We were told, "Every man for himself,' and that dependency and entitlement are vices. The virus should teach us that as social animals interdependency is the survival strategy for our species.
Even something seemingly singular like individual identity seems to be largely, if not entirely, dependant on cultivation and recognition through others. I think you could even make the case that what we consider knowledge itself can only emerge through some social dialectical process mediated by a shared language.
We were always pack animals. Why do you think we go crazy in isolation? Or get sad when we’re lonely? We need other people and there has always been strength in numbers in cooperation. Competition has its uses, but cooperation gives us so much more.
What this pandemic shows, to anyone who hadn't noticed yet, is that our social institutions, including business institutions, are no longer capable of responding meaningfully to human needs.
I find the opposite to be true my dear.. Anyone who cares to can see that they are indeed capable of responding to human needs in a way that is far superior of any alternative available today.
@@naverno how? how? there are libraries and books that lend credit to the case for changing or even demolishing them outright, while the case for their 'superiority' only has blind one-sentence assertions from thinktanks and dodgy news outlets. They bodged the pandemic, throw away hundreds of tons of usable food, ruin the lives of millions across the globe and do hundreds of more awful things.
I'm not wealthy enough to eat takeaways or dine out except on very rare occasions so this lock down changes nothing for me. Many of the people who CAN do this, do so because I can't. That's how this capitalist system works.
Am always genuinely thrilled when a new one of these comes out. Also following David's wonderful Grundrisse reading project, so it feels like I have my own cool Marxist geography teacher keeping me (parasocial) company during the lockdown. Also worth mentioning is the fact I have professor Harvey to thank for truly opening up to me the nuance & depth of Marx's thought.
But with small business being shut down people are forced to shop at big box stores. This stimulus check will just go back to the big guys since everyone will most likely use it for paying bills.
@@ASMRyouVEGANyet There's also a strong DIY movement opposing the big business/big daddy state model. The way forward is to offer a better product at a better price, and let the people decide.
@@ASMRyouVEGANyet One of my concerns is that this stimulus will fuel a buy up of small businesses and/or their markets by the big guys. This will effectively limit the number of employers and create a de facto market feudalism. As workers, we won't be tied to the land (as in past feudalism), but tied to a brand.
Finally flattening the carbone dioxide curve. Turns out you don't need most of the junk we produce. Thanks Corona. In the meanwhile, "Tend to your garden." --Voltaire
@George AKA Dad He's a social and political thinker and he is thinking through the structural changes to capitalism (the system that determines our lives) brought about by this virus, and he's helping others see them. This is important. He doesn't need to do all the "heavy lifting of finding and implementing solutions." He's helping to raise people's consciousness about the conditions that determine our lives. That's enough heavy lifting. It's up to us to do the rest.
@@kathleenhillock9366 Basketball actually is a lot of really good exercise in a pretty small space. It was originally invented as a thing to play indoors over cold Midwest winters. I'd also say that each town ought to have their soccer pitch, as it's such a simple, elegant sport; really the sport of the people. But yeah golf, those courses are going to make some great farms.
what if instead of mowing your front lawns and wasting money on fertilizing to make sure your grass is thicker and fluffier than your neighbors, each street just tried to grow their own garden. if its an urban area then each block has to have a garden that each resident can come and tend to. also what always bothered me in America is the fakeness towards nature, all the trees and shrubs planted are mostly decorative, where is the food? I'm from another country originally and you can go outside and have a snack off any tree or whatever you find on the ground. here its impossible to find and if you find a good pear tree or cherry tree it just falls down rots or the birds go nuts and eat it all because they too are fucked and starving and eating all the wrong shit.
Lots of goods in warehouses, perhaps ubi will be implemented, and this could speed up the flow of money to the current business model. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.
@@MBarberfan4life Too many economists of one type and not enough of another in positions of influence to make the necessary decisions in the interest of....?
Some people travel to stay near a beach and work on the cheap to escape consumerism. It sounds backwards but if one is alienated to the point that they renounce their nationality (to the point I have). They can, with little money, roam about and eat local foods and avoid tourist trap areas. Then reintegrate later into families who are, nonetheless indoctrinated into consumerism by their local television programming (advertising mind control). Yet such people are staunch and realize these things are luxuries that can be lived without. In the first world people can't live as easily without.
Start by growing fruit trees everywhere food will be the number one essential thing we need.Start a garden on those big green useless lawns people have.
In a way the virus is being very kind to homo sapiens. They are a much more powerful force. In the northern hemisphere and equator, the effect from the virus will be diminishing as crop planting proceeds. Imagine if we were just going into winter! Homo sapiens created the conditions for the virus inadvertently (call it a learning experience) so in a way it's inevitable but the timing of the system is really good for us. Thank you!!
@@ASMRyouVEGANyet The value of a learning experience, imho, is that the learning of the lesson justifies all the hardship it took to achieve that understanding. If the lesson isn't learned, then the ones who suffer are still potential victims.
