The dirty secret of capitalism -- and a new way forward | Nick Hanauer

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Rising inequality and growing political instability are the direct result of decades of bad economic theory, says entrepreneur Nick Hanauer. In a visionary talk, he dismantles the mantra that "greed is good" -- an idea he describes as not only morally corrosive, but also scientifically wrong -- and lays out a new theory of economics powered by reciprocity and cooperation.
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[@Martcapt]

I like how he just casually mentions that money buys laws

[@soup2634]

I know right? lol

[@steven_duller3841]

What? Is this news to you?

[@Sir_Hazard]

This is the reason he is rich in the first place not because of a free and fair market

[@beesplaining1882]

It corrupts everything and everyone if left unchecked.

[@loveydovey5316]

That's why we must have the most trustworthy good charactered people at the top it's the only way.

[@alexanderjohn1112]

"People are not paid what they're worth: they're paid what they're able to negotiate". Great quote

[@quantumfrost9467]

Yet if the negotiate a good pay, get it and then don't provide what you have negotiated your supposed worth to be, you'll be fired. That's usually how it goes.

[@Casbelu]

Yeah....because there is no inherent worth in your labor beyond what someone is willing to pay for it. If I had an Intel chip in the year 500 it would be, almost, worthless to people. If I spend 100 hours making a picture book (I can’t draw) it has no inherent worth. It’s worth is judged by others. If everyone wants it-value is high, it no one wants it...guess it isn’t worth much. The whole notion of this is that if my skills or product is in high demand, I can negotiate a high price. The whole basis of capitalism is that the value of YOUR labor is determined based on the value it creates for others-and that goes both ways. That is inherently more altruistic than the alternative.

[@denverlilly3669]

@@quantumfrost9467 it's sad that companies don't want to pay anymore than they have to. You're supposed to value your employees. Not try to get them to do the most work for the least amount of money.

[@davidking4779]

@@denverlilly3669 Don't you shop for the best value for your money? Why would anyone do any different? That is what employees do, shop for the best job for their skills. Employees are not slaves, they can leave anytime they want. Lilly is the correct name for you.

[@denverlilly3669]

@@davidking4779 I never said they were slaves. Employees shouldn't feel expendable you though. Are you making fun of my last name?

[@elischrag8436]

I liked the quote "People are not paid what they're worth: they're paid what they're able to negotiate." I think it directly points to the need for organized labor.

[@richardpetek712]

... or simply a better legislation!

[@daskrumpl7570]

​@@richardpetek712there can't be free and fair competition if labourers don't have the same right to form an economic body, compete and bargain as the owners of capital. The bigger the corporation the bigger the union.

[@richardpetek712]

@@daskrumpl7570 But in small corporations, there are no "big unions" and laborers need a protection from the state. Laws.

[@daskrumpl7570]

@@richardpetek712 true

[@jeromeblacq7528]

@@daskrumpl7570 That's actually easier to hack, they just pay off the people at the top of the labour union

[@lauriebarton2579]

It’s amazing how programmed we are. I only started thinking about these neoliberal ideologies recently and why they are structured the way they are. This was as a result of having doing what I was told (go to school, get good grades, go to college then get a “good” job). I don’t know if it’s fortunate or unfortunate that even though I did all of that and categorically have a “good” job I can’t afford to procure a home nor pay comfortably for a car even with the immense discipline I have applied with my finances. It dawn on me one day that I pay over $1000 cad in taxes per month!! And everything else I buy is taxed so here I am pivoting everything I was told to make sense of this unlevelled playfield

[@hanzzarkov7690]

We dont have a tax problem, we have a compensation problem.

[@susettesantiago5509]

They have taken hostage our government and we struggle while theirs gets rich

[@pinewood6340]

Everything you said is the direct result of the lack of capitalism in this country. We have a hybrid system where the government has directly created the wealth divide. Speakers like this are very misled, and as a result, will only promote more pain for the working class. It's so sad.

[@elischrag8436]

Some of what you are saying here is actually more aligned with neoliberalism than anything else. Neoliberals would definitely be in favor of cutting taxes.

[@wayback1010]

When the government takes 35% of your check we see that as theft. But when a corporation takes 200% of the value you produce we don't pay it any mind...

[@megafr8nk]

Henry Ford advised: "There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible." Todays enterpreneurs do the exact opposite: make the worst quality that consumers will tolerate, sell for the hightest price they can get, paying the lowest wages they can.

[@truthseeker8894]

Yes, exactly. Apple is the first that comes to mind, but the other corporations are just the same. 😡

[@66einstien]

But in India it seems quite opposite..

[@JustMe-xz2bz]

Are you quoting the same Henry Ford who paid Pinkerton Security to publicly murder his own employees by shooting into the crowd of those who went on strike because Ford wouldn't pay them enough to be able to move out of the slum camps? Are you a paid troll or do just like the taste of the cool aide?

[@bastooo3]

There's also a bit of qualitative good stuff, but it's rare. And yes, that's the logic of capitalism because it's about capital not humans. When do people finally realise.....

[@mirror452]

Henry Ford was a fascist.

[@douglashanson7489]

"If we want a new economics, all we have to do is choose to have it." .....except the choice is only in the hands of those who benefit from the existing system.

[@petitio_principii]

No one is forced to indefinitely do business from anyone. In theory, you can gather a group of "socialists" and try to build economic relationships only within this group, as much as possible. There are a few communities that do. In theory, the more the group grows, the more independent of external economic relations it can be, at the same time it can become able to select external business partners that share similar philosophical views, communes trading mostly with other communes.

[@ronvance4687]

I think he meant to vote for someone who closest reflects these values with policy

[@happydays8171]

I hear ya, you should see my water bill. Water sure is money in my town.

[@kindredspirit9703]

@@srubberalittle That would all be well and good if it were possible to make a foothold in an established market. What do you think is more likely; 300+ million people in the the US economy all like and prefer their choice of internet provider, or the cost of competing effectively against the established internet providers is so high you would need to be rich, generous, and driven to do so? Advocates of Capitalism often say that ingenuity is the equalizer in such circumstances, but starting resources matter more than almost every other factor combined when it comes to doing well in business. When the people you want to out compete can afford to take huge losses for months or years just to kill competition and have the means to influence public policy to favor them over their opposition, how do you beat them?

[@vickryan]

@@kindredspirit9703 i agree. (Can't compete with a monopoly / mega corporation) Yet i am a capitalist. Here is my opinion. Corporations are money generators. Every single human on the planet needs millions of dollars in their lifetime. Where's all this money come from? Don't compete with corporations. Join them. (If you can't beat em join em) Bc we all need money. Gotta go get a job at some point. Sorry to break the bad news.

[@mrnewmanhha8025]

"Greed is not good. Being rapacious does not make you a capitalist, it makes you a sociopath." So profound.

[@thebrunoserge]

Capitalists... are sociopaths though

[@alanmctavish3628]

I've been looking for this 17 minutes for 40 years!!!!

[@peterpapoulias7887]

None of this is new. Henry Ford himself once wrote that he must pay his worker a decent wage as his worker is also his customer.

[@AlphaVisionStreamer]

Indeed but the bottom line our governments continue to use this model "trickle down" bullshit that has always proved wrong but they keep doing it. Greed works for a while so they repeat it. But since they dont want to call it greed they masquerade it but calling the opposite socialism to disguise their greed. It simply makes sense in many countries especially scandinavian countries where they dont need to have 3 cars but rather have sustainable care for all. So it may not be new to you, But let your government know their bullshit will not be acceptable. We like facts not their self interests.

[@FeedingNextGen]

And that's why a new truck cost as much as a house

[@bighuman6137]

It may not be new, but it has fallen out of favour. Similar to how unions shaped our modern labor laws...and now are the butt of every joke.

[@charlesronk2989]

Henry Ford wasn't the decent Capitalist pointed out here. He was a tyrant that had his own workers killed to avoid paying better wages. Google it.

[@peterpapoulias7887]

@@charlesronk2989 if it on the internet it must be true. Dude, All capitalist are greedy, narsassistic bastards, who think that labor is a commodity and that they are somehow special. It's how they justify the terrible thi gs they do. Carnegie hired Pinkerton to break up a strike that ended with some of his workers shot dead. His smelters killed on average one worker a day. My point is the profit model only works if the humanity quotient is the override. Naked capitalism is quite destru tive.

[@myriadpath]

When he says "all we have to do, is choose to have it" he means the 1% of the 1%, and they will NOT choose a new economics. They will conduct business as usual until they will have their choice taken away either by climate disaster, or mass unrest and class revolt

[@TeaParty1776]

You and Nazis want to steal peoples choices

[@HuemorDGAP]

Well said!!!!

[@Forestien]

TeaParty1776 - You and nazis want silent slaves.

[@sergekuptsoff9117]

Oh, crap.. another Seattle Marxist posing as capitalist. 😂😂

[@TeaParty1776]

@@Forestien You evade the hatred of independent thought by nazis and commies. Capitalists value independent thought.

