All of your problems have something in common

/ horsespt
/ horses.ig
sources:
www.sciencedir...
files.libcom.o...
www.jasonhicke...
www.ncbi.nlm.n....
www.aljazeera.....
scroll.in/arti...
www.aeaweb.org...
so maybe not all but a lot
Some images made with Midjourney AI V4

[@kazharding]

I think it's weird to think how democracy is so highly valued especially in developed nations, and yet the economic system---the system that dictates most areas of our lives---is not democratized

[@HorsesOnYT]

Couldn’t agree more -Michael

[@dailyright]

Would this be like Dutch democracy where redistribution occurs? Or like American? Because we are technically a representative democracy which is entirely separate from an individual free marketplace.

[@Alexander_Grant]

@@dailyright The economic system is authoritarian. Capital is held by the few, and they have all the power when it comes to the economy. So a supposedly democratic country where the politicians are bought out and bow down to the authoritarians in the economy. That's what's so weird about the economic system in America, for all the freedom we claim to have, the economy is authoritarian.

[@mj.l]

@@Alexander_Grant that's why the USA is not considered a democracy at all, but an oligarchy - or plutocracy.

[@diabolusexnihilo1048]

Yes and it would also be fascinating to see what would occur in a capitalist system with no government regulation or interference I’ve often wondered if without government bailouts and subsidies etc would provide higher wages since goods would have to actually cost what they cost to produce, I remember reading the Polland book “Omnivores dilemma” and he outlined how much a bushel of corn actually cost to produce vs what it is sold for due to subsidies

[@poundlandbandit6124]

Telling poor people to cut costs and pinch pennies is like telling a starving man to eat less food

[@AuntieMamies]

Especially when you consider how expensive it is to be poor

[@raccoon_from_heaven]

Nobody tells poor people to cut costs unless the poor are spending money on buying things they don't need. Like alcohol, drugs, expensive brands etc.

[@voicelessglottalfricative6567]

​​@@raccoon_from_heavenneeds go beyond physiology. if you're in a situation where you're taught worth is defined by wealth, and virtually everything, including social interactions, love, belonging, safety, etc. is defined by wealth, then obviously you're going to resort to whatever is emotionally numbing. humans are social creatures. we are not content just to "survive". capitalism deprives us of all of these and attempts to put a material/monetary value on them, which is why drug use is such a huge issue, and designer brands are bought to fulfill desperate consumer culture, because people will do anything to look or feel like they're wealthy, and people will do anything to make their lives feel worth living.

[@HiDefHDMusic]

@@raccoon_from_heaventv’s, refrigerators, air conditioning, cell phones, cars, clothes, food, children, childcare and education….

[@BL-sd2qw]

YES!!!!

[@RobertDrane]

I love when poverty is defined by the exact amount you need to survive. As if we wouldn't call someone poor just because they haven't died of poverty yet.

[@shiromusk4236]

Well, its what is called Absolute poverty, there's also another term called Relative poverty, which is defined as the line below which people do not get access to needs deemed easy to acquire by societal standards

[@sciamachy9838]

⁠@@shiromusk4236in the EU relative poverty is defined as the half of the mean spending (yes, spending, not salary).

[@WynnofThule]

Except it's not even that, because any non-commodified or public good, any informal income that helps makes ends meet is discounted. Yet worse, prices of products that don't at all affect an impoverished person's ability to support themselves are counted. The prices of diamonds and ferraris count towards the poverty line just like food and water.

[@tlatolcalli682]

How would you define it?

[@RobertDrane]

@@tlatolcalli682 I don't know what would be useful as a metric for policy decisions. To me, its a lack of security.

[@ara8737]

5 and a half min into the video I got one of those "want to hear how I made $2 million dollars?" ads and laughed so hard 😂

[@ashraf2652]

Lmaooo💀💀💀💀

[@madamzilla4428]

I got an ad at the end of the video in Spanish about ordering food from uber eats 😅

[@SouvenTudu1]

😂🤣

[@flynjack4304]

I got an ad from a bank before the video started 💀💀

[@FLAK.O3]

I hate this country 😭

[@nickikuhn6004]

When taxpayers money is uses to bailout companies that should fail then the whole system is screwed.

[@stevecarter8810]

When rich people are at risk, We're suddenly socialists

[@devinstucky6948]

@@stevecarter8810 Rich people should be scared of socialism. They work hard for their success. Why should they have to give their hard earned dollars to somebody that hasn't earned it?

[@stevecarter8810]

​@@devinstucky6948 I think you missed my point. When taxpayer money bails out banks or other companies "too large to fail" then they are suddenly dropping their free market idealism for "the good of all". i.e. the banks are suddenly advocating for a socialist solution to their free market screwup.

[@peekaboo1575]

​@@devinstucky6948But that's not how socialism works. Profits are privatized and losses are socialized. A huge bureaucratic system keeps the status quo.

[@GarrulousHerald]

​​@@peekaboo1575 I'm sure if you gave a huge bureaucracy the power to socialize and allocate funds that they totally wouldn't abuse that for their own selfish gain... As they totally never did in various actual real world examples... And that said bureaucracy would totally stay efficient... What the US and many other countries are seeing, is the result of failing capitalism because they don't actually follow capitalist doctrine. There is too much lobbying, too much regulation (regulation that prevents small businesses from competing with government-made monopolies.) To say that's the fault of capitalism... Well that's like saying the USSR proves communism doesn't work. They didn't actually follow the doctrine, but they still used it as a power grab and as a rallying point. All it really did is prove that there are plenty that seek to use communism and socialism for selfish means. Could the same not be true for those who claim to be capitalist? Could they perhaps not be following capitalist doctrine just as Stalin and Mao didn't follow the communist manifesto exactly? Whether or not the manifesto is good doesn't matter for this point, because the point is that there are so many factors outside of the manifesto that influenced things that it's dishonest to make a blanket statement about its usefulness. And as such, critiques of it cannot be formulated based off of end results alone, because there needs to be discussion and understanding of the actions that lead to said results, not just "ooh monopoly appeared, capitalism don't work" or "haha people starve socialism no work," you can argue certain intrinsic principles of each system lean towards one effect more than the other, but there needs to be an actual analysis, not a God-of-the-gaps fallacy every time. (Even though technically socialism is worse with monopolies because the state is the monopoly and it is state mandated... In capitalism monopolies are usually state lobbied.) To point at what is happening now and scream "late-stage capitalism!" That completely ignores government corruption and the variety of factors that contribute to all of this, that would just as easily destroy any one of these people's socialist utopias... And has destroyed them in the past. There is a lack of accountability. And I'm sure that the powers that be are thrilled we are sitting here screaming about which economic system is the boogeyman, while completely ignoring the fact NEITHER will ever work under the corrupt leadership that is able to twist either system to their liking. Even if we converted to socialism tomorrow, the oligarchs would not care because they could still game the system in their favor. And guess what? The governments are in on it.

[@Fredreegz]

There is also another massive problem with statistics 'measuring' GDP in non-market economies. If a commercial farmer grows a thousand bushels of wheat and sells that to an industrial bakery, that economic transaction is recorded and feeds into the nation's gross domestic product statistics. If, however, a family of subsistence farmers grows a hundred bushes of wheat, threshes and grinds that into enough flour to last them a year, that activity is not recorded and catalogued within GDP. An 'advanced' market economy will always appear wealthier than a pre-capitalist non-market economy where people are self sufficient.

[@jshdelarosa]

Guys it's easy, a system has to be predicated on transparency, logical thought, and good faith. . None of these words Like socialism or capitalism mean anything in a non transparent system....... But we all know that already. After this years end the world will know (complete data sets for algorithm that run systems will be exposed) its all of our fault.

[@4444jen]

Add traditional women’s work nurturing children and running households, unpaid and therefore devalued by capitalistic metrics, so much actual value is exploited while simultaneously being ignored as having none.

[@nhi3844]

Yooo i get it!

[@colinburns8854]

I agree that anyone that thinks our current economic system is bad should give subsistence farming a go and see how much they like it.

[@SinbathSparrow]

​@@colinburns8854most people in the world depend on it. in Eastern Europe, especially Bulgaria, if you live outside cities and don't use your land to grow some food like tomatoes you won't make it through the winter.

[@OoUNSTOPABL3oO]

I don't remember where I heard it, but "The fact that greed exists as a human trait is /no/ reason to build our entire world around it."

[@qoph1988]

You will not reproduce

[@hegaliandialectics4289]

@@qoph1988buddy we are in a youtube comment section about the consequences of capitalism in decay. Non of us will.

[@katarinala]

!!!!!

[@360.Tapestry]

@@qoph1988 and you _should_ not reproduce... yet these arbitrary rules are defied every day

[@417PYRO]

What do you mean you don’t remember where you heard it? He literally says that in the video bonehead

[@SinbathSparrow]

If anyone is hopeless, don't be, don't give in to what they want. All acts of resistance no matter how small are a step in the right direction. You are billions

[@AJRfanboy904]

Resistance to what?

[@SinbathSparrow]

@@AJRfanboy904 to hopelessness

[@katarinala]

@@AJRfanboy904late stage capitalism, imperialism, colonialism

[@Bryophytan]

​​​@@katarinalacorporatization too. Recently my Government in the UK held an election. In this election labour won by a landslide taking hundreds of constituencies from the more right wing Conservative party. People generally felt dissolutioned, even hard-line conservative voters due to countless terrible decisions, like Brexit, that contributed to an economic crisis Britain is still currently stuck in. What was concerning is those right wing voters voted in favour of a new party headed by the absolute joke of a human being, Nigel Farage. Nigel Farage is the previous leader of the party UKIP, now legally called "UKIP Ban all illegal immigration". He was the representative for the UK in the EU and would regularly miss EU summits due to holidays in France or elsewhere in Europe. Perhaps the most politically serious thing he's done can be found by searching "Nigel Farage big chungus". Reform is a limited company - a corporation. They do not have donors, they remove that middleman and have shareholders. People are voting corporations. Labour votes have dropped by a few million votes in a continuing trend. Labour did not take right wing seats, unilateral dissolution of the conservative party have let reform make massive gains. Splitting the right wing vote, allowing a labour victory. Nigel Farage described Reform as a party filling the centre right. They are not. Reform is the far right. But worse than that reform does not exist to serve the country. It exists as a company. It exists to make money. The worst case is that in 2029 the conservatie party will have merged with Reform, consolidating a growing right wing voterbase, and the UK becomes a nation explicitly ruled by Corporate interests (not that it isn't already with influence from oil, pharmaceuticals, and the US) with the public voting them in despite wearing that openly. Imagine the precedent set. The public welcoming a corporation to be their government. Multiple times Nigel Farage has taken milkshakes to the face. It would be terrible if something a little more hazardous were to be thrown at him. Not that cutting off one head kills a hydra. It adds a new meaning to the reformation Vs revolution debate though

[@DG-iw3yw]

@katarinala All of it is bad. Your list does not encompass the problem, merely products of it. All of these ideologies are here to divide the people

[@dkod2304]

“If capitalism works then why is it so costly” a sentence has never hit me so hard

[@copperheadroad567]

The same reason why socialism doesn’t work… corruption

[@PacoCotero1221]

im 14 and this is deep

[@bustinnutsinslutsbutts]

​@@PacoCotero1221don't buy into this shit

[@dotsvg8482]

@@PacoCotero1221 god forbid anyone is sincere on the internet!

[@Prmarch]

So true

[@jse-shack825]

I always loved self-regulating systems. Originally from engineering, these systems can be found in sociological environments as well. An example: Split a piece of cake between two children fairly. If you do it, they will complain abut you not being fair, regardless of what you do. To avoid this, you present them with a knife and say: "one of you cuts the piece and the other one is first in line to choose one of the halves". The child cutting the cake is now forced to think, assuming that the other one will take the larger one if the halves are not the same size. It will therefore split the piece exactly in half and both will agree that they were treated fairly. Capitalism has the opposite effect: It's an instable system, in which wealth enables the growth of more wealth, which enables the growth of more wealth and on and on, even though our real resources are finite. Until somebody comes up with an intrinsically self-regulating system, I don't see much change happening. Due to popular demand: guys, i get it. We all scroll down after watching this video, emotionally charged and most likely anxious about the future, understandably so. I did not provide an analogy. None of these children nor the parent are a metaphor for states, companies or the common person, they were a real example taken from pedagogy to underline self-regulating mechanisms using a parent-children dynamic as example. If we can put our heads into creating a real self-regulating system within politics and/or economics, then we might spark a chance of changing things for the better.

