Does Capitalism Mean Freedom? (with Zephyr Teachout)

[@TheGravelInstitute]

Thank you for watching! We're launching this project to counter right-wing disinformation sources like PragerU. The problem is, they have millions of dollars in oil billionaire money and we have nothing but our supporters and our ideas. The only way this can succeed is if the people who want to see it help us out. Consider becoming a patron of the Institute and making these videos possible: www.patreon.com/gravelinstitute. We will be forever in your debt.

[@Reedskiii]

Pog

[@JeremyPezmanTaylor]

Joined last video

[@mmorley10]

thanks for the video guys! and thank you for putting sources in the description too!! can't wait to see what work you guys do next

[@MrTooEarnestOnline]

Thanks for actually putting the sources in the description

[@johnmietus4801]

thank you so much! donated,,,only even remotely negative comment is that theyre just a bittttt too long (both when compared to the reactionary clickbaity PragerU vids) aside from that love all of it!

[@cameronikswokark5536]

They privatize the profits, and socialize the losses.

[@ItsOgre]

“The nanny state is good for me but not for you, you need tough love” - Ayn Rand Institute.

[@Commanber]

Capitalism working as intended.

[@EntinludeX]

Hahahaha ayn rand. Aaaahahahahaha.

[@filip30051]

yes and thats not capitalism, is it?

[@carlos_herrera]

@@filip30051 how is it not?

[@SecondThought]

Keep up the good work!

[@DarckT7]

Keep up the good work too comrade

[@justinmoreno3139]

So Second Thought & Gravel Institute collab?👀

[@abdurrazzaq2314]

happy to see you here, long time subscriber!

[@dageo4766]

Hi Second Thought!

[@dageo4766]

Also you and the Gravel Institute should collab

[@celestialbeas9214]

my wife was hospitalized with major kidney problems because she wasnt drinking enough water at work, where she got in trouble for taking bathroom breaks. two years ago, we are still paying the bills on that. she has gotten a different job, with a pay cut, and we now live with my parents... we havent really been able to save because of student loans, and medical debt. We are not lazy, we are not unmotivated, we just have no options, and there's no way out of this...

[@lperezherrera1608]

It's not that hard. You should have chosen to be born in a very wealthy family. It's so easy.

[@swarnavparida5275]

should've been educated in a more lucrative field

[@wvu05]

@@swarnavparida5275 You are aware that a) society would crumble if not for the people doing the jobs that you deem unworthy, and b) if everyone does that, the market gets flooded and the low wages continue, right?

[@wvu05]

So sorry you had to go through that. Hopefully, the day will come when we have medical debt forgiveness and Workplace Democracy so neither you or anyone else has to go through this again.

[@superior878]

Obviously you just aren't working hard enough. Maybe you should stop begging for handouts and hustle harder. (Sarcasm btw)

[@syramento]

I was a participant in the most significant labor action of the last 40 years - the air traffic controller strike. Its funny how, back in 1981, most people cheered the destruction of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), but today nearly everyone I meet says the breaking of PATCO was a disaster for the American worker. Its amazing how hindsight can sharpen your vision.

[@Jpturlax01]

Yeah, in their stupid hubris, they thought they wouldn't be put into a situation like you heroes were. They were right, now they're put into worse conditions. First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me. - Martin Niemöller

[@kenshin6553]

Why is it that you’re expected to give your boss a 2 week notice before quitting, but your boss doesn’t need to give you a 2 week notice before firing you?

[@hamnchee]

You don't gave to give notice.

[@A4MAce]

@@hamnchee They said expected to. If you're gonna troll all these comments at least read them ya corporate shill.

[@hamnchee]

@@A4MAce When you pay me as much as the huge corporations do for perpetuating online an expectation of two week notices from employees, then I'll shill for your side and fight to dismantle the oppressive and likely racist institution of two-weeks notice. But for now, my paycheck depends on advising employees not to burn too many bridges on their journeys from job to job.

[@greg5892]

@General Pinochet Wow is that ever an unsupported assumption.

[@greg5892]

@General Pinochet Of course if you're being an "idiot at work in a bad way" you will get fired. Your original statement says that's every case of firing. "If you are fired...you did something wrong." This is untrue. Plenty of people are fired for unjust reasons.

[@theblackdeath4398]

As Slavoj Zizek said, "new oppressions are presented to you as new freedoms." The freedom to choose between employers is really freedom to choose between autocratic slavemasters, where they make all the profit, and you don't get paid what you're worth. It's called wage slavery for a reason.

[@Frahamen]

Read: "oppreshions are preshented -sniff- to you ash nyuw freedoms -sniff-."

[@motorcycleman115]

I think hes lined up to speak on this channel at some point

[@MonicaG_]

@Exploited unlivable wage voluntarist libertarian quick correction, it's *forced* volunteerism.

[@Kamyu03]

Do you harvest your own food? You need money to buy food otherwise you die, and that money has to come from somewhere. And the farmers only care about their money, not you

[@KeinNiemand]

still better then the alternative: actual slavery.

[@downwithputinsaveukraine1313]

There's a very well known saying in circles of legal theory, it goes back nearly 300 years. "For our friends, everything, for our enemies, the law." That has now been supplanted by, "For the rich, socialism, for everyone else, capitalism (wage slavery)."

[@Elizabeth68337]

exactly we can starve during a pandemic while airlines and big corps get bailed out by the gov

[@cl5619]

End world poverty NOW Demand that all governments adopt the $15 minimum wage

[@danielrodriguespinto5318]

Perfect. We live in a system that stole from poors to give it to richies. When we want socialism politcs to make our life better... we are EVIL! Since we are a child they work to demonize the word "Socialism" for us while they live by governments financial Bailouts with our money. With our life!

[@ThomasBomb45]

Eh, I agree with this point, but remember that giving rich people ownership of the means of production is not socialism. Socialism for the rich is an oxymoron

[@mikolowiskamikolowiska4993]

@@Elizabeth68337 you voted for it

[@ststst981]

"The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.” - MLK

[@ststst981]

@trollnerd sadly that's the result of Neoliberal whitewashing of MLK in our education system. Keep the nonviolent protest part, and scrub away all of his anti capitalist speeches. And Malcom X is maybe given one paragraph at most.

[@hangukhiphop]

@trollnerd "The reactionary is always willing to take a progressive attitude on any issue that is dead." - Theodore Roosevelt

[@dr.jpdixon6299]

"We're not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism - we're going to fight capitalism with socialism"

[@hamnchee]

@@ststst981 It's almost like not everything MLK ever said was gospel.

[@ststst981]

@@hamnchee yea because those in power and scrub away the socialist part of his message and make sure the schools never teach the anti-capitalist side of him

[@bh4462]

Corporate tyranny is completely ignored in this country.

[@thelouster5815]

Because there’s no such thing. What this video is complaining about is pure nonsense and propaganda and the solutions they bring up in fact constrict competition, which in turn propagate the “monopolies” being shown in the video.

[@bh4462]

@@thelouster5815 Try working retail then tell me the same thing again.

[@abbaszaffarkhan1872]

@@thelouster5815 ah yes, because our current solution causes zero monopolies

[@genieglasslamp5028]

@@thelouster5815 But it is true that only a few companies dominate markets. There is no real "competition" in our current system. As someone who needs glasses its terrifying to learn that only one company has control of the market.

[@squarecracker]

It's 100% enabled by the same government that progressives expect to save them. Regulations are the tool that businesses use to protected their monopoly power while convincing you it's in your interest.

[@Takapon218]

I know it isn’t the point of the video but “Zephyr Teachout” is such an incredible name???? Wow.