[@Onionbaron]

Wow! So nice to hear a human again! Is he really from the U.S??? If so, there is still hope for humanity!

[@superduperjew]

My thoughts exactly!

[@leefairweather5772]

US Citizen here. Yeah, we've definitely brainwashed, but there still is hope; Although I fear that more and more people are being brainwashed or coerced or bribed into supporting the status quo. Well, maybe in 50 years, after the world is bathed in nuclear hellfire, the survivors will learn from our mistakes.

[@elisaumoso8180]

hahaha haha

[@coppercoloredmessiah911]

Lol good luck with that

[@Onionbaron]

@@coppercoloredmessiah911 You mean he is an imposter!?

[@DrRaymondYoungbloodJr]

The unfortunate part, he could be a poor man saying this as thousands of economic and finance professors have and not a single person would listen…he had to take your grandparents money and your third generations money for you to listen…He really is saying we stupid…He is giving us a great eduction.

[@karmafairy351]

At least now he's doing something about it. He didn't have to give this talk, he didn't have to do a thing! He could've kept quiet and just enjoyed his wealth. You need money to make changes, specially we're talking about systemic changes that will take a lot of money and efforts.

[@sneakysimon1]

"Being rapacious doesn't make you a capatilist - it makes you a sociopath" pure gold there are so many classic quotes in this one talk from someone who was inside the sociopathic world of modern economics and corporations

[@Fellowtellurian]

Except he is one of the richest men in the world. He had to be more than a little greedy to get there. He could have raised his employees wages or just given the money away easy enough, but has he?

[@13699111]

Without his wealth he'd never be able to speak to the majority without backing up his opinion with real world facts .

[@tajammulsiddiq9880]

Agreed.

[@anthonycosta128]

Why do anti-capiralists use I-Phone, Macbook or Androids? And eat at Mcdonalds? These are all created by capitalism 🤣🤣🤣

[@tajammulsiddiq9880]

@@anthonycosta128 See the whole video again. He also talked about Stakeholders Capitalism where Organization take decisions based on Stakeholder's perspective (considering environmental aspects) not solely based on Investor perspective where only interest is to increase shareholder's wealth.

[@brigham2250]

The people who write the laws benefit from the current inequality so have no incentive to change the laws.

[@williampierce2034]

This is the heart of the problem, therefore; it is also the place to find "the" solution. I believed congress were our lobbyists, but they have been bought by hi-dollar campaign contributors, and with golden parachutes from benefiting corporations.

[@TeaParty1776]

You benefit from the people of superior production who created mass production of cars, computers, clothes, watches, medicine, paper, pens, food, oil ,airplanes, and a vast number of things that make your life easier. This production requires freedom of property and freedom to produce, trade and pursue profit. When inferior producers rule superior producers w/force, production ceases. See _Atlas Shrugged_ for more.

[@brigham2250]

@@TeaParty1776 -- So you're saying that people like Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham are the people who create mass production of cars, computers, and more?

[@TeaParty1776]

@@brigham2250 No!!!!! Businessmen, not politicians, produce. And McConnell and Graham reject capitalism for govt controls. Please say how you inferred politicians from my post! Its bizarre.

[@brigham2250]

@@TeaParty1776 -- Let's just leave it at this. I disagree with what you are saying, or what I think you are saying. And to spend serious time trying to iron it out on a Yahoo message board is not my idea of a good time or time well spent.

[@PostAutonomy]

This might be one of the greatest signs of hope in the TED collection! Combining concepts from both works from Marx’ Capital and Peter Kropotkin’s Conquest of Bread without using ANY terms with the baggage might come with those men from the 19th and early 20th century.

[@austinpage9463]

The ruling elite have destroyed the meaning of the words “socialist” and “communist.” They’ve trained the average American to cringe at the first mention of those words. We may need to use different terminology in the future such as “community-ism”

[@trevaperes5343]

Absolutely brilliant! Nick Hanauer, has hit the nail on the head. The Neoliberals need to get a check up, from the neck up, and start considering the advice that Nick has outlayed here, bascially, more exchanging things with others for mutual benefit and less greed by the governing neoliberal sociapaths of our global economies.

[@pauloyih1]

A man of conscience who is not only self awakened but also awakening his old colleagues ....and more -- Most positive

[@nottenvironmental6208]

CEO payment has raised from 12* average worker for them in 80s to 150* today. Even more tragic, they are generally not even good managers. That's why we consistently subsidize their failing companies.

[@ronniescott5179]

Nick I am with you and we need your accurate analysis of our failing economic system to be put in to practice. The big question depends on the wealthy 1% who have ALL the power to re organise our world. Politicians can not effect this massive change in society.

[@sheeperskipps]

Ayy, you’re from 2022 too! Last year, we saw so many people quit their jobs, causing major supply chain issues or “labor issues”. We’re so screwed that one of the largest companies in the US has to raise wages to get other companies to raise their own wages

[@mithilmallya2829]

They have the power to reorganize the world BECAUSE a body like the government exists and is able to exercise power through force. If the government had minimal powers, big corporations wouldn't be able to exercise such power.

[@anthonycosta128]

Why do anti-capiralists use I-Phone, Macbook or Androids? And eat at Mcdonalds? These are all created by capitalism 🤣🤣🤣

[@quantumeyes8546]

What if most of politicians are in this 1% ? Why do these politicians want to change ???

[@rady7273]

@@anthonycosta128 that's like saying "why do people eat salt if chlorine is lethal?"

[@georgegates526]

It's real easy to say: good things, give promises. It's hard to implement them and make fair grounds for the rich and poor. . Because the rich don''t want to let go of a single penny. They just talk about it.

[@littlepony8571]

Human rights need to be the fabric of the way forward. Also collusion, which is what it is, needs to be routed out and punished for the damage to all

[@Cyborg_Lenin]

Revolution my friend. Only through a united, targeted effort can any real change be achieved.

[@zzyyxx123]

I'm surprised he didn't even mention the Federal Reserve and Quantitative Easing. It has had more negative impact on our economy than any other factor. By constantly increasing the money supply, the rich have gotten richer because most of that money goes to pumping up stock prices. Corporations have used it to buy back their stock instead of investing in new products and expanding their businesses. The average worker has suffered due to the increase in the prices of consumer goods caused by the increase in the money supply. Also, the second problem with our economy is money in politics. Ever wonder why so many politicians are millionaires? Political leadership was never meant to be a career. Corporations influence government by lobbying Congress and contributing to campaigns. This results in massive corruption. We need to take money out of politics. You shouldn't have to be wealthy to run for office.

[@georgemarangos7707]

Totally agree , reserve banks keep interests low to protect rich people interests, creating record high real estate prices which young people trying to buy a home is impossible.

[@poisonivy745]

Stock buy backs were illegal manipulation of stock under Securities Exchange Act of 1934 until Reagan undid it in 1982. Also Citizens United bullshit 🙄

[@poisonivy745]

@@BlueSky-vd6qh unfortunately looking at Americans, that cap is in the billions

[@SF2036]

Citizens United!

[@Latitz]

@@BlueSky-vd6qh That is never gonna work. Think about it they are already corrupt which means they are greedy. And if you are greedy you'll always want more. As stated in video above rich get richer.

[@mikhelBrown]

"It's a Big Club and you ain't in it" George Carlin

[@K1989L]

That's an excellent speak that describes very accurately how it is!

[@adelchipelizzo2877]

Oww, George you are so missed.

[@Shozb0t]

But under capitalism, you would benefit from it nonetheless. It’s called “standard of living.” That is why it is so much better to live in South Korea as opposed to North Korea. The more capitalism, the better.

[@Stu047]

@@Shozb0t I'd wager that all the people whose "standard of living" falls below the poverty line share very little pride in their capitalist system. Then there's the slowest runners of course: South Korea have around 11000 homeless and over 1500 sleeping rough. - The fact that there's no safeguards built into the social systems that subscribe to the models of capitalism to prevent such outcomes; I'd call that system broken... I see little sense in wanting more of that which is already broken.

[@Shozb0t]

@@Stu047 There are safeguards built into the capitalist system. It's called insurance. You can buy insurance for your house, car, life, or anything that you want protected. This is an extremely solid way to guard against disastrous mishaps which may harm you or your property and leave you destitute. Another mechanism used in free economies is mutual aid societies. In the U.S., these were voluntary organizations which helped individuals guard against temporary problems that could leave a family impoverished. They have largely been abandoned as the mandatory government programs have supplanted them. One example of how the U.S. isn't fully capitalist. In fact, there have never been any fully capitalist countries on earth. Plus, for those who cannot support themselves, there is charity. The more capitalism we have, the more charity we can afford to give and the less charity is actually needed. Even with a welfare state in place, Americans give around $200 billion every year to charities. Imagine how much we would give if we weren't being forced to pay for a welfare state at all. Capitalism isn't broken, it is contaminated . . . with socialism. We have a mixture of the two systems. Every first-world country has this mixture to one extent or another. If there was a 100% capitalist country in the world, I would have moved there by now. For those who prefer socialism, they are lucky. Venezuela is right there waiting for them. Pack your bags.