[@laizerwoolf]

that's a really clever mechanism to teach fairness. Do you have any other rules/mechanism that leads to agents optimizing?

[@MadsterV]

Capitalism already has self regulating features in it, you're just used to them that you don't understand how they do not arise naturally and cannot imagine life without them: Capitalism turns greed and envy into productivity. It also gives you a clear path to climb the pyramid of needs. Without it, most societies stagnate. There's plenty of examples. Also, do not fall into the currently-popular trap presented into this video. Gift-giving, hand-holding societies DO NOT SCALE. Sure, tiny village, couple of families, all well. As soon as you don't know the whole neighborhood by first name, the pleasantries end, you can't keep up with everyone and they keep rotating so your standing is never enough.... but money is still good. Another trap presented here is equating capitalism to resources. Countries do not go to war over capitalism. They go to war over resources. These are VERY different things.

[@thomasdupont7186]

"Split a piece of cake between two children fairly. If you do it, they will complain abut you not being fair, regardless of what you do" do they ? Frankly this analogy of yours, regarding entire nations, it's a little simplistic don't you think ?

[@kenhensch3996]

@@thomasdupont7186 his analogy has nothing to do with entire nations, he was using it to describe self regulating systems.

[@livelikedragons]

Where does the cake come from to be split evenly?

[@dawert2667]

Always bothered me how at least in the US (and so increasingly the world) the economic system was based on the presumption that humanity was evil and greed ruled all motivation, but the government was based on the presumption that humanity was virtuous and that we could trust all people to come together to make the right decisions. How did people fall for that???

[@Davserban]

Because most are evil and greedy, there you go, not everyone is like you.

[@TheToastinater]

That's not necessarily true, the Federalist papers discuss in depth that "men are no angels" and cannot be made to govern themselves without a system if checks and balances that turn their natures against one another for the benefit of the system. Not saying it always works, but the founders definitely were not blind or celebratory about man's natural tendencies for greed and power

[@zacharylandes5109]

​@@DavserbanHard disagree, and you view the world through the lens you craft. Humanity is capable both of unfathomable cruelty and indescribable kindness. All is not lost, even if it sometimes seems that way, and if you feel the world should be different and less cruel it is important to work towards making it that way.

[@pivomanslovensko]

​@@DavserbanIf you are raised in a society that rewards evil and greed, many people will become evil and greedy.

[@alliedatheistalliance6776]

@@pivomanslovensko I think it's worth examining the question of whether we are selectively breeding greed and lack of empathy. Financial Darwinism is the idea that in a capitalist system, only those who can make money will survive. The poor will be less likely to be selected as a partner, less likely to have children, if they have the means to make that choice, less likely to pass on their qualities in general, not only genetically but in the culture as a whole. A similar pressure has arguably always existed, but tribal society meant that everyone would be taken care of if there were enough resources to do so. If wealth was genuinely relational to intelligence I might be okay with that, but it seems more like wealth is correlated to greed, sociopathy, and lack of empathy in general. It's not a good direction for humanity.

[@sociallysatanic]

watching this without premimum bc you don't think it'd be a good idea to pay another $14 a month and being interuptted by ads really enriches the experience of this video

[@afafafaafaf]

you considered paying for premium?! 😂

[@sociallysatanic]

@@afafafaafaf 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 i feel so silly for being so desperate for some peace to even consider, but yes. lmao. haven't given in yet though!

[@basement_culture]

It’s ironic how this guy is thriving due to capitalism. He could have demonetized the video

[@sociallysatanic]

@@basement_culture something something "we should improve society somewhat" "yet you participate in society, curious!" meme something something. like yes..... but also i'm sure this guy still has to like. eat. we don't really know the state of his life.

[@borninvincible]

@@basement_cultureyou do realize that we still have to participate in this system 🤡

[@rahulm4490]

Man my mind was just screaming Kafka, Kafka, Kafka before you came out and used the word 'Kafkaesque' yourself....I think he was the first writer who really captures this feeling of absurdity and pointlessness and the feeling of being trapped that today's world evokes in many of us....

[@HorsesOnYT]

Kafka biographic video coming soon 👀

[@rahulm4490]

@@HorsesOnYT Love it....can't wait!

[@johnbaldwin2948]

The problem are the people that can't be named.

[@sprod6737]

Read Zola

[@danisvalentine]

read gogol he was proto absurdism and surrealism

[@Flo-ej9dk]

Man, growing up in this state of the world order just feels numbing. I don't parcticulary see a bright or a dark future ahead of us (or egotistically me). But to put put it in the matter of colours, it basically just feels grey. In my younger years I've always had tendencies to anxiety. But with me growing older and understanding more and more about our world, it gets worse over time. My inital tought during and after this video was "Why not just end it all, so you I don't have to endure all of what's ahead." And I know that this is a very very dangerous thought, yet it was the first "rational" and impulsive thought that I had. After writing this short paragraph, I noticed how silly it sounds. Initially it has not much to do with the topic in this video (great video btw.). Maybe my current state of mind is partly influenced by the consequence of Capitalism. I thought about deleting the paragraph and just moving on with my daily life, but I will just leave it there. On the other side I don't know the effects that my comment will have on other people reading this. However at the same time, I don't really care, because I feel immensly powerless in the big sceme and disconnected from the world around me. I apologize if I'm come a across as egocentric, rude and naive.

[@teenhell]

You are not alone not only me, bi I feel like a lot of people feel like that, some are just very good at hiding/ignoring it than others

[@StainsStainsStains]

Sounds like you're discovering nihilism. You're not far, you should make the jump to absurdism. For me, its proved to be a healthier mindset than nihilism.

[@ThinkIn4D]

Some days I feel absurd, other days I feel hopeless. Get plenty of rest and take care of yourself best you can in the system you've been born into. Unfortunately, unless we all band together (which will never happen thanks to the upper end constantly pitting us against each other) then we are powerless to change the world we live in. Circumstances may be bleak, but on an individual level they are not hopeless. We have access to food, water, decent infrastructure, and a mostly safe community depending on where you are located. That's a lot more than majority of the places in the world can say. I understand the hard work of anyone's day to day is numbing to their body and soul, but if you bite the bullet and you truly understand the system you live in then you can game it to put yourself into a better position than you are now. It'll be slow and you will NEVER reach the state of those who used foulplay or were born into money, but you will be comfortable and content with what you've earned as it truly is yours. Take pride in what you have and don't stop dreaming. You have the rest of your life ahead of you and I promise you don't know what it has to offer, you could end up anywhere doing anything and if that thought scares you then living must not be for you. Edit: In the same vein as OP I don't know how people will take this as it's just the way that I've come to view things. Expectations lead to disappointment, and disappointment can often lead to depression. I hope that what you take away from this is that sometimes you have to just accept that life is stupid and ridiculous and way beyond your control. Enjoy what you can and enjoy what you want, otherwise what's the point?

[@kloug2006]

This is pretty much what I think too.

[@Flo-ej9dk]

Thanks for all the anwers guys. Yes it's true, that compared to a lot of other people lifes mine is technically great. And often I try to remind myself of exactly that. It definetly helps, but I'm kind of stuck between being motivated to, as you say, biting the bullet and trying to get rest to relieve myself from the stress I've been giving myself recently. It's hard do describe, because of the many factors playing together to form my anxiety-driven mind. At this exact moment I would say that I'm doing quite well, and I hope you guys may feel that way too. In fact, I spoke to some friends of mine about this topic of being "hopeless for the future" (they are between the ages of 20-25) and at some point someone asked "Or is our generation just some kind of whining-generation"? To be honest I think that this statement is not completely wrong, because some of us (even myself) seem pretty spoiled. Yet when a whole generation of people are saying something along the way of our topic, there must be something wrong. And I think we are not to blame, because we were way to young to have any major influence on it (whatever "it" is).

[@DjDolHaus86]

The best thing about statistics and figures is that if you don't like the results you can always move the goalposts

[@ArtemisSmith]

Hence this video making very stupid assertions

[@SinbathSparrow]

He explained why it wasn't accurate. Do you have an issue with what he presented?

[@SouvenTudu1]

Yes

[@Tom-bm3hx]

@@ArtemisSmith like?

[@AB-ip2ct]

Thank you for talking about how the British killed Indians. History is truly written by the winners because people so easily gloss over the horrors of colonial rule. Hitler is condemned by Germany, but Churchill is celebrated in the UK (a man arguably responsible for as many if not more, deaths than Hitler). It’s quite disturbing how history has been warped. Let’s keep in mind that it’s barely been 70 years since we got our independence. This isn’t a thing of the distant past. Colonialism & the cruelty of the British empire is recent. People in UK are protesting immigration because apparently “it’s so unfair” that foreigners have the audacity to come to their country. One can’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Greed & selfishness continue to get rewarded. I like to be optimistic. I like to believe that people have the capacity to do good, but the world we live in doesn’t reward kindness the same way it rewards cruelty. It’s also easier to keep exploiting people when they’re too busy fighting each other instead of fighting against the real evil i.e people in positions of power who hoard all the wealth.

[@MrHuddelchen]

Not to defend Chruchill or to disagree with you, but just to make sure that nobody misunderstands your statement: Hitler was condemned for a reason. He was responsible for about 50 million deaths directly related to the war and another 13 million during the Holocaust. Sure, he wasn't the only psychopath, but he was the main brain behind it. And yes, Churchill isn't a hero either... In war everyone loses...

[@Cupcake0228]

​@@MrHuddelchenThe Bengal Famine was an artificially induced catastrophe, where millions of Bengalis were coerced into growing cash crops and paying heavy taxes, while the British diverted grain from other parts of India to support their war efforts. When informed about the famine, Churchill’s heartless response was, "Hasn't Gandhi died yet?" This disaster alone caused the deaths of around 10 million Indians. For Indians, Churchill is regarded in much the same way as Hitler is by Jews. The effects of these British-induced famines persist, with the repeated famines under British rule leading to genetic changes that have increased the prevalence of diabetes in India today. Moreover, 30-35 million Indians perished in 24 artificially induced famines during British rule. Yet, according to you, we should somehow excuse Churchill because, unlike Hitler, he didn’t put us in gas chambers-he simply allowed us to die of hunger and disease. Bravo.

[@MuddafukhingdisKUST]

I've been saying this for a long time. Nothing is particularly 'unique' about Hitler's crimes- except that he committed them against other white people. Had it been against Africans, and literally no one would give a fuck. You can quite literally see this in action by gauging the German government's reaction to paying reparations to victims of the Holocaust vs paying reparations to thr victims of the Herero and Namaqua genocide- Germany was immediately apologetic for the Holocaust and has paid billions to victims and their descendants. For the Hereros/Namaquas in the other hand, it took them nearly a century to even ISSUE an apology, and they still refuse to grant them reparations. If I'm not mistaken not a single member of the von Trotha family has faced any consequences for that genocide. But yet we're supposed to believe the bullshit these countries talk about when they say shit like "never again"

[@Nebula.Space.Cadet.01]

​@Cupcake0228 In Kenya we also had to deal with the English as well. I am not trying to make comparisons to the atrocities visited upon our people. Just to say I hear and understand.

[@MuddafukhingdisKUST]

@@Nebula.Space.Cadet.01 Its good to draw comparisons; not in a sense of "who had it worse" but so we can come to a global understanding, solidarity, and unity. As someone with Sierra Leonean heritage, I too have a special distaste for British and American colonialism.