A bare minimum or income floor if you will, Will help citizens, allow businesses to make money, and allow me to buy videogames. It's the best way fowrard.
It is about time, the party is overdue, and someone has to pay the bills, and its not mr capitalism. The ai, machines and robots can do it. But the owners refuse to let everyone use it. Because the profits... and stockmarket. You just got to have a profit. Being stagnant is not good enough for them. But the world is not infinite. Isnt it obvious for everyone !?
ASMRyouVEGANyet? Sure but all of that is still turned into a commodity by the corporations that sell you experiences so we’re still participating in mass consumerism
That's great! But I doubt it will pay their accumulated debt, especially if they've lost their job; then their home and car and any other assets when the foreclosure and bankruptcy comes. No easy way out here...
Love "The Internationale" music at the beginning. I wonder what kind of May Day activities are going to be gotten up where I live? I suspect social distancing will still be a thing, but I plan to have it well practiced on my trumpet for the occasion.
Not one statement on the precipitous decline coming to the Arts ? Festivals provide work for musicians and artists , that you assign it a grade of excess consumerism is a faulty generalization . Our daily lives are soon to be drowned in prohibitive chemicals, so this requires radical de-consumption . What happened to the power of boycott ? Passivity is the roadmap to our acquiescent destruction , a slow motion shatter . Americans soon occupy the weak minority overcome by Mandarin Chinese . Where will our stolen nukes eventually reside?
Isn't technology a very adaptable instrument in the hands of the profit motive? What role could technology play in restoring demand in the economy, for example by developing new virtual reality products that offer simulacra of touristic consumption in a way that adapts to the social effects of the virus? An individualised, alienated dystopia compared to which a socially planned economy would be preferable any day!
Brand new to the channel. I am not really understanding why throwing away all of capitalism for central planning makes sense. As opposed to keeping some mechanisms of capitalism that work relatively well, such as (regulated/etc) free markets figuring out what to produce vastly more efficiently than any central planner, while throwing out the broken accumulation/redistribution part of capitalism, in favor of new, centrally planned if you will, limits and laws about redistribution and inequality: universal income, progressive taxes, explicit upper bounds wealth limits, etc. Wouldn’t a mixed economy be reasonable, with things capitalism does poorly at, like healthcare, made universal, and structural things it does poorly like accumulation/redistribution made socialist/universal, but the things it does well at, like free markets generating valuable goods, or labor specialization generating efficiency, kept, in a mixed economy. In any case, thank you. I came here trying to build a habit of seeking out views that differ or are discomforting, and I found the lecture both well expressed and conveying a spirit of kindness.
Going by this video, I would argue that the tourism industry would be one that you would leave to the free markets. So my question to you is, when a virus like this appears and decimates that market, what does your free market system do? Especially given the high levels of unemployment that it generates? I'm just asking as well.
@@Warhorse1UKIn normal times, I would leave tourism to market competition because as an industry it is not particularly prone to monopoly, or asymmetric information, or regulatory capture, or any particular free market boundary condition flaw. Free markets are quite inappropriate to some circumstances, where anti-trust law, or nationalization, or regulation, etc are essential. Markets are a tool with limitations. They are amazingly productive when their limits are respected. They go awry and injure, like a misused power tool, when their limits or safety rules are ignored. I think you can reasonably argue that crisis like this virus, (or a meteor hitting a whole coast with tsumani, or yellowstone's volcano raining ash on 100s of miles of farmland), break the boundary conditions of markets. In a different way than the threat of monopoly, or asymmetric information break them, but similar in a kind of boundary conditions way. Arguing that you need a non-market solution, like a holiday on rents, helicopter dropping money to people ,etc, seems reasonable to me - I'm not adverse to that. The difference to me seems to be that this limitation break is time-bound. If you have assymettric info in healthcare, there's no market fix or transient patch, you just need to nationalize healthcare. Whereas century rare crisis (pandemic, tsunami, volcano) pass. You need exceptional polices...rent holidays, helicopter money, x3 unemployment benefits, etc, etc during the crisis, but the crisis passes. We could have a mixed economy where we use markets, sometimes, judiciously, where they work well, and we also mixed economy invest in a socialist fashion in things like nationalized healthcare, or deeper social safety nets, virus response / virus R&D, existential threat meteor detection. There are things markets don't spontaneously solve or apply to; we can still use markets in a mixed economy.
The interest rates are falling because the fed is trying to spur economic activity aka borrowing cheap money at low interest rates. It’s basically a last resort at this point until no one can afford to take out any more loans and cannot pay their debts. Lowering interest rates at this point is just a bandaid
capitalists cannot explain existence of billionaires or need for govt corporate bailouts. Unregulated capitalism in cahoots with a willing corrupt system is not working for us, or our environment. An unethical financial system based on growth is not sustainable. We need to reset and take it back, we are all caught up in this... (for now) Peace.- ps bring back the ccc (look it up)
One more time....pandemic followed by the great depression of 1920/21 fee.org/articles/the-depression-youve-never-heard-of-1920-1921/ www.aier.org/article/1920-depression-v-great-depression/ mises.org/library/forgotten-depression-1920
Now the question is - how much are people ready to take, until they come to a realization that the system does not favor the everyday person. Do people think? And do they dream for a better life? Also what do the humankind strife for? To be Jeff Bezos or to have love for people around and care for one another?