[@noko4247]

sounds like a character in a cyber punk tabletop game

[@Takapon218]

N K V D oh HELL yeah

[@TheBasedGreeg]

I voted for her back when she ran against Cuomo, she was also a surrogate of the Bernie Sanders campaign. Awesome name, awesome work lol

[@TheKruz-ox6fo]

@@TheBasedGreeg I voted for her, too! (though you might be thinking of Cynthia Nixon who ran against Cuomo for governor--who I also voted for! Teachout ran against James for AG) She got scammed out of the Attorney General seat because two other people were marketed to Upstate NY but not at all to Downstate. That allowed Letitia James to focus on Downstate completely while Upstate and WNY were split by Teachout and the establishment foils.

[@hydratanksamari]

I’m still hot about Bernie not supporting Teachout after she wrote her oped calling Biden corrupt. It’s the truth and I hate to think Bernie doesn’t want the truth to come out. But you can bet I and millions of others will be fighting Biden on day one

[@PartyComrade]

Everything Gravel I has that PragerU doesn't have: - Serious people - Facts - Citations - Real data - Sense of humor

[@johnwillliamson8063]

Jordan Peterson isn't a serious person?

[@expressedjourney8049]

@@johnwillliamson8063 No.

[@abudgie6909]

@@johnwillliamson8063 Jordan Peterson is a clown. He’s said that men and women should be separated in the workplace because putting on makeup is “asking to be sexually harassed”. He’s a clown.

[@misterauctor7353]

@@abudgie6909 "Jordan Peterson is a clown." Projecting? "He's... harassed”." Where did he say that though?

[@misterauctor7353]

What makes you think that those citations aren't cherry-picking?

[@May-tk6sz]

Gravel: Capitalism is flawed and undemocratic. PragerU: Capitalism is perfect unless it's conservatives getting oppressed by facebook :(

[@casbah2075]

They did the same shit on KZbin a few years back and none of their cult followers remember.

[@sergioalvarez1919]

You are a clown. Facebook censors certain opinions that hinders if not purposely interferes with the election but you clowns talk about Russia collusion. Morons, trump supporters have more open and diverse opinions unlike you clowns on the left they can disagree. You lack creativity hence why this channel is just a copy cat of pragerU. Gravel Institue. Fitting name because you guys are worms. The media, FB, IG, Twitter , all major news corporations , universities actively try to undermine the elections by under reporting or misrepresenting or flat out lying. But sure, trump is the one that has the cult.

[@cainlolsson97]

@@sergioalvarez1919 Man that projecting is just unreal.

[@casbah2075]

Sergio Alvarez Yes it censors, that's why Anti-vac, flat earth and 4g conspiracies all make their home on FB because of all that suppression. 🤡 Curious.

[@sergioalvarez1919]

@@cainlolsson97 Projecting? Thats why this wanna be show was created? In my experience liberals/ progressives have been the most racist and intolerant people. Guys that are for feminism have been some of the sleezy guys I've ever met.

[@PremierCCGuyMMXVI]

I love how people on the right say government should be small because they want freedom yet they are fine with corporations telling them what to do

[@AnglicanFish]

I love how liberals still don’t understand the difference between corporatism and capitalism

[@PremierCCGuyMMXVI]

@@AnglicanFish capitalism can lead to corporatism. And we don’t support abolishing capitalism. A social Democracy like Scandinavia would do

[@landenrobinson7500]

@@PremierCCGuyMMXVI Scandinavia has been ruling back regulation for decades.

[@PremierCCGuyMMXVI]

@@landenrobinson7500 wdym? They have high taxes

[@JS-po8oc]

@@AnglicanFish Yet corporatism cannot exist without capitalism and capitalism is what leads to corporatism through companies funding corporatist politicians.

[@EricSandwich]

in high school textbooks they have these color coded maps of the world of "free" and "unfree" countries, with all the nice "free" countries in soothing blues and everything else in dangerous reds. These are actually just maps of how much those countries submit to American corporate hegemony and allow themselves to be suppliers of raw resources or cheap manpower to the machine. It's pure propaganda. Someone ought to make a map somehow quantifying *actual* freedoms, like choosing how to live your life, and color code countries like that

[@aleksanderbrygmann279]

Really!? Was this in the US? The propaganda is much worse than i thought..

[@bakh554321]

@@aleksanderbrygmann279 The Freedom Index is the one of the worst. Also the World bank say poverty has decreased. Can anyone live off of $1 a day? The World bank says you can.

[@ImmersionEsque]

i mean in all honesty the non western countries are truly worse off. with the US being the dominant world power, real deviations from the American way are hardly plausible. true harmony is only reachable in small communities here (outside the west) but the people are often rather stubborn and the material conditions are quite bad. for there to be a great change a) the west ought to change drastically or b) a non-western power, embodying the values we deem good (which'd be pretty difficult) shall emerge and challenge the west.

[@transsexual_computer_faery]

@@ImmersionEsque "challenge" the west? are you talking about another world war?

[@transsexual_computer_faery]

Eric: www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/27/uk-schools-told-not-to-use-anti-capitalist-material-in-teaching

[@chickennuggetwithwhippedcr9889]

I’m conservative but this is pretty dope.... PragerU makes me uncomfortable because it seems less like it cares about the truth and more that it cares about an agenda

[@gatorpack5542]

hey hey man. take your time to look at facts man. you might not want socialism which i disagree with but i hope you can drift over to social democracy and make sure we see only the benefits of capitalism as it was so intended by its founders. good luck comrade

[@EclipseOfTsuki93]

Can I ask why are you a conservative?

[@truexenith8596]

I like your taste in food. You’re fine I’m my book.

[@MaelPlaguecrow6942]

Same, I am a Conservative as well. But Dennis kinda scares me.

[@Wildfurry]

You are not a conservative. You are a leftist posing as a conservative in order to make people believe your a convert.

[@jerma953]

ok but can we talk about how great the intro design is like it looks so cool

[@ArchibaldClumpy]

Classic PBS stuff

[@frogman4700]

Meanwhile at PragerU: men's and women's bathroom sign figures

[@timborowiec]

"When you vote with your dollar, those with more dollars get more votes."

[@Milo-zw4oo]

Innuendo Studios. Nice.

[@timborowiec]

Milo I only quote from the best

[@kdandsheela]

Love it, I never thought of pointing this out

[@JosephJohnston94]

They changed it to "vote with your wallet" because everyone has only one wallet lol.

[@JosephJohnston94]

@Armed Proletariat That's almost all of them. I'll try to consume as ethically as possible and buy from co-ops and stuff but consumer boycotts are just a drop in the bucket compared to worker boycotts, aka unions.

[@ivanalbert8757]

These videos are awesome, but the so far they've all felt like they're missing something if they want to have Prager U levels of influence. I think it's this: There's nothing to interact with and no call to action. It's a lot of good facts and information, but this would have been a good video to end on unions and some examples of what they've been able to accomplish, and encouraging viewers to join them or start them.

[@drewsclues8625]

yeah calls to action work!

[@DiThi]

I think they're striking a good balance, every lesson has a tiny implicit call to action but there's only two videos up so far, and further videos will build upon past ones while (hopefully) remaining easy to understand by themselves.