[@sindhurakilaru4819]

Loved the question and answer session even more 😍

[@BeauBirkett]

there seems to be lots of people exclaiming he stated what they had always known deep down, but they actually seem to just let their emotions get the better of their reasoning

[@CharbelGereige]

"why don't you give your money away", "I figured I use my money for political power" very accurate!

[@mb261]

That was what I was looking forward to hear; that he woke up one day and created billions of dollars for antipoverty policy. But " neoliberals" are the " boogeyman " WEAK & FOFS" 🎬 action bro. Not WORDS. that's a real principle

[@redfieldblair]

That was such a dumb question. "Why don't you be the only person to give your money away and be stuck in the same state as everyone else?". The point flew straight over her head.

[@CharbelGereige]

No charge others for your political ambitions lol Not dumb, just hypocryt

[@Cycling.Bikepacking]

Same story from the right. “Let’s fix systemic issues with personal responsibility”. Works really well in every area it’s applied: climate change, plastic pollution, inequality.

[@anthonycosta128]

Why do anti-capiralists use I-Phone, Macbook or Androids? And eat at Mcdonalds? These are all created by capitalism 🤣🤣🤣

[@contrafax]

"When my neighbor suffers, I suffer. When my neighbor prospers, I prosper. " - Richard A. Gillespie

[@disruptivetimes8738]

And if your neighbor prosper and you suffer, you get jealous, blame your suffering on your neighbor and demand that he should be forced by law to give you his money. This is what Mr. Gillespie didn't told you about human nature.

[@paulawagstaff686]

@@disruptivetimes8738 well IF the neighbour had been a GOOD neighbour, he would not have closed his heart to his suffering neighbour, instead of turning his back and purposed to gain even more for himself/herself...so as to gain the whole world and lose your soul..America has lost its soul.

[@paulawagstaff686]

And IF he had done this, there would need be no law passed...

[@troyhenry6111]

@@paulawagstaff686 what do you mean by good neighbor? Why should they be a good neighbor? Souls don't exist.

[@paulawagstaff686]

@@troyhenry6111 If you don't know what a good neighbour means, use a dictionary...so...you don't have a soul? What, already sold it?

[@SumitYadav-yo6wp]

Thank you sir for your time and valuable information

[@michaelhermens8409]

Economics actually studies what people do, not what they say they will do. The end of this talk was telling. When asked if he will give all his money away, he said NO. He wants to raise taxes on the "other rich people." We've heard this before.

[@kenerfigueroa7900]

When you have a rich man telling you this and poor people crying in the name of banks and wall street, you know the world is gonna end soon.

[@kristiano.7363]

The elites were successful in indoctrinating Americans into defending unfettered capitalism.

[@solarpower09]

You, guys have not seen modern russian capitalism... That is jungle for sure.

[@zaharevskystyle]

@@solarpower09 Oh...I'm living in Russia and our economy is just peripheral capitalizm. Previously I've been thinking a lot about moving to America, due to good economical potentional and high level of welfare. But right now I inderstand, that I would better stay here, exactly in Russia. Maybe our economic depends of price of oil and natural resources (we have a problem with this in 2020) but still I wanna stay here because we haven't dangerous social movements, for example BLM (my own honest opinion). We have many traditions and our our social sphere is based on conservatism and traditional values. We do not have acute social conflicts. And as in sum, I think that maybe then our president Putin (we're everyone hate his, and wanna make a revolution) will be died or killed we'll be able to create a new economical system and encourage to economical growing and developing. P.S Sorry for my mistakes, I don't use Google Translate or something like that.

[@ik1408]

There is no capitalism in Russia. Russia is a colony of Germany and the Fourth Reich-the EU. Natural resources of Russia are sent to Germany, the money for the resources go to the pockets of oligarchs, and the oligarchs then pLace those money in the banks of the Fourth Reich- the EU.

[@ik1408]

Putin is only facade of the system that turned Russia into a colony of Germany and the Fourth Reich-the EU. The only thing that can happen is that the system will replace one Putin with another.

[@nanningteas]

Honesty from the 1%. refreshing.

[@plastifiedmetal5682]

There is no honesty in that...

[@dirtycadaver4462]

from what I've found he's only worth a about a billion

[@hamkahasnim670]

Dirty Cadaver only?

[@jakefinch5430]

@@dirtycadaver4462 Probably because he doesn't like hoarding all the wealth for himself when he can expand, include, and reinvest.

[@19dani195]

@@hamkahasnim670 How he says only when he won't see a billion dollar in his life. Some people just love the boot.

[@JohnSmith-pd2dq]

Brilliant ... this talk has completely destroyed my false faith in capitalism ... thank you for such an eye-openeing talk ... you have changed my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Cyborg_Lenin]

Good. Now you can read(listen to) "wage labor and capital" by Karl Marx. He says the exact same thing, but in a more direct way.

[@CyberPsyLen]

Rich yet John?

[@winstonowen2054]

I would like to hear Professor Sowell's take on the examples that he uses , for instance around the $15 per hour minimum wage in Seattle. Sowell's approach is to rigorously examine all the factors to determine the causation, bearing in mind that correlation does not always mean causation.

[@dustinsoodak6238]

One of the implicit assumptions (besides pure selfishness ) is that the labor market consists of free agents that have the option of turning down a job they aren't getting payed enough for. The existence of poverty is important for wealthy corporations who would otherwise have to pay market value for emotionally and physically damaging jobs.

[@mikafizz1022]

when poverty ceases to exist, would that mean the mega-rich would too?

[@Cyborg_Lenin]

Accept thats not true Capitalism awards capitalists infinitely more power then the workers. It thus follows that workers will always be paid as little as possible. And that will not change no matter what company you go to. Then there is the fact of coercion. While entering a job contact, you do so under duress. There is an implicit threat of poverty behind not accepting the job for whatever the capitalist wants. Add to that the requirement for a reserve army of labor, to have a bunch of unemployed people clawing for some crumbs and you get an inherently cruel system of slaves who think they have the freedom to choose. You can go left or right, but the roads are already build.

[@fletcherlong6824]

henry ford's model was very similar: pay workers enough to be able to buy our cars, and we'll sell more cars.

[@boomerang6130]

Exactly!👍

[@edmmitch]

Try pitching this 'model' to Ferrari

[@MP-ut6eb]

@@edmmitch lul

[@MH-jg4lq]

Henry Ford created a very well off middle class by paying autoworkers well. In the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s, autoworkers wealth rose dramatically and they had pension plans that were the envy of everyone. They owned their homes, sent their kids to college, paid for the kids college tuition so college kids graduated without debt and then they retired to Florida with good pensions. It all worked well until Reaganomics killed the auto industry and bankrupted everyone.

[@boomerang6130]

@@MH-jg4lq Yep, true. Reagan was truly evil. I am glad he has left the planet earth forever.🙏

[@DrRaymondYoungbloodJr]

Any thing new coming from universities is one of the reason we have the loop of problems…I say this as a person having graduated and taught at multiple universities…

[@marcjones744]

Easily one of the most valuable TED talks ever for american society

[@americanexpat8792]

This is largely the secret behind the Scandinavian countries and why their standard of living is so high. The book ‘Viking Economics’ does a good job describing how they did it.

[@surveysays8335]

Well, this is debatable. Calling a TINY country of almost all 1 culture, and the highest oil earns per capita the happiest country is easy. However, take away that oil, and 30% of their healthcare funding disappears and they'll be eating each other. These countries your talking about also have THE LOWEST REGULATIONS of the free world. Businesses don't have the myriad of hurdles that other country's businesses that have navigate. Happiness is Relative. Cubans think they have the best healthcare in the world, while no American would every settle for Cuban quality of healthcare.

[@endurancemotorvlog6881]

Did you have a look at the Danish Krone ? Its lots 40% of its valieu and is becomming a junk state like Venezuela. Nothing is for free. Socialism ends when other peoples money runs out. I ask myself how come that its always very rich people try to turn socialist ? But when you ask them to turn in their money.... dadaa they dont. The same with the climate BS. They drive big cars, own plains, large yachts. And yet they want to stop us from driving cars and going on holiday. Its all a scam. I wonder how much he is paid to tell us this BS.