[@ISureDont]

Middle class is a term which no longer has any meaning. Theres only those that work and those that provide jobs. 90% of the world were farmers before the industrial revolution. Corporations like black rock have been buying every single family home they can. Most of us dont actually produce anything but money for the corporations that have shackled us. The fda performs aggressive raids on anyone that provides actual organic unprocessed food. Theyre working on taking our ability to save currency. When the world moves to digital currency whats stopping them from limiting how much you can have, how much you can spend and where. We will be pushed into a credit based system where we own nothing. Its in the works right now.

[@mattparker9533]

100% this.

[@Bobylein1337]

"those that provide jobs" Don't fall for their language, they aren't providing the jobs,they are merely exploiting the ones who do the work.

[@shamanic_nostalgia]

There's an Owner Class, and everyone else.

[@aliquid0]

Bit doomer but yeah

[@ISureDont]

@ReadParenti right if you go over that amount they take your benefits. You're kept in poverty barely scraping by with the amount they give you. With people that can't work it's a harsh life.

[@bsodcat]

Our morals are stuck in 1880’s while our technology is stuck in 2030’s while our education is stuck in 1980’s while our legislation is stuck in 1930’s while our economy is stuck in the 1970’s while our military Industrial complex is stuck in the 1990’s while the rest of the world decides how to divide us up into its dinner.

[@WhyGodby]

The us is still hegemonic, there is no carving. Yet.

[@TheManifestoChannel]

What a comment! The aspects of our society you mention ARE really stuck in the respective decades you say. Spot on.

[@Z3nHolEminD]

Our spirit was killed and replaced in Year 33 ad < proof is akin to gravity )

[@percivalyracanth1528]

And our sexualities and mental software are still all caveman-mode

[@HiDefHDMusic]

@@percivalyracanth1528hey I can read words AND music 😡

[@stainSqaud]

Trying to explain to people why I’m depressed is absolutely exhausting.

[@autodidact7127]

Maybe stop being so depressed and it would be less exhausting.

[@ibrahimalharbi3358]

God is not a dead man If you know about Allah, you would know you lost your time with fear of future

[@IisLasagna]

To the two others in the replies; HOW ARE THESE SUPPOSED TO SOLVE DEPRESSION

[@TheBrentonTaylor]

​@@IisLasagna It's the easiest thing in the world to be depressed when you depend your happiness on societies bs. Ask yourself what you would be doing during your perfect world and dedicate as much time you have to it.

[@gordonfreeman7187]

@@ibrahimalharbi3358 Your prophet Muhammad married a 9 year old girl at the age of 53.

[@fritzophrenia3146]

The only comfort I find in climate change is that hopefully it will force the world to confront the evils of our global economic system and how it got us into this mess. The next 100 years are going to be really messy and I'm not psyched to live through them, but I only hope our grandchildren come out of it wiser than we are now

[@JJE18210]

Sir, I IMPLORE YOU to research getting your own land if at all possible. Being self-sufficient and able to grow, hunt, forage and provide for yourself will be extremely important to your survival.

[@eprimchad2576]

Mfw the icecaps all melted in 2012 😐

[@SinbathSparrow]

Gotta rack our brain to act, not give in

[@eueumesmoaquelecara4638]

Don't have children, you'll just making new people suffer in a world that'll be even worse than ours.

[@SinbathSparrow]

@@eueumesmoaquelecara4638​"As things stand, I believe that the root of all evils is capitalism" - Albert Einstein, from his essay, "Why Socialism?" published in Monthly Review 1949

[@LuisRomeroLopez]

2:24 This feels a little misleading. *First:* It seems to confuse money (the concept) with currency (the object used as money). *Second:* Money has appear independently in post farming and pre writing societies in all continents through history. *Third:* In the reference, («The Myth of the Barter Economy» in The Atlantic) the claim is that what has not been observed in itself is barter economy, but systems like gift economy have. From here, money still appears as a logical consequence of the limitations of systems (not barter but) like Gift Ecoomy. For example, is interesting to note that the article adds that «exchange isn’t impersonal», which would cast doubts of its efficiency at macro levels.

[@MisterTalkingMachine]

I come from an engineering background but I did have to take some business related classes in university, from that experience I can only say what I was wholly repilsed and that business people believe their own lies. The experience that stuck withme the most was when my HR teacher praised Nike's (I think) "workforce outsourcing to south east asia", where we in the real world know they use child slavery.

[@xberserker7892]

Nike does outsource their work to east asia there was a documentary about it yet the adults that work these jobs are in very poor conditions not to say its any better yet i feel inclined to argue due to the fact that east asia doesnt have workers rights like in the us

[@ethicsxc]

​@@xberserker7892the workers rights we've got in the US, like anti-child labor laws, a minimum wage, a 40 hour work week, etc were all won in long and bloody fights between organized labor and the owning class. Not a product of capitalism running unchallenged, but concessions from the factory owner to direct resistance by the factory workers

[@MrSkeltal268]

@@ethicsxcPeople these days have the collective memory of a gnat. People truly believe if capitalism ran unrestricted we’d have an amazing economic system. I’d like to point them to late 1800s/early 1900s América, where we actually had this. Child labor, 100 hour workweeks, deaths at work, company towns. Hell even the food went unregulated - you had people making bread with plaster and bleach to stretch the ingredients and make it look “perfect”. That’s what unfettered capitalism looks like, and it’s fucking horrible for us peons.

[@maxwellbarnhart1375]

​@@mikkelhansen3714how is democracy the worst lol

[@mikkelhansen3714]

@@maxwellbarnhart1375 it’s the worst except for all the others

[@francodegasperi3814]

I've been saying this for years now, modern humanity doesn't fight against scarcity but against abundance. Every aspect of modern life is a quest to waste as much resources as possible consuming the most amount of time and energy.

[@Sgt.Simmoisabigdumbpoopoohead]

Well spoken, well spoken.

[@brodyalden]

This was a nice expression of Fisher’s work, but I think you should have cited it.

[@contekozlovski]

You're a propagandist, you're not objective. The data about 165 million indians was from a wild extrapolation that measured indian mortality during 1880-1920 set against english mortality from 17th century which doesn't make sense as England was much more advanced even centuries before.

[@tomjohnson9833]

I stopped watching after hearing him say that. He's either done his research on Leftist Instagram channels or is motivated by anti-Western forces. (Or both)

[@Fanatical_Empathy]

I absolutely love your message of empowerment that everything dies. I've been preaching this for years that doesn't matter if you're as big of as a sun or small as a blade of grass you have a moment in time where you don't exist then you are being made then you get to live and then you die. Every single entity within this physical realm adheres to that truth.

[@markomajnik416]

​@@C12341could you expand?

[@ericcricket4877]

@@C12341 It's called inherited wealth.

[@The_Ultimate_Ground_Of_Being]

​@@C12341nothing dies, it just transitions into a different lifeform.

[@JustJanitor]

Thanks for highlighting this. There is a sense of peace in this

[@yakobi8434]

@@C12341 I was born in a lower middle class family, but I know. I remember. No matter what reality or the facts presented…people praised “me” or said that I was “going to make it”(think general success). Since birth. Im not particularly good at any academia, business, sports, arts, or anything human really…but everyone saw it (literally even the people who’ve gone legit psychotic). It took time to realise that I was “going to make it” regardless and I didn’t have a choice. Like there was a much elder part of me that my younger mold had yet to comprehend. Though the transgender experience is riddled with much more hate and complexity, I have to say that I relate to extents.

[@rahulm4490]

By the way, the term 'creative destruction' was written about extensively by an economist called Joseph Schumpeter and his book and his arguments are very elegantly structured. I loved reading his work in college (I did Economics Honours as my bachelors degree in India) and we also read some of the writings of Adam Smith and Karl Marx....no matter what you end up convinced about, there is no doubt that the works of these people are very elegantly written and are a joy to read for a curious, developing mind....Unfortunately, people tend to dismiss great works with just two sentence criticisms on social media (I dont mean you)...like I have seen Marx being trashed all my life and yet, if you read him you realise how much depth, originality and intellectual force there was in his work and writing.... Myself, I am quite confused but I know one thing for sure- The present system is broken and its just not working....If you look at my country India, we don't have the kind of neo-colonialist presence and domination of our economy by western interests (and even the Chinese now) that places like Africa have. However, we have increasing religious radicalization and a hollowing out of democratic institutions sponsored by what? You guessed it- a couple of corporates who finance the elections and the media brainwashing required to turn people into religious bigots and unthinking zombies....In return, the companies literally capture all of India's resources and get awarded every big contract in every sector.....At least, they are not foreign companies like in Africa but that is small consolation....Anyway, I am currently in Norway and I really respect this country and society....according to me, the scandinavian countries are the last existing paradise on earth....

[@thebat4977]

Except when you understand the reason they got to that way is relient on the suffering of other peoples and nations.

[@Broken_robot1986]

Yeah it's nice what supporting American Imperialism and its capital system can buy you.

[@skootties]

@@thebat4977I think it's important to point that out, but I disagree with how you frame it. the fact that their place in the world economy places them in a privileged position in comparison to the heavily exploited people of the global south doesn't invalidate their political ideals.

[@timmyt1293]

What? Marx is a terrible writer, had terrible ideas, and couldn't explain them for shihh. The communist manifesto is basically sci fi garbage. Pseudo intellectualism is disgusting. Don't attach yourself to figures that loved to wax poetic. Attach yourself to strong ideas. Jeezus!

[@skootties]

@@scotiacaper I think there's something to that idea for sure. that doesn't make those ideals wrong, though.

[@bigt2731]

Lots of complaining; what’s the alternative or better solution???

[@LongDefiant]

Anarchism

[@bigt2731]

@@LongDefiant there will always be control measures that society demands

[@jessicaroberts521]

@@LongDefiantanarchy never works either someone with more power takes office or someone in the anarchy rises up

[@remydixon]

You’re my hero. I feel so much less crazy after hearing you perfectly articulate things I’ve pondered for years.

[@Scolecite]

This is an awful video filled with logical fallacies. If you don't see them, perhaps you are pondering things for so long precisely because you don't know HOW to think, rather than what to think.

[@loonie2113]

@@Scoleciteplease explain further as I thought aligned with the original comment

[@dipsylogic1715]

The creator of this video can hamster is way into thinking capitalism is bad all he wants, and you’re free to latch on to his ideas. But my guess is you haven’t truly studied economic and political systems, you simply did some quick googling. And were exposed to someone else’s anti-capitalism thoughts in the past, essentially mind control (we are all at the mercy of mind control). But the fact remains, look at how past socialist and communist societies ended up. That’s all you need to know

[@Tipman2OOO]

Right thank you! Never had the knowhow to spell it out like he does!

[@Tipman2OOO]

​@@Scolecitesays the bird stuck in its cage

[@dylanjackson29]

This video is brilliant and encapsulates my melancholy feelings about the state of world affairs. This channel in its entirety is a gem btw one of if not the best I've seen

[@adrian15041994]

I, too, feel my own thoughts being fed back to me in these videos. It is truly a reflexive experience.

[@zzz-nu2re]

Everyone is just comfortable and privileged so they complain like spoiled children

[@Mahlak_Mriuani_Anatman]

​@@adrian15041994indeed

[@NurseSnow2U]

@@adrian15041994agree wholeheartedly!!! I’ve shouted “EXACTLY!!!” & “that is SO true!!!” more times than I can count and I’m only a few minutes into the video. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@BonHomie87]

I don’t know your name, Horses content creator. I am grateful for an even clearer look behind the curtain of our capitalist reality. While you yourself earn your “measly profit” from doing so I hope and indeed assume that that profit isn’t the motivation that sustains you in doing so. I hope that the hope you hold onto and make mention of in this video essay is a flame that finds the oxygen and fuel necessary to spread. Such a flickering flame in me is fed. Thanks again.

[@ISureDont]

Even if it isn't everybody's gotta eat

[@braddishv3146]

Look behind the curtain of socialism this clown professes - there isn't anyone there because they are all dead.

[@simemsayss4395]

Wish we could try capitalism, Keynesian is capitalism, it's socialism.

[@blazzuris7219]

I’m sick of trying capitalism after every crash we try it again. I wanna give communism a shot like capitalism got

[@simemsayss4395]

@blazzuris7219 You don't know what you're talking about.