[@QosmicVoid]

This is a pretty solid point honestly. obviously they're only two videos deep into this project but I'm hoping they'll learn from feedback and put in suggestions like this

[@melvinmathew4171]

The main problem of the left in general is there is a lot of differences on how to bring about change, the right in general does not have these divisions coz they r not interested in bringing bout any valuable change I believe they r trying to cater to moderates by forcing them to question the current system and push them leftwards

[@noh-1386]

@@alexbacon2665 if supporting small businesses being more attractive was the solution, thousands of small business owners wouldn't have had to shut down this year while big businesses continue to thrive off those closures. "big business will never fail where small businesses struggle" is pretty much common sense. most people will always go for the option they know of best -- people are lazy and tired. even I keep going back to Amazon because I'm too exhausted to figure out other arrangements. so I don't wind up patronizing them. that's how your lil' artisan eyeglass maker is faring right now. getting "some" business is not enough... you get that, right? you only get these extra choices in the few months where the non-monopoly business emerges and struggles to stay upright. then guess what happens? that's right: they either 1) go under or 2) get bought out by... you guessed it.... a corporation. you cannot hope to compete with a planet-sized enemy. this is by design.

[@austinhernandez2716]

You have a CHOICE! Either pay $100,000 for brain surgery, or die! It's your choice! That's freedom! No joke, I was in that situation. Luckily I was a child that got covered by Medicaid. It saved my life.

[@hamnchee]

A few short years ago the choice was die, or die. Freedom from the tyranny of certain types of natural death are created at a cost, by someone, and should not be conflated with freedom from tyrannical governments, which is what is generally meant by "freedom" in the context of US politics.

[@eldrichhorrornya5933]

@@hamnchee just because we’re doing better than we were in the past doesn’t mean we can’t and shouldn’t improve in the near future

[@hamnchee]

@@eldrichhorrornya5933 Of course. Improving things is always an improvement.

[@EBFilmsMan]

Meanwhile in Canada, my parents didn't have to pay for my brain surgery either. (Medicare)

[@zodiacdana]

@@EBFilmsMan Do Canadian doctors work for free or do your parents not pay taxes?

[@MaxSnowDude]

The intro is so calming

[@ethantinklenberg6607]

And then the video makes you so angry and anxious about life. Makes me wanna cry how reality treats us.

[@letranger4461]

Let’s not forget who pays for their losses. Everybody’s an innovative risk taking trailblazer until the market collapses and they’re begging for a government bailout because their risk didn’t pay off.

[@briancarlson9778]

Wait so socialism is bad then?

[@briancarlson9778]

@@herlocusts So the government redistributing wealth is Capitalism? tell me more pls

[@Philoglossos]

@@briancarlson9778 Socialism for the rich ≠ Socialism.

[@briancarlson9778]

@@Philoglossos Okay so you're dumb k thanks. Guess i have nothing to learn here oh well.

[@DarkZide8]

@@briancarlson9778 Socialism for the rich and rugged capitalism for the poor.

[@Reedskiii]

Theodore Roosevelt was one of our best presidents, my favorite personally. His imperialism sucked, but his conservation, monopoly control and consumer protection was pretty cool

[@Reedskiii]

@Nick Arjomand ehh he helped free them from their sugar cane. "The Americans, they're here to free us!" -Cubans "I wouldn't say free, more like, under new management" -Americans It was more of a soft empire. Restricting trade deals and puppets for leaders iirc

[@aegonthedragon7303]

Same sort of thing with FDR.

[@Reedskiii]

@@aegonthedragon7303 You ain't an American president without a bit of racism and imperialism

[@hegyak]

@Colin Rude He probably was. But, most white males were at the time. Different Time. Doesn't mean it's right. But, that is History and should not be discrediting to the other actions taken.

[@randonlando418]

And the Japanese internment camps...

[@wildmano1965]

I used to work in the private security industry. We were forced to perform jobs for various "clients" that amounted to assisting big companies doing their best to keep unions from airing their grievances with private employers. It was truly awful. People are brainwashed by corporate power. The idea of always remaining vigilant and questioning "authority" always seems to get lost.

[@rinarina6247]

Gravel Institute: *Invites university scholars, practicing journalists and Bernie Sanders* PragerU: *Invites Steven Crowder* Y'all be careful, flex any harder and you might detach a muscle!

[@Morning404]

This

[@jonavastore]

So you going to ignore all other academics that have produced content for prageru, and single out one person. Very objective you. Like Malcom X said, nothing is more dangerous than a white liberal. From enslaving blacks physically to enslaving the black mind and promoting policies that have devastated the black family. I guess I could blame you less for that. We as blacks are to blame for the most part for letting it happen.

[@truedarklander]

@@jonavastore Malcolm X was criticising Liberals FROM THE LEFT stop quoting Socialists y'all

[@truedarklander]

@@jonavastore plus, Malcom X and MLK were complaining about White liberals or white moderates as not doing enough, as people who will be satisfied by symbolic gains without any material change. Because they were both socialists who understood the necessity to prioritize material change.

[@rinarina6247]

@@jonavastore bold of you to assume I'm a lib, correct of you to assume I'm white. Either way my discord friends are gonna have a field day with this one

[@carlogaytan7010]

I'm loving this animation style so far! I like the color play between different classes. I think you should make them a little crisper if you know what I mean. ALSO: use more symbolism to represent different ideas. This is what makes Prager U animation so intriguing!

[@gueverdura6717]

Yeah animation could be more crisp and on the nose.

[@fluorideenjoyer]

Reminds me of a good quote, "It is difficult for me to imagine what 'personal liberty' is enjoyed by an unemployed person, who goes about hungry, and cannot find employment. Real liberty can exist only where exploitation has been abolished, where there is no oppression of some by others, where there is no unemployment and poverty, where a man is not haunted by the fear of being tomorrow deprived of work, of home and of bread. Only in such a society is real, and not paper, personal and every other liberty possible."

[@thomasr5302]

I do love a good old Iosef Dzhugashvilli quote

[@AnglicanFish]

Cool please explain how the fuck that could ever work in a flawed world

[@fluorideenjoyer]

@@AnglicanFish im good

[@fatrat92]

"You get a job or you die" That hit me hard, i hate going to work everyday because i know i have to, not that i want to. Every hour spent working feels like an hour of my life wasted and robbed from me.

[@kentakiman_gmd]

Well, I don't see whats wrong with it. Of course you have to work. You are not going to get a life out of nothing. Having a job is not about becoming a slave. It is about making people provide solutions to other people's needs, so that you will be paid back to buy other solutions to your own needs. Can you even imagine a world in which nobody works?

[@LetTheWritersWrite]

Go forage food in a forest or something numnuts.

[@fatrat92]

@@kentakiman_gmd I think you're missing the point, from the moment your born you're going to spend your entire life (or most of it) working making someone else wealthy, earning a useless green paper because we as a society deem that you must use this for everything. despite the fact that the government can just make more of it at anytime, they still tell you you need to slave away for it. If anything we need to move to a moneyless society, where we produce goods and things not for profit, but so everyone has enough of what they need to live and thrive.

[@kentakiman_gmd]

@@fatrat92 Wow, that's like going back to a society in wich you need to create your own stuff from the prime resources. (I mean, in that case no one will do anything for you without any sort of payment) Not saying you are not right about it, but I wouldn't choose such a society to live in.

[@fatrat92]

@@kentakiman_gmd No, it's a society that payment is not needed because the concept doesn't exits, a post capitalist society eg star trek, where the primary motive isn't payment, it's the betterment of the community.

[@thebestben]

I can’t wait until I have whole playlists of Gravel Institute videos to watch and show people

[@tejassharma8010]

Same.

[@OhSanjiBoi]

Me neither

[@flash_flood_area]

Algorithm, glorious algorithm, please accept this, my humble offering.

[@jaydenmckay2758]

\_O_/

[@aarOuOn]

Don't mind me, just replying to this comment. This video is making me engage so hard, so much engagement

[@sarahgrinager8046]

@@aarOuOn wow that's crazy! me too! time to feed the algorithm

[@sampalmer6757]

Oh boy, here I go commenting again

[@flash_flood_area]

@Thought for Food Yea have The Eyeballs now been summoned from every corner of the Web!