We have kept the delivery boys,we create employment or might be drone supply the food later on or free food for all Welcome to the world of holy development
I've often thought that Marx thought the common man would be like him, someone who valued freedom over the pursuit of pleasure or materialism; and would be willing to accept a degree of austerity to enjoy that freedom. How wrong he was on that one, perhaps. Marxism, I believe would only be accepted if it came along with a great deal of individual freedom. This is what Marxists I think need to demonstrate, not just talk about; because freedom along with the austerity that's required will probably never win an election. A highly enviable and incentivized example has got to be created. sites.google.com/view/the-communal-solution/home
There is a book called "Escape From Freedom" by Erich Fromm. It was written during World War Il and goes into great depth about this. It's one of the best books I've ever read.
No body runs away from good, had capitalism not keep demanding higher costs without appropriate compensation in terms of wages we would not have been here.
Personally, I believe the solution must start from the bottom up. sites.google.com/view/the-communal-solution/home This is where Marxism or anarchism falls flat. Admittedly, perhaps, it's a little easier for people like, say the Zapatistas; who already had a land base, a culture and communities. But still, if there was a will, I believe we could find a way. That is, of course, if we could agree upon what it was we actually wanted to create as an alternative to evil capitalism or for that matter forced socialism or force communism.
"Maybe you all can learn to enjoy cooking from home..", yes,yes,all well and good,but what home? What money to afford food to cook? Right now we are staring at the abyss,no pay coming in for 3 solid weeks,state shut down my business. Mortgage has cone due and were getting no aid or relief,no money in our accounts and running out of food. Need help immediately.
David harvey wouldn't disagree with you. He understands full well that "enjoying cooking at home" depends on having a home. The society we live in and the people who rule it obviously don't think it's a necessity, and/or don't care. Our basic needs for food and shelter are basic conditions for the possibility of any real enjoyment and freedom beyond that. Real human freedom can only be imagined so long as you don't have you basic needs met.
FDR gave us guaranteed inflation which from 1860 to 1939, ranged from 0% to 125%, and ended up at 67% in 1939 for the ENTIRE 80 YEARS. Since 1939 the inflation rate has been 1800% with 600% occurring by 1982. FDR also introduced taxation on wages as income twice, once in 1935 w/social security whichguarantees NOTHING by law, and secondly with the Victory Tax in 1942, which became thepresent day income tax..... Also, regardless of the level of "marginal income tax rates", capital gains taxation has always been an exception.....so the taxation of "the rich" has always given them a way out, with the "new deal" requiring them to hold "investments for two years" to qualify......and this has been cut in half. Keynesian economics begins w/ publication of his "book" in 1936....where as FDR's actions vis a vis, lawful or hard money, begins on day one of his presidency.....with the claim of "economists" pretending this was a cure for the "business cycle".....and the "evidence" seems to indicate that this was an abject failure....which should not be confused with "monetary policy", which could have been implemented without transforming our currency to that of fiat.....under control of the Federal Reserve, rather than congress and the US Treasury. The consequences of this "transformation" have been devastating in several ways..... 1.) Consistent inflation introduces a constant wage/ price upward spiral, with wages chasing profits and asset appreciation......while simultaneously discouraging "savings" in real terms due to the constant decline of purchasing power, and encouraging "debt" which manifested itself in "consumerism" which produces an illusion of economic expansion, where future debt offers the "almost" guaranteed prospect, of liquidating debt, with the expanded money supply, or in dollars whose purchasing power has been diminished. This extends the "normal business cycle" from the cited four to seven years, to one that can last much longer, because the natural recessions are shifted upwards, so the first "recognizable" downturn did not become apparent until 1972, which saw a 300% inflation rate whose effects were minimized. The next decade, however, produced another 100% ( 300% ) by 1982, at which point, we went from being the largest creditor nation, to the largest debtor nation (1984 ) and this has worsened considerably, since then. ( what cost $1.67 in 1939, cost $5.04 in 1972 and $11.63 in 1982. ) 2.) The fiat system (1933 ) also increased the potential for "speculation" by all of those "entities" engaged in the issuance of credit/finance.....which also increased the "money supply" to those other than the "federal reserve", through lowering "reserve requirements" and "raising interest rates" on extended credit. Major effects were felt in 1987, 2000, and 2008....with the latter, essentially being "covered over" by manipulation.....not resolved, which is why we are here.....facing a collapse ( which has already occurred )....while Magical Monetary Theory seeks to extend the pretext. www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history/chart www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1860?amount=1 To illustrate the wage price spiral....we can match federal minimum wage to price inflation, as follows. Beginning in 1956....wage $1.00 .....Price inflation ...$3.28 1968.....wage $1.60.......Price inflation....$4.19 %increase 60% vs 27% 1974....wage $2.00......Price inflation......$5.94 29% vs 41% 1981.....wage $3.35.......Price inflation......$10.95 67% vs 84% 1997.....wage $5.15......Price inflation......$ 19.34 58% vs 76% 2009......wage $7.25.......Price inflation.......$ 25.85 40% vs 33% Today ....wage $7.25 ( living wage ask) $15.......Price inflation......$31.17 0% vs 20% Now it should not take a "genius" ( most if not all economists do not qualify as such, regardless of I.Q or "ism" ) to recognize this pattern which is demonstrating both increasing instability over time, and has produced all manner of effects in response which are exacerbating these effects....in their denial. Whatever one might imagine constitutes the concept of "wealth", once it is separated from a "utilitarian connection" it ceases to function in a beneficial capacity or a potential beneficial capacity and this should have been obvious, since there are inconsistencies that arise even in the "utilitarian" mode. All the wealth in the world, can not purchase those things that are required to exist... from those who possess them.....so that the only means available to acquire such resources is by force and against those who would not otherwise "consent" to such means of acquisition, which despite all the bullshit, of the various "isms" and "archy's" that have dominated the history of civilization from the "late neolithic period".....none of them are capable of altering this REALITY, yet they persist in the attempt to convince us that it can. Do not continue to encourage them.