[@davilimalol4612]

@@surveysays8335 Norway is the only Nordic country with plentiful oil. All the other countries in the region are doing well too. The way they do this is from high taxes on everyone, not just the rich used to fund an extensive safety net and great educatio which they give so that if you have a business plan, you can pursue it without already being rich (enough to forgo work and chase something like software development) and to also make people be highly educated so there are lots of people with business plans and that no one is stupid enough to live in a safety net without knowing how to get out. This also means the customers are more educated so they don't fall for stupid tricks and more willing to pay for stuff because they can afford it. Then they DO regulate companies because for competition to be high we need plentiful choice and no conglomerates that own companies in multiple unrelated fields or everything in a field to just have 5 loss leaders so every company is limited to their field and so you can only do better with a better product, rather than just ask a larger company to buy you so you can go free of charge.

[@MagnusJuhl]

@@endurancemotorvlog6881 the Danish Krone is pegged to the Euro within a 2,25% band. So basically, you have no idea what you're talking about.

[@endurancemotorvlog6881]

Magnus Juhl wel My Dear, ill tell you this. Another 10 years and Europe inclusief Will be living in a social communist distopia. Socialism and communism dont work. Kapitalism and the free market is the way to go. And you think that the EU Will save the DK. I got news for you. Have you already forgotten Greece ? They are still not out of the hole the EU put them in. Margret Thatcher was right About the EU. Its a socialist communist hellhole were rich countries pay for the poor... thats until the money runs out. I have the feeling that YOU dont know what you are talking About and dont get or wants to see the bigger picure.

[@gbail9566]

Spending drives economies, and people that aren't paid enough can't spend enough for an economy to thrive for everyone. Duh.

[@lhotse1716]

Exactly, so that's obviously not the issue here... Companies are making money so apparently someone is buying their products, and we are more worried about over-consumption than under-consumption these days

[@flooavenger]

Definitely not... consumption does not grow the economy at all, savings and investments do

[@gbail9566]

Savings and investment?? That's the neoliberal argument that's driving the increasing concentration of wealth in the top 1%. That's a pleasant world if you can afford it. Fail.

[@karenhuff2777]

Giving restaurant workers 15 an hour which lowers jobs...makes money because now they can afford restaurants????? First of all, who saud they are going to eat out as often as necessary. Second, what about the people who LOST their jobs because employers couldn't pay that many at 15 an hour. Sorry....this makes no sense. I know plenty economists who could blow his theories out the water. Even I can see this. It's still greed or envy...greed on one had and envy of others on the other hand.

[@K1989L]

@@karenhuff2777 I also know plenty of economists and they are all insane.

[@woodwork5574]

After two years I'm going to Google this dude and see if he made good on his theory.

[@surgio98]

One year left

[@adolfhittler6203]

Didn't know you just have to be vague and emphatic and use positive adjective for what you propose and negative ones for the one oppose without real saying a single sentence of substance . I guess it works for this guy

[@rogerbird5665]

You are awesome, Nick Hanauer. I have been thinking these thoughts, certainly with less organization than you, for more than 10 years. (I am retired.) I would remember how much cooperation there was at the big companies that I worked at. I would think that perhaps we are too inflexible about the concept of private property and how a worker who worked hard for 20 years at a company certainly had a big stake in the company. I thought that perhaps corporations had a responsibility not just to shareholders but also to workers and the public and the environment. I so deeply appreciate you putting it all together so well for us.

[@leonbrnstein3106]

Ok Bernie supporter. LOL.

[@rogerbird5665]

@@leonbrnstein3106 I don't support Bernie. He is too angry.

[@programking655]

Except this video is fucking stupid. He used terms he doesn’t understand to attack ideas that he doesn’t understand. Like denying that a market is an efficient means of allocating resources? Seriously? Economists have agreed on that since literally the beginning of the discipline. There are exceptions of course, but perfect competition with complete markets leads to a Pareto optimal system. He’s a moron.

[@TheVeritas2100]

*******I thought that perhaps corporations had a responsibility not just to shareholders but also to workers and the public and the environment. ***** NO THEY DO NOT ! ... but without the consideration for the workers, and managers , NO CORPORATION can survive in todays COMPETTITIVE ENVIRONMENT , period ! ( and again NO Corporation can start/grow/survive - raise money, sell stock, etc - if they do NOT deliver VALUE/PROFIT to the shareholder(s) ! - THAT CLEAR AS MUD to anyone who has ever ran the (productive ) BUSINESS in the COMPETITIVE MARKET PLACE ! - but I guess it is not CLEAR to Nick Hanauer ! :-)

[@spacekiller6856]

@@rogerbird5665his anger is warranted

[@TheJohnblyth]

“Being rapacious does not make you a capitalist; it makes you a sociopath”

[@riftis2210]

It's true tho. Capitalists get a bad rep cause so many top CEOs are sociopaths.

[@RyanGrangerLEMONADEWHIZ]

thank you.

[@nytroglicerine5311]

For once there seems to be sane people can also be financially successful

[@joplinboy]

Rapacious is not the virtue that makes the successful capitalist. “Rational self interest” is. Rapacious is what the guy robbing the convenience store embodies.

[@mizzamystar]

Hoarding is a mental illness

[@alexudyuxnsj]

This helps alot I'm quite young and I already hate this world sometimes I want to make a change I just have no clue on where to start

[@doctorae724]

Sadly, this dissertation will NOT change anything in our lifetime. The goal of getting everyone so hooked on what money can buy for the purpose of making it easier to buy people off worked like a charm.

[@ConstantinKlose-sj4mb]

It really is time to go forward. People who don't want change either don't realize the huge problems with capitalism (probably because they live in an exploitative country, rather than an exploited one) or they are doing well in a system that requires a lot of people to do badly.

[@lmerlot4328]

Even the word Cap- ital-ism it's a simple pyramid system ending up communistic as we are now experiencing world wide.

[@Darthenator]

There will always be a hierarchy of power. The ideal is to make it merit based and allow people to rise and fall in the ranks

[@lmerlot4328]

@@Darthenator Obviously the crooked ones have manipulated things to such a degree that its not really even capitalism in its true form at this point. But I still see cap italism as a form of a slave system.

[@loveydovey5316]

@@lmerlot4328 Agreed. Hate to admit it but it's true.😒

[@lmerlot4328]

@Adymn Sani It seems in America the capitalist system was a prosperous one back in the day, but we cannot say today that that system is still what we are experiencing. I've lived here a long time and things have dramatically changed for the worse. We are now seeing the effects.

[@kharnakcrux2650]

H Ross Perot put the issue of wages simply: "people who don't have money, can't BUY things"

[@ronneyrendon5045]

Then credit card debt goes through the roof keeping us all enslaved! Most for life.

[@fallindowndrunk]

Credit is evil. Pay people a decent wage so that they won’t need credit. At least for the basic needs of life

[@vijaynair2403]

Ah... Remember that we were told by the MSM that Perot was some dumb Texan idiot. We were told by them to keep the Clinton and Bush machine going. You made yer bed...lay in it!

[@melclarke64]

go to school improve yourself dont just cry you arent getting paid enough

[@jamesscott6917]

That I agree with, however, people make themselves poor. No one forces anyone to buy a smartphone, an XBox or an expensive TV even though they are HYSTERICALLY cheaper than they were 40, 20 or even ten years ago.

[@bernicefenton]

a well deserved standing ovation. brilliant.

[@rscottbirdsall5740]

His response to the one question he was asked at the end is revealing, and the host doesn't bother to follow up. The logic is that I can keep what I have and not feel compelled to share it if I make up a plausible excuse. Then I'll feel good, other people will like me, and I can keep all of my material wealth. What gives the lie to this logic is that he could still campaign, no doubt very effectively, for the change she claims to desire without his money.

[@timmystool3349]

If everyone “behaved rationally”.... commercials would be worthless and have no value. Instead they are worth 5 million for 30 seconds during 1 football game

[@jasonramirez8638]

Political correctness is a way to ban free speech by the left.

[@rb032682]

@@jasonramirez8638 - bullshit

[@NitroMorrison17]

and football players alongside with models and singers receive millions of dollars for living a dream while ordinary people can't afford medical insurance. rationality have long been gone if it ever existed.

[@rb032682]

@@NitroMorrison17 - 95% of those celebrities you envy have nothing compared to the wealthiest 5% of the USA population. And, 95% of those celebrities you envy actually had to do something of value to reach whatever level of success they attain. AND, 99.93% of those celebrities did not use unethical, cut-throat business practices or exploit and abuse their workers. These celebrities we all envy did not cause issues with medical insurance. You actually stated the real problem: "medical *insurance*". Why is there a middle person between USA citizens and their healthcare providers? Why are insurance companies even involved and profiting heavily from anything to do with medical/dental care? This is f'n ridiculous. This is the real absence of rationality. ok enough of my drunken rambling

[@miguelpereira9859]

Commercials ARE worthless. Unbelievable the amount of money companies sink into that junk

[@OkieGal2]

Brought here after watching Robert Reich’s documentary “Inequality For All” (on Netflix), where Nick Hanauer is featured.