[@erikblue7842]

Around a year ago, I stopped participating in the consumer culture. I realised I didn't understand why I would buy many od the things, and I just kind of stopped buying unneeded products. Yet, whenever I tell people, I am seen as a "weirdo", because I don't go out and buy things I already own or things I can't use. I don't understand why I am the bizarre one, when that is just as bizarre

[@boredgirl1196]

How do I gain a mindset like yours

[@ikkikita9665]

I wish I could explore random old unused buildings with someone like you guys, you seem cool.

[@erikblue7842]

@boredgirl1196 I guess part of it is acting the way you want to be. Getting unused to it first. I noticed for me, with a lot of things like cake and such too, I don't really think beforehand. After I do, I realised I don't really think it's a good taste (not that it tastes bad). Also just got unused to a lot of things, then it becomes easier

[@okbarrels]

​@boredgirl1196 I'm not sure if this helps, but in my case, I found spite to be a really good motivator. The thought "stop feeding the rich with your money" crossed my mind, and then it became a lot harder for me to justify spending anything I didn't have to. Why should I feed what little I have to those who would pick off of my plate, then blame me for starving?

[@FLAK.O3]

I agree , everywhere I go everyone acts like everything is okay , wtf man isn’t there people in Africa digging up diamonds just for fucking iPhones right now 😔

[@ritzafit9544]

My question is, what are the other options, I know you touch on capitalist realism and how we can't predict what happens after "capitalism falls," but truly what else could there be that is a better option or not as shitty one?

[@abelabel3664]

By the end of the video some options were mentioned

[@isaac6077]

@@abelabel3664no there werent…. Only vintages of a fall past were mentioned… thats not how progress works

[@jaapiekrekel]

Some new kind of syndicalism?

[@Shrouded_reaper]

After the currency collapse and capitalism shts the bed, you will be right back to feudalism. Sure it's not that different to what we have now except the gloves are off.

[@thirdrebirth7683]

I am loving your videos. There are some broad thoughts that I've only scratched the surface of but my own defeatist attitude saying "what's the point?" has prevented me from ever making the effort to justify so they just became idle thoughts... Its nice to hear someone more educated expand on and give proper voice and reason to them.

[@brennans2286]

Educate yourself! Horses is citing from the philosophers Mark Fisher and Frederic Jameson among others. Fisher is easily accessible in terms of much of his work being available online but also in terms of his clear and straightforward writing style. Don’t be defeatist, join a socialist org like DSA and fight capitalism. “The tiniest event can tear a hole in the grey curtain of reaction which has marked the horizons of possibility under capitalist realism. From a situation in which nothing can happen, suddenly anything is possible again.”-Mark Fisher

[@arkonslorman1670]

I have to say, this video only contains a VERY cherrypicked set of arguments. The fundamental flaw of these points can be summarized by the sentence at 13:51: "8 million people die every year, but at least we don't massacre people like Stalin did." You actually didn't provide ANY counter-argument against this sentence, and not only is it true, but Stalin almost managed to kill as many people ONLY in the soviet union as are dying now in the ENTIRE WORLD with a much bigger population than it had a few decades ago.

[@sarge088]

I’m noticing this channel works when it’s informative or tells interesting stories and falls short when the video maker gives his personal opinions especially when it seems he has a rather juvenile understanding of politics.

[@jedediahmyers7495]

Over the course of decades, the largest state in the world killing millions isn't nearly the counterargument you seem to think it is. Stalin starved 5 million Ukrainians to death. It is considered his worst and most horrific slaughter with most numbers placing his total casualties at 6-9 million over the course of his regime. The British Empire in 1943 starved 3 million Indians to death in Bengal. These famines happened consistently throughout the British Regime, with the worst being the Bengal famine of 1770, which killed a total of 10 million people, eclipsing Stalin's entire regime over the Soviet Union in an era where the population was sub-1 billion. This is not to downplay genocide. It's to point out that comparing brutalities is not an argument that makes capitalism actually look better. 9 million people will die of hunger this years. 8 million without medical care. But because most of those people will be dying in neo-liberal colonies, they won't be added to some dictators score card like some morbid contest. Their death will be viewed as normal. Or as an improvement proportionally on supposedly more food insecure times. In fact, most estimates show that starvation is increasing due to the famines caused by climate change. It is more accurate to saw that capitalism, each year, produces a deathtoll equivalent to 2 Holodomors from hunger alone.

[@wuizabug2648]

jeb walked you.. stand up you’re embarrassing yourself

[@arkonslorman1670]

@@jedediahmyers7495 The point still stands that "capitalism" itself (not counting the indirect consequences of it, ofc) has never killed people ON PURPOSE, but instead bettered the life of a lot of people worldwide (unlike nationalism, which is responsible for horrid crimes ofc), objectively speaking. Stalin, on the other hand, basically MURDERED 600.000-800.000 of his own people over a span of just three years, in the so-called "Great Terror" (1936-1938), because he deemed them suspicious. Mao did something similar during the "Cultural Revolution", which was also exclusively aimed to keep his power, or to restore it. There is an infamous quote from Stalin which says "Death solves all problems - no person, no problem." - something not even the most brutal and ruthless capitalists could ever have stated that blankly. The biggest problem of "communist" states, up to this point, is not even necessarily the people leading them, but the complete ABSENCE of any power-checks for those people. Even in an absolute monarchy, the system of power and reign is quite complex and involves a lot of people, specifically those who have amassed a big fortune for themselves. The king/queen is usually very dependent on them and can risk the legitimacy of their crown by making the wrong decisions or becoming disconnected from reality. In a communist state - or any "modern" ideologist dictatorship for that matter - the leaders themselves DEFINE "reality" and usually have a huge propaganda machine to help them do just that. A capitalist or a king could never quite have the power over the MINDS of their people as these leaders do - simply by stating anyone who doesn't agree with them acts against the "revolution". This way, they keep their people in a state of permanent mass psychosis, where the ruler and the revolution become replacements for god. This is why all communist rulers have a huge problem with religion: the power of god could threaten THEIR godlike power, if the people worship god instead of the "revolution". In such a state , the worth of the individual is ONLY determined by their conformity to authority - not wealth, personal achievement or even family relations. This is why it is so easy to denounce anyone not conforming or not liked by the godlike ruler as "inhumane" or "threats" and comitting some of the worst crimes in human history against them. Also, the biggest famines in human history (Great Chinese famine) happened NOT because of natural causes, but because the people and even those in power(!) completely lost touch with reality, science and even basic human (common) sense. (Plz excuse my lackluster English)

[@arkonslorman1670]

@@wuizabug2648 there you go haha

[@azfk]

I do agree with a lot of your video, but I feel like some of this research falls victim to the same phenomena where someone has a certain narrative or side to support, and researches with that goal in constant mind, leading to a somewhat biased piece. It’s the same thing you accused the capitalist thinkers of. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with a lot of your piece, but if you want it to stand out from those you are detracting, at some point in this you should acknowledge that bias Edit- Capitalism isn’t a perfect system- but from watching this I can feel oozing out of the piece that you really don’t like it. I find many parts of it incredibly distasteful as well. But as a researcher and an entertainer attempting to portray factual content (which idk I like your stuff I get that vibe from you), in my opinion, you are doing your audience a disservice by researching without acknowledging that your mindset will lead you to find exactly what you want.

[@yuehan6711]

This is such a boring meaningless thing to say, there is no such thing as unbiased communication. Would you rather a 20 minute video that rapid fire covers only the most shallow likely true facts about political economy that dosent inform anyone about anything? or maybe a 10 hour visual encyclopedia of every economic ideology in existence that in the end has no conclusion.

[@azfk]

​@@yuehan6711 bro take a deep breath lol. I just said he should probably acknowledge that bias. I didn't say he needed to change anything about the piece other than saying "hey I have a pre-established viewpoint".

[@AristotlesSpeicallilguy]

@@yuehan6711I can see from your channel comment history that you just pick fights with people in the comments section of these videos. Are you proud of how you spend your time? Because the guy above you just literally said “good points but I’d like you to state where you’re coming from” and you took it like a personal attack on your ideology. You are clearly a very secure human being

[@yuehan6711]

@@AristotlesSpeicallilguy I have no doubt if the content of this video was aligned with orthodox political economy this comment would never have been left, there is a clear message hidden in the objectively inane task of telling someone to admit their bias. That their message is outside the norm and needs a disclaimer of subjectivity, which rhetorically weakens an argument. So yes I take issue. Also funny you portray me as a permanent resident of the comments when i only scrolled through newest first for 5 minutes or so.

[@deapthog]

​@@azfkeveryone has a pre-established viewpoint and bias inherent in them, to say he should acknowledge it is saying that everyone should state that every time they speak, use your fuckin brain for once

[@KAGdesignsDOTnet]

Feels like many aspects of religions' origins are a guide to avoid as well as warning about capitalism. Capitalist behaviour goes directly against most of the 10 commandments for a start

[@yamameeven967]

yes, it is like this for most religions, too bad, the capitalist religious institutions love to go against all other forms of systems because they love exploiting people by using religion...

[@ambatuBUHSURK]

lmfao then how did monarchy came to exist? that's worse than capitalist lib democracy

[@MichelleHell]

Yup. I actually came back around to Christianity when I had the epiphany that Jesus was sacrificed for healing and feeding people without demanding profit. I realized that Satan was a real person who monopolized resources and made others bend to his will. Jesus was sacrificed for undermining the monopoly, because Satan propagandizes others to guard his fortune. And God is just what we don't know. We don't know where all this came from, but we know it's wrong to exploit others for selfish gain. The most noble thing you can do is sacrifice your life fighting against exploitation. If Jesus was a based commie, that kinda changes how I feel about Christianity, like it's been corrupted rather than being intrinsically corrupt. But it's corrupted easily because it isn't very scientific. So, yea.

[@cimmicacocoa2370]

@@MichelleHellexactly how I feel about Christianity as a Christian. I feel like so many people these days believe in a twisted version and are misled by false prophets - I am not exempt either.

[@baileyharrison1030]

@@MichelleHell I guess many people struggle to see that point of view since most socialist countries in the past have been hostile to Christians if not mandating outright atheism.

[@ivoted-5489]

Deregulated Capitalism is Authoritarianism.

[@GoldenGod69]

You said more with 4 words then this guy did the entire video. Thank you

[@jidiplaygames1244]

Remove "Deregulated" from the sentence

[@SirCommoner]

any form of capitalism needs desperate, violent authority to survive

[@ivoted-5489]

@@SirCommoner maybe, but vs. what seems to be our age old question

[@ethankagak4256]

​@@ivoted-5489 .....🤡

[@DanielMcBrain]

2:50 is completely wrong, you also need to read the bible to see how some kind of capitalism existed thousands of years ago. Also, check the Romans … come on man … it is not a recent observation that accumulation of resources has been common for thousands of years, perhaps not in all cultures but it has existed.

[@mosquitomedia4916]

This video is so useless. spend 25 minutes critiquing an economic system without defining it giving it a fair steel man or providing an alternative.

[@LC-wv7tz]

Some really bad material in just the first few minutes. I'm not the biggest fan of capitailism, but I don't see it as entirely awful. There are useful tidbits. At any rate, you talk about people dying from lack of Healthcare, but this isn't an intrinsic feature of capitalism. This is a feature pretty unique to The United States and it's messed up situation in regards to the insane cost of healthcare due to insurance companies. Other capitalist countries, like most of Europe for example, don't have this problem as they don't have the same kind of system running their healthcare programs. Their healthcare systems face some different problems, but it's not the extreme cost that is seen in the United States due to insurance companies. Inbe4 someone tries to come in and say UK, Sweden, Denmark, etc aren't capitalist they are socialist. They are capitalist market economies. That function more or less the same as all other western capitalist market economies. It's just tweaking of regulations, spending, taxes, and spending that gives these different outcomes under the same system. Additionally, you cite a bunch of wars as if you're essentially blaming capitalism for all human conflict. The idea that nations and civilizations before capitalism (or after capitalism) didn't or won't engage in war is frankly stupid. It's ahistorical and ridiculous. Anyway, carry on with the criticism. There are major problems with the current system and it barely "just works". You're right in that it kind of doesn't. You're just also saying a bunch of stupid and pretty incorrect stuff there in the beginning.