One more time....pandemic followed by the great depression of 1920/21 fee.org/articles/the-depression-youve-never-heard-of-1920-1921/ www.aier.org/article/1920-depression-v-great-depression/ mises.org/library/forgotten-depression-1920
@@tomgreg2008 I always appreciate it when the "willfully ignorant, functional illiterate, unevolved talking hominids" are compelled to share their reactive, fallacious and irrelevant response while believing it is an argument to that which they clearly haven't read and wouldn't have the intelligence to comprehend even if they had. Welcome to "civilization"......and the continuation of 12000 years of stupid human tricks....ya gotta love it.
@@tomgreg2008 For those who employ logical reasoning, this is known and referred to as "citing" corroborating evidence and it's source. ( not that you would be familiar with this )
no kidding CONSUMER DEMAND drives economies ----the issue is who owns the means of production -----if it is private enterprise you have a capitalist business sector ---if it is the state you have a socialist business sector ---it is quite possible to have a capitalist business sector in a republic , parliamentary system, theocracy --autocracy, monarchy and dictatorship ------it is also quite possible to have a socialist business sector in a theocracy ,autocracy , monarchy , dictatorship or any form of elected government goofy people who havent thought much about it assume democracy means capitalism ---it doesnt ,capitalism can thrive weather or not the government is elected
There is a perfectly reasonable reason why the "right wing" is hesitant to stimulate demand with new money created out of thin air. If you elect to stimulate demand without raising taxes, you quickly discover that the newly-created money buys ever less . Currency inflation invariably results in price inflation. If you want to discover how that works, check out Zimbabwe and Venezuela!!
Unfortunately there is a big missing point here as conventional interpetation of Marx theory! No place to point out Chines version of capitalism effect on this equation. No place in this analysis to indicate how capitalism is self correcting itself by huge helping people life in this disaster rather than just going after profit margin and last not least the boosting process evolving capitalism and happening now that can shortcut the process to go to post capitalisem through this event!
In socialist utopia workers will work max 2-3 hours a day thanks to robots doing most physical stuff. They will have pretty much entire life's of non stop vacations.
We were told, "Every man for himself,' and that dependency and entitlement are vices. The virus should teach us that as social animals interdependency is the survival strategy for our species.
Even something seemingly singular like individual identity seems to be largely, if not entirely, dependant on cultivation and recognition through others. I think you could even make the case that what we consider knowledge itself can only emerge through some social dialectical process mediated by a shared language.
"It's everyone for himself cried the elephant as he danced among the chickens!"
We were always pack animals. Why do you think we go crazy in isolation? Or get sad when we’re lonely? We need other people and there has always been strength in numbers in cooperation. Competition has its uses, but cooperation gives us so much more.
What this pandemic shows, to anyone who hadn't noticed yet, is that our social institutions, including business institutions, are no longer capable of responding meaningfully to human needs.
I find the opposite to be true my dear.. Anyone who cares to can see that they are indeed capable of responding to human needs in a way that is far superior of any alternative available today.
@@naverno how? how? there are libraries and books that lend credit to the case for changing or even demolishing them outright, while the case for their 'superiority' only has blind one-sentence assertions from thinktanks and dodgy news outlets. They bodged the pandemic, throw away hundreds of tons of usable food, ruin the lives of millions across the globe and do hundreds of more awful things.
I'm not wealthy enough to eat takeaways or dine out except on very rare occasions so this lock down changes nothing for me. Many of the people who CAN do this, do so because I can't. That's how this capitalist system works.