[@TheJTcreate]

Robert Reich says a lot of things that are questionable. He hasn't been the best at defending his own position against more knowledgeable economists. www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2013/09/12/sorry-mr-reich-your-economics-grade-is-still-f-reply-to-robert-reich-2/#2c3834166b61

[@artjones2774]

Listening again four years later, Nick Hanauer, overlooks our present immense innovation and collaboration, socially and economically. I agree with him that some goverance is necessary.

[@sam20scorpio]

It is not money we are storing we are storing the utility that money brings, essentially we are storing efforts on labor in the form of money in our banking system. “It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” ― Henry Ford

[@brienb1770]

I don't always agree, in fact more often than not I disagree with Nick Hanauer and he and I have taken a turn at each other in the past. Having said that: I appreciate Nick's vision and his willingness to explore the realities of economic equity and reciprocity usually at his own expense. I trust him when he suggests that he is in this with us. Nicely done, Nick

[@sulochandhungel]

It's a strange time when 0.1 percenters start talking about how ridiculous the capitalist system right now is!

[@WWZenaDo]

Maybe he's afraid of being torn apart by an angry mob sometime in the future. That's what usually happens when greed is more important than lives.

[@tommcewan7936]

If you can't beat 'em, join em. And we'll never beat 'em as long as people get hung up on the hypocrisy aspect of this. Hypocrisy may be galling, but it is *not* a logical fallacy. You can be a hypocrite and still be *right*.

[@LegendNinja41]

@@WWZenaDo doubt? do you see anything happen to the ultra rich in the US? people even adore them lol and they live in their own gated communities anyway.

[@Harrier_DuBois]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIivpqh5gpt4oJI

[@stopreset313]

@Belial They don't "feel guilty" and they're not "afraid", lmao. They're selling socialism because they benefit from it.

[@brokenalgorithms4741]

I've watched several videos with him, he has great ideas.

[@buddyroe61]

So I don't think GREED will ever go away, So nothing else will work,,, THANK YOU!!

[@Cyborg_Lenin]

Murderous urges also don't go away. But building a whole systom on them is barbaric. Same goes for greed. It can not and should not be a primary mover of society.

[@analyticalmindset]

After reading the comment sections I officially give up on humanity. A millionaire is literally telling you he's been taking advantage of a system that is not in your interest and people still defend the system as it is . Not even interested in changing it just a little ? Lol (Don't answer this btw )

[@adamrodgers9175]

Boot lickers man.

[@leob3447]

Well, we've all been fed this programming for decades, and one of the hardest things for humans to do is ti realize we've been duped for so long. I was guilty of the same thinking most of my life, but the last 5 years or so have really opened my eyes. I can't think of a better example of the millions of relatively poor farmers, industrial laborers, and rural citizens that truly believe Trump is on their side and addressing their economic concerns, simply because he tells them he is. Millions of Americans are now desperately trying to figure out how pay rent and buy food next month because their jobs have vanished, yet the 1% have gotten richer, and the stock market is doing just fine. If you try to point this out, you get labelled a socialist, or Marxist, or a 'hater of America' by those VERY people the economic system is taking advantage of. Sigh.

[@AlliYAFF]

Your comment has reduced my faith ever further. Any rich man can feed his ego by using his position to advocate for a system that would block out his competitors once he has gathered his wealth. But you wouldn't understand that because you are among the economically illiterate.

[@adamrodgers9175]

Alli YAFF this person was talking about how people are fooled and you spun into your own thing. The op probably knows that any rich man can do it. They were stating people are falling for it. How crazy are you ?

[@johnmalcolm3116]

The market should have been left to crash in 2008/9 , government bailed out corporations and left the people with their debt , DNC RNC all world 🌎 government are culpable

[@joellee9368]

Keep spitting the truth brother!! We need your voice!!! Thank you.

[@reidoj601]

This man is inspirational. I say that in the most objective manner I can. (I'm for a flourishing society).

[@mikafizz1022]

no please continue!

[@reidoj601]

@@mikafizz1022 that’s all I’ve got to say tbh. The video portrays a society I’m not gonna grind my teeth at. 🤣

[@Cyborg_Lenin]

If only he said the scary word "socialism"

[@larsdegroof1209]

@@Cyborg_Lenin why would he say "socialism"?

[@Cyborg_Lenin]

@@larsdegroof1209 because he talked like a socialist without saying the word.

[@manysides2340]

This man spoke truths I always knew existed, but that so many people chose not to speak. This is a brave man.

[@carlov3709]

“The essence of capitalism is to turn nature into commodities and commodities into capital. The live green earth is transformed into dead gold bricks, with luxury items for the few and toxic slag heaps for the many. The glittering mansion overlooks a vast sprawl of shanty towns, wherein a desperate, demoralized humanity is kept in line with drugs, television, and armed force.” ― Michael Parenti, Against Empire

[@scotmil1]

@Reggie Cyde exactly. What is the opposite of capitalism the, well, Russia, the continent of Africa, China, Central and South America, Mexico, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, I don't know pick any country, and nobody in the United States is moving there en mass for a couple of very, very, very important reasons, their countries inherently suck at treating people of allraces, Creed's, religions, cultures, whatever all those words are, we are the only country that actually treat people like of all creeds like human beings and individuals worthy of respect.

[@jimmyurban]

Reggie Clyde, linking totalitarian communism with egalitarian socialism is like tying U.S. economic imperialism with international aid. In both cases, the latter is perverted by greed and the zeal for domination. This TED talker is trying to save capitalism by getting rid of neoliberal economics. Unfortunately, capitalism itself is too inherently tied to greed in the guise of “development “ for our species to survive unless we change our paradigm, and some socialist principles are at least a healthier place to start.

[@tegridyfarms9972]

Lol. People on here literally defending their American fascist overlords! 😐 That's what top-notch propaganda from FOX, CNN, and MSNBC will get ya.

[@fallindowndrunk]

The sentiment could not be expressed any better

[@carlov3709]

@@scotmil1 Like Julian Assange perhaps.

[@funny-video-YouTube-channel]

He is right. Collaboration and social consumption is creating more wealth for society. Like buying a car, or a train ticket for the train system that will still work for a long time, after the car is broken and unusable. The collaborative and social consumption is creating more economic value than single use consumption or single owner consumption. Consumption networks are more efficient and create more value. This is why social infrastructures give more wealth to even the most poor in central Europe.

[@Shozb0t]

Consumption doesn’t create wealth. Production creates wealth. One of the most basic laws of economics: you cannot consume more than you produce.

[@warren5037]

@@Shozb0t you're talking in terms of physical assets. In terms of numbers, consumption can go above. Let's say a luxury car has been produced at a cost of $1 million. Billionaires won't care about the price. They want that car no matter what so they'll throw prices greater than $1 million. The car producer won't accept a price below that. Edit: also without the demand, there won't be supply, at least for private goods. For public goods, private costs exceed private benefits, so no private company will want to produce public goods, such as national defence. HOWEVER, for public goods, positive externalities tend to exceed negative externalities, so society demands it but the private sector will be reluctant to produce it.

[@Shozb0t]

@Warren Lam $15,000 Hondas will also have a price higher than the cost of production. That is normal. A man buys a sandwich in a deli for $7. How much is the sandwich worth to the customer? More than $7. How much is the sandwich worth to the deli? Less than $7. Both parties gain from the transaction. That is a trade. Millions of trades happen every day.

[@warren5037]

@@Shozb0t that's... what I said....

[@Shozb0t]

@Warren Lam It is definitely true that national defense should not be private. But not for financial reasons, for reasons of principle. Government’s function is to protect the rights of all the individuals in the country and it must be done impartially. However, private enterprises will provide the military with weapons, vehicles, food, etc.

[@themindfulhairdresser9523]

Please can this guy rule the world What a great talk truly inspiring when so many of our leaders and politicians are so detached 🙏🏼

[@ericphillips5264]

One of the best TED Talks

[@bubbercakes528]

2009: the housing bubble. 2021: the new housing bubble. We have learned nothing.

[@terryadams2652]

Y00 sound like a Trump supporter rewriting history from what it actually was. The current housing bubble actually is rooted in 2019, when Trump did everything in his power to intimidate Fed Chairman Powell (Powell was nominated BY Trump for that position, btw), to lower interest rates to practically zero. Lending became cheap (like what happened in 2003 under Bush---NOT--2009), and this created a housing bubble. The bubble popped in 2008 (but it started in 2003). THEN came the financial crisis beginning in 2008/9 (caused by irresponsible lending by companies like Bear Sterns years earlier, you know, the company where Larry Kudlow was the Chief Financial Officer, although Kudlow was fired years earlier due to his excessive & blatant Cocaine use). BTW, Kudlow doesn't even have a background in economics, he's just a professional liar, peddling the same lies as Donald Trump--and that's probably why Trump made Kudlow his Economics Advisor!!! Y00 can't make this stuff up. Oh, btw, NEITHER does Trump's man (Powell) have a degree in economics, he's a LAWYER!!). Last part of the cycle: useful idiots like y00 rewrite history from what it was, because they cannot handle the truth, thus ensuring the mistakes are repeated, EVEN while hypocritically saying "we have learned nothing", Y00'RE DAMN RIGHT *Y00* HAVEN'T.