[@bobross7824]

felt cute might relieve the wealthy of their means of production later idk

[@acmom9471]

let's do it together cormade :)

[@U_Fever]

Rev up those helicopters

[@dansands8140]

Bring your finest hammer and finest sickle, the free market stands on a mountain that you will never climb again,

[@hamnchee]

People just want means of production for free.

[@acmom9471]

@@hamnchee no lol we want to take what’s rightfully ours through bloody revolution

[@kevinmayer8055]

Thank you for showing the truth about capitalism. It reminds me of Bush, who was always going on about "freedom". When I understood it meant freedom for his class and not for the rest of us it all made sense.

[@dragonslaya16]

Hello?! Is this the BASED department?

[@nbmi4613]

Why are the only leftist memes that exist just rebranded right wing memes? inb4 "seize the memes of production" cope

[@dragonslaya16]

@@nbmi4613 comedy typically comes from places of suffering and leftists tend to be happier people, so y'all typically get there first lol

[@dragonslaya16]

@Cliplonger why are you malding bro lol

[@dragonslaya16]

@Cliplonger dude are you ok?

[@dragonslaya16]

@Cliplonger ok?

[@nominaomii]

h

[@JB-bc2ry]

@Nicholas Deal Leftspeak for "General good/epic thing"

[@nominaomii]

J B it’s just internetspeak tbh. Came from twitch over to meme culture over to lefty culture

[@sadpee7710]

wow

[@MaySpitfire]

based and epic

[@meegz149]

The gravel institute is the true red pill 😎

[@Xalimata]

Monopolies are a danger to the human species.

[@Xx_BoogieBomber_xX]

@Nick Arjomand How? Government is at least democratic in theory, but private corporations are accountable to nobody but the shareholders

[@soulseer5789]

@Nick Arjomand Social hierarchy is inevitable yes, but as was already stated the government is still democratic. Private corporations are not. Corporations have absolute and unstoppable power.

[@soulseer5789]

@Nick Arjomand There is no power of the consumer. I can't just not buy food, or not buy the medicine I need to survive, or not buy the car I need to get the job that I need to slave away in just to survive. You're describing an idealized version of capitalism that does not exist in the US.

[@waspoppin4784]

yup horizontal integration is pretty cringe

[@billdingsandcars3892]

And having the government control everything is in itself a monopoly.

[@ffff-gx7tn]

Zephyr Teachout is the best name I've ever heard

[@lucystarlight8887]

It's pretty fascinating that your videos are about actual problems and not "Soy is turning my son into a liberal" or "I can't say the n word"

[@marktaylor526]

"The fact that the government won't let me go pantsless in public is an infringement of my freedoms."

[@miiiwu1999]

Christopher Stanley barefoot is legal

[@ipsum2224]

Ah yes, so much choice from our system: -Go into debt for housing -Go into debt for college -Go into debt for medical care

[@bassplayer2011ify]

We are a debtor society, it's been this way sense the 1920s

[@fixthefernback8030]

@Chan Ho Ming "It's only these absolutes" is the stupidest argument you can make here.

[@viiperrtechnician]

@Chan Ho Ming Actually system vary so much, because the argument is if these problems should be fixed, but how to implement them, like in Germany and Spain, they regulate the insurance industries to act like a single payer, single plan system that covers all, at a stupidly low cost. Other have different forms of H4A, which in some works much more effectively, and people get their care at a cheaper and quicker manner, some you don't even have to pay a dime to get free healthcare like in Kuwait. Some systems like in the UK and Canada are less effective due to how slow the approval process is, and the hypocrisy of choosing who for treatments. In terms of income, all have in common that they bail out the people first, which creates a much stronger economy, and prevents the worst economical crashes from killing a country, (unlike the us), and housing is regulated to prevent the scaming of Homeowners/renters and mortgage companies/landlords, this creates an almost near perfect balance.

[@comissar8953]

I guess that's still freedom

[@viiperrtechnician]

@I'm a bait UwUz Even of that was true, plenty of jobs keep declining in wage, despite the need for those jobs being more, with working more hours, soon the majority of our jobs won't pay a living wage, this is all due to greed from the upper class, where local businesses can't sustain themselves, and are forced out of business, where the price of utilities go up, wages keep going down. That is the main issue.

[@ionicdog5860]

Commenting for the algorithm

[@mmorley10]

Ikr same

[@stilltmg]

Same here. This comment should also satisfy the algorithm gods' endless thirst.

[@abeanthatsjustvibin9955]

Same

[@Servesta]

Same

[@Wolf-hf4jx]

Same

[@Dieozam]

I've got nothing but respect for Zephyr Teachout! Would have been nice if she had become NY governor.

[@emiliohernandez5789]

For those that stayed up late and put the work in to create this channel, I’m so happy you were gifted the drive to create it and I and a lot of others appreciate what you’ve done

[@SuperSablei]

So, here's my question: I understand the criticisms of capitalism because I live in a capitalist society. I see the problems first hand and I see the flaws in capitalism. However, I don't understand socialism very well (to my knowledge, the only real alternative to capitalism). I hear conservatives say shit like "Capitalism isn't perfect, but it's the best system we got" and then point to places like Venezuela as evidence of socialism's failings. They'll tell you that socialism leads to a very poor nation where the average citizen can't even afford a load of bread. They'll throw out cute slogans like "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of the other person's money to steal". So, Gravel Institute, could you possibly throw a video together defending socialism? Correcting any misconceptions and giving an easy to understand explanation of how socialism would work? Can socialism work? Is there evidence that socialism can succeed and improve how America functions? Can we overcome human greed to make a socialist America a reality?

[@sov7513]

If you realy want to understand socialism, I can tell you some books to read. The capital (Marx), the manifest of the comunist party (Marx), what has to be done (Lenin) problem of the soviet economy (Stalin, yes i know, a scary name but the book is important to understand the soviet union and decide if you support it or not) you can read all of this on Marxist.org for free!. If you are interested in liberal socialism, you should really give a look on Thomas sankara's books

[@antonioscendrategattico2302]

I think you're unintentionally digging up a REALLY important issue: that the conversation is always framed in a very misleading way. It's always presented by politicians and the media as "either you're okay with the US model, or you have to take Venezuela, the whole package (despite Venezuela not even being socialist, but rather a social democratic state - Cuba is much more socialist)". But the truth is that socialism doesn't exactly have one unitary "way of being" - there's a reason why the Maoist government defined theirs as "socialism with Chinese characteristics". Cuba and Vietnam, in my opinion the two nations that are the closest to achieving many socialist goals, are VERY different from how the USSR was and how China is today - and many other socialist nations have experimented with different ways of getting there. Socialism, in a sense, is more of a goal than a method: it's workplace democracy, and worker control of the means of production. And in a sense, while many socialists might be suspicious, it *is* possible to do something like what Bernie Sanders suggested, and have all companies be required by law to have a stock fund controlled by a democratically elected representative body of the workers at that company, and owned by the workers. It's not socialism, but it's a step towards achieving one of its goals.

[@mmorley10]

Heyo friend, socialism isn't anything like the bs propaganda that conservatives and liberals spread. www.socialism101.com/basic is a pretty good resource for new leftists that breaks down most of the questions you have and then some. Highly recommend checking it out. You can also find a lot of good leftist resources here on youtube. I know it can be hard to sort everything out at first since there's so much leftist theory out there, and it's difficult to imagine something outside of the capitalist mold that we've been brainwashed into from birth, but capitalism is actually a relatively new thing, and civilizations were thriving long before capitalism became the norm. There's a lot of stuff to explore outside of the capitalist mindset. Happy reading comrade!