Am always genuinely thrilled when a new one of these comes out. Also following David's wonderful Grundrisse reading project, so it feels like I have my own cool Marxist geography teacher keeping me (parasocial) company during the lockdown. Also worth mentioning is the fact I have professor Harvey to thank for truly opening up to me the nuance & depth of Marx's thought.
New life goal: get invited to one of David Harvey's anti-capitalist cookouts
I hope this crisis will lead to less consumerism, this sick culture of overindulgence needed a shake-up.
don't blame the workers for what the owners did
@@Rompelstaump hi
I'm not assigning blame. None of us have a choice
I hope it leads to mass land reform tbh lad
@@UsernameInvalidTHIS hi I have a question
This is a blow for capitalism (the Machine) because now there's comparison, as evidenced by our senses, behold the quiet and the fresh air.
But with small business being shut down people are forced to shop at big box stores. This stimulus check will just go back to the big guys since everyone will most likely use it for paying bills.
@@ASMRyouVEGANyet There's also a strong DIY movement opposing the big business/big daddy state model. The way forward is to offer a better product at a better price, and let the people decide.
@@ASMRyouVEGANyet One of my concerns is that this stimulus will fuel a buy up of small businesses and/or their markets by the big guys. This will effectively limit the number of employers and create a de facto market feudalism. As workers, we won't be tied to the land (as in past feudalism), but tied to a brand.
Always enjoy listening to Prof Harvey.
Susi M same!
Finally flattening the carbone dioxide curve. Turns out you don't need most of the junk we produce. Thanks Corona. In the meanwhile, "Tend to your garden." --Voltaire
Why would people vote this down ! They must live in one hell of a fantasy world!
.... called the USA.
@@alexcarter8807 hi
@George AKA Dad hi
@George AKA Dad He's a social and political thinker and he is thinking through the structural changes to capitalism (the system that determines our lives) brought about by this virus, and he's helping others see them. This is important. He doesn't need to do all the "heavy lifting of finding and implementing solutions." He's helping to raise people's consciousness about the conditions that determine our lives. That's enough heavy lifting. It's up to us to do the rest.
I'm glad that you are keeping as safe as you can professor. Your voice is very important to us
S T A Y A L I V E
TEE SHIRT: "Thank the virus for its anti-capitalist instincts!"
ha, love it.
@@tylerfoley7836 hi
Turn the golf courses into gardens.
Eliminate all contact sports. Football and soccer fields also goid for gardens. The basketball courts turned into yoga studios.
@@kathleenhillock9366 Basketball actually is a lot of really good exercise in a pretty small space. It was originally invented as a thing to play indoors over cold Midwest winters. I'd also say that each town ought to have their soccer pitch, as it's such a simple, elegant sport; really the sport of the people. But yeah golf, those courses are going to make some great farms.
what if instead of mowing your front lawns and wasting money on fertilizing to make sure your grass is thicker and fluffier than your neighbors, each street just tried to grow their own garden. if its an urban area then each block has to have a garden that each resident can come and tend to. also what always bothered me in America is the fakeness towards nature, all the trees and shrubs planted are mostly decorative, where is the food? I'm from another country originally and you can go outside and have a snack off any tree or whatever you find on the ground. here its impossible to find and if you find a good pear tree or cherry tree it just falls down rots or the birds go nuts and eat it all because they too are fucked and starving and eating all the wrong shit.
Thanks Doc!
Only by purchasing labor power can money act as capital. Can't do that if no one can work do to an plague. What will happen now I wonder...
Lots of goods in warehouses, perhaps ubi will be implemented, and this could speed up the flow of money to the current business model. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.
Muh labor theory of value
@@MBarberfan4life muh useless smartass
@@MBarberfan4life Too many economists of one type and not enough of another in positions of influence to make the necessary decisions in the interest of....?
Some people travel to stay near a beach and work on the cheap to escape consumerism. It sounds backwards but if one is alienated to the point that they renounce their nationality (to the point I have). They can, with little money, roam about and eat local foods and avoid tourist trap areas. Then reintegrate later into families who are, nonetheless indoctrinated into consumerism by their local television programming (advertising mind control). Yet such people are staunch and realize these things are luxuries that can be lived without. In the first world people can't live as easily without.
Truly an insight.
Thank you mr. Harvey :)
Start by growing fruit trees everywhere food will be the number one essential thing we need.Start a garden on those big green useless lawns people have.
In a way the virus is being very kind to homo sapiens. They are a much more powerful force. In the northern hemisphere and equator, the effect from the virus will be diminishing as crop planting proceeds. Imagine if we were just going into winter! Homo sapiens created the conditions for the virus inadvertently (call it a learning experience) so in a way it's inevitable but the timing of the system is really good for us. Thank you!!
A learning experience? How much learning do we need? This isnt the first virus to come from our enslavement of non-humans.
@@ASMRyouVEGANyet The value of a learning experience, imho, is that the learning of the lesson justifies all the hardship it took to achieve that understanding. If the lesson isn't learned, then the ones who suffer are still potential victims.
