Anti-Capitalist Chronicles: Anti-Capitalist Politics in the Time of Covid-19

[S2 E06] Anti-Capitalist Politics in the Time of Covid-19
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In this episode, Prof. Harvey talks about the factors and conditions that enables COVID-19 to become a pandemic and the ramifications for the economy and for social life.
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[@spiritualeco-syndicalisthe207]

We have a global pandemic and our biggest concern is whether our system collapses, because its built-in weaknesses amplify the effect of this crisis. Now that‘s a system... If the economy will eventually collapse, remember to join a co-op. Human labour cannot collapse, it‘s the people‘s trust in money that makes the system unstable, therefore we need a system which considers human labour to be the most valuable part of the economy: socialism!

[@Oneshot8242]

I'd like to point people to Kevin Carson's book (free PDF download) "The Homebrew Industrial Revolution". We could have had a decentralized manufacturing economy as far back as the invention of electric motors. It's even more possible today, with desktop 3d machines, local casting and CNC machine. It's a bear of a book to get through, but well worth it.

[@alterworlds1629]

@@Oneshot8242 Which is a fantastic system to live in, in food production and the production of goods. Transportation costs go WAY down on many products, food can be much fresher, and allowed to ripen on the tree/vine/whatever longer to get more nutrients instead of pulling them early so they stay pretty for the shelves a bit longer, the spread of diseases and invasive species plummets as transportation of goods is minimized, each countries development isn't destroyed by outsourcing labor, so it doesn't deprive people of living well after developing this far. The list goes on and on honestly. 3D printing should be the final nail in the coffin for many things as it becomes more and more advanced. Creating things on the other side of the world will no longer be efficient when you can print it at a local community center for next to nothing. The mass production of worthless cheaply made goods will go WAY down which is nice, instead of creating mountains of toys cuz of the latest trends with half of them being thrown into landfills within a year, and seeing as people won't want to litter their own landscapes with junk, we will invest FAR more into maximizing the power of recycling, which feeds back into 3D printing when done well. It's the true circular economy we want, and the way of living that would produce it. Rich people can't influence and control people in this system, and it's not really abuse-able to a degree that social order wouldn't prevent, such as 1 person trying to use all the printers for themselves, no one would allow that.

[@Oneshot8242]

@@alterworlds1629 Zillions of how- to DIY CNC machine vids on KZbin.

[@andrealb4363]

Hurry up! I need to see the second part! Eheehe. Stay safe prof. Harvey. We need you!

[@kennytheclown3859]

He always has an interesting perspective.

[@ZOGGYDOGGY]

Where there is wage-labour, there is capitalism, even in in the PRC. High density farming is generated through the dynamic of commodity production and sale, a system of production which is based on competition between owners of the means of production and the drive to gain market share by lessening the amount of socially necessary labour time to produce wealth. Think of time and how necessary it is for the production of wealth used to make profits. Think of how necessary a lot of those service industries are. Transport of agricultural stuff to stores, yes. Instant food outlets, not so much. There is, as you well point out, a service industry based on instant gratification of needs created by the very functioning of profit making, but not essential for us, if we, the producing class, have enough time for ourselves. Our increasing productivity (output per hour of labour) should lead to shorter work time for our class, but it doesn't. Our increased production of wealth has only led to increased accumulation of capital and the capitalists have looked for ways to hire workers for wages to further increase capital and that has led to the creation of a servant industry--think of all those instantaneous services you enumerate e.g. Netflix, plus all those who work making dinners, lunches and tourist ships operate, not to mention jets fly to fill spots in the tourist industry. Are these really needed in a time when the IPCC is giving us eight years to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Think about need and time and you begin to think about the end of the growth of Capital and the beginning of the growth of free-time as we potentially organise as a class to socially own and democratically control the wealth we produce. Under the rule of Capital, the use of natural resources has little to zero environmental price and so a capitalist can lessen the amount of labour time to zero when it comes to environmental consequences. That is why we have factory farming. Investors in the stock market have a mindset which can be generalised and is assumed throughout the body politic within the wage system to wit: hooray for me, devil take the hindmost. Yes, production and consumption form a dialectical unity, a necessary connection. Yes, it takes labour time to produce commodities for sale. No workers, no wealth is produced. COVID-19 has resulted in what amounts to a general strike. The stock market was full of fictitious capital, FIRE and all that. Price was way inflated over value. Netflix etc. are services which could be produced for use and distributed on the basis of need through a socialist mode of producing and distributing wealth.

[@PHYRBRND]

Plz stay safe Professor . Don't know what we'd do without your perspective and knowledge. 😩

[@Sheh1000]

> what we'd do without your perspective and knowledge We will learn marxism

[@redhotjcc]

Ha! I was just thinking about Love in the Time of Cholera yesterday.

[@analuzperezduran1979]

redhotjcc , Me too!

[@GregamazingNinja]

Great work you're doing and stay safe everyone!

[@Camcolito]

Thanks David, you're an absolute legend.

