All language subtitles for Accidental Anarchist English

♪♪

Reporter: We are starting
this morning

with live pictures now
from the United Nations,

where we are awaiting the start
of the General Assembly.

Woman: We're done. It is a jam-packed morning.

♪♪

President Obama will be one
of the first speakers,

but the list is long.

Obama: You see
greater polarization,

more frequent gridlock.

Most ominously,
we see the fears

of ordinary people
being exploited.

Newscaster: We'll also
be bringing in our guest

who has been joining us
this morning, Carne Ross.

He's a former
British diplomat.

So, I guess I want to ask
just your overall impressions.

Producer: Stand by.
Stand by.

The sort of esthetic
of the whole thing

is rather revealing
of what's wrong with diplomacy.

Who's really affected here?
Where the Syrian people?

Where the Palestinian people?
Where are the Libyan people?

Okay.

We're actually gonna get in one
other quick break.

Producer: And music up.

[Men screaming]

♪♪

We face completely
different circumstances

in the 21st century

from the 20th century.

[Men shouting]

The rise of these
global problems

like climate change,

economic instability.

[Indistinct chanting]

There's a really deep
crisis mounting,

I think, of people feeling
we're not in control of things.

These things are
running out of control.

It's almost like a despair.

[Indistinct shouting]

♪♪

[Beeping, static]

♪♪

[Typewriter clacking]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Crowd cheering]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

This is where I had
the security vetting for --

to join the Foreign Office,

where I was interrogated
and cross-examined

on the details
of my personal life,

my sexual history,

my political leanings,

my proclivities
for drinking and gambling,

the origin of
my Eastern European relations,

all was discussed
in great detail.

I threw myself
at the Foreign Office.

They could have whatever part
of me they wanted, gladly.

You give us
your personal secrets,

and you belong to us,

and you become one of us.

♪♪

I started to think of the world

through the prism of we
rather than I.

What would Britain want
in the circumstance

rather than what I thought
was right.

[Cheers and applause]

♪♪

♪♪

[Cheers and applause continue]

♪♪

[Chanting in German]

[Cheers and applause]

♪♪

My first job was up
on that top floor up there

in Western European department.

Down there, that office
there in the corner,

that used to be my office
when I was a speech writer

for the foreign secretary,

whose office is,
in fact, up there.

Another one of my departments
was up here.

I was head of the Middle East
Peace Process section,

as it was then known,
in better days.

And up there is what's called
the resident clock room.

I was on one night

when the British ambassador
in Moscow rang in tears.

Actually, he was crying,

saying that, I think, six
of the diplomats at the embassy

were being expelled
by the Russians

for activities outside
of their diplomatic status,

in other words, espionage.

And he was terribly upset
about it,

and he reported that

to the resident clerk who
happened to be me that night.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

This is where we pass

resolutions on Iraq,

on weapons inspections

and sanctions on Iraq,
as a whole,

and above all,
on the Iraqi people.

And, you know,
I would be sitting

behind my ambassador
in one of those chairs

where, you know,
all the ambassadors

would raise their hands
to get this resolution through.

You know, you can see
what this feels like.

It's a very rarefied place.

The reality of Iraqi people
is definitely not here.

♪♪

What sanctions did

to the Iraqi people
was horrific.

We knew they were suffering,

and yet, it wasn't
real suffering to us.

It was just people suffering.

We'd be in talks in Washington
where people would say,

"Well, you know,
I hear those reports, too,

but I'm sorry --

containment's
the priority here."

It was like literally ordering

our needs of security

over the needs
of ordinary people,

and there was
considerable suffering.

♪♪

I was a ferocious negotiator.

I took pride in being ferocious,

I took pride in how quickly

I could articulate our arguments

and put down
any counter argument.

You know, that was my job,

and I was extremely effective
at it,

and I had a reputation for it.

And, you know, personally,
on a professional level,

that was something that was
a cause of pride for me.

And now I look back on that,
and I think,

"How on earth did I feel proud
of that?"

I do -- I feel --

Much more today, I feel shame.

♪♪

When I met Iraqis
who lived through that,

I can hardly look them
in the eye.

I feel so ashamed.

