, one realm.
420
00:29:38,735 --> 00:29:42,885
The lord of the land, the baron, the king
421
00:29:44,265 --> 00:29:49,205
in medieval Europe, let's say, had all the power. Capitalism
422
00:29:49,805 --> 00:29:52,845
ruptured this unitary realm of power,
423
00:29:53,335 --> 00:29:55,645
split it into two different realms,
424
00:29:56,105 --> 00:29:57,445
the political and economic.
425
00:30:01,665 --> 00:30:05,205
And as it did, the political sphere was
426
00:30:05,205 --> 00:30:06,605
increasingly democratised.
427
00:30:06,945 --> 00:30:09,325
Why? Because all the important decisions were
428
00:30:09,325 --> 00:30:10,445
moving to the economic sphere.
429
00:30:11,795 --> 00:30:16,205
This democratisation was only accepted by the proponents
430
00:30:16,205 --> 00:30:18,645
of liberalism to the extent that all the
431
00:30:19,195 --> 00:30:23,365
important decisions were migrating from the political sphere
432
00:30:23,665 --> 00:30:25,925
as the political sphere was democratised.
433
00:30:28,385 --> 00:30:31,325
Let me remind you that in the 19th century, liberalism
434
00:30:32,065 --> 00:30:34,125
was against the idea of democracy.
435
00:30:34,635 --> 00:30:37,925
John Stewart Mill, the archetypal liberal,
436
00:30:38,425 --> 00:30:39,525
was an anti-democrat.
437
00:30:44,275 --> 00:30:46,885
More recently, we had another split.
438
00:30:47,065 --> 00:30:51,165
The economic sphere was dissected between
439
00:30:52,295 --> 00:30:54,925
industrial power and financial power.
440
00:30:55,585 --> 00:30:57,845
So the banker acquired power
441
00:30:58,465 --> 00:31:00,285
and not the Henry Fords of the world.
442
00:31:01,425 --> 00:31:03,205
So this is what has been happening.
443
00:31:04,625 --> 00:31:07,845
We are now in a world where the financial realm
444
00:31:08,445 --> 00:31:09,445
controls our lives.
445
00:31:10,335 --> 00:31:12,885
Industrial power is second.
446
00:31:13,825 --> 00:31:16,725
And the political sphere has lost all power.
447
00:31:16,995 --> 00:31:18,325
Democracy is confined
448
00:31:18,325 --> 00:31:20,765
to the least powerful sphere, the political sphere.
449
00:31:20,835 --> 00:31:25,405
This is why this fragile flower is being crushed.
450
00:31:26,635 --> 00:31:29,285
When I was six, the secret police broke down our front
451
00:31:29,285 --> 00:31:30,405
door and abducted my father.
452
00:31:31,465 --> 00:31:33,445
I'm not a great friend of the state,
453
00:31:34,785 --> 00:31:38,565
but I am equally not a great friend
454
00:31:38,865 --> 00:31:43,445
of any privateer with excessive power over other citizens.
455
00:31:44,505 --> 00:31:48,285
The only guarantee we have, the only weapon we have against
456
00:31:48,805 --> 00:31:51,685
concentrated power, is democracy.
457
00:31:54,225 --> 00:31:56,565
And allow me to finish off by reminding you
458
00:31:56,985 --> 00:31:58,965
of Aristotle's definition of democracy.
459
00:31:59,505 --> 00:32:04,445
It is a system of government in which the poor govern
460
00:32:04,635 --> 00:32:07,725
because, by definition, the poor are in the majority.
461
00:32:11,475 --> 00:32:15,205
What we are experiencing today is an oligarchy
462
00:32:15,395 --> 00:32:18,485
that is pushing us towards an ecological catastrophe.
463
00:32:40,485 --> 00:32:42,805
A capitalist system predicated upon profits,
464
00:32:43,305 --> 00:32:44,405
is driven by profits.
465
00:32:44,545 --> 00:32:46,325
That's a tautology, but it's also the truth
466
00:32:46,375 --> 00:32:47,405
about capitalism.
467
00:32:48,345 --> 00:32:52,085
So economic activity is being channeled into the areas
468
00:32:52,775 --> 00:32:54,085
where there's money to be made.
469
00:32:55,105 --> 00:32:57,205
Now moneymaking
470
00:32:58,065 --> 00:33:00,485
and serving human interests are not
471
00:33:00,485 --> 00:33:02,085
necessarily one and the same thing.
472
00:33:02,535 --> 00:33:05,725
Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster
473
00:33:06,585 --> 00:33:07,925
of global scale.