[@svetlicam]

I think you forgot to mention mobilisation of public infrastructure for public not private interest, which is globally outgoing, again showing that private corporate sector cannot provide public interest even close es well as public sector. Which impose importance of public sector over private corporate sector for maintening of crisis and prevention of it as well as coordination of public interest and well-being of humans in society, which is crucial if we want to avoid crisis as this or even worse that could come amide ongoing climate change. Even this virus would not become epidemic if there was cold ordinary winter with temperatures below zero because virus cannot survive on that temperature. So we could expect some new epidemics in the future for sure. I noticed that even outbreaks of ebola are closely related to record high temperatures, when occurs very dry seasons in agricultural regions of subsahar Africa and population is turned towards hunting chimpanzee more, which first get infected from fruits that fruit bat's left because there is more fruits than bat's need to eat due to high temperature in jungle regions, and bat's are carriers of ebola virus. This show how nature is highly connected.

[@Jard777]

Professor Harvey, you are a major reason why I’ve grown immensely interested in local politics, geography and way a forward into a better life for all. Thank you for your invaluable work and I’m glad to see you doing well for we can use more educators like you in these trying times

[@tronalddump5447]

plz be safe professor Harvey and professor wolff. best wishes from a PhD candidate major in human geography in China. thanks for your wisdom!

[@谢宇-v4s]

Wow!really?

[@谢宇-v4s]

Which collage u choose

[@tronalddump5447]

@@谢宇-v4sBNU

[@谢宇-v4s]

@@tronalddump5447 北京大学？wow！itis one of the best universitys in my homeland .

[@谢宇-v4s]

@@tronalddump5447do u understand Chinese speaking ?

[@tusharsingh4543]

I was waiting for your take on COVID-19. Good timing!

[@秋分-d8i]

Wuhan will come back online this month, gradually

[@tewtravelers9586]

So will the virus.

[@gas8257]

Wow, turns out you got everything correct!

[@markuspfeifer8473]

If people keep going out, Germany may run out of sick beds in two weeks by conservative estimates.

[@谢宇-v4s]

"After we leave, they will repair schools and hospitals for you and raise your wages. This is not because they have found their conscience or because they have become good people, but because we have been here."

[@indonesiamenggugat8795]

Thanks, David..best wishes from indonesia

[@itstankietime7114]

Couldn't most of those rising tourist numbers be explained by the amount of Chinese people now being able to afford travel?

[@Latuernich09]

If they could, the human cultured animals would pour infinite malice over man because he now suffers from the same conditions he created for the animals as also for himself.

[@emiliobertrandbungegonzale9961]

Stay safe profesor!!!!

[@PlayMyMusicPlaylist]

Growth and growth like bodybuilders on steroid. The idea of being hustler, be the king, be the billionaires, be the boss, are poisoning our mind. We become selfish, narcissistic, and consumptive. People won't voluntarily save money for emergency. It has to be top down approach. People should only have debt no more than 4x their annual income, inflation must be kept low through regulation like banning Airbnb or limiting property ownership, big businesses should have cash for recession, any bankrupt companies become state-owned, to succeed we need the smartest individual to be politicians (IQ standard), special task force for anti-corruption, higher tax for the top 30%, government can be efficient by cutting middleman, free universities and focus at STEM will lead into high quality of human capital, etc.

[@sherwoodweisheit8604]

I look forward to your next lecture! I would suggest you add in the diminution of the aerosol masking effect and the most recent peer reviewed study on the effects of air traffic on global weather. Guy McPherson has a well documented overview. Less CO2 would have been a good thing 70 years ago. It may be a devil's bargain at this point.

[@avonjohn3393]

The brilliant analysis of politico-economic meaning of the corona pandemic! (As always) Thank you very much, Prof Harvey!

[@superfriendlyalpaca]

Thank you Professor Harvey for your wisdom and anti-capitalist perspectives in these uncertain times! The revolution is upon us... Please stay safe and healthy!

[@markschuette3770]

yes the environment is benefitting from this- but the gov. is now going to subsidize much of the economy - so it may return quickly- thus the only way we can sustain a cleaner economy is via a carbon tax.

[@ShredMota]

Thank you so much for the video, professor Harvey! I was really waiting for your take on the current situation. Please, be safe.

[@hornetobiker]

The airlines will be fine. Their assets won't depreciate, they just have to eat the loss like the rest of us. They don't cry in the good times, they avoid paying their taxes.

[@liamconnolly1621]

While it's not exactly what he said, I love the idea that Baltimore is where tourism started and the world followed.

[@DynV]

32:59 No! No! No! No! You're going to give a real-life Jeffrey Goines ideas.

[@lutherdean6922]

Thanks for covering this

[@venceremosallende422]

Read Lenins Imperialism the highest stage of capitalism

[@LONEWOLF..314-S-T-L]

IT'S A NEW BALLGAME ... FACTS 💪💯👍

[@venceremosallende422]

It is happening in germany

[@allonesame6467]

I am so relieved and comforted to hear your voice.

[@shreypurohit4510]

Thank you professor ❤️

[@plusgoodproductions1550]

Dreadful

[@jason8924]

This beats boris churchills approach 👍

[@totonow6955]

Thank you Dr. Harvey again and again. Now, whoever ( whomever? ) is able get Dr. Harvey some hair gel. Gently apply when hair is very wet. Gently remove some moisture but not too much. Then let the hair air dry. Comb or finger comb the hair when dry and you will lock the waves in place till the next washing. 😌with love and admiration.

[@ASMRyouVEGANyet]

Do you think he cares?

[@totonow6955]

@@ASMRyouVEGANyet Well hello again. I care about him.

[@bumblebee9337]

Will China close its wildlife markets permanently? Will they have learned their lesson this time?