One Iraqi I met after
all of this said,

"So, you were part of
the genocide of my people."

That's not an easy thing
to hear.

It's pretty --
I was pretty upset by that.

And there's some truth in it.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Horns honk in distance]

My apartment looked downtown,

so I had an extraordinary view
of downtown Manhattan.

I could see the Hudson
on one side

and the East River on the other.

It was an amazing view.

And my apartment
looks directly down

towards the World Trade Center.

The two towers were
in the middle of my view.

♪♪

♪♪

For weeks afterwards,

the smoke continued.

And there was ash

on my windowsill
for weeks afterwards,

and I'd wake up every morning

and see this column of smoke.

Uh...

Yep.

♪♪

♪♪

All the families were kept

queuing on the street outside
in the pouring rain

because they weren't let in
until security were happy

and, you know, the VIP's places
had been reserved.

A number of Tony's people,

the team who came
with the prime minister

are vicious little people.

They behaved abominably.

They were incredibly bossy

and nasty to the local staff

who were also very,
very traumatized.

After the terrible...

events of last week,

there is shock and disbelief

and there is anger, but...

'round the whole of the world.

♪♪

Ross: The day after the attacks,

we negotiated a resolution
in the Security Council

to condemn the attacks.

Never has a resolution
of the Security Council

been passed so quickly.

I was actually sitting
in the British seat,

so I negotiated this resolution,

and there was an enormous
upwelling of sympathy

for the people who'd suffered.

And you just felt

the drums of war beating.

You just felt this momentum,

this train had started,

and there was no way anybody
was going to stop it.

Good afternoon.

On my orders,
the United States military

has begun strikes

against Al-Qaeda
terrorist training camps

and military installations
of the Taliban regime

in Afghanistan.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

This guy was called Khalili.

He's a leader of the Hazara
in Afghanistan.

Me with my little notebook.

"Well, Mr. Khalili,
I'm here to relay to you

what the British government
feels about Afghanistan.

Grateful if you could tell me
what you think."

That's -- I think that's me.

Yeah, it is me.

It's the perfect romantic image
of the diplomat, isn't it?

Sitting
with the Afghan tribesmen,

discussing the political future.

They're like, "Don't claim to me

you're gonna be here
in perpetuity,

helping us build democracy.

We know exactly
what that means."

You know, the naivete with which
we went in there, you know,

the proclamations we made,
I made myself,

that Britain was going
to stick with Afghanistan

until we built democracy
and all of that.

And...

what is it, 13 years later?

Heavy fighting still going on.

From...this --

that was literally glue tacked

next to my pillow,

such did I love this picture

when I was a schoolboy.

It's a romantic image
of the Mujahideen

in Afghanistan, 1981,

and the Soviet invasion --

to this, the British invasion,

2002,

in Afghanistan.

So it was childhood dream
fulfillment, wasn't it?

That's what it is.

Now shattered.

[Chuckles softly]

♪♪

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♪♪

Powell: Saddam Hussein's
intentions have never changed.

He is not developing
the missiles for self-defense.

These are missiles
that Iraq wants

in order to project power,
to threaten,

and to deliver
chemical, biological,

and, if we let him,
nuclear warheads.

♪♪

Tonight, British servicemen
and women are engaged

from air, land, and sea.

Their mission --

to remove Saddam Hussein
from power

and disarm Iraq of its weapons
of mass destruction.

♪♪

♪♪

Ross: David Kelly
had just given a talk

at the new school
where I was a fellow,

and afterwards,
we had lunch here.

We were talking about the claims

that the government made
before the invasion,

that Iraq posed a threat.

You know, we were just...

I guess, quizzical.

I didn't really understand it
and nor did he.

[Bell tolls]

♪♪

Reporter:
Dr. Kelly is a scientist

with long experience
of Iraq's weapons programs.

He came forward
earlier this month

and told his bosses he'd had

an unauthorized meeting
in a London hotel,

with BBC journalist
Andrew Gilligan.

Ross: David was revealed
as the source of this story,

and he was basically hounded

by the government, the MOD.

His employer basically
hung him out to dry.

And eventually,
he testified in parliament.