Thank you Prof. Harvey.✌❤
Is there a citation for the claim that 70% of the impulse for economic growth comes from consumption? 00:26
A bare minimum or income floor if you will, Will help citizens, allow businesses to make money, and allow me to buy videogames. It's the best way fowrard.
It is about time, the party is overdue, and someone has to pay the bills, and its not mr capitalism. The ai, machines and robots can do it. But the owners refuse to let everyone use it. Because the profits... and stockmarket. You just got to have a profit. Being stagnant is not good enough for them. But the world is not infinite. Isnt it obvious for everyone !?
Paying for experiences is different than paying for junk that sits in your garage.
ASMRyouVEGANyet? Sure but all of that is still turned into a commodity by the corporations that sell you experiences so we’re still participating in mass consumerism
@@gabe6098 hi
I think people in general will reevaluate thier disposable income and learn to live with in ones means.
That's great! But I doubt it will pay their accumulated debt, especially if they've lost their job; then their home and car and any other assets when the foreclosure and bankruptcy comes. No easy way out here...
yeah until the new iphone drops
The Fed rate cut to zero was aimed at business, not at helping people!
Love "The Internationale" music at the beginning. I wonder what kind of May Day activities are going to be gotten up where I live? I suspect social distancing will still be a thing, but I plan to have it well practiced on my trumpet for the occasion.
Prof. Harvey wrote about this in Jacobin too, in case you want to read it too.
This is the time when we need more strong critiques of capitalism. And make sure they get out to as many people as possible.
Isn't this a crises mainly brought by a supply shock in contradistinction to the 2008 crises which was brought on by a collapse in demand?
Not one statement on the precipitous decline coming to the Arts ? Festivals provide work for musicians and artists , that you assign it a grade of excess consumerism is a faulty generalization . Our daily lives are soon to be drowned in prohibitive chemicals, so this requires radical de-consumption . What happened to the power of boycott ? Passivity is the roadmap to our acquiescent destruction , a slow motion shatter . Americans soon occupy the weak minority overcome by Mandarin Chinese . Where will our stolen nukes eventually reside?
we need now universal basic income for us now
Isn't technology a very adaptable instrument in the hands of the profit motive? What role could technology play in restoring demand in the economy, for example by developing new virtual reality products that offer simulacra of touristic consumption in a way that adapts to the social effects of the virus? An individualised, alienated dystopia compared to which a socially planned economy would be preferable any day!
Brand new to the channel.
I am not really understanding why throwing away all of capitalism for central planning makes sense. As opposed to keeping some mechanisms of capitalism that work relatively well, such as (regulated/etc) free markets figuring out what to produce vastly more efficiently than any central planner, while throwing out the broken accumulation/redistribution part of capitalism, in favor of new, centrally planned if you will, limits and laws about redistribution and inequality: universal income, progressive taxes, explicit upper bounds wealth limits, etc.
Wouldn’t a mixed economy be reasonable, with things capitalism does poorly at, like healthcare, made universal, and structural things it does poorly like accumulation/redistribution made socialist/universal, but the things it does well at, like free markets generating valuable goods, or labor specialization generating efficiency, kept, in a mixed economy.
In any case, thank you. I came here trying to build a habit of seeking out views that differ or are discomforting, and I found the lecture both well expressed and conveying a spirit of kindness.
Going by this video, I would argue that the tourism industry would be one that you would leave to the free markets. So my question to you is, when a virus like this appears and decimates that market, what does your free market system do? Especially given the high levels of unemployment that it generates? I'm just asking as well.
@@Warhorse1UKIn normal times, I would leave tourism to market competition because as an industry it is not particularly prone to monopoly, or asymmetric information, or regulatory capture, or any particular free market boundary condition flaw. Free markets are quite inappropriate to some circumstances, where anti-trust law, or nationalization, or regulation, etc are essential. Markets are a tool with limitations. They are amazingly productive when their limits are respected. They go awry and injure, like a misused power tool, when their limits or safety rules are ignored.
I think you can reasonably argue that crisis like this virus, (or a meteor hitting a whole coast with tsumani, or yellowstone's volcano raining ash on 100s of miles of farmland), break the boundary conditions of markets. In a different way than the threat of monopoly, or asymmetric information break them, but similar in a kind of boundary conditions way. Arguing that you need a non-market solution, like a holiday on rents, helicopter dropping money to people ,etc, seems reasonable to me - I'm not adverse to that.
The difference to me seems to be that this limitation break is time-bound. If you have assymettric info in healthcare, there's no market fix or transient patch, you just need to nationalize healthcare. Whereas century rare crisis (pandemic, tsunami, volcano) pass. You need exceptional polices...rent holidays, helicopter money, x3 unemployment benefits, etc, etc during the crisis, but the crisis passes.
We could have a mixed economy where we use markets, sometimes, judiciously, where they work well, and we also mixed economy invest in a socialist fashion in things like nationalized healthcare, or deeper social safety nets, virus response / virus R&D, existential threat meteor detection. There are things markets don't spontaneously solve or apply to; we can still use markets in a mixed economy.