474
00:33:09,665 --> 00:33:13,925
Our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change.
475
00:33:16,185 --> 00:33:17,645
If we don't take action.
476
00:33:18,425 --> 00:33:20,445
The collapse of our civilisations
477
00:33:21,745 --> 00:33:23,965
and the extinction of much
478
00:33:23,965 --> 00:33:26,845
of the natural world is on the horizon.
479
00:33:29,635 --> 00:33:33,365
This is all wrong. People
480
00:33:33,505 --> 00:33:36,205
are suffering, people are dying.
481
00:33:37,265 --> 00:33:40,045
Entire ecosystems are collapsing.
482
00:33:40,745 --> 00:33:43,805
We are in the beginning of a mass extinction,
483
00:33:44,105 --> 00:33:46,445
and all you can talk about is money
484
00:33:46,865 --> 00:33:49,725
and fairy tales of eternal economic growth.
485
00:33:50,625 --> 00:33:51,625
How dare you?
486
00:34:00,805 --> 00:34:03,885
GDP is an atrocious measure of progress.
487
00:34:06,945 --> 00:34:11,845
All you need to know is that a bushfire increases GDP.
488
00:34:14,895 --> 00:34:18,325
There is absolutely no correlation between
489
00:34:19,255 --> 00:34:21,925
prosperity, genuine human
490
00:34:22,755 --> 00:34:25,365
enjoyment, and GDP growth.
491
00:34:28,065 --> 00:34:32,445
But at the same time, GDP is the only metric
492
00:34:33,385 --> 00:34:35,965
of the success of capitalism in capitalist terms.
493
00:34:36,665 --> 00:34:37,805
And the reason is very simple:
494
00:34:38,775 --> 00:34:40,925
capitalism is a process of accumulation.
495
00:34:42,835 --> 00:34:44,965
It's all about growing capital.
496
00:34:46,825 --> 00:34:51,205
But for GDP to grow, for capital to accumulate,
497
00:34:52,385 --> 00:34:55,165
you need an ever expanding realm of the marketplace.
498
00:34:58,305 --> 00:35:02,965
Living creatures, biodiversity, when they have no
499
00:35:03,895 --> 00:35:06,925
protection from the steady encroachment
500
00:35:07,065 --> 00:35:09,645
of the market, they get wasted.
501
00:35:09,955 --> 00:35:13,865
They get used up, they're chewed up and spat out.
502
00:35:16,835 --> 00:35:21,695
And it is this which brings together the natural tendency
503
00:35:21,695 --> 00:35:23,415
of capital to accumulate under capitalism
504
00:35:23,965 --> 00:35:27,135
with the physical depletion of the planet.
505
00:35:30,715 --> 00:35:33,975
We need to make one evolutionary step beyond capitalism.
506
00:35:34,475 --> 00:35:36,495
We need to democratise economic life,
507
00:35:38,085 --> 00:35:40,005
democratize the way corporations are, run,
508
00:35:40,725 --> 00:35:43,885
democratise finance, in order to save democracy, in order
509
00:35:43,905 --> 00:35:47,085
to save liberalism, in order to save hope for the world.
510
00:35:47,135 --> 00:35:47,565
Thank you.
511
00:35:51,775 --> 00:35:55,085
Capitalism is consistent neither with democracy,
512
00:35:56,185 --> 00:36:00,205
nor with the survival of the human species upon this plant.
513
00:36:00,425 --> 00:36:03,925
To put it bluntly, either we move
514
00:36:03,925 --> 00:36:06,085
beyond capitalism or we die.
515
00:36:50,945 --> 00:36:55,125
The market will always create profits for the corporations
516
00:36:55,625 --> 00:36:57,845
by depleting the natural resources
517
00:36:57,905 --> 00:37:00,085
to which the market will always assign a zero price.
518
00:37:09,025 --> 00:37:13,405
So the question is, how can you ameliorate for this drive?
519
00:37:22,825 --> 00:37:23,645
Can the state do it?
520
00:37:29,185 --> 00:37:30,325
No, the state cannot do it.
521
00:37:40,425 --> 00:37:42,685
Our states, our democracies, have completely been usurped
522
00:37:42,905 --> 00:37:44,045
by the concentration of money.
523
00:37:52,235 --> 00:37:55,125
Effectively, our politics has been purchased by those
524
00:37:55,185 --> 00:37:58,405
who have an interest in depleting the natural resources
525
00:37:58,405 --> 00:37:58,725
of the planet.
40287
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.