My conversation with him
was primarily about Iraq,

about his experiences
in Iraq

and the consequences
of the war,

which was the failure
to use weapons

of mass destruction
during the war

and the failure
by May the 22

to find such weapons.

That was the primary
conversation

that I had with him.

And you certainly never
mentioned the "C" word.

Why did you feel
it was incumbent upon you

to go along
with the request

that clearly had
been made to you

to be thrown
to the wolves,

not only to the media,
but also to this committee?

I think that's
a line of questioning

you'd have to ask
the Ministry of Defence.

I reckon you're chess.

You've be thrown up
to divert our probing.

You ever felt
like a fall guy?

I mean, you've been set up,
haven't you?

That's not a question
I can answer.

But you feel that?

No, I accept the process
is going on.

Man: I'm sorry.
I accept...?

I accept the process
that's happening.

Ross: I imagine he found
the public attention unbearable.

I wrote to him expressing
my solidarity with him,

but he didn't reply.

Reporter: Police are expected
to confirm later today

that a body found in
Oxfordshire woodland is that

of the Ministry of Defense
Weapons expert David Kelly.

Reporter #2: Dr. Kelly's wife
has told a friend

that he'd become
extremely stressed,

had been caught
in the middle of the row

between the BBC
and the government

over its use of intelligence
and the threat...

Reporter #3: ...inquiry will
look at the circumstances

surrounding Dr. Kelly's death.

It's expected to look
at his questioning

earlier this week
by the Commons for...

Man: This is an absolutely
terrible tragedy.

I'm profoundly saddened
for David Kelly

and for his family.

He was a fine public servant.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Ross: I came with several
of my colleagues

from the Foreign Office
and the Ministry of Defence.

♪♪

We were all devastated.

♪♪

And I remember one of them
just wept copiously,

copiously throughout
the service,

but it was
completely overwhelmed

by the blaring media circus

that David's death had become.

♪♪

♪♪

And that was, of course,
a breach,

a moment...of rupture,

after which,
there was no going back.

Trust...

Mytrust in government,

my political leaders,

to an extent, I'm afraid
to say my colleagues, too,

was destroyed.

Once and for all.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Reporter: Well, today, evidence
will be published that says

the government did not really
believe that British diplomat...

Reporter #2:
In his submission to it,

Mr. Ross said, at no time,
did Her Majesty's government

assess that Iraq's WMD
posed a threat.

Reporter #3: The more we learned
about the beginning of the war,

the more uncertain the rationale
for it seems to be.

♪♪

♪♪

Ross: Before offering
my testimony,

I would like to pay tribute

to a man who should have been
here to give his account.

His testimony would have
been authoritative,

rigorous, and honest,

for these were his qualities.

At the UK mission in New York,

we relied considerably
on David Kelly

as one of the few experts
able to interpret and convey

with the scientist discipline
and objectivity

the complex and uncertain
picture of Iraq's WMD.

I hope that this inquiry
will do all it can

to restore the values
which David's work exemplified.

I wanted to read that out at
the beginning of my testimony.

Before I went into the room

to sit in front
of Chilcot and the others,

I was taken to a side room,

and the senior
Ministry of Defence official

in charge of the secretariat
for the inquiry

very aggressively said to me

that if I read out
that statement,

the TV cameras
would be turned off.

Mr. Ross,
you were affairs secretary

in the UK mission at
the United Nations in New York

from late '97 to June 2002,
I think.

Yes.

And we'll be asking Mr. Ross
for evidence based

on his recollections
and insights

into the deliberations
and actions

at the United Nations
on Iraq,

which are relevant
to our terms of reference,

where Mr. Ross's role gave him
firsthand knowledge

on which to draw

in giving evidence
to this inquiry.

It was realistic
or wasn't it,

that Iraq could soon
have posed a threat --

a WMD-based threat?

I found this claim
absolutely extraordinary.

I mean, we never believed that
in the time I worked on it.

We never argued it to allies
or others,

and nobody ever believed

that these things
actually existed.

We thought there might be
one or two dismantled devices

left in some kind
of warehouse somewhere.

But there was no hard evidence

of Scuds being wheeled around
in the desert,

waiting to be fired.

If there had been,
we would've seen them.