[@wilson7262]

@@terryadams2652 You are so uninformed it's crazy, I could write a 10 page essay on all the stuff you got wrong in this paragraph.

[@terryadams2652]

@@wilson7262 you're one of Trump's Kool-Aid drinkers who lives in his own little world of wishful thinking.

[@flimflam6652]

In current year, everything is in a bubble and it must pop. Most of us are suffering tremendously, individual's input of money is either slowing to a trickle or stopping entirely, the output is getting more and more expensive, and yet stock prices soar. The time to change was 50-60 years ago. I think it's now just too late to turn this around, let alone steer it. The inertia the system has built up isn't going to just go away, and I'm afraid no amount of new policy will change that. I think the bubble is going to pop, most things will break, and while that will open the window for new futures, it could always end up at the worst of all possible end states.

[@yourdedcat-qr7ln]

@@terryadams2652 trump is only a symptom of the system

[@maddie9185]

I love this guy I’ve been following his podcast for sometime now. If the middle class is not prospering the country can not prosper.

[@danielpascoe9638]

He mentioned in his speech there wasn't a text book on his particular type of economics, actually there is, it's called the Communist Manifesto, a theory when was put into practice killed millions in the 20th century.

[@jamesbetker6862]

@@danielpascoe9638 Communism eliminated the middle class. There was only the proletariat.

[@Kindness8419]

@@danielpascoe9638 He is not advocating for Marxism.

[@danielpascoe9638]

@@Kindness8419 Then you apparently don't know how smooth Communism slips into people's thinking.

[@Kindness8419]

@@danielpascoe9638 Communism is not a state of mind. It is an economic model in which the government owns all means of production. In France, the restaurants and stores are all privately owned. In USSR, that was not the case.

[@jean-lucgauville3656]

This is the best TED talk that I have heard in years. He is right about the new econmics and the prosperity of the world.

[@willnitschke]

if that's the best TED talk "in years" I'd hate to think how much garbage is being babbled in these talks. 🤣

[@ricardooronia759]

This guy basically said “ I’ve done made my money over the past 40 years, you future capitalists give more of YOUR profits for the sake of social stability”. Why doesn’t he give his millions now.

[@anthonyalexzander2104]

Greed will take hold of any government if good people do nothing to stop those who seek to have more than they need at the expense of the rest of society.

[@abcdxx1059]

rest of society ? did you fund Google or Microsoft ? and they didn't pay you back this comment section is a free gift to you from capitalism

[@paulawagstaff686]

@@abcdxx1059 Geeze...you mean they want us to PAY them for gathering data on us...oh no...Where have you learnt his to get free access, I pay 80.00 a month...so you PIRATE for free? And you mean capitalists are the ONLY ones who give free stuff..nothing is free from a capitalist...whereas Christians give without expecting anything in return...Giving IS the blessing...NOT a bigger bucket of profit.

[@viberant7599]

Problem is these scumbags are irrational and have no empathy. You can't talk them out of it, and they're defended by an army of cops and military.

[@brynawaldman5790]

This topic is so complex that simple statements of truth ("greed will take hold of any government . . ." etc etc) are practically useless in the face of history. Culture changes more slowly than individuals do, unless some kind of crisis (like ww2 or climate change) pushes society to change faster. Mind you I don't disagree . . . but . . . how old is democracy? About 200 years if we use the Revolutionary War as our guide . . . but only white men who owned land could vote . . . so do we call it "democracy" in 1776, or not? If we use 1920 and the voting rights of women our "democracy" is just a century old. If we use the 1960s and the civil rights movement democracy was about a half century old but the GOP killed it last year by repealing the voting rights act. Between GOP manipulation of the vote (gerrymandering has gone on for two decades by now; this is why the hard right makes up conspiracy theories about the left; it is pure projection) and the repeal of voters' rights laws about 17 million voters of color have been stripped of their rights. The fact is both the right and the left recreate the past into the images we want for the future, so the right thinks they are stripped of their "rights" because they have been been stripped of their privileges, and the left thinks Jefferson meant all human beings when he wrote "all men are created equal," which that slave owner, who treated his own mixed blood children as second class citizens, would find horrifying. How ironic is that? The difficulty is that when we grow up privileged we take it for granted and don't question it and think it is our fair and just condition. We don't think of ourselves as greedy under these circumstances. It makes these kinds of conversations enormously complex. A side comment. I own I dislike the expression "neoliberal." This guy discusses Reagonomics, pure and simple; the "trickle down theory" as Reagan's economists named it, and it is an extraordinarily conservative theory. (So the liberal left gets blamed for conservative ideas . . . what else is new? After all, an honest name for "Citizens United" would have been "Corporate Elites United.")

[@anthonyalexzander2104]

@@brynawaldman5790 At least my useless statement was less than 100 words unlike yours.

[@Brett_S_420]

Imagine that.. If you get money to the hands of regular people, they will spend it, thus growing the economy.

[@J-Bombs]

nope, if someone like jeffy from amazon gave away all his many billions it would raise the cost of goods due to the fact many tens of MILLIONS of people would be rapidly consuming. Jeff for example as one person whom organizes labor, but does not consume vasts amount of resources himself. just because we use dollar bills does not change the fact farmers are growing food, people are making goods, and we are trading these things with one another. give 100 million people all the money of the "rich" and you end with a depression in resources.

[@ChristopheBeckers]

@@J-Bombs No one says give all money from the rich to the poor. But putting more power in the hands of workers and consumers forces corporations to innovate and create better quallity products and working conditions. It also creates more potentional for small business to thrive and lets working people have a fair shot at life.

[@J-Bombs]

@@ChristopheBeckers it's not about rich to poor, its about taking someones lifes work, risk, value, and time BY FORCE and taking it for yourself. Morally bankrupt ideology, this ideology is based on the use of force. As for "just taxing" on the practical you will only tax the working class as they are the producers. Thus you tax working people and responsible people for NON-WORKING people and NON-RESPONSIBLE people. Stop socializing bad choices and punishing working people for other peoples lifes choices.

[@ChristopheBeckers]

@@J-Bombs How is getting the 1% to pay their share and raising the minimum wage going to hurt the working class ? U act as if people would stop working and become lazy if their healthcare got cheaper or if they got an afordable education. There is no evidence of that , on the contrary there is plenty of evidence it's the opposite !!

[@J-Bombs]

@@ChristopheBeckers simple, the 1% are not collectively consuming what 50% of the population consumes. Also remember it is the working class that creates goods and services which are consumed by others IF you "take from the rich" to "give to the poor" you will not REDUCE the wealth of the rich you will increase the cost of goods, decrease the value of the dollar, increase the taxes on the working class, and reduce the over all available resources. There is 0 evidence to support otherwise. also if healthcare, education, and housing are to be worked for by working class to the poor why not just make food free? at this point there is no reason to have anything cost resources or labor anymore.

[@kenp6402]

I like how easily he dismisses the moderator’s question with a rather facile rationalization. He wants a more equitable economy but he’s keeping his wealth.

[@daskrumpl7570]

He'll make more of a change through lobbying to then redistributing his own money. Why give a billion when you can help give a trillion

[@kenproctor7816]

Another facile rationalization.

[@nkk3501]

Could I know which empirical research did he mention? I wanna read it

[@SpiderHacksaw]

You found this. So, I bet you can find that. If you really wanted to.

[@Waywind420]

@@SpiderHacksaw Not if it doesn't exist?

[@jonasschwartzman2985]

None. He is just saying things that people like to hear so that people will laud him for it, and he can keep being a rich dude.

[@ParkerAllen2]

Great talk. A lot of the basics of this talk are things I've thought about for years, not because I'm where he is, but because I'm one of the vast disappearing middle class, and so I've tried to figure out what went wrong when I tried to do everything right and still struggle so much. If I've thought of these things there must be millions more who've also realized that the struggle we're going through is because of a system built to disadvantage the majority, I hope it means people will start in large numbers demanding real change. A great support to some of what Mr. Hanauer was talking about is a book I just read and loved called Humankind by Rutger Bregman, that discusses that human beings are actually much kinder and more altruistic than many popular theories have suggested. A very good read.

[@ricardbuxo]

I agree with you ad I am reading the exact same book, trying to still have some faith in humanity. The only problem here is to convince the remaining 1% that holds the majority of power and wealth to switch to a system that is more inclusive, sharing their wealth by paying more taxes and better wages to their employees, to allow the (disappearing) middle class to thrive and become part of the market in a way that benefits ALL, not only the CEOs and shareholders. I see that a very unlikely scenario, greed is good for the 1%!...