Corona virus is a cure.
Please, WHY does the interest rate keeps falling since centuries, now nearly zero and even sometimes minus?
The interest rates are falling because the fed is trying to spur economic activity aka borrowing cheap money at low interest rates. It’s basically a last resort at this point until no one can afford to take out any more loans and cannot pay their debts. Lowering interest rates at this point is just a bandaid
@@quantifycrypto3898 hi
Love it x
capitalists cannot explain existence of billionaires or need for govt corporate bailouts. Unregulated capitalism in cahoots with a willing corrupt system is not working for us, or our environment. An unethical financial system based on growth is not sustainable. We need to reset and take it back, we are all caught up in this... (for now) Peace.- ps bring back the ccc (look it up)
One more time....pandemic followed by the great depression of 1920/21
fee.org/articles/the-depression-youve-never-heard-of-1920-1921/
www.aier.org/article/1920-depression-v-great-depression/
mises.org/library/forgotten-depression-1920
Hahahahhahahah the virus killed the capitalism 😂😂😂😂😂
Now the question is - how much are people ready to take, until they come to a realization that the system does not favor the everyday person. Do people think? And do they dream for a better life? Also what do the humankind strife for? To be Jeff Bezos or to have love for people around and care for one another?
We have kept the delivery boys,we create employment or might be drone supply the food later on or free food for all
Welcome to the world of holy development
Haha - deadly, I didn't know David Harvey was doing a podcast.
David "and the rest of it" Harvey
I've often thought that Marx thought the common man would be like him, someone who valued freedom over the pursuit of pleasure or materialism; and would be willing to accept a degree of austerity to enjoy that freedom. How wrong he was on that one, perhaps. Marxism, I believe would only be accepted if it came along with a great deal of individual freedom. This is what Marxists I think need to demonstrate, not just talk about; because freedom along with the austerity that's required will probably never win an election. A highly enviable and incentivized example has got to be created. sites.google.com/view/the-communal-solution/home
There is a book called "Escape From Freedom" by Erich Fromm. It was written during World War Il and goes into great depth about this. It's one of the best books I've ever read.
I believe that is where I picked up this information or perhaps from some other book by Erich Fromm.
No body runs away from good, had capitalism not keep demanding higher costs without appropriate compensation in terms of wages we would not have been here.
I hope David Harvey is doing fine
Personally, I believe the solution must start from the bottom up. sites.google.com/view/the-communal-solution/home
This is where Marxism or anarchism falls flat. Admittedly, perhaps, it's a little easier for people like, say the Zapatistas; who already had a land base, a culture and communities. But still, if there was a will, I believe we could find a way. That is, of course, if we could agree upon what it was we actually wanted to create as an alternative to evil capitalism or for that matter forced socialism or force communism.
"Maybe you all can learn to enjoy cooking from home..", yes,yes,all well and good,but what home? What money to afford food to cook? Right now we are staring at the abyss,no pay coming in for 3 solid weeks,state shut down my business. Mortgage has cone due and were getting no aid or relief,no money in our accounts and running out of food. Need help immediately.
David harvey wouldn't disagree with you. He understands full well that "enjoying cooking at home" depends on having a home. The society we live in and the people who rule it obviously don't think it's a necessity, and/or don't care. Our basic needs for food and shelter are basic conditions for the possibility of any real enjoyment and freedom beyond that. Real human freedom can only be imagined so long as you don't have you basic needs met.
FDR gave us guaranteed inflation which from 1860 to 1939, ranged from 0% to 125%, and ended up at 67% in 1939 for the ENTIRE 80 YEARS.
Since 1939 the inflation rate has been 1800% with 600% occurring by 1982.
FDR also introduced taxation on wages as income twice, once in 1935 w/social security whichguarantees NOTHING by law, and secondly with the Victory Tax in 1942, which became thepresent day income tax.....
Also, regardless of the level of "marginal income tax rates", capital gains taxation has always been an exception.....so the taxation of "the rich" has always given them a way out, with the "new deal" requiring them to hold "investments for two years" to qualify......and this has been cut in half.
Keynesian economics begins w/ publication of his "book" in 1936....where as FDR's actions vis a vis, lawful or hard money, begins on day one of his presidency.....with the claim of "economists" pretending this was a cure for the "business cycle".....and the "evidence" seems to indicate that this was an abject failure....which should not be confused with "monetary policy", which could have been implemented without transforming our currency to that of fiat.....under control of the Federal Reserve, rather than congress and the US Treasury.
The consequences of this "transformation" have been devastating in several ways.....
1.) Consistent inflation introduces a constant wage/ price upward spiral, with wages chasing profits and asset appreciation......while simultaneously discouraging "savings" in real terms due to the constant decline of purchasing power, and encouraging "debt" which manifested itself in "consumerism" which produces an illusion of economic expansion, where future debt offers the "almost" guaranteed prospect, of liquidating debt, with the expanded money supply, or in dollars whose purchasing power has been diminished. This extends the "normal business cycle" from the cited four to seven years, to one that can last much longer, because the natural recessions are shifted upwards, so the first "recognizable" downturn did not become apparent until 1972, which saw a 300% inflation rate whose effects were minimized.