[@ancienthybrid400]

I think you make some good points. However, I really do think that capitalism has been a net gain overall for many societies. I know it has to die at some point, but, if anything, it’s an important milestone in the advancement of human civilization. It’s not like these future systems are going to get rid of every aspect of capitalism, neither. We should keep the parts that work(encourages ingenuity through patents, the freedom of citizens to benefit their communities through private charities, the incentive to provide services and luxuries to the common household, etc). I think it would be a grave mistake to end capitalism completely. Still a great video, though. It made me think instead of making me mad, so great work.

[@baileyharrison1030]

A lot of those "parts" are basic freedoms though which could only be stopped through a tyrannical government.

[@wizardunionizer]

You are starting to edge close to the historical materialism understanding of history. At one time, capitalism was a progressive force. So too was feudalism over slave societies, and slave societies over “primitive” communities. However, just as slave societies and feudalism became reactionary over time, producing the elements that led to their own destruction, so too has capitalism become similarly reactionary. With dialectal thinking, we can begin to see the truth of the world, utilizing concrete analysis of concrete conditions to shape our strategy and policy. If we want to advance humanity, we must accept that our mode of production must change, as it has in the past. What happens when the contradiction at the core of capitalist society, that being that one class owns the means of production, and another class can only sell their labor to those owners, is resolved? Either the owners remain in power, and we embrace barbarism in a ruined world, or the laborers break up and reshape the means of production, marrying the social labor organization that we experience today with social ownership of the means of production, and reshape society along with it. We cannot say exactly what that society will look like, nor will it be a total end to human misery, but just as capitalism launched us to great heights, so too can what comes next.

[@ancienthybrid400]

@@wizardunionizer I think that’s a decent way to put it. I just can’t shake the thought that people only tend to deal in absolutes when it comes to how societies should function. If every aspect of capitalism is upended, the progress brought by the new system would be completely outweighed by the shattering social effects that a lack of familiar structure would bring. I’m not saying anything about you implying this, however. I’m just saying that slow and steady wins the race. As much as social change is an integral part to healthy societies, it’s a fine balance between too much change and not enough. Not everyone is going to benefit from these changes, neither. It’s only a matter of time before anyone’s current economic views become obsolete and harmful to future generations.

[@leorock150]

@@wizardunionizerthis comment just changed my mind to how I perceive historical materialism. It comes across as a kind of Hegel phenomenology of the spirit idea but in terms of economics. Great comment.

[@gaddaffilastname4532]

Yeah that's a reasonable idea until you realize that if class had never existed and thus feudalism never existed human beings would be far, far, far more advanced now than we are today. History is not an independent factor, it is a narrative, a result of actual causes. It is not a cause in itself, there is no teleology to the development of societies. Capitalism is just a profoundly evil, harmful thing that unfortunately happened to humanity and there is nothing good about it and nothing about it we should keep.

[@ante5544]

Every time the word "capitalism" is used in this video, it feels like there's this logically incongruous leap that jumps to a conclusion that's just... assumed to be correct, without information to substantiate it. What I suspect is that, in this video, "Capitalism" is a nebulous catch-all word that means "everything relating to our methods of material generation and distribution". Pollution is capitalist, because it stems from industry and wasteful consumption. Colonialism is capitalist, because it stems from the acquisition of things deemed vital to economic prosperity (and national security). Poverty and wealth inequality is capitalist, because if we just distributed material resources differently, it wouldn't exist. So on, so on. Never in this video does it question if society could function if we did it any other way. Waste is inherent in production and consumption, (not just in capitalist economies), and, barring innovations, can only be reduced at increasingly prohibitive costs. The Pareto distribution exists, and there will always be a minority of individuals in any given field that outperforms the majority, and to maximize productivity and efficiency in that field, they need to be compensated to a greater degree than the majority who underperform. And in the world before the Cold War, when the US Navy did not protect the world's shipping lanes from pirates and privateers and nations waged constant economic warfare against each other replete with trade barriers and state-sanctioned cartels, the only reliable way for you to defend yourself and your economy from expansionist neighbors was to play the dirty game and expand yourself, so all nationally vital sectors of the economy were in-house and protected from sabotage. Does the idea that humans neurologically and psychologically evolved a certain way over millions of years that to some degree they can never be conditioned out of (not without severe amounts of stress and mental illness at least) not occur here? Does the idea that there are nasty things that must be tolerated as inherent to the way the world operates not register? Are we to believe that nothing with ill consequence exists because it is necessary for society to function, and that it can all be easily discarded if enough of the right people with the right sentiments come along? Society is deeply ill and in need of reform. Spiritually and socially we are all ill and bereft if perspective and wisdom. We all stopped learning our history and philosophy sixty years ago and many of our younger generations are now friendless, lonely, unmarried, and consequently stressed and straining to provide for ourselves, void of social support networks that were ubiquitous across all of history until now, and void of many of the old reasons to live. All of this is true. But you cannot abstract all the evil from society, call it "capitalism", and then try to fight it while expecting any good results to come of it. You are boxing a ghost.

[@theopalgamer1126]

this is the single most well written comment i have ever seen

[@linus6718]

Goddamn, finally, some nuance. This video doesn't address how the problems with capitalism could be mitigated while still retaining the system, nor does it propose a better system

[@ninjahammers]

Damn I am that middle manager trapped in the system. It's even harder to break free when you have a kid.

[@westonblanchard5404]

We are all trapped just on different levels.

[@JonnyBGoode]

Bravo. I've recently subscribed to your videos due to a low point in life and they provided some much-needed perspectives. You continue to frame many of my thoughts in such a way that I feel comforted that there's content like this to reflect on and strengthen my ideas. Thanks for making, creating, and sharing such thought-provoking work @Horses.

[@KimMoth]

How about this for a strong idea: build a system to replace capitalism as a wiki MMORPG sort of like The Sims meets GitHub, and when enough folks are on board, and enough kinks ironed out, we can say, screw you guys, we're going over here. We can't escape it unless we have somewhere to escape TO.

[@tomjohnson9833]

These videos seem most appealing to cynical, misanthropic Leftists who own cats. Do you own a cat? If you want to strengthen your ideas, start by researching his 'figures' on British India. Even Indian nationalists don't make such idiotic claims.

[@JonnyBGoode]

@@tomjohnson9833 , nope, don't own cats. Been thinking of adopting one recently though & a dog. Also, what's wrong with cats? Are you allergic? Did you have a run in with a feline who ruined a part of your childhood? Some traumatic experience with a kitty that's rocked your world? Most creatures are cool, some are a**holes though - like people, like you. You're a strange guy with outlandish interpretations of complete strangers on the net, fella. Check yourself ✓

[@segueoyuri]

@@tomjohnson9833 if a person start anything they have to say by "every problem has one cause/one solution and it's this", just get ready to read/listen to a bunch of bs lol

[@karanvirsingh7829]

​@@tomjohnson9833your mindset seems the most appealing to self righteous shut-ins who love to deny factual truths and own guns. Do you own a gun? I'm Indian and was raised on Indian history, and since growing up I've done a short amount of reading into what kife in colonial India was like, and this video is absolutely on point with it. The figures line up roughly with other sources, in addition, the Brits stole upwards of a trillion dollars worth of natural resources from India to benefit themselves. You've got no close what you're talking about, and are only doing it to preserve your smooth little brain from having to think critically for a moment.

[@gameoflife4190]

I’ve been trying to explain this system my whole life and my conclusion is we’ve haven’t seen anything better and creating something better will take a global shift that will be catastrophic

[@uchiigtana]

Agreed. Will be better the sooner it happens though - but no generation wants to bear that toll so the buck keeps getting passed down the line

[@WesternUranus]

I think the global shift will happen first and we will be determined to create something different so we don't repeat the same mistakes. Not positive a better system will be created though. As we can see with nuclear weapons, the fundamental problem isn't the economic system but human nature. Competition and self-preservation is in our DNA and those instincts will always drive us to secure more resources and try to dominate others for our own security. Looking for a "perfect" system is illusory imo We are smart but also deeply flawed and will thus always find ways to circumvent it

[@DonTwanX]

It is the time of the Kali Yuga, so might as well give it a shot. Things are going to change, just how. Are we going to be assimilated into the capitalist system to the point that it is physically in our brains, or are we going to make a system that fits our bodies and the needs of the planet? Like getting a new car, you don’t rebuild the old one, you ditch it and get a different one. We start planning and building the new system now, so when the old one breaks down we can abandon it with glee and ride along in a system the meets our needs much better. Just can’t wait too long to start building the new one. Then the people with power have control over you.

[@DonTwanX]

@@uchiigtanait may be the job of millennials and zoomers. We’re pretty fucked already so we don’t have much to lose.

[@andrewalpern2178]

@@uchiigtanaI think it keeps getting passed down the line because not enough people are revolutionaries, not because people don’t want to bear the toll. I think people are in fact very willing to pay the price for a better world. I think it’s just that, currently, society as a whole would view some sort of revolution as radical and extremist. That opinion will gradually shift as more people suffer and the ones who have been suffering suffer worse. That’s how it usually goes at least looking at revolutions of the past.

[@crystalwebster2005]

A study showed that people who have good coping mechanisms will allow bad things to happen longer. 😢

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

Yea, people can put up with a ton and the ones who can't are world changers since most are introverts and off themselves, I've been getting "signs" is it really up to me?

[@thespartenkid]

Is 'what' up to you?

[@crystalwebster2005]

@@SOLIDSNAKE. at the end of the day I think the only person responsible for the happenings and reactions is ourselves

[@SOLIDSNAKE.]

@@crystalwebster2005 reactions sure but is it really not us at the hands of the unpredictable ocean that is life

[@MorbiusBlueBalls]

i need source for research

[@yagereales]

BNPL stands also for BUY NOW PAY LATER lol

[@designeedesigner6182]

There is so much wrong in this argument. It's full of misinterpretation and straw man arguments. Money did evolve from barter. Animals barter, so did early humans. At some point we invented money. Whether Adam Smith was right or wrong, is irrelevant to any argument here. Capitalism is not about greed. In order to be successful in capitalism you have to serve others first, this means that it does not fit the definition of greed. You say 'is this the society WE want' - it's the society I want, am I not a part of 'we'? Groups don't have values, they are too amorphous and incoherent to be said to hold values, only individuals can hold values. Who is to say what the 'top' of society is? Who are you to deny someone what they have made because you don't like that they have it and you do not? What right do you have to their work, how do you get it without coercion? How do you get it forcefully without being immoral? Musk, Bezos, Gates, richest men in the world. Do you not think they would give it all up to be hot 20 year olds with no money? They absolutely would. There are many dimensions of inequality, why is money the one to be redressed? Capitalism is not colonialism, it is not imperialism. The USSR was an imperialist, colonialist state and it wasn't capitalist. Colonialism and imperialism predate capitalism. The British did not kill 100 million Indians. The data is based on a cherry picked point in time from a place that didn't suffer from the same droughts. Also, why only 1880-1920? The British didn't give up control until 1947. The fact is that the data improves after that point way beyond the cherry picked point and under the same utilitarian logic, capitalism created a lot more lives. India has a population over a billion and life expectancy has risen to over 70. Your data on poverty in China is wrong. It has demonstrably fallen in data that is widely accepted. The idea that there was less than 10% poverty in 1990 in China is laughable - its ahistorical and data. There are a few debunkings of the paper that make the claim. But it wasn't just China, it was around the world and the available data supports this. Not only that but before about 1820 40% of children died before they reached 5, today that number is 4% and 0.4% in the developed world. Only free markets delivered the technology for that kind of improvement. You switch between the extreme poverty line and relative poverty line with abandon. You talk about feeding someone salt and then selling them a drink. How does capitalism feed people salt!? All the stuff about capitalist realism is just tedious moaning. Capitalism doesn't force us to live like this, you can do what you want. What you can't do is make other people value what you do and give you things. You talk about alternatives - what are they. Seriously, you've had 200 years and you have nothing, they didn't improve on the current system. So what is your proposal. The thing is I will happily defend capitalism because capitalism is the ONLY moral system. It is the only system that allows you to operate free from coercion, that allows you to learn and benefit from what you have learned. What do you offer but taking away freedom!? If capitalism is driven by greed, which it isn't, that's demonstrably better than being driven by envy, resentment and hatred and that's all that anti-capitalism has. All it offers is misery and oppression. To anyone who reads this, you deserve what you work for, what you build. You are an individual with values who has the right to live your life. That other people are jealous and want what they have does not give them a right to it. That they can't learn from you is not your fault - it's theirs. Do not waste your life on jealousy of others, focus on what you build because ultimately that is how you experience your life and no amount of complaining will change it. Giving people the power to sacrifice what you have for their benefit will though - don't let them. Choose your own life, choose to be free, choose to be your own advocate - that is what capitalism offers.