And the third part of the threat
is the intention.

And there was no evidence
of that, either.

♪♪

They had deliberately
misled the public

by claiming that Iraq was
a threat when it wasn't

and that there were
no alternatives to war,

when they were.

To lie to the public

and to the servicemen and women
you're sending to war,

it's the gravest --
gravest of disservices.

Government is established

to provide security
for the people,

and to lie about war,

to make false decisions
about war,

that's the worst thing
any government can possibly do.

♪♪

The fact that
that deliberation,

that consideration
of alternatives

did not take place is,
to me, a disgrace,

and it should be
remarked upon.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

We advised South Sudan
before their independence,

Western Sahara.

What we try to do is
advise our clients

on how to maneuver
diplomatically.

Syria coalition --

desperately difficult issue,
of course.

They are an external
opposition movement

fighting the Assad regime.

Somaliland,

where the overwhelming
majority of the population

want to be
an independent country.

Independent Diplomat --

it's a diplomatic
advisory group.

It's a group of former diplomats
and international lawyers

who advise democratic
governments, countries,

and political movements
around the world

on diplomatic strategy.

Both the work of
Independent Diplomat

and my own personal philosophy
is driven by the belief

that people should be part of
the decisions that affect them.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Modernity
and the movement of money

and the movement of ideas

means that power is sucked out
of local communities

and ends up being located
almost nowhere.

We run around thinking
maybe the power's in parliament

or maybe the power's
for the bankers,

or maybe the powers
for the journalists.

Politicians don't really,
in many ways,

have the kind of power
that people imagine.

In fact, most of the life
of a politician

is desperately trying to eek
anything out.

There isn't really
any power here.

You get here and it's like
"The Wizard of Oz."

But somebody has power,
don't they?

I mean, somebody has
the power to make

the great decisions
of state taxation

or whether
to wage a war or not.

I mean, these are real powers.You're completely right.

Theoretically, a census state
can wake up in the morning

and make a huge decision,

But if you look at Britain,
the reality is,

it's unbelievably difficult
in practice

to do almost anything.To wage a war?

Is it so difficult
to wage a war?

I mean, it doesn't seem
to have been too difficult

in the last few years.

Oddly, waging a war is,
ironically,

one of the things
that is easier to do

because it's about
other people's countries.

[Indistinct shouting]

♪♪

[Indistinct chanting]

♪♪

♪♪

[Chanting continues]

♪♪

♪♪

[Whistles blowing]

♪♪

♪♪

[Whistles continue]

♪♪

This is the home
of Occupy Wall Street.

This is where
the movement began,

where people began staying
in this park,

having meetings

about the concerns
of Occupy Wall Street.

Funnily enough,
they had mass meetings

called general assemblies,
which is a bit like --

not exactly like the meeting

of the General Assembly
in the UN,

rather the opposite,
because these were mass meetings

that anybody could
participate in.

-Our process!
-Our process!

-Our process!

-Is direct democracy!

-Is direct democracy!

-Is direct democracy!

-There is no!
-There is no!

-There is no!

-Hierarchy!
-Hierarchy!

-Hierarchy!

[Cheers and applause]

-Occupy everything

-Occupy everything!

-Everybody has the potential
for leadership

and that people
are naturally collaborative

and that given
the opportunity,

people want to work together
in community

to solve mutual problems,

because I think inherently

we understand that
we have power together

rather than sort of, like,
what's taught to us,

which is this dog-eat-dog notion
of competition.

We need to be able
to unlock our imagination

and to be able to even dream out
of that paradigm.

How do you dream?And -- How do I dream?

I dream by helping people
take over the streets.

[Thunder crashes]

♪♪

Over four million people

have entered their fourth day

without power across 12 states

following the devastating
Superstorm Sandy.

Concern is growing for people

who lack food, water, and heat.

The hallways are dark.
The buildings is dark.

The whole projects is dark.

It's like a war zone out there.

♪♪

Premo: The morning
of the storm,

a couple of us started
activating these networks

that had been sort of grown up
around the Occupy movement

and solidified around
Occupy Wall Street.

♪♪

Shapiro: We were able
to use the networks to say,

actually, this is an incredibly
effective way to organize,

much more effective
than the Red Cross and FEMA

and other institutions
that are set up to do relief.