[@sattyre6892]

Like you, I also have been thinking about this for years. It seems pretty obvious to me that our social systems are broken. I have repeatedly wondered how to have an economic system that values hard work but doesn't rely on currency. Asking the right questions is key to getting the right answers. So now my question is how do we turn this train around? Hard workers should be rewarded, but that shouldn't negatively impact others. What a great talk.

[@luisdominguez2087]

nice. he says it all, they are stealing money from you. by setting way-lower-than-should-be wages.

[@DavidRLentz]

Humankind, Rutger Bregman. A reason for hope! 😥😟🤔🙂 (See my comment below.) (Or is it "Bergman"?)

[@DeannesFunVideos]

Dee Hock wrote Birth of the Chaordic Age in '99... he spelled out similar perspectives, like the VISA collaborative left out the perspective of consumers... a failure of our consciousness. sigh

[@sakhawat3003]

I think this is by far one of the most important and brilliant brain exploding talks TED has ever delivered. In the comment section, I have seen lots of people making ad hominem fallacies to rule out the essential points this guy is making. I urge everybody, please stick to the argument, not the person. Thank you.

[@reasonerenlightened2456]

In Capitalism there is only the owner and the Employee. Ultimately, the 'Employee' makes the products, takes those products to the market, sells the same products, he made, to himself and finally he pays a fee known as Profit to some 'Owner' for a permission to own the same products he made and sold to himself. The owner gets to collect profit for doing nothing.....and many call that 'earning' instead of 'taking'. ==--==--==--== (The solution Marx failed to see is that the distribution of the ownership must look like a bell curve. There must be a Law that controls the shape of the curve ( i.e. for each 'X' amount of citizens there must be a 'Y' amount owned that fits the bell curve.) ) THE CURRENT DISTRIBUTION OF 'WHAT IS OWNED BY WHOM' RESEMBLES A NEEDLE (I.E. A DELTA FUNCTION ) It must be made to look like a bell curve and the only way it can happen is by means of a Law that TAKES from everybody and then re-distributes it in way that makes the bell curve a reality.

[@gabrielblacklock3921]

Except a large portion of the claims he made are just flat-out wrong, statistically speaking.

[@fibonaccisequins4637]

@@gabrielblacklock3921 Such as?

[@gabrielblacklock3921]

@@fibonaccisequins4637 Well, for starters, he claims that "in the last 30 years, the top 1% has grown 21 trillion dollars richer, while the bottom 50% have grown 900 billion dollars poorer." We can analyze this claim by looking at the Federal Reserve's "Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989." I'd link to it, but KZbin likes to shadowban comments with links in them. But it shows that in 1989, the bottom 50% of housholds possessed $760 billion, which is about $1.5 trillion if we adjust for inflation. What about in 2019, when this video came out? According to this same chart, the bottom 50% possessed $1.96 trillion. That's an increase of over $400 billion, not a decrease of $900 billion as the video claims. Today, the bottom 50% is doing even better. They now possess $3.4 trillion, which, even when adjusting for inflation, is an overall increase of $1.7 trillion dollars since 1989. Also, keep in mind that the period of 1989 - 2019 was a time of almost unprecedented immigration, and most of the immigrants were coming from very poor countries. So if the economy were just staying the same and not growing, we would expect immigrants to bring the overall share of wealth in the bottom 50% down significantly. The fact that the bottom 50% gained 1.7 TRILLION dollars during that time gives you an idea of how amazingly powerful the US economy is. But of course, you won't hear any of that from Nick Hanauer, because he has an agenda.

[@gabrielblacklock3921]

@@fibonaccisequins4637 Additionally, Hanauer incorrectly claims that studies showed the minimum wage hike in Seattle didn't hurt any poorer workers and didn't cause any unemployment. The reality is much more complicated than that. Studies show that it did not initially cause any unemployment, but then later studies showed that it had a chilling effect on future employment, which can contribute to unemployment in the long run. Also, studies show that many restaurants intentionally cut hours from their lowest-earning workers in order to compensate for having to pay them more per hour, which resulted in lower earnings overall for many of the most vulnerable workers. Again, I'd link to these studies, but KZbin will just ban my comment if I do.

[@frederickbowdler8169]

Beautifully put. Thank you.

[@ksideth]

An amazing talk. Thanks you

[@LtDLong]

This is why workers are most effective when they strike to get changes. It's all about leverage and power. Complaining alone doesn't even reach the ears of those who can grant reasonable request.

[@itsakorgi5874]

@Rakscha they aren't sociopaths. they're worse.

[@TheClayCreature]

Automation is here to replace the striking worker.

[@Cyborg_Lenin]

@@TheClayCreature only under capitalism, when profit is placed over peoples lives.

[@ManuelTavares]

"Sucess economys are not jungles, are gardens". You nailed it!

[@jean-charleslavigne1298]

Yeah and what do you think has more biodiversity, can adapt faster and better and is more efficient. In gardens, only selected elite is allowed to prosper. The rest is treated like weed, destroyed and supressed. The garden naturally return to jungle as soon as the gardener loses is carefully planned and managed balance. Don’t be fooled by is argument, this example actually destroy is own point. Only the jungle can provide for more species and allow more freedom for everyone. In other word, the sum of prosperity is better in jungles.

[@ManuelTavares]

@@jean-charleslavigne1298 "the sum of prosperity" its a gigantic ilusion! If i can understand your argument that a closed environment tends to get poorer and poorer in diversity, the ilusion of prosperity under jungle laws leads to what we have today, a small elite controling the so caled "jungle laws". We are living in a closed environment also, where laws are dictated by generations of prepared elites. The history of the humble startup that one day reached the sky its a fairytale for 99,9% of the entrepeneurs because the big cake is already on the hands of just a few people. There is almoust no oxygen right now on this so called jungle.

[@PlushGrenade]

3 years since this was released...where's the ground swell? where's the reform? how are we holding the top accountable for undermining all this? how do we even?

[@ALL_CAPS__]

Professor Richard Wolff and Democracy at Work constantly talk about this topic on KZbin. It well worth the view if you are interested in this type of discussion.

[@elliottpowell5130]

Then why should we have a president he gets into power make all the decisions

[@Cyborg_Lenin]

Based

[@bills48321]

"All we have to do is choose have it (a new economics)?" That would work in an uncorrupted democracy, but we don't have that. We have a corrupt oligarchy, and the billionaires and large corporations that control it are never going to allow the ideas he is championing to come into being.

[@MrNicoJac]

Same happened in the French revolution. That ended with guillotines. Let's hope we (all) can do better this time. But if not... well... we still have the designs....

[@seafoam6119]

@@MrNicoJac then a midget ruled as a dictator.

[@ziruiwang4806]

You are absolutely right, if the new more prosocial system doesn't preform better in the old system then the old system will remain and there is nothing that we can do about it.

[@willardchi2571]

@@MrNicoJac "do better this time" --you mean, improve the guillotine?

[@Koozomec]

Corrupted government elected by people corrupted by welfare.

[@dakata17819132]

wow, basic traits that evolved over millions of years, like cooperation, turned out to be valuable, who would have thought

[@Soleilune1995]

Cavemen and chimpanzees. It was too difficult for neoliberals to figure out though.

[@TeaParty1776]

@@Soleilune1995 Cooperation of independent minds or commies enslaved to each other?

[@Soleilune1995]

@@TeaParty1776 "Cooperation of independent minds" would imply the choice to cooperate, and the ability to opt out of it, right? That option doesn't exist when workers must obey the orders of corporate authorities (managers, CEOs, the board of directors, voting stockholders, etc.) or else lose all income. Within our capitalist system, the workers are told exactly what they are expected to cooperate on by those who profit from their labor, as well as exactly when the cooperative task must be completed. Is that enslavement? Or is it somehow different in this case because the workers have very limited choice in where, and by whom, they are enslaved? "Cooperation of independent minds" requires a lack of hierarchy. The two sides of an exchange must have equal power, so that neither has any more to lose than the other. Otherwise, the exchange will inevitably benefit the side with more power. If the number of job positions open is much smaller than the number of job applicants, then power will always be unbalanced in favor of the employer. They have choice, whereas the workers do not. Workers need to work somewhere, or else they will starve or go homeless. This is systematic exploitation by the wealthy owners of property. The system is not voluntary for the vast majority of people. It is only voluntary for the employers who have the right to terminate workers for whatever reason. All of the power and choice is in the hands of the wealthy. It's simply the reality.

[@bayoopadeyi]

@@Soleilune1995 nonsense

[@Soleilune1995]

@@bayoopadeyi Explain how, so that I can understand the truth, then.

[@seanburton5298]

Some of what he says makes sense. The minimum wage increase allowed other workers to participate in the labor market. NOT participate in the consumer market.

[@noahkristoffersen6710]

Every business major should have to Watch this.

[@CyberPsyLen]

we definitely should compel students in what they learn - they should not be free to think for themselves - right on comrade!