[@CyklonTropical]

From the beginning and stating that Smith invented money, this video feels like an alternative reality, thanks for clarifying his ridiculous claims.

[@shilombaba]

*"Money did evolve from barter. Animals barter, so did early humans. At some point we invented money"* Not exactly. People were trading goods, and then "someone" came up to profit from it, creating doubt between people : "Hey, how can you trade your grain for that donkey ? how do you know that donkey won't die in a week, and maybe the trade is not good value, here, take some imaginary coin instead. Capitalism was created profiting from fear, and taking interest in putting everyone in debt. *"You talk about feeding someone salt and then selling them a drink. How does capitalism feed people salt!?"* By lies and propaganda, by creating desires you didn't have, by creating fear and breaking down the sense of community, by isolating people, basically, by creating false needs and people unwell, so they go to the nearest available fix : consumerism. Buy buy buy, because you have to protect yourself, because you have to feel good, because you have to be accepted blablabla... *"You are an individual with values who has the right to live your life"* Yet, capitalism tries to break anyone going out of it trying to really live their lives.

[@GeldUndKokaine-kc1hp]

Cowrie Shells have been used as intermediate currency for direct profit driven trade in Africa for millennia and the writing and math systems in Sumeria were likely created and almost exclusively used for the measured trade of grain so that the amount delivered and the goods or precious metals received in return could be accurate and consistent. Profit driven trade especially so using intermediate goods or primitive forms of money are downright ancient. Adam Smith was absolutely correct about profit based trade being a built in aspect of human civilization. Gift based trading you discussed was certainly common but it was only done of small scales between individuals, broader kingdoms and economies were run on proto capitalistic profit driven trade. You're being very blatantly intellectually dishonest by claiming otherwise. I do however enjoy your presentation and think you did well arguing your points for the most part, you just misrepresented counterclaims in place of addressing them properly

[@evose1238]

yup, the only time humanity didn't run on a form of capitalism was pre-agrarian hunter gatherer societies.

[@SippingVino]

I know this to be true based solely on the history presented in the Bible, I mean even then tax collectors were of the most hated profession. Jesus said “give to Caesar what is Caesars” when talking about tax, gold and silver were used for thousands of years so profit has always been sought out as far as we’ve recorded history

[@someonethirsty1957]

Yep. He does that a lot during this video.

[@chickenbonelives]

It's amazing how he doesn't define the term, and then talks about capitalism as if it were a person. It is interesting to see how the other side personifies it's Boogeyman

[@Jaham32712]

​@@SippingVinothe bible is an incredibly unreliable historical source.

[@jamjox9922]

I remember as a kid I thought of becoming a business man one day. I said, "It's easy. Just sell stuff. I'll buy a bag of candy that will cost me $5 and resell everything separately, and I'll have $10." But I kept doing math. Well, I have to go to the store, factor in my time, having money ahead of time, and possibly NOT being able to sell everything. So, i needed more money. So I got a job. And the job paid $6 per hour, but I PRODUCED $100 of stuff. And I realized the only one really making huge profits were the ones that sold not bars of candy, not bags of candy, not boxes of candy, not pallets of candy, but the one that owned the factories that make the bags, the ones that own the factories that make the boxes, the one that owned MANY factories and he would underpay everyone beneath him. And so, I stopped believing, because almost everything I touch is stained with some poor worker that was underpaid while they over produced and the owners of many factories skimmed the profits of many, many workers for their own riches. And these owners pretend they're being "fair."

[@DocAcher]

👏💯

[@Cringe_department_15]

Cringe comment detected

[@HairySourpuss]

There’s a retarded kid in my moms town who started his own business fixing bikes He’s got 2 things going for him: strong work ethic, he isn’t poisoned by leftism

[@LegaliseShemp]

@@Cringe_department_15 It's on the other end of the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" spectrum of determinism/free will. It's just as disingenuous and moronic, honestly.

[@salmansengul]

That's basically what Marx criticized. Pretty ironic. 😅

[@Mattras7]

5 minutes in you seem like a person who has a very clear unnuanced opinion before researching and then cherry picks evidence which validates your opinion. Will view the entire video and return. EDIT: I was exactly right. You used a bunch of dishonest arguments throughout the entire video. 1) Has life gotten better through capitalism as a question is reduced to one single metric which is then labeled as flawed, as you present an alternative metric which is labeled as more accurate by you which proves life has gotten worse because more people seem to be poor in one single country, China. The way this metric is calculated isn’t even explained in the video. Capitalism breeds innovation as people who make life altering stuff are personally incentivized to do so through money, it’s shallow but it’s true. That has greatly increased life expectancy, reduced child deaths, increased happiness of life indexes all over the world. Do those metrics not count anymore? Communist countries lack innovation and ultimately collapse. In a non-capitalist system, it’s not guaranteed that those innovations come at the same pace as they have in our history. Why do you think we had a COVID vaccine so soon? because multiple corporations were having a race to be the first to develop a successful one, which ultimately saved a ton of lives. And their motivation was money, which might be shallow but it breeds efficiency, speed, and results. 2) Are you genuinely comparing Chinese and Soviet genocides to war-related deaths and deaths related to poverty? You can look at Soviet population graphs and immediately identify when Stalin ruled because his slaughterings were that significant. Really dishonest attempt at trying to make all evils equal. 3) The way you describe Adam Smith shows a very obvious lack of any education in economic theory. There is too much in this video that is so obviously one-sided and unnuanced that I can keep going, but tbh I’m still glad I stumbled upon this well edited video as it at least gave me something to critically think about. And I do agree as a European, America is fucked and I would not like to live there. Everything from healthcare to education to politics is set up for rich people to benefit the most. This is however not the case for many European countries which have great systems for wealth redistribution and health care. I live in Belgium which has one of the lowest wealth gaps in the world and the highest median wealth per capita. If you look at our nation and also Scandinavian nations, we are some of the happiest people in the world on average too. We are on the opposite side of the spectrum though, as we are one of the most taxed nations on labor and one of the countries with the lowest participation grade in the job market and one of the highest budget deficits. In Belgium, I’m liberal but if I lived in America, I would be a socialist too. I think one’s political views should always be determined by the political system for any rational thinker. In fact, if I were born in America then I might have even grown up to have the same radical beliefs as you have displayed in this video. However in all cases, Europe or America or anywhere else, a capitalist economic system is always essential for the functioning of a nation. Any other system has ultimately collapsed and caved in to open up to Western capitalist economies in history. Any other system you proposed at the end is a fairytale, which might work on small scale but never on a global scale. Capitalism on a global scale will never end. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Any other system will eventually be corrupted by the few as has been proven time and time again. Stock markets are available to anyone who has a little savings to invest because of technology, get a tracker and you get a very diversified way to earn money long term. All of this is unprecedented. I can keep rambling but I’ll stop.

[@greasemonke]

Your channel just tripled in subscribers, congrats! Really like your videos

[@TrunksXV]

“The poor will always be with us.” - Matthew 26

[@courtjester8055]

They thought leprosy would too.

[@BimmerBros]

They got that one right

[@vulpinemachine]

​@@courtjester8055leprosy still is with us though.

[@charliecharlie9042]

A lot of these issues stem from corruption and lack of transparency not from the basic idea of “exchanging goods and services for capital”.

[@TheSpecialJ11]

Yeah. Market economies are phenomenal. Market economies where the largest players monopolize all new market opportunities and suppress wages as low as possible are horrible.

[@charliecharlie9042]

@@TheSpecialJ11 I didn’t mention free market, just the basic concept of capitalism. I agree with you and all of this is facilitated by corruption, lobbyists and a lack of transparency.

[@ciro_costa]

nope that's the standard answer they give so you won't question things further but against scientific research none of that stands up What is "corruption"? When a company has an agreement behind closed doors with the government? In the USA that's just called lobbying and they'll lobby and ellect the politicians they want no matter what and there's nothing we can do Protest? They'll use the full might of the police to bash our heads in. They've done it before. There's no fairness. They have all the money, we have nothing. Who's they? It's the rich, the burgeoisie. The owners of the HUGE farms, the factories, the machines, source codes, the data. and so on.

[@binbows2258]

This is why social democracy is good. It retains the benefits of capitalism while also limiting the power of corrupt and self-serving capitalists.

[@ciro_costa]

@@binbows2258 well, the problem with social democracy is that it doesn't remove the mechanism that allows the rich to remain rich. Aka. Private property of the means of production. Since they remain rich they have economical power. And economical power is political power. So, they have the incentive and the power to revert all the achievements of the working class in a social democracy. They use all the power to do things like: privatization of healthcare, privatization of transportation, destruction of labour safety regulations, eliminate the minimum wage, paid leave, maternity leave, etc. The only way to maintain the welfare is by having popular power.

[@bigratman_]

the belief that the human condition is inherently evil and greedy and destructive is one that makes me incomprehensibly sad. be hopeful always - a brighter future will come when we come together

[@ibrahimalharbi3358]

You are the best God is not a dead man Future is bright Even with crazy men in white house

[@LordSiravant]

But the human condition ensures that we will never come together, so that brighter future is not actually possible.

[@snowjack1-u4y]

Reality sucks, best get over it.

[@imnotcreative3004]

eh, in my experience people are as good as they are bad. it's just that the "bad" end of the spectrum is incredibly hard to get out of, since a big part of "evil" is lack of self-control, which is the exact thing you need to get out of it.

[@ferguscircus7021]

“In the 1800’s Smith saw people trading goods in exchange for profit, and said it was always this way. He made that up.” @horses says about Adam Smith FRSA (baptised 16 June [O.S. 5 June] 1723[5] - 17 July 1790)

[@isaac6077]

Says it doesnt exist cause horses is kinda dumb

[@gonkdroid4prez539]

Also, he claims capitalism did not exist before that, and then attributes many horrors to capitalism that happened well before when he claims capitalism started.

[@carlsonmedia]

Unfortunately the term capitalism has become somewhat amorphous. Many current systems in the world straddle the line between capitalism and socialism. A deeper dive into humanity’s corruption of every system that has existed might be more helpful, though I understand that “capitalism is evil” is a buzz-term that gets a lot of views.

[@beelz5932]

Only if your conception of socialism is “the government does stuff for people” would this be true. What you are most likely referring to is welfare capitalism. Socialism is when the means of production is owned by the people who operate it. So, instead of a place of work being owned by a single person it would be owned by all the laborers who are involved in production.

[@deltasixtwo]

i'm 2 minutes and 30 seconds into this video, and author already says some unexplainble stuff like "Gift System" citing 1 Journalist Paper that is hardly credible at best. Dear author, what about all the little ancient coins made from precious metals that are found all around the Eurasian Region? Or even better, Native americans (Aztecs that were developing separately from Europeans) used cacao beans as a sort of money, and were used in specific quantities determined by value of the purchase. So you are saying that Adam Smith made up Lydian Lion (oldest found coin) that proofs that money were used for at least 2700 years, long before Adam Smith was born? Simple 1 minute fact checking and the video is from the begining full of BS. I will update this comment as i progress through the video.

[@hipsterjesus9421]

no more updates?