♪♪

I was driving back
soon after Sandy

with a volunteer
who had not been a part

of the Occupy Wall Street
network,

and as we were driving back,
she said, "You know,

I always thought
that government

was going to be there
to protect me,

and what I'm learning
is that it's not,

that that's a lie
that I've been told."

And I think these moments,
like Sandy,

are moments where we expand
the perception

of what's
really going on.

♪♪

These crises are only getting
worse and worse.

There's these waves
that are intensifying

and the crises themselves

are going to keep
creating these cracks,

where more and more
people come in.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Chomsky: Anarchism
has a pretty broad sweep,

but the basic
conception is

that humans have
a fundamental need and right

for free creative
work and life

under their own control,

meaning any kind
of hierarchy,

domination,
master-servant relation,

or simply relation --
any such relation

is going to have
to justify itself.

But if it can't,
it will sort of be dismantled

and replaced
by a more free,

co-operative,
participatory society.

Don't you have
an overly optimistic view

of human nature.

Well,
the other view also does.

It relies
on the optimistic view

that if we have leadership,
it'll be benign.

The evidence of history

is overwhelmingly
against that.

So yes, we're not angels,

but is the solution
to that

to create structures
and institutions

which bring out
the worst in us?

Is it helpful to think
of anarchism as a process,

a set of principles

that guide action,
means not ends,

principles like equality,
inclusion, respect, freedom?

Exactly as you said,

you can't really make
a means-end distinction,

The means you choose
are designed

for the ends
you have in mind.

If we find ways

to liberate ourselves
from cultural,

political, economic

and other forms
of oppression,

we'll discover aspects
of our nature,

which we didn't even --

we weren't aware
that we possessed.

What is an ideal
anarchist society look like?

Probably the peak
of modern anarchism

was Spain in the 1930s.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Ross: It was when anarchism
was actually happening.

Anarchism was actually
put into practice

as a political philosophy,

and this is virtually
the only time

that it happened
in recent years.

[Sirens wail]

[Woman screams]

[Speaking Spanish]

That's extraordinary.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Whistle blows]

[Gunfire]

[Gunfire continues]

Ross: This is where
the communists

attack the anarchists,

The anarchist revolution
was brought to an end,

and it happened right here

at the telephone exchange.

[Gunfire]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

It happened.

Anarchism took place here.

it was real,

and it was to Orwell, at least,

very attractive,

something very appealing
about it,

something beautiful.

And it made real these ideas

that have been around
for a long time

and have been also hopping
around in my head recently...

that it's not just a theory.

It's actually a practice,

and when put into practice,

it can be extraordinary.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

It's a very
interesting painting

because it shows the march
of the villagers of Marinaleda

towards El Humoso,

which is a farm that was owned

by the local aristocrat,
disused,

and the villages
occupied the farm.

Ross: You led
the original occupation

of this land?

Sí.

[Speaking Spanish]

And how does
that work?

People have two options.
Okay?

If they have their jobs
and they cannot work here,

they have to pay monthly
an amount of money.

Right.

And the second option
is working here

and doesn't have
to pay anything...

I see....because you are giving
your job here.

You are building
your own house.

And people
in the village

participate in building
the houses,

but they don't know which one
they're gonna live in.

Yes.So they devote equal effort

to whichever house
they're building.

They build
all the houses.

All the houses are the same.Yeah.

And then after they build...Yeah.

...there is a raffle,

and they choose
one of them.

If you win the raffle,
you get the best house.

[Chuckles]
I hope.

Yeah.
I hope so.

You're going to live
in one of these.

Yes.
Oh, that's great.

That's great.

I think this system
should be in everywhere.

Yeah.

But people like me
can't build anything.

You know,
I'm useless with my hands.

You know,
if I built one of these houses,

it would be a disaster.

No, because you can make

what you put between the bricks.Oh, the cement.

I could make the cement.

[Both laugh]Cement.

You can do that.

Yes.So, you are participating.

You are working
for your own house.
Yes.

So...Yeah, I could make cement.

I probably --
could probably manage that.

♪♪

[Indistinct speaking
over loudspeaker]

♪♪

[Speaking Spanish]

[Conversation in Spanish]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Conversations continue]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Ross: What is the best thing
about being part of cooperative?

[Speaking Spanish]

♪♪

[Gordillo speaking Spanish]

Mm-hmm.

♪♪

Uh-huh.

♪♪

[Horn blares]

♪♪

[Siren wails]

♪♪

Who was the main party
on the negotiation?

I actually don't know
who initiated it.

Right.
Who initiated the --

But did Mr. Orstero
came to the council

and said he wanted it.Yeah, he came to the council.

Okay.

And so, you know,
the council --

Traditionally,
when the envoy comes in,

they've got
something new to do.

If they can manage it,
they'll churn something out.

Yeah.
But, you know,
that backs them up.

[Indistinct conversation]

So, it was negotiated
the previous week,

but it wasn't adopted.

And then over the weekend...Yeah.

...you know, there was the
marketplace killing in Douma.

the Syrian regime
bombing the marketplace there,

killing 100 people
in one go --

111 people-plus in one go.

And then, of course,

the council just carried on
and adopted...

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Indistinct conversations]

Richards: Initially, when we
were brainstorming the business,

we thought the idea of a co-op
would be really good.

We've always relied
on our employees.

I mean, they brought
as much to the table as we have

in a lot of ways.
Yeah.

And it just kind of,
you know, felt right

to kinda share the wealth
of the store.

-Have a great day.
-Thank you.

When they told you

they wanted you
to join the co-op,

how did that make you feel
about your work here?

It meant so much to me because
they didn't have to do that.

Like, regular jobs
don't do that,

and just for them
to sit there

and want to see us grow

even as individuals,
for us to own something,

and them willing
to share their baby,

'cause this store's
like their baby to them,

so for them to open their arms
and let us in,

I'm just honored.

Do you think it could be
more widespread?

I think it can
be widespread.

I think if people get

the proper education
about co-ops

and, you know,
just as far as that,

it can be something a lot
of other businesses can do.

♪♪

Ross: I do believe
that with a will

and a bit of energy,

change is actually possible.

♪♪

Changing a few people's lives,
if we all did that,

that would amount
to global change.

Have a great day.

♪♪

♪♪

Reynoso: [Speaks Spanish]

It's very important to work
together and know each other,

and you want to be able
to work together

to make sure that you're solving
the community's problem, right?

That this is about doing
as much as you can

for the entire community.

Reynoso: A lot of people think
that elected officials

are like the kings
of the people.

But I'm more of a soldier
of the people, right?

So they make the decisions,
and I have to go follow through

and make sure that I use
their collective power

to get things done.

We're gonna be able to see
how we can use that money,

and the great thing is
that it's your money.

It's su dinero.

I have no decision-making power
in any of this.

So, you guys decide what you do
with $1 million.

[Cheers and applause]

This is a district
of 155,000 people,

something like that,
so imagine the city spends

hundreds of millions
of dollars --

schools, hospitals, roads,

all the rest of it
in this district.

Wouldn't it be better
if these meetings

could decide hundreds
of millions of dollars?

Yes, I think so.

I think that what New York City
is trying to do is

really, really get
to a point where --

We're like testing it out.
It's almost like a pilot thing.

I think this is contagious,
what's happening right now,

and the city council
is really taking it on.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Ross: I spend a lot of my time

asking rich people for money

to do our work.

I met the most
extraordinary brave woman

from the
occupied Western Sahara,

which is illegally occupied
by Morocco,

who is a human rights defender,
has been tortured,

solitary confinement,

separated from her children
for decades.

A wonderful, brave woman

who I've met many times
over the years.

She's an absolute inspiration.

And whenever I see her,
I feel really good,

and I feel really --
kind of my tank fills up.

And fairly recently this was,
I went back to my desk,

and I was about
to send an e-mail

to Richard Branson's foundation

to ask for money
for one of our projects,

and in my inbox was an e-mail

telling me that Branson's
Virgin organization

had just organized
a kite surfing festival

in the occupied Western Sahara,

and I just came home to me

that we are dependent
on the very people

who are the status quo

to change that status quo.

It doesn't make sense.

There is something wrong
with this model,

and I'm really, really
struggling with that right now.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Shouting indistinctly]

[Shouting continues]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Ocalan: Spanish anarchism
created a political culture

that spoke to the deepest
feelings of the culture

of the people themselves.

It was not a party.
It was not only a movement.

It was, above all,
a whole education,

a whole way of life,
a way to live.

In this sense, it was
a truly people's movement.

It was not invented
in the British Museum,

like socialism.

He explored. He went back
to first principles.

What is it that works?

How do people really
interact face to face?

How do people live richly?

And from there, he developed,

you know,
what became communalism,

but a theory of anarchism,
basically,

of a democratic anarchism,

of people interacting,

making decisions face to face.

And he also blended that
with ecology.

The thing that we have
to recognize and my opinion

is that there are,
in the world today,

millions of people
who under different names

are really anarchists.

Deep in the culture
of the people

is the desire
to regain their power,

to create
their own institutions,

to create their own life ways,

to take control of their lives.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

So, this is a map of Syria,

and where I'm going to go
is into Rojava,

which is basically
this area here

under Kurdish control,

and they control
a band of territory.

So going along like this
all the way to about here.

But I'll be floating
around here,

visiting the various
kind of towns.

ISIS are up here.

They come across here,
basically, in a line up here,

more or less, including Mosul.

So, I'll be keeping in this bit.

Yeah, I didn't know I was gonna

have to take body armor
and a bloody helmet.

I didn't know that.

♪♪

Girl: Hi!

Hi.

How are you?

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

This road is noisy
and crowded,

as you can hear,
because the traffic's

been diverted from
the main road to Mosul,

which is over there,

but we haven't gone on it

because Mosul's under

the control of ISIS
at the moment.

But we're heading that way.

We're going around Mosul...

for obvious reasons.

♪♪

♪♪

This is a UN refugee camp

for all the Yazidi people
who've been driven out by ISIS.

God knows when they'll
get back to their homes.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Just makes you realize

what an epic disaster
Iraq has become.

This was partly our work.

We didn't create ISIS,

but we created the situation
that created ISIS.

But these are the people
paying the price

for the epic mistakes

of Western policy.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Indistinct conversations]

Over there, Rojava, our goal.

Lots of Kurds trying
to get across.

♪♪

In this corner of Syria,

something extraordinary
going on,

and whether it really
is extraordinary,

whether it is replicable,

whether there are things
that we can learn

for the rest of the world

is what we're crossing
the river for.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

And here we are in Syria.

♪♪

♪♪

Hi. How are you?

I'm Khan.
Nice to meet you.

Hi.
Spas.

Spas.

We've been met by the YPG,

which is the Kurdish militia,

the Kurdish People's Army,

which has been fighting
ISIS here in Syria.

[Radio chatter]

[Man speaks Kurdish]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Speaks Kurdish]

[Machinery whirring]

[Man speaks Kurdish]

[Man #2 speaks Kurdish]

♪♪

♪♪

[Speaks Kurdish]

♪♪

♪♪

So this is self-government
in action,

and here is the level
that matters in Rojava --

decisions for here
are taken for here.

Decisions that affect,

as much as possible,
are made here.

And if decisions need
to go to a higher level,

then they'll go up
to the next level,

of the Legislative Assembly.

But as far as possible,

decisions about things
that matter here

are made in that room
right there.

[Laughter]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[Speaks Kurdish]

[Cellphone clicks]

[Speaks Kurdish]

[Speaks Kurdish]

Ross: Do you feel,
as a young person,

that your ideas
are taken seriously

in the assembly?

First time,
it was hard on us...

Yeah.
...because it was
the first time

that we had this young age
in the parliament.
Yeah.

And everybody was
new on here,

especially as a young woman.

They see new ideas.

They see how we work
in the Parliament.

They take our ideas seriously,
and they believe in it.

Here, we are trying
to build a system

for the whole world
to take ideas from us.

I've been in a lot
of crappy chambers

where you see people sitting
like this --

Security Council, Parliament,
blah, blah, blah.

This one, though,
although it's a bit shabby,

it's kind of the best.

You could almost make
a kind of inverse paradigm

that the shabbier
the collective chamber,

the better the democracy.

The more ornate and gilded,

the more the more jaded
the democracy,

the less representative.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Where we're heading is
to a reconciliation lunch

between two families.

This is an example of the way

that the justice system
here works,

because rather
than going to court,

these two families have been
encouraged to have consultations

and negotiations
between each other.

Hi.

Take my shoes off.[Speaks Kurdish]

[Indistinct conversations]

[Speaks Kurdish]

[Indistinct conversations]

Is what's happened here
satisfactory for the family?

[Speaks Kurdish]

♪♪

There's a real sense
of having arrived somewhere

that's very special for me.

♪ Do-do-do

Books...

It's like, you know,
for anarchists,

this is like Republican Spain
during the Civil War.

This is --

This is our Ithaca.

♪♪

Socks.

♪♪

[Conversation in Kurdish]

Good morning.
Hello. Thank you.

♪♪

[Xelil speaks Kurdish]

Ross: Yellow is YPG?

Red is ISIS.
Xelil: Yeah.

This is where colorblindness
doesn't help.

Yeah.
[Both laugh]

[Speaking Kurdish]

This is where we are here?Yeah.

We're 8 kilometers from --
from ISIS front lines.

Ross: Nobody has a rank
in the YPG.

They just have teams,

this being
a non-hierarchical society,

based on anarchist philosophy,

but for a non hierarchical army,

they seem to have done
pretty well.

[Man speaks Kurdish]

Totally flattened.

Shooting from up here,
obviously.

I'm not surprised civilians

haven't wanted
to come back here.

♪♪

[Horn honks]

♪♪

♪♪

Don't know --
Is it okay to shake hands?

Yes.

Hi. Greetings.

Spas.

Spas.

Spas.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

♪♪

So, this is the tip
of the spear...

of the fight against ISIS.

♪♪

They're all so young.

♪♪

♪♪

[Indistinct conversation]

So, is ISIS in those
houses there?

[Man speaks Kurdish]

They come out
in the evening?

-Yes.
-Like rabbits.

So, are they on that hill
over there, as well?

[Speaks Kurdish]

Isn't it the same
for us, though?

I mean, don't they --

If you appear
at the parapet here,

don't they take a potshot?

♪♪

♪♪

I know what you're
fighting against,

but what do you think
you're fighting for?

[Children shouting,
indistinct conversations]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

These people have
built democracy.

They have built
the largest area of Syria

that is stable and democratic.

It's an inclusive democracy,

where Syrians, Arabs, and Kurds

alike are given a fair
crack of the whip.

You know, what's not to support?

They are fighting ISIS.

They are sacrificing
hundreds of lives.

They are the people
fighting the world's war

against these this --
this horror.

The problem is,
nobody's listening to them,

and countries even like America,
which is at war here,

is not talking to them
at a political level.

The military have contacts
with the YPG,

but at a political level,
they're not talking.

And that's a hell of a battle,

and it's a battle, you know,
I'm glad to take on.

I have rarely felt

more solidarity with a cause

than I feel with
these people here.

It sounds romantic.

You know,
I'm not Lawrence of Arabia.

I'm just a guy in an NGO,

struggling,
doing what I know how to do,

but this is what I'd like to do.

This is for me, you know,

why I do what I do.

And I am really, really,
really...

I'm really sad to leave.

Really sad.

♪♪

♪♪

[Horn blares]

It's like coming back out
of the rabbit hole.

What did I see?
Was it real?

Can it happen here?

And I'm greatly upset by it

because I feel that
they're fighting an epic fight.

And here, you know...

we're talking
about a new iPhone

and the fact that Apple

had chosen to use a stylus
on the iPad,

and Donald Trump,

a racist and a misogynist
and a billionaire,

is the center
of political attention.

So, the bile rises,

and we think
we're better than them.

You know, we think
we have a superior system.

I'm like, what --
Who's the idiot here?

♪♪

♪♪

[Gunshots, screaming]

♪♪

-Hands up!
-Don't shoot!

[Police radio chatter]

[Indistinct shouting]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

All: There is no priority!

[Cheers and applause]

Occupy everything!

[Cheers and applause]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