The next decade, however, produced another 100% ( 300% ) by 1982, at which point, we went from being the largest creditor nation, to the largest debtor nation (1984 ) and this has worsened considerably, since then. ( what cost $1.67 in 1939, cost $5.04 in 1972 and $11.63 in 1982. )
2.) The fiat system (1933 ) also increased the potential for "speculation" by all of those "entities" engaged in the issuance of credit/finance.....which also increased the "money supply" to those other than the "federal reserve", through lowering "reserve requirements" and "raising interest rates" on extended credit. Major effects were felt in 1987, 2000, and 2008....with the latter, essentially being "covered over" by manipulation.....not resolved, which is why we are here.....facing a collapse ( which has already occurred )....while Magical Monetary Theory seeks to extend the pretext.
www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/history/chart
www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1860?amount=1
To illustrate the wage price spiral....we can match federal minimum wage to price inflation, as follows.
Beginning in 1956....wage $1.00 .....Price inflation ...$3.28
1968.....wage $1.60.......Price inflation....$4.19 %increase 60% vs 27%
1974....wage $2.00......Price inflation......$5.94 29% vs 41%
1981.....wage $3.35.......Price inflation......$10.95 67% vs 84%
1997.....wage $5.15......Price inflation......$ 19.34 58% vs 76%
2009......wage $7.25.......Price inflation.......$ 25.85 40% vs 33%
Today ....wage $7.25 ( living wage ask) $15.......Price inflation......$31.17 0% vs 20%
Now it should not take a "genius" ( most if not all economists do not qualify as such, regardless of I.Q or "ism" ) to recognize this pattern which is demonstrating both increasing instability over time, and has produced all manner of effects in response which are exacerbating these effects....in their denial.
Whatever one might imagine constitutes the concept of "wealth", once it is separated from a "utilitarian connection" it ceases to function in a beneficial capacity or a potential beneficial capacity and this should have been obvious, since there are inconsistencies that arise even in the "utilitarian" mode.
All the wealth in the world, can not purchase those things that are required to exist... from those who possess them.....so that the only means available to acquire such resources is by force and against those who would not otherwise "consent" to such means of acquisition, which despite all the bullshit, of the various "isms" and "archy's" that have dominated the history of civilization from the "late neolithic period".....none of them are capable of altering this REALITY, yet they persist in the attempt to convince us that it can. Do not continue to encourage them.
One more time....pandemic followed by the great depression of 1920/21
fee.org/articles/the-depression-youve-never-heard-of-1920-1921/
www.aier.org/article/1920-depression-v-great-depression/
mises.org/library/forgotten-depression-1920
@@jgalt308 Ha! Capitalism is a disaster and Ayn Rand was a hack!
@@tomgreg2008 I always appreciate it when the "willfully ignorant, functional illiterate, unevolved talking hominids" are compelled to share their reactive, fallacious and irrelevant response while believing it is an argument to that which they clearly haven't read and wouldn't have the intelligence to comprehend even if they had.
Welcome to "civilization"......and the continuation of 12000 years of stupid human tricks....ya gotta love it.
I can see you're a pretty good copy and paster!
@@tomgreg2008 For those who employ logical reasoning, this is known and referred to as "citing"
corroborating evidence and it's source. ( not that you would be familiar with this )
no kidding CONSUMER DEMAND drives economies ----the issue is who owns the means of production -----if it is private enterprise you have a capitalist business sector ---if it is the state you have a socialist business sector ---it is quite possible to have a capitalist business sector in a republic , parliamentary system, theocracy --autocracy, monarchy and dictatorship ------it is also quite possible to have a socialist business sector in a theocracy ,autocracy , monarchy , dictatorship or any form of elected government
goofy people who havent thought much about it assume democracy means capitalism ---it doesnt ,capitalism can thrive weather or not the government is elected
There is a perfectly reasonable reason why the "right wing" is hesitant to stimulate demand with new money created out of thin air. If you elect to stimulate demand without raising taxes, you quickly discover that the newly-created money buys ever less . Currency inflation invariably results in price inflation. If you want to discover how that works, check out Zimbabwe and Venezuela!!
Unfortunately there is a big missing point here as conventional interpetation of Marx theory! No place to point out Chines version of capitalism effect on this equation. No place in this analysis to indicate how capitalism is self correcting itself by huge helping people life in this disaster rather than just going after profit margin and last not least the boosting process evolving capitalism and happening now that can shortcut the process to go to post capitalisem through this event!
(?) So in the Socialist Utopia workers never need vacations?
Load questions much? For starters, time off =/= tourist industry.
@@non-standardproletarian3356 hi
In socialist utopia workers will work max 2-3 hours a day thanks to robots doing most physical stuff. They will have pretty much entire life's of non stop vacations.
@@UniDeathRaven Can I ask you something?