[@WoohooliganComedy]

I'm sure Gravel will address most of my points here in future videos, but I thought I'd give my thoughts in the interim. When Marx coined the terms (all 3, socialism, capitalism and communism), he defined communism as a classless, stateless, I think moneyless society, not something we would achieve in the near future, probably not in his lifetime, but in the distant future and with the progress of technology as a requirement. Much of the technological work to achieve that already exists (I think it's ahead of his estimation), but societal movement toward it has lagged due largely to the effectiveness of capitalist propaganda. Socialism was seen as a pathway between capitalism and communism and was defined as "workers owning the means of production", and while technically public services like public schools and fire departments fit that bill (because the public owns them and can vote on changes to them), we now use the term "socialism" to mean "when the government does stuff", which is inaccurate. Social security isn't actually what Marx meant. And the reason we commonly call the government doing stuff "socialism" is again capitalist propaganda, because they've been very successful getting people to hold up signs saying that anything and everything is socialism or communism -- "interracial marriage is communism" in the 60s became "gay marriage is communism" a few years ago. In the short term what Marx defined as socialism has been at least partially implemented and very effective in a lot of places. I don't have any handy at this moment, but you can find lots of studies of "worker co-ops" showing that they perform better than capitalist businesses by almost every metric (employee pay & happiness, etc, etc.). I saw a video about them just a couple days ago that pointed out that the Ocean Spray juice company is a long-standing co-op. Also labor unions give employees a lot more bargaining power, and so they edge people toward more democracy in the workplace, which is generally how socialized business works. I remember hearing about studies showing that any union in your area will increase your wages, even if you're not part of their union, because the higher union wages force neighboring companies to compete more for your labor. There's some limit to that in the rather near future unfortunately as automation also reduces corporations' need to compete for your labor, so with enough automation they can eventually not care that they don't have employees. The automation of vehicles is a big one since trucking and cab/delivery driving is now the largest industry in terms of number of employees, we're on the verge of putting something like 30% of the already underemployed workforce permanently out of work with self-driving vehicles. This is ultimately what Marx meant about the classless, stateless, moneyless society of communism -- work wouldn't be necessary, so we would be able to pursue our interests. Still work, but not the threat of "work or die" that capitalists want us living under. Also, nearly every industry already creates way more of everything than we use. There are 6-8 empty houses for every single homeless person, enough food for 5 people for every person who can't eat right now (especially during the pandemic, capitalists are destroying literal mountains of food instead of giving it to hungry people), clothes are piling up in giant mounds that are literally contributing to climate change because there aren't enough people to wear them, etc, etc, etc... And a lot of that was already happening when Marx began his writing -- he talked himself about capitalists throwing away tons of good product because of the inefficiencies of capitalism, because they'd rather make too much and destroy it, than allow it to be on the market and reduce product prices. Radical Reviewer has a couple of videos talking about that and other things I believe were titled "radicalized by work" or "how work radicalized me", I don't remember the title exactly. The Venezuela example capitalists give for "socialism never works" is more capitalist propaganda and a red herring. Aside from the fact that it has no bearing on the effectiveness of worker co-ops and unions (for which they have other propaganda), Venezuela's problems don't stem from socialism, they stem from being sabotaged by capitalists. I remember seeing a video that gave a run-down of the ways their economy had been sabotaged even before the recent attempted coup (basically our own sabotage was the justification for us attempting the coup), but unfortunately can't now find that video, so I'm sorry I don't have any sources on hand.

[@WoohooliganComedy]

Oh, let me also recommend the Democracy At Work channel and in particular one of their contributors Richard Wolff -- they address a lot of these issues on a regular basis kzbin.info kzbin.info Have a good one! 💖

[@rurak2727]

FEED THE ALGORITHM

[@stilltmg]

Algorithm: OM NOM NOM

[@abeanthatsjustvibin9955]

We gotta feed the hungry beast

[@rurak2727]

My second most popular comment yet on youtube is a very stale joke. Thanks comrades

[@shatcaulk]

Om nom nom.

[@deadmeme8011]

Om nom nom

[@ManicEightBall]

For some of my jobs, as a condition of being hired, they insisted I sign a non-compete clause saying I wouldn't work for any company that could be considered a competitor of theirs (which they never clarify). So then I have fewer options for my next job.

[@suprithAnCom]

It's sad, when all the employers have such clauses then there will be no other option. It's slightly seems like modern day slavery

[@k2a2l2]

this channel is amazing, thank you all for doing what youre doing right now

[@hheintze1]

It is difficult for me to imagine what “personal liberty” is enjoyed by an unemployed hungry person. True freedom can only be where there is no exploitation and oppression of one person by another; where there is not unemployment, and where a person is not living in fear of losing his job, his home and his bread. Only in such a society personal and any other freedom c.an exist for real and not on paper

[@Guythatyoudontknow]

if you quote it as “I.V. Dzhugashvili, Georgian philosopher and political activist” it makes it far easier to digest for people who would otherwise be opposed

[@Philiptanzer]

You require Star Trek replicators for that freedom. We exist in a finite world where freedom also cannot be absolute, however we have attempted to maximise freedom given our restrictions. Our world has limited resources and everything you want needs someone else's limited time and resources. Capitalism is trading your time & resources for other people's time & resources, you own what's yours, they own what's theirs. The homeless and hungry don't have many freedoms, but fantasizing about magic technology levels of freedom will not help them.

[@officialgritty4740]

@@CmdrTobs Thank you for your comment. It boosts this video in the algorithm and helps leftist ideas reach more people.

[@officialgritty4740]

@@Philiptanzer Thank you for your comment. Your engagement has boosted this leftist video in the algorithm so that more people can be exposed to its views.

[@Philiptanzer]

@Benji Didn't really increase their freedom in doing so, did it. Forced labour camps aren't normally seen as freedom enhancers, but I won't say I'm shocked.

[@bmo1180]

nothing but chads over at the gravel institute

[@miiiwu1999]

And stacy’s

[@TheDominicProject]

chadess

[@sigur95]

Don’t forget Chadettes.

[@blindliberty4478]

Thats not very pc of you

[@syloui]

Chads? more like Doomers lol

[@TrippyAssassin8]

Great channel! I love that you provide sources in the description, top class!

[@joseh.1399]

It’s crazy to think that we spend the majority of our waking hours working. We have little to no real freedom. If you even have the privilege to retire, you’re gonna be old and no longer able to do what you want when you finally receive that “freedom” you worked 50 years to “earn”. It’s crazy to honestly think about.

[@gracewenzel]

Nothing to see here, just liking, commenting, sharing, and saving so the algorithm picks it up. Great work, everyone! Thank you for your hard work!!

[@puddleglum9179]

Do comments in comments help?

[@jessepibagadonuz635]

Probably

[@officerk5271]

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free”-Goethe.

[@thegrandlord2914]

Days ago i fall to a debate with an american (im not american) We talk about economic system. He told me that capitalism is the source of wealth and prosperous. Then i told him what capitalism did to my country, indonesia in 2 president regime. Our 1st president using pure capitalism. This causes disaster. We got a high ammount of inflation. Economy colapsed. No social aid and everyone left very poor even poorer than when we are under dutch colonialism. Our 2nd president mixed capitalism with globalization. It looks good and developing. But this system are fragile. Our foreign debt skyrocketed to 80% of our GDP. Then, asian economic crisis come. Our economy falls to it's knee. Then, what this guys says? He said that it's not capitalism problem. Capitalism gave people freedom. Then i say "freedom my ass" the rich became richer and poor became poorer. Poor people do't have any chance to escape from poverty. I then explain to him our curent economic system which is people based economy. We just basicaly back to our ideology. Pancasilaism, an ideology that stand on socialism as it base because the ideology mainly talk about people and people's justice. I explain to him how the system split the economy from the capitalist to government and pople. With this system the poor have higher chance to escape poverty, government have power to control price and sosial justice come to people. But still, he claim it as the success of capitalism #Facepalm Also, with our current economic system, our economy have higher resistance to global economic crisis, because unlike the previous economic system, today 80% our our market are consisted of domestic market with most of running bussiness were micro, small and medium bussiness that have none to small impact of global trade.