[@deltasixtwo]

@@hipsterjesus9421 i believe i was somewhat bored with nonsense presented in video, so went ahead with doing something more productive :) but if it’s really needed, i could go through one more time and do a thorough fact-check. It’s just somewhat unrewarding, that’s all.

[@nelly_phatado]

6:01 I have a critique for the writer/narrator. I always consider it a sad missed opportunity when storytellers use the stereotypical African hungry child image as the poster for poverty. At best it continues the stereotype that poverty is a thing that belongs to black and brown bodies, at worst your audience fails to actually see the issue, a human problem that is happening within their own communities and that they at the individual level, can take steps to redress

[@H0mework]

Seriously. That African kid isn't making money or enslaved he's just in a sustinence farming village.

[@dianemotolinia2303]

​@@H0meworkno, he is a miner. No child should work in the mines. And I think they show this image precisely because these illegal and unethical mines exist thanks to capitalism, look up whats happening in the democratic republic of Congo and the role that capitalism plays in it.

[@artugert]

This video is intellectually dishonest to an extreme, fails to understand what capitalism actually is (in fact, no attempt is even made to define it), and conflates it with things that it is not all throughout the video. Please define what it is first, before blaming all of society's problems on it.

[@vanguard6937]

"capitalism is when I can't have everything by being lazy and I have to work to live. And it's evil." -every socialism/breadtuber

[@kevincrean1792]

The author conflates immortality with capitalism. That’s a category error. The owners of the mine that exploit children are evil, but capitalism, as an economic system, doesn’t compel that business method. A very conscious decision to exploit compels that result. And switching to socialism (or any other economic system) will do nothing to eliminate that conscious desire: plenty of Soviet miners were abused under communism. Second, a more productive economy creates the likelihood of a larger tax base, from which transfer payments and social services can be made. And it can fund schools that can-if properly run-create the kinds of skills that enable the productivity that keeps poverty at bay. In the U.S., there’s a large body of literature demonstrating that if you graduate from high school, stay off drugs, get married, and simply hold down a job, you very likely will find yourself migrating up the income ladder. There are no guarantees; however, as a broad statement on the basis of which policy should be made, this formula stands to reason. Lots of businesses will pay workers $20 per hour if they’ll show up and give an honest effort. Furthermore, as the FIRE movement shows, even a modest income, well invested over time, can create substantial wealth. So the pressing issue for most Americans isn’t being press-ganged into child labor, nor even keeping genuine poverty at bay. It’s largely cultural. The projects you mentioned are drug infested, plagued by crime. The schools there are completely dysfunctional. You can’t in good conscience give all that a pass, then pin the rap on capitalism. In other videos, you show real insight into the performative aspects of a Kim Kardashian slumming it, but the same dynamic applies here. People dis capitalism to burnish their liberal street cred. They haven’t the foggiest notion of what’s involved in innovation, entrepreneurship, banking, investment banking, or angel investing. They also have not even a basic idea of how the American economy functions, including the horrendous debt to GDP ratio and the grotesquely large payments made to finance the debt, all of which ensues from deficit spending. When you narrow the focus to capitalism, you reduce the discussion to a faux morality play, positioning yourself as the moral arbiter of a sad, but largely intractable, condition. That’s framing the problem so as to enable your own social signaling. If you want to get a handle on this problem in the U.S., look at farm income during times of sound money, prior to the Federal Reserve. Then do a deep dive on Bitcoin and connect the dots. If people can save and invest in sound money, much of the problem dissolves. Adam Smith had it mostly right: rule of law, private property, light taxes and regulations, and a tolerable administration of Justice. Read Deirdre McCloskey to get the 4,000 page long form exposition of the argument. It’s comprehensive, high quality scholarship that slays low grade social signaling.

[@GoneNForgotten]

We need something new, not communism, not socialism, or even capitalism, start fresh and come up with something new. We are f*ck*d if we dont have some kind of major change. Every scale has a tipping point no matter how big

[@ambatuBUHSURK]

A criticism of soviet policies is not a criticism of socialism. You're doing the same thing you're accusing the creator of lmfao

[@linus6718]

​@@ambatuBUHSURK That's not what the OP did, he's saying that abuse and exploitation are not exclusive to capitalism, with Soviet Russia as an example of that

[@cram7254]

Bro thinks human greed goes away under different economic systems 😭😭

[@OTG1776]

Bro EXAAAAACTLY!!!!🤣🤣🤣 I was like is thus dude 17 or what?☠️🤣 Seems like on of those dude who thinks "The four races lived in peace until the whites attacked." Let's ignore the 100+ million dead under communism.

[@jultdi5273]

@@OTG1776clearly neither of you payed attention to his choice of words, that 100 million dead is a made up number btw

[@j.clementec.m.1558]

Greed is on a spectrum.

[@Srange1]

Yeah I don't understand the idea that a different economic system would prevent greedy people from taking advantage of others.

[@OTG1776]

​@@Srange1 it doesn't standing armies do. Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

[@hermanndercheruskerfurst9095]

2:23 "Smith just made this up." There are coins and transaction records going back to the earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia.

[@Jin-o9u]

Lol those coins was for the so called banking system. Nothing about capitalism

[@ashutoshsethi6150]

​​​@@Jin-o9u Yes, what was banks made for, loans and savings. Capitalism is an extension to make profits off economies of scale and economic servitude, when the other alternatives are worse. This is not a utopia. We got what we got, maybe we should organise and rearrange the systems and stop lying and propagandising. Unending growth or not, if an economy of scale makes some stuff cheaper for the common man while still being profitable after good labour and customer service regulations, then it is going to keep growing and even have popular support.

[@ashutoshsethi6150]

Capitalism is used the same way as any other power is used, starve the people after giving them a taste of power to change their fate with their hard workor even the tinge of jealousy when someone with more credits gets a better life, and with the loyalty or grudging acceptance of the masses under the system you set up. Meanwhile you have agreements with your partners and regulators, to let you do whatever you want in your fief or factory when you exploit them and supresss their rights and underpaying their labour for profits, despite you having an already profit margin due to near exclusive contracts in the logistic chain that supplies your input and maintenance. Your competition has to have the starting capital to butter up the same bureaucrats and politicians and logistic chains to get the same or better agreements than you did, promise better profits to the investors than you, all the while you hogging the market and the optimal economy of scale for that period of tech. This might require the competitor to have new innovations or better logistical realities or even better agreements with the regulators and supply chain, and also needs to use so much capital to buy equipment, perform espionage against you and hire experts. Only a substantial advantage can shake you off the race to make him the new king. The same rules apply for unregulated capitalism, illegal capitalism and state funded tender based capi subsidised capitalism. Connections and resource optimisation, even lots of illegal and unethical practices to prop up the profits. Effectice Regulation and stricter labour and consumer protection laws are the key. If not done, both capitalists and state reulated industries burn out the future and violate rights and lie through their teeth to maximise profits or minimise risk.

[@Jetiix]

no economic system or political setup will guarantee people will be good to each other, what brings all these systems down inevitably is humanity itself.

[@juannaym8488]

look up the acali raft. People of different cultures, believes and backgrounds were put on a raft for a year, completely isolated. They started loving each other despite being completely different. They shared everything, were like a happy family We are good in nature. It's hierachies, authorities, greed that make us go bad

[@noahsanchez5329]

@@juannaym8488 well the truth is juan 2% of people are sociopaths and 1% are psychopaths. When they're are people who are hungry for power and wealth those guys are the ones that try the hardest to get to the top and those people at the top control you. That's the truth

[@juannaym8488]

@@noahsanchez5329 then we need a system were there's either no top or where the top's power is controlled by those by the bottom

[@bright5468]

​@@juannaym8488and that kind of system has no example in our history.

[@the_boss5418]

​​@@juannaym8488that is what democracy was supposed to be. A system controlled by the people not by the ones in power.

[@joshgoulash4889]

"Capitalism is when you bomb Iraq." - a very fair analysis

[@wuizabug2648]

wanna debate this video? you’re the only opposition i’ve seen, i’m guessing you’ll go the “economic systems are just a means to execute our nature. there’s no reason to change capitalism there’s gonna exploitation in every system” route? should we start there or do you have an actual point

[@joshgoulash4889]

@@wuizabug2648 No, not really interested in a debate. I think that most of the complaints about economic systems, or at least the ones in this video, are really complaints about choices that governments (or in many circumstances, particularly in the US, corporations) make. Capitalism doesn't require that people behave unethically, although some will claim that it does.

[@wuizabug2648]

@@joshgoulash4889 oh okay i understand that. i’m an american so i personally haven’t experienced non-american capitalism. i assume that the governments of other countries paint the system is a far better light than we do.

[@ElectricAlien577]

​@joshgoulash4889 Capitalism may not "require" anybody to behave unethically to function on paper, but it sure does encourage the most unethical behavior possible, and funnels all the most unethical people to the top of society.

[@joshgoulash4889]

@@ElectricAlien577 Any system that allows individuals to accrue power should expect to have some that game the system. The longer a system persists, the more obvious the exploits become, and the worse it can get. I think you're being hyperbolic, though.

[@peterelacqua425]

This might be my favorite video thats ever summed up my feeling of living under this system. You absolutely did an amazing job making this! Much love

[@raybrandt]

Well, it's exactly that: a feeling. There's barely any real facts in this video.

[@nicokorkiamaki2991]

@@raybrandt bootlicker spotted

[@deezovaries4263]

Willful participation in you own ignorance is crazy. Ray Brandt

[@josephcalvosa8272]

Lol because socialism works better, oh, nevermind.

[@0przem]

This video encapsulates so many of my own feelings in such a neat and beautiful way. I will share it with anyone who will take time to consider. VENTING... I myself am stuck in a soulless corporate job and feel like I have very little to complain about because I'm reasonably comfortable and so are most of the people around me but I so wish I could have more freedom in what I do and not always have to consider money and productivity. That combined with the knowledge that most people don't have it as well as I do and I'm stuck with a feeling of intense guilt to add to my dissatisfaction. Can't wait for the revolution. Much love from Ireland.

[@pivomanslovensko]

We can't wait for the revolution, we need to make it. Good luck comrade.

[@jaoocelo]

Will come

[@walberparker7111]

Lmao

[@TheNonntannur]

I feel like this too, and so do many of my colleagues. Absurd to think we should be grateful both for being comfortable AND better than many and yet we fail.

[@Jah-Marii]

Let me ask you a question, do you believe in security? In regards to a person or a job?

[@taylorlibbie]

yt recommended your arthur 9/11 vid only to find out it was copyrighted

[@HorsesOnYT]

Ty… we will see.

[@Gabiru504]

I live in Brazil, I'm going to use Google Translate because I don't trust my English. But I want to talk a little about the socioeconomic situation here, not only in Brazil but in Latin America. On one side of the street, you will see a huge slum where a population that has been deprived of dignity lives. On the other side, high-end condominiums, beaches, a beautiful landscape, rich white people. When asking the population why this inequality occurs, most Brazilians will respond that the state is to blame. This answer makes a little sense, as in our constitution the government assumes the responsibility of ensuring dignity for all. But what would be the solution to this? More freedom for capitalism and less state? Now, Argentina is about to elect a president who will privatize education, health, security... And then, I assume, Argentina will show off its economy, without taking into account the situation of the lower classes. But who are they going to blame now? This is how I see the cycle that occurs here in Latin America. Sometimes more capitalism, sometimes more “socialism”. The state will not handle all the problems that capitalism creates, and so capitalism always comes back with more capitalism as the solution.

[@handlehaggler]

i thought maybe el salvador can be a good example in these times... i hope so because he is speaking about some important things but why is that not a better example to use for you? i grew up very poor in south africa so i know the things you are talking about and now i live in australia and it is the same but at least here they realize the people are crazy enough to rebel and that will cause problems for the property markets and in the bigger picture, the economy and potential investors from coming here people need to take back the land - no more can you own land if you are not going to live there. everybody must have enough land to do as much of their own farming as they can, with the ultimate goal for us to collectively overproduce for ourselves in sustainable and regenerative methods using modern technology that should all be open source if we can make capitalism happen then we can make this happen but we people seem to spend more time fighting than actually working hard and honestly

[@Julian_XO]

Good video! Lots of valid points but some of the usual counter-arguments are avoided or just lightly touched. Also the socialist sympathies in the end are just disappointing because It's just the same old struggle between both ideologies... We really need to move beyond how Marx's work was interpreted and see one axis of market or state mindset. Also, while I very much related to your Kafkaeske analogy of work today, I think It's important to emphasize the abstractiveness of labor in the system. The simple cycle of working to live and living to work can be compared to any animal hunting to live and living to hunt, just like a farmer and his crops. I could write about this for hours, I didn't get into details and disregarded any grammatical correctness but I hope my opinion may help

[@teertteert3352]

Straight facts

[@sarge088]

His understanding of politics is rather juvenile but I appreciate his ability to tell stories which is why I still watch his videos.

[@jakexavier4958]

Lmao everyone on my side of the fam grew up dirt poor shitting in river outhouses and wiping with newspaper, but due to capitalism we made it out after my moms business picked up. You can’t tell me capitalism doesn’t work… only that the people don’t!!!!!

[@harrybottero6756]

Were you even watching?

[@jakexavier4958]

@@harrybottero6756 my whole life I’ve been watching

[@jonaktexcor8390]

The success history syndrome, you are the exception, most people are not so lucky.

[@norelfarjun3554]

I think our problem is that we are trying to find some uniform system that should satisfy all our needs. A capitalist or socialist system (or some combination of both), but to the end. In practice, I don't see a good reason for this. In a general way, instead of getting married to one idea, you can look at these approaches as tools that can be used as needed according to the need in the general system.

[@artisticendeavors5076]

Well Horses, what are you suggesting as an alternative? Communism? Socialism? Hitler, Stalin, Mao? Those track records are far worse! Do you have a new administrative suggestion that hasn't ended in tens of millions dying in some horrible way? At least capitalism-(a constitutional republic) gives someone a chance at success.

[@mzadro7]

I have nothing to say apart from “amazing video”, just commenting to let you know and to boost this in the algorithm like it deserves

[@oopy354]

The whole intro I'm just thinking, "Human greed. Boomer's human greed," then this guy says "Capitalism" and I realize it's one of those videos... Haha.

[@JackieChan-rk7mc]

Yeah, most people like to cry about capitalism when they have zero clue it’s a multitude of things causing issues. Every single person I’ve come across that blames capitalism, doesn’t know anything about currency and how it works. They think paper is real money

[@MarioTransformer7001]

Yeah you guys sound like y’all came from rich or expandable backgrounds where money is no object to you at all. Y’all are exactly the problem what the man is talking about in this video

[@Ziharkk]

While it may be exhilarating and seem enlightening to tear down the current system, doing so with no clear goal in mind to build a better tomorrow is akin to Kaczinsky’s eco-terrorism. All politics are egoism; to what end do we build this better tomorrow? There is purpose, there is reason, there is order. Our malaise is errant, what we have discovered and we writhe against is only our inevitable deaths. We go forward, that while the future might invalidate us it may also deliver us.

[@stefdiazdiaz7067]

Ok but what system would be better than capitalism?

[@thomasdemarteau6367]

At this point, any

[@somebodyintheinternet5478]

@@thomasdemarteau6367"communism"

[@spnked9516]

People genuinely don't understand what capitalism even is. Half our current problems stem from the fact that we increasingly don't live in a capitalistic system. In reality, the systems the West are increasingly resembling something that's a mix of fascism and oligarchy. Governments are increasingly intermixed and legislating in favour of multinational mega corporations. Competition is regulated out of the market and mismanagement is consistently rewarded by bailouts, subsidies, and other taxpayer funded safety nets.

[@decktigerplays7685]

​​@@spnked9516Our governemnt is the corporations. Fascism happens when the threat of poverty stops working to oppress non capital owners, so the corporations use government to subjugate and those who don't fit into their greed cult.

[@gurbaazsingh9353]

Let’s start brainstorming and make a new one

[@jackheckathorn9317]

So, according to the chart you presented on china. You really think it's fair to say since the 60s the standard of life has gone down?!? To me that's mind boggling and is completely impossible to actually be true.

[@jackheckathorn9317]

I do have to say, tho u do a great job making the video even if I disagree with some of it

[@jackheckathorn9317]

Also, sorry, I meant to say 1990-2005

[@abelabel3664]

@@jackheckathorn9317 China went from a socialist(ish) model to full blown capitalism, which meant people were "incentivized" to work whatever job they could get with the threat of being poor. China's current model relies on bad pay and excessive working hours to win the competition against other places... that may have good consequences for their "economy numbers" but it does not benefit their workers and population. You can have a look at the article "Capitalist reforms and extreme poverty in China: unprecedented progress or income deflation?"

[@АртёмДубравин-ы6у]

I lived 15 years under a plan economy (плановая экономика ссср) listening to this is hilarious if you know what the alternative to capitalism is, what it tastes and smells like, what it's like to be locked up with this alternative as the only provider for your family. It's such a shame socialist states break apart and collapse all the time, otherwise we could send you on an excursion into one see how much you like it. Only cool in theory, buddy.

[@weridplusho]

Ah, but real socalism/communism hasn't been tried yet! /s

[@breoghan3262]

This video is so good wtf. I love the style of editing that the paintings :)))) Will definitely show my friends!

[@HorsesOnYT]

Thank you!

[@hipsonyk2913]

whats the solution. What is a better system. What will make everyone happy and let everyone live in peace and health and prosperity.

[@hipsonyk2913]

also you are a major benefactor of capitalism.

[@diogenesstudent5585]

Agriculture.

[@bamhamer]

What a great educational piece!

[@TheCooksTV]

Capitalism made this video possible

[@jkattau9]

You can say that about LITERALLY anything that involves money or cost in a capitalist society. Doesn't mean it wouldn't be possible otherwise.

[@TheCooksTV]

@@jkattau9 what’s another way it could be done?

[@goldenwind9418]

anyways, great video. I didn't really know this much about how systems worked and used to go by my life ignorant. But in the last 2 years, now that I will be finishing highschool, I started checking out universities and it blew my mind how much they costs. And I can't even get a decent job considering the place I live without a certificate or experience. And i can't get experience without doing something which I can't since I don't have a certificate. This put me in this immensely terrifying place because I worked all my life for good grades so that I can get into good unis, which I can't even do all because I don't have the funds for that. So videos like this helped with my perspective on truly how things work.

[@handlehaggler]

get ready for a 6 to 6 for the rest of your days buddy - its gonna be a long ride

[@DudeGuy632]

this needs more views

[@maxonmendel5757]

glad im finding your content. this video essay format is great for learning theory

[@Iigua]

We need to shift to a new system and fast... wealth is accumulating at the top and stagnating at the top

[@Shnarfbird]

How would one avoid the problems that enforcing an alternative creates? For such a problem is not endemic

[@Iigua]

@Shnarfbird Well, it's about fighting for your survival and your freedom, we have worker's rights because some people believed there was a way forward in that regard, do you think your paid vacation and sick days came from the goodness of the industrialist's heart? The sub-elite class will eventually have no bargaining chips with which to justify their existence and enforce their demands with the problems you are so afraid of will have to be faced head-on, I'm not saying it will be a utopia, but since the threat is existential, I think it would be for the better, both for the bottom 99.99% and eventually probably even the top 00.01% of humanity, they just have to delay their gratification for a little longer until we work out what the rest of us are going to do to survive.

[@Gerisk]

"Capitalism creates problems and sells you the solution" -somebody I don't remember.

[@galamotshaku]

Love your videos, while I agree with almost everything you say I think it does help to fantasize about what comes after to show other people of what it could be, much like solar punk

[@garrettzanin940]

I feel similarly, as conceiving the dream can give that extra energy to want to work in the moment. It’s the moment though, the act of recognizing and dismantling, that is the only guarantee.

[@intellectually_lazy]

@@garrettzanin940 so many of our scientific and technological advances, along with ways they might go wrong, were first introduced to us by scifi

[@baileyharrison1030]

When he says "We live to earn money and we spend that money to live". I can't understand how any society could function differently. You could substitute "value" for "money" and it kind of means "We live to produce value and that value we give to society is what allows us to live". What other way of life is there? He talks about the lower poverty before capitalism took over in the centuries preceeding the 1800s, but your average peasant would've still lived by "We live to produe food and we eat that food to live", it's the same idea all over again. The usage of "money" simply allows people to exchange what they have too much of for something they currently need.

[@elijahclaude3413]

​@@baileyharrison1030Most people did not live as peasants for most of human history. They lived as foragers and then subsistence farmers. Foragers especially did not merely live to eat since a comparitively smaller amount of their day and week was spent actually foraging or working. Plus they typically had far more community so they were able to make that work more fulfilling and probably fun. They are the ones who had time to invent music, rituals, stories, tools, clothing, art, and all the other meaningful things our entire civilization is founded upon and seeks to do more of. I'd say a better future would be one where we have to spend even less time then they did getting food and more time exploring these other avenues of creativity.

[@elijahclaude3413]

I agree with the OP! I think imagining a better world is crucial to actually fighting to build it. We don't and shouldn't try to dictate everything that world should be, but I do think we should help ourselves and others realize that there are better alternatives that we can be moving towards.

[@seanwhitevideo]

The ads for Dolce & Gabbana that appeared midway through were a stroke of genius 😂

[@PolicyFailureIsExpensive]

I largely agree that the externalities of this system are very challenging. However, please consider, in the absence of this system, how many elements of modern life are you confident you would retain? Modern medicine, modern law, sophisticated mechanisms of interconnectedness and trade, modern communication. The loss is substantial; the gain is too. Adjustments to this system can be made regardless of the "stage."

[@thelostcosmonaut5555]

A lot of modern medical advances were socialist endeavors. Not to mention, you don't need a profit motive to institute things like indoor plumbing and law.

[@munkhdorj2360]

My parents lived through socialism. I can tell capitalism is way better than socialism.

[@hunternoyes8380]

You missed the point

[@Exercese]

I couldn’t even finish this video due to the amount of things that are objectively wrong. For example, the favor system IS capitalism, only without the green coupon, furthermore it’s not the first system. War is. Force was the original system.

[@lukeskwalker6482]

Propaganda moment.

[@420Kyle1620]

The future is a one world global technocracy where every aspect of human life is monitored, gamified, and tokenized.

[@General_Alch]

Your video is amazing and more people need to see it, very few people manage to get into the subject without starting to rumble and cry just to deepn our partisan society. Despite this, I do not agree with all the points you presented, I believe that capitalism is indeed the natural development of negotiation and barter. The reason why it is so difficult for us to imagine a reality operating on a different socio-economic basis is that it is extremely difficult to get a person to do something without a direct benefit to him or to act from an ideal, that's why we have taxes, to put pressure on people to play by the rules or to not play at all. The sad reality is that money defiles, the race to the top is one that eventually forces you to restart and keep winning, most people are satisfied with what they have and don't care anymore that the situation is fine at the moment. However, the solution is not to abandon capitalism completely - this doesn't solve all of the problems of human nature, you can't solve greed or apathy or competitiveness just by erasing Capitalism, the real challenge is to develop an independent society with a collective spirit that agrees to play by the rules of the game.

[@s0rkkarauta]

Mfw you used the shot of the Ipatiev house basement while talking of progress. Dude are you for real? That was the exact instance it was proven that we do not have any hope of leapfroging towards a utopia, as all too many fervent believers in communism have learned in barracks of Kolyma. If you try to run off from capitalism you will only create a system that will exploit a human being to a degree incomprehensible to you westerners, for all your blabber of horrors you have to suffer under your corporate overlords. Russia took the one for the whole team earth, so you wouldn't have too make the same mistake.

[@beef1481]

This video is hilarious! I watched the whole thing! I loved the last part “what will replace Capitalism.” Yeah, in the future we are going to barter for goods- instead of just paying for them- like…oh I don’t know…maybe Capitalism? It’s funny, because I can see that you know about China having to save itself from starvation (by the tens of millions) by allowing capitalism.