[@teachnow7559]

Henry Ford knew this when he paid a wage so employees could buy Ford cars.

[@jv-lk7bc]

Also at the end of WW2 the principle was applied w/the Marshall Plan ... help Europe and Japan back to their feet so you'll have somebody to trade with.. you can't sell anything to starving homeless people (plus they tend to find guns...)

[@kenlawson554]

Henry Ford paid a higher wage to stop turnover on the production line. There were many caveats to qualify for that $5.00 a day.

[@MrMike0921]

@@kenlawson554 Henry Ford paid a wage so he could sell cars to the thousands of folks he employed building them as part of his business plan. A "guaranteed" source of cash flow and stable workforce morale... money being paid to his workforce came back into his bank accounts... decreased turnover. His critical thinking skills went beyond the lecture in business 101. And the idea that money alone isn't what keeps a worker bee happy and content in his job.

[@38vocan]

@@MrMike0921 this is very dumb

[@MrMike0921]

@@38vocan for dumb folks and those like GW, who simply lack curiosity... lol

[@Vaijykone]

Getting closer to understanding the inherent flaws of the monetary system here. But it doesn't go far enough in the analysis. The fact of the matter is that we don't need new economics, we just need economics. You see, the mistake starts in language where the meaning of economics has been eroded away and replaced with financing, but still calling it economics. And the problem is we don't operate under the principles of economics today. We operate under the principles of financing. We think in terms of language, so the first thing we need to fix is language. Economics means management of resources for human needs. Financing means management of money. No matter which way you spin it, money can never become a resource and as such it can never truly become part of economics. We can't eat money, we can't drink money, nor can we build anything out of it. The financial system requires infinite exponential growth to continue functioning, this is due to the mechanisms of banking, most notably usury. Add in profiteering and competitive behaviour and you have a recipe for disaster. Human needs on the other hand are finite and we seek to meet our needs with little effort to conserve energy and resources, so economics has an innate mechanism that drives for efficiency. Even though the terminology and thus our language and thinking has become corrupt, there are still clues in language. One clear example is fuel economy. When we talk about fuel economy we mean the efficiency of fuel consumption in a given system, such as a car. This and this many miles/gallon or this and this many litres/100km under such and such conditions.

[@SovereignStatesman]

You're the one who's not going far enough. Yes, we need plain economics; but OLD POLITICS, where the voters have final authority over their nation-states. The Constitution was ratified by the voters in each state as a separate nation, making them the final authority over their own respective nation-state. But Lincoln put an end to that, and we've been slaves of oligarchy ever since.

[@manboob5000]

Fun fact, supposedly Keynes didn't study economics, just capital markets. Makes you think about the system that developed out of it.

[@SovereignStatesman]

@@manboob5000 Same with Marx. The concept of a controlled economy, shows a defect in cognitive processing and abstract reasoning.

[@Shozb0t]

Human wants are infinite.

[@beyond_modernity8554]

@@SovereignStatesman How exactly does he lack reasoning, when the literal reasoning behind his idea of an economy managed by the people is to make sure it's as fair and meaningful as possible for everyone that actually does labour of any kind?

[@MegaSnail1]

I agree that it's the people who create wealth. For this reason I am starting a food co-op in my community to ensure food security while supporting local farmers. I believe that the only way to take our economy back is to stop working for corporations and start working in co-ops where the principals are simply self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. Thank you and be well.

[@ishsenaka]

Hats off sir!

[@braddeal6445]

It's people who make econic growth. Finally a common sense statement from the economic wilderness.

[@VincentGill3]

Have you heard about a new social system called Contributionism?

[@someonewhoisnotretarded.4809]

And capitalists are also people, isn't that strange?

[@Shozb0t]

If it is true that people make economic growth, then why didn’t people invent computers 1000 years ago? And why haven’t the people of Bangladesh prospered as the people of the U.S. have?

[@jvcyt298]

This is what economists like Richard Wolf have been saying for years, but they just dismiss him and call him a communist not even knowing what the term means.

[@PseudoProphet]

Richard Wolfe is an idiot, stop idolizing him.

[@jonathanaillon3777]

@@PseudoProphet triggered

[@PseudoProphet]

@@jonathanaillon3777 hahahaha just telling like it is.... That's guy just can't answer any real questions.

[@jonathanaillon3777]

@@PseudoProphet let's have an honest discussion. What real question would that be? in your mind.

[@PseudoProphet]

@@jonathanaillon3777 there's just one question, how exactly the fantasy world of his is going to work? He can't expect us to adopt an entirely new system without any sorknof plan. 🤓🤓

[@stephenyang2844]

Mr. Harnauer criticised capitalism and offerred some suggestions which will make a better society for all.

[@redheavenrose]

What a wonderful point of view.TY

[@BadAssElf810]

Well, unfortunately, the sociopaths are in charge and they don't want anything to change. Calling them out about their sociopathy will not have any effect on them except maybe to motivate them to shut us up.

[@josephdarchambault6264]

This thinking only emboldens them so time to change our thinking!

[@kail9777]

Congress is full of psychos. They sleep soundly at night knowing that with a brush of their pen, millions die from lack of health care as they pocket the money from lobbyists etc. Normal people couldn't sleep doing that. They're worst than serial killers that kill dozens - Congress kills millions withholding healthcare, sending our kids to wars funding the military industrial complex, seizing oil fields as Trump illuminated recently in Syria, writing laws that bankrupt the middle class, distributing wealth from the poor to the 1% via corporate welfare etc. They're a bunch of psychos worst than anyone behind bars. Giving serial killers suits and ties and having the American flag draped behind them in a photo opt might sound gross but its the life of many in Congress.

[@sebdhaese]

The sociopaths are in charge because people voted for them. There are a lot of stupid people.

[@jillkitten5388]

@@kail9777 I thought the same.

[@jillkitten5388]

@@sebdhaese Agreed.

[@ShadowTwister28]

"People....Reciprocity (beautiful word choice m8).....Cooperation" Absolutely well done

[@riccardopusceddu6232]

Cooperation is a strategy to make selfishness more successful because every time you cooperate with someone else you get some advantages by better crushing a third party. Essentially you cooperate with others so that you can better win over people outside your circle of cooperative people.

[@willnitschke]

So if cooperation is secretly competitiveness does that mean selfishness is secretly virtue? I mean if up is really down and black is really white, why not. 🤣

[@kanayanfantv]

Good point. That's why cooperation should be imposed from above.

[@willnitschke]

@@kanayanfantv Yeah because the definition of cooperation is FORCE. It just gets dumber and dumber... 🤣

[@supralogical]

Nonsense. Cooperation to move things forward builds civilization. Go to any country where the people do not cooperate with each other and you'll see what dirt poverty looks like.

[@willnitschke]

@@supralogical The critical thing Socialists also don't understand is that as a business owner in a capitalist economy I must engage in intense cooperation both with my customers and suppliers. These people are just so ignorant...

[@miaguilar5512]

Even this guy doesn't know we all need eachother,and nothing would have ever gotten done together. When richness blinds the eye's you no longer share with those that helped you get where you are today.Present

[@CrniWuk]

The things we cherish in our current (global) economy are values that we would never teach our children to follow as grown ups. Think about it what a Kindergarden would look like if every 5 year old acted like the neo-liberal economy demands from us.

[@addyzaretzky6921]

Great point. I think this is exacly why Gen Z and the youth of today are so passionate about changing this.

[@guisampaio2008]

I would not only teach the kids, i would make super sure theg understand why it is this way.

[@jeffspc88mx]

"Markets are not jungles, they're gardens." Righteous.

[@kimobrien.]

He tells you bosses what you want to hear.

[@astnbllr92]

@@kimobrien. idk, to me it almost sounds like he's advocating for a planned economy, but without using any of the scary Marxist language. I mean clearly the dude is for reform over revolution, but you can hardly blame him, based on what revolution would mean for him and his billionaire buddies. It reminds me of what uncle Karl said about how when the tides start turning, some of the bourgeois will turn coat, and join the cause of the proletariat either to save their own skins, or out of guilt, or because they see that they're on the losing side, and want to slow the transition and minimize damage. In any case, I think a lot of the rhetoric he uses could potentially be very helpful for spreading class consciousness to people who think of the DPRK whenever they think of socialism. Notice how many of the positive comments on this video are from people who don't even realize they have Marxist views because they lack the words to express them. One of the things the left is dropping the ball on right now is shedding the past, and bringing our message to a modern audience that views Marxism through a bloodstained lens. After all, it doesn't matter what Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Mao, Castro, or even really what Marx or Engels themselves thought was the best way forward. They're dead. We are the proletariat now. We are the movement now. We are the ones who have to find a way forward. We are the ones who carry the torch. History is useful for figuring out what doesn't work. If it was any good for figuring out what does work, we would be living in a post-capitalist world already. The past is a hindrance. It only gives us something to argue about. It keeps the movement fragmented and ineