great animation: why capitalism sucks and why we're screwed

[bks]

David Harvey's drawn some criticism here, but as an engaging 10-minute telling of the last 30 years of global economic history this gets high marks from me.

Serious props to the animator and sketch artist. Wow.

http://www.observer.com/2010/wall-stree ... vid-harvey

[justdrew]

wow that's very cool, and a great talk too. thanks

[ninakat]

Amazing info and animation. Thanks bks.

[stefano]

That's terrific, thanks.

David Harvey's drawn some criticism here

How's that? I tried searching now but couldn't find anything apart from scattered mentions. I've just started reading his Enigma of capital and am sure I'm going to like it, a lot of the first chapter is in this lecture.

[bks]

stefano, I'll try to dig up the thread when I get home later this evening. Maybe it wasn't RI where I was having the discussion.

Anyway, glad people are liking it.

[Searcher08]

Thanks very much for the link bks, I really liked that - nearly sprayed the screen when he talked about the Pythonesque reply to Her Majesties question.

"No one expects teh unthinkable Systemic Risk factor!..." (*)


Err, yes they did and Chief Risk Analysts at some UK banks were highlighting this to the management teams - and being told to STFU.

[ultramegagenius]

I so enjoyed Harvey's Condition of Postmodernity, and Brief History of Neo-Liberalism, i'm hoping Enigma will be more readable than his somewhat drier Limits to Capital.

on a side note, it's been interesting to see Daniel Estulin echoing one of Harvey's fellow-travelers, Ellen Meiksins-Wood. she brilliantly expounded on the world power structure as resting on a patchwork of disparate states in her succinct tome, Empire of Capital.

[yathrib]

Excellent conrtent, but I thought the medium was going to give me seizures, or at least a headache.

[vince]

WILL SHOW THIS TO ANYONE WHO'LL LISTEN!

[§ê¢rꆧ]

Yes, thank you I really enjoyed those. I found myself wanting to watch them all!

[Laodicean]

WILL SHOW THIS TO ANYONE WHO'LL LISTEN!

Good luck...

I'll do the same.

[undead]

Very good comment on green capitalist consumerism. The example of conventional vs. organic apples is definitely not the right example to use, though. He says that most people are cynical about the higher value of the organic apples and only buy them because its part of the earth-karma fad, which is quite absurd. I suppose there are a few (rich) people who are fake enough to be roped into the organic eating thing as a social fad, but I think the majority of people (who are too poor to afford organic food) recognize the material health benefit of organic vs. pesticide treated fruit. That this a significant blind spot shared by much of the old left.

He's totally right on about liberal charity, though.

[ultramegagenius]

that was a nice talk, taken from Zizek's newest book, Living in the End Times. taken collectively, his point about charity provides an instant rebuke to Barbara Ehrenreich's broadside against manifestation. even if everyone who read some self-help book was able to materialize a few extra bucks here and there, the sick system would still continue to victimize a large number of people. i'd postulate that the true will of collective manifestation lies closer to the classical class forces that Zizek has re-introduced. namely, that the liberal reformers only serve to perpetuate the fundamental robbery of social wealth, and that class antagonism must be fully ripened in order to proceed to the next stage of history. i believe this in fact is the true will of the collective unconscious, and those subtle vibrations are dismantling the imperial system once and for all, despite the grave sacrifices entailed. however, the end state will probably be closer to enlightened anarchy, rather than some dictatorship of the proletariat.

of course, the corporate machine has appropriated manifestation and tried to force in into its broken paradigm as a kind of low-cost band-aid, but that shouldn't be too surprising. plenty of hucksters and greedy minions have rubbed their greasy hands on concepts like moral rectitude, the market place, democracy, community, collective safety, etc. Any and all of these are available to us to be wisely put into practice, none are truly evil in and of themselves.

[Asta]

Excellent animation/explanation of the woes of Capitalism.

Saw part of Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" yesterday. I am still reeling over the "Dead Peasants Life Insurance Policies" that large corporations are buying on their rank and file employees. We're worth more dead than alive.

[Nordic]

Just a bump. Finally got around to checking this out, and it's great.