[@Yes_Fantasy_419]

so much right-wing rhetoric on the internet is just making the case for ethnic cleansing but trailing off at the conclusion to the argument so as not to get deplatformed

[@comradefreedom8275]

True.

[@circle11111]

Basically and that makes it easy for them to lure right wingers onto more racists forums off of mainstream social media sites

[@comradefreedom8275]

@@circle11111 Exactly.

[@gking407]

Meanwhile conservatives will argue the first amendment or throw up yet another conspiracy theory that they, and only they, are being censored.

[@circle11111]

@@gking407 lmao true 😂

[@robin7433]

Me when freedom is being able to choose between 7 unilever products

[@natetinin6708]

I think the best example is telecom or streaming services

[@melvinmathew4171]

If u want a bottled drink, ur only options are Pepsi or coke

[@hamnchee]

You can make your own drink, or abstain from sodas, but no one owes you a soda. ...unless you say "jinx" first of course.

[@melvinmathew4171]

@@hamnchee by Pepsi and coke u do know I mean the companies that control 90% of packaged drinks including bottled water? Soda is juz one of their 100s of products

[@hamnchee]

@@melvinmathew4171 So buy from the 10% that's not them, or make your own drinks.

[@coaxill4059]

It makes me so happy that people are responding to the wealth of misinformation by putting out genuine accessible info in an appealing format! Yall are wonderful people and I think that if successful, this might save a lot of lives and livelihoods. I hope that before long we'll be out of this dark age into an era of empathy and progress.

[@Prauwlet213]

as someone living in the Uk, its absolutely awful. Years of what is basically just tory, tory,tory, tory, the privatisation of the NHS, welfare cuts, and moving away from welfare, along with corrupt politicians who dont follow their own covid rules, and there's thousands in homelessness, who are just neglected because of the amount of tories who just flat-out despise poor people, who are everywhere by the way, and the fact that there is a lot of racism, classism, and islamophobia, transphobia, the lot.

[@TheCommanderFluffy]

I was trying to figure out who this "Gravel Institute" was and why, while unlike Prager U, I had come to agree with the video. It gave me a sinking feeling... at first. Then I heard Jon H. Benjamin in smooth baritone explain that this is an anti-PU and I couldn't be happier right now. Godspeed Gravel Institute, and good luck. Patronage incoming.

[@crazyhippo1103]

It’s an expression bro chill

[@pietroaretino6390]

What's anti-PU?

[@michaelc2832]

@@pietroaretino6390 they just meant anti- PragerU. :) if u haven't heard of them, they're a right-wing propogandist organization funded by oil tycoons that bases their videos off of conjecture.

[@TheCommanderFluffy]

@@pietroaretino6390Prager University

[@pietroaretino6390]

Thanks guys

[@kyleandrewhopper]

I'm irrationally excited about this channel.

[@Rullino32]

Same

[@stilltmg]

Same here. Come for us, algorithm!

[@miguel-bv1ef]

nah excitement is for sure rational

[@kyleandrewhopper]

@@miguel-bv1ef For sure, I just meant the level of excitement might be bordering irrational haha. This project was very much needed.. going to be sharing every video on social media and sending to friends to do my part to expand it.

[@miguel-bv1ef]

Kyle Hopper for sure tweet about it post on Instagram the whole shabang we need this content everywhere

[@drewhale3041]

"The rich and the poor both have the same freedom to sleep under the bridges at night."

[@evansageser6943]

Except they don't even let you do that anymore... Hostile architecture and vagrancy laws to drive out the homeless is everywhere.

[@Rxnextgenradio]

Evan Sageser plus the fact the infrastructure could give at any moment

[@MR-cx1mg]

This is the conversation we need to be having.

[@adonispittman5135]

Dennis Prager disliking on alt accounts

[@lukei7291]

Rip David Graeber, I noticed you cited him.

[@sartajsidhu9461]

Guy I'm going to say it This is poggers

[@flash_flood_area]

I was about to say this is the bees knees

[@2DRonaldo]

Doesn't need more Cow Bell!!

[@flash_flood_area]

@@2DRonaldo It's bitchen!

[@rcprlx]

Teachout is so convincing. Hope she runs for office again!

[@anthonygurnell4235]

Back when I was in middle i found PragerU. Really wish I The Gravel Institute was around back then. Happy it's gonna be there for middle school kids now.

[@harrrieee]

Even if you disagree with Gravel Institute, there is no denying that they are better than PragerU. Their videos are higher quality, they actually cite their sources, and they aren’t funded by oil billionaires

[@stockphotoguybrian9705]

this!!!

[@dynamicworlds1]

PragerU often avoids linking to their sources out of concern people might click on them and find out they often say the opposite of what the video says.

[@crystalwoods8067]

The sources are in the description. How about you go read them you grease weasel?

[@stugeh]

@@crystalwoods8067 he won't. A capitalism apologist will rarely read anything contrary to what they've been brainwashed into believing because generally when they're actually willing to do that theyre not going to be an apologist for much longer. Unless they're loaded and using the oppressive economic system to their benefit.

[@ImWill0w0]

PragerU is an AltRight dogwhistle.

[@LibertarianLeninistRants]

My family lived in East Germany. They never had to experience fear of hunger, unemployment, unability to pay rent and unability to pay healthcare. In some sense, they were more free than me, because I have to fear this, because this is reality in Capitalism.

[@viiperrtechnician]

Germany has capitalism, they just know how to balance the scale in wealth distribution, and give people and corporations enough power to balance one another, you can be rich, but not too rich.

[@109Rage]

@@viiperrtechnician They're talking about East Germany - aka, the part that used to be communist.

[@fuktstund4143]

@@viiperrtechnician Current Germany (not old communist East Germany!) almost has the amount of billionaires per capita as US has

[@ongoinglife]

Are You Really "Free" Under Capitalism? - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqnUoKiegqh9eKs Capitalism Is Just A Fancy Word For Unchecked Greed - kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6q8nGd9Z7SMf6M Capitalism's Definition is NOT Innocent - kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3TYZWhvg5h9q7M End Stage Capitalism Is Being Delivered To Your Doorstep - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWewqKeQi9mob80 Baldwin’s Powerful Analysis Of American Capitalism - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4mQi4mZmJaAe9k Restructure Capitalism or Fascism Will Grow - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGTGg6ScpLGKjKc How American Capitalism Is Just Socialism For The Rich - kzbin.info/www/bejne/faGkhXaCo7p7orc How Coronavirus Has Exposed the Myths of Free-Market Capitalism (Leigh Phillips) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2iTpqCnpJqVfdU

[@azaleacolburn]

Amazing video!

[@Yout-hw1ko]

No, its no

[@TheKingofRome1]

This project produces just incredible short form content massive props all

[@jakethebaker6946]

It fills me with joy to see these kinds of videos to warm people to the good side of the left

[@davidhoran7116]

Even this comment section is %100 healthier and more sensible than prageru, you guys are fantastic.

[@delphidelion]

That is because this is just starting out. I suspect by this time next year the comments will be a hellzone. But let's enjoy it for now.

[@ammon3715]

That’s because prageru is a propaganda outlet

[@rsync9490]

Give it a few months and it will look like a tyt comment section, with all of the deranged Trump cultists doing their best to stumble trying to dismiss the arguments presented in these videos.

[@santipantss]

@@rsync9490 biden is almost guaranteed the win, i have a feeling trump cultist will have moved on by 2022

[@rsync9490]

@@santipantss Unlikely, I remembered the tea party. Never underestimate these people. We will be feeling their influence for quite some time with the whole republicans stacking the courts.

[@okaythen27]

This is excellent stuff, and another piece of the puzzle with regard to what this country needs right now.

[@logan7478]

Breaking 'em out of the matrix one by one.

[@ronnywijngaarde7555]

...When the only two shop owners in a remote village decide not to sell certain books... Who can stop them?!!! Sorry I agree with most of the video I just don't understand what they wanted to imply with this remark. How do you think people break out of their matrix? How does this happen in your opinion, if at all?

[@logan7478]

@@ronnywijngaarde7555 Hi Ronny, thanks for the response. The context of this video is corporate monopolies, so I'm not sure the analogy of a small village works in the same way. I think that exposure to information is the first step to helping people towards education on issues. I had no idea about corporate monopolies until I became politically active a few years ago. By design, this fact is hid from the public to give an illusion of choice.

[@ronnywijngaarde7555]

@@logan7478 I'm against corporate monopolies. I just think the message is a bit.. Stigmatizing? I think this part of the message seems to focus on certain actors instead of on the reasoning and system that enable an undesirable situation.

[@ronnywijngaarde7555]

@@logan7478 I made the analogy with a village because I believe that people will do what they are motivated and able to do. So the situation they described with the monopoly and he books came across to me as stating the obvious, while implying it to be unthinkable and unacceptable... Which I deem irrational.

[@Giraplatina]

Sending this to aunts and uncles

[@ongoinglife]

Are You Really "Free" Under Capitalism? - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqnUoKiegqh9eKs Capitalism Is Just A Fancy Word For Unchecked Greed - kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6q8nGd9Z7SMf6M Capitalism's Definition is NOT Innocent - kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3TYZWhvg5h9q7M End Stage Capitalism Is Being Delivered To Your Doorstep - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWewqKeQi9mob80 Baldwin’s Powerful Analysis Of American Capitalism - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4mQi4mZmJaAe9k Restructure Capitalism or Fascism Will Grow - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGTGg6ScpLGKjKc How American Capitalism Is Just Socialism For The Rich - kzbin.info/www/bejne/faGkhXaCo7p7orc How Coronavirus Has Exposed the Myths of Free-Market Capitalism (Leigh Phillips) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2iTpqCnpJqVfdU

[@CoolioTops]

Good luck bro I believe in you

[@TheYiffingAtheist]

Uno reverse card

[@CoolioTops]

​@Sebastian Timothy who needs medicine you can purchase without the need of insurance or a healthy work-home relationship or a couple 400 bucks you can cough up in need of an emergency when you have... a variety of beer from microbreweries Also theres something way worse, eyeglasses company Luxotica has a MONOPOLY on both eyeglasses manufacturers and eyeglasses retailers. Luxotica, in any one of their stores, can control the prices on any eyeglasses company and then make a good commission out of them. 75% of americans need eyeglasses, it is a medical necessity. But Luxotica just makes money out of these disabilities and raises prices. Capitalism is a scam and it only benefits the rich.

[@hamnchee]

@@CoolioTops Glasses are quite affordable. I just got another great pair for $30 on Zenni

[@Horesmi]

Time to catch all the mad people and be extra smug about facts over feelings in their faces.

[@tejassharma8010]

Right Wingers say they value facts over feelings, unless it's their feelings.

[@emaginationproductions]

It always made sense to me that if conservatives love capitalism because they believe competition creates innovation and keeps business malpractices in check, they should be vehemently against monopolies in any shape or form which allow businesses to make money with little to no competition keeping them in check or promoting innovation.... But I can't tell you the last or first time I heard a conservative talk about breaking up monoploies.

[@Yout-hw1ko]

Free market is the best politic against monopolys

[@allinwatts4670]

“Government regulations enable monopolies by stifling their small business competitors, if you remove regulations those monopolies would disappear” conservative logic ignoring that monopolies exist because they buy politicians so as to disincentivize enforcing antitrust laws against them. Get money out of politics and you will see a reduction of monopolies and fairer market competition.

[@EmmaDelamare]

Don't mind me, just commenting for the algorithm.

[@InfernoTowelLoL]

oh good idea

[@CoDhUnTa9]

here is my contribution

[@quinnmcrae6297]

Same!

[@AbnormalWrench]

I find this flawed and refute it thus!

[@Mastikator]

After years of conservative propaganda and lies on KZbin this feels like a breath of fresh air.

[@arreca09]

propaganda and lies from the left now.

[@reallygreatguy257]

@@arreca09 Mad?

[@arreca09]

@@reallygreatguy257 when people say Gravel Institute is the PragerU of the left, is meant as an insult, same type of lies just from a leftist perspective.

[@reallygreatguy257]

@@arreca09 and how are these lies?

[@arreca09]

@@reallygreatguy257 lets start by the title of the video, capitalism is an economic system, It has nothing to do with Freedom or lack thereof, that depends on the government.

[@Vita-a-stelle-e-strisce]

I am Italian and I moved to the USA. I always loved the USA since I was a teenager and my dream of moving here permanently came thru. But I now notice many things can be improved. I still love the US and for that reason I would like to see some changes. I think Americans are generous people with good hearth and they welcomed me here like I am part of their family. American people are not bad or greedy. Only a few in power are. So why things don’t change? It is because they could know that something could be better. In fact people who lived some years in Europe or Canada or Australia understand that a different healthcare system is possible, a more affordable education system is possible, a more human work culture (with more vacation days) is possible. That is why info and videos to inform them are important. And also it is important to fight the brainwashing of the media.

[@catjam9498]

I love how you guys cite sources. It really differenciates you from pragerU's biased and factually incorrect propaganda videos.

[@bradchadington9068]

This production quality had me caught off guard. Definitely gained a new Patreon subscriber from me!

[@noellelavenza494]

Pog moment. But unironically, y'all are doing great!

[@tankfire20]

The way you guys made the video short and super concise makes it very easy to share with friends. Thank you guys.

[@seanriddle6408]

Not only are the points in this video backed up by research, the art is also amazing. It's not a top priority, but maybe do a video about the arts? PragerU has some terrible videos criticizing any modern artistic and praising old art from the 1500s. Leftists get that art is essential for democracy to flourish.

[@ongoinglife]

Are You Really "Free" Under Capitalism? - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqnUoKiegqh9eKs Capitalism Is Just A Fancy Word For Unchecked Greed - kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6q8nGd9Z7SMf6M Capitalism's Definition is NOT Innocent - kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3TYZWhvg5h9q7M End Stage Capitalism Is Being Delivered To Your Doorstep - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWewqKeQi9mob80 Baldwin’s Powerful Analysis Of American Capitalism - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4mQi4mZmJaAe9k Restructure Capitalism or Fascism Will Grow - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGTGg6ScpLGKjKc How American Capitalism Is Just Socialism For The Rich - kzbin.info/www/bejne/faGkhXaCo7p7orc How Coronavirus Has Exposed the Myths of Free-Market Capitalism (Leigh Phillips) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2iTpqCnpJqVfdU

[@delphidelion]

Art is essential for culture to flourish.

[@iLynn0o]

art moves us forward it is also an essential part of human life and human expression

[@77Night77Shade77]

In all seriousness, it's a good video and I'll be sure to look through the citations. One criticism I _would_ offer, however, is that I feel it didn't address the "vote with your wallets" argument. Essentially, a right-wing Libertarian could watch this video and say "Well, if people didn't want companies to do all of these things, they wouldn't be buying their products", as well as maybe "Monopolies _only_ exist because the government allows them to/creates them" and then just dismiss everything that was said. Now, of course, that argument has many holes and I personally do not endorse it, but, nonetheless, I feel it's worth addressing, because it comes up so often.

[@CatMaster90001]

I say these arguments can be refuted with one simple sentence: _There is no ethical consumption under capitalism._

[@bruce8448]

Uhh she mentions how there is literally no choice. How does one vote with their wallet when they have so little money or time and five companies rule the world. It's a nonsense argument

[@ethanphilpot7643]

Patience, if this is going to be the left's answer to PragerU, then you can bet there are going to be more videos branching out on the failures of capitalism

[@footballmint]

So are you saying a libertarian would call for government to break up monopolies? I'm not sure I've ever heard that from American conservatives.

[@77Night77Shade77]

@@footballmint Well, don't ask me what their solution is, I'm just telling you what _they_ say, lol. If you want my personal opinion, I think right-wing Libertarianism is nonsensical, in that it always tends to individualize problems that exist on a systemic level and claims to be anti-authoritarian, yet doesn't recognize that the structure of a company is itself authoritarian.

[@345635356]

A few solutions just in case you watch this and wonder how to combat it: 1.- Support workers unions to create a democratic force in the workplace that can challenge the boss. 2.- Support the idea of breaking up big companies and monopolies to encourage competition. 3.- Elect and push politicians so that certain goods and services that cover human needs (healthcare, education, water, the internet now too, etc) are made public, universal, and tax-funded so that you don't get scammed out of pocket. 4.- Push for legislation demanding that a percentage of any board or representatives includes a good chunk of elected worker representatives. 5.- Wealth redistribution so that the average person has more money to choose with, and those at the top have less money to manipulate with. Most of these ideas are implemented in successful European countries like Sweeden and Switzerland, as well as New Zealand, and are considered internationally moderate, so if you like any of them don't worry about falling into extremism, because you aren't.

[@BassUndertow]

When are we going to get PragerU vs. Gravel Institute debates? Would be great to see a back and forth discussion between the presenters in these videos.

[@jeffersonclippership2588]

"Freedom is when survival depends on making rich people even rich and the more dependent on them for survival you are the more freer you is" -conservatives

[@frederik7338]

Amazing content. really strong start to the institutes work.

[@justinmoreno3139]

Thank you for listing your sources in the description, but it would be great if you provided links as well👍🏼 EDIT: Gravel Institute already responded regarding links for sources in the description in someone’s comment in this video so thank you G.I. for addressing this small quality of life improvement👏🏻

[@TheWeaksMind]

When I give food to a poor they call me saint, When I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist -Dom Helder Camara

[@Epikrika]

dont mind me just feeding the algorithm

[@abeanthatsjustvibin9955]

Same

[@matthewgeschke5378]

That 40% of people that can’t scrape together $400 is blatantly inaccurate. Nearly 57% of Americans can’t scrape together $250 for an emergency according to the latest Marketplace/NYT economic health poll.

[@kylerweid4029]

They're both bogus and misrepresented. It simply means these people don't have that cash in an account at all times, not that they couldn't get the $ or get by somehow in an emergency. Most would easily be able to borrow the $ or get some from friends or family. Virtually nobody is that strapped that they go, "Oh, I need $400 and I don't have it now, guess I'll just roll over and die."

[@joeneedstosleep]

@@kylerweid4029 Not if everyone around them is in the same boat! "People aren't individually poor because if you add up everyone's money there's a lot of it" is the dumb take of the decade...

[@kylerweid4029]

@@joeneedstosleep The study everyone loves to point out all the time clearly states that virtually everyone has some means to acquire money in such an emergency. It's a prime example of a misleading headline repeated to convey the wrong conclusions.

[@MFlari]

@@kylerweid4029 yeah they get the money in an emergency by most likely going into debt or a similar situation. We shouldn't even need to consider emergency money vs. current money, we should ALWAYS have enough to afford EMERGENCIES.

[@MFlari]

@unarmed blackman he has a problem which needs fixing, and doesn't relate to this problem

[@big-al37]

As Herbert Marcuse says, "Under the rule of a repressive whole, liberty can be made into a powerful instrument of domination. The range of choice open to the individual is not the decisive factor in determining the degree of human freedom, but what can be chosen and what is chosen by the individual. Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or slaves. Free choice among a wide variety of goods and services does not signify freedom if these goods and services sustain social controls over a life of toil and fear - that is, if they sustain alienation."

[@doraflores6684]

I'm not sure Herbert Marcuse is the best person to seek advice on economic practice being a communist and that goes with that...mainly failure.

[@doraflores6684]

@amihart Are you sure Russia is the 2nd largest economy right now? I just googled, "What are the largest economies in the world and it says China is the 2nd largest. Russia is listed as the eleventh largest as of March 2020 www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/

[@big-al37]

​@@doraflores6684 Regardless of whether or not the economic systems espoused by communists can be considered failures, Marcuse was very critical of the societies that you are probably thinking of (USSR, China, etc.) so your hesitancy is totally unfounded. If you do not understand someone's work then you should refrain from making statements about it.

[@doraflores6684]

@@big-al37 He's a Marxist and uses Critical Theory. What's there to understand? This is where all the college kids get their hate for America even as millions risk their lives to come here.

[@big-al37]

@@doraflores6684 Why are you replying to all of these KZbin comments trying to defend your beloved capitalist overlords? Get a life

[@matthewclayton1347]

I deeply agree with this video. Its a point that always seems to be ignored and there is so much propaganda to stop us even contemplating this. Long live Gravel Institute!

[@jimmyrrpage]

Comment for the Algorithm Gods. And thank you so much for this! We've been needing this for so long...

[@ongoinglife]

Are You Really "Free" Under Capitalism? - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqnUoKiegqh9eKs Capitalism Is Just A Fancy Word For Unchecked Greed - kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6q8nGd9Z7SMf6M Capitalism's Definition is NOT Innocent - kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3TYZWhvg5h9q7M End Stage Capitalism Is Being Delivered To Your Doorstep - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWewqKeQi9mob80 Baldwin’s Powerful Analysis Of American Capitalism - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4mQi4mZmJaAe9k Restructure Capitalism or Fascism Will Grow - kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGTGg6ScpLGKjKc How American Capitalism Is Just Socialism For The Rich - kzbin.info/www/bejne/faGkhXaCo7p7orc How Coronavirus Has Exposed the Myths of Free-Market Capitalism (Leigh Phillips) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2iTpqCnpJqVfdU

[@emilyp3647]

“Workplaces are like private governments” is such a fantastic line, especially to use in conversations with people who have a lot of anger towards all forms of government

[@iakrelliK]

Government: Lets all pool together to provide basic amenities & services and improve the standard of living (but some of it will be used in ways you dont want hehehehe) Libertarian: This is the worst thing ever Private Corporation: I will literally do anything to squeeze a profit out of you. In fact I am legally obliged to my shareholders to screw you over as much as I can! Libertarian: Yes good.

[@hamnchee]

I think you mischaracterise the arguments. One is voluntary and diverse, the other is involuntary and monolithic. Libertarians are not against pooling resources for a common good, they are against being forced into a pool, let alone a pool that has no competition.

[@iakrelliK]

@@hamnchee name one public service that has ever been adequately provided by private corporations

[@hamnchee]

@@iakrelliK education

[@hamnchee]

@@iakrelliK Cars

[@hamnchee]

@@iakrelliK refrigeration

[@mirandad805]

I'm very excited for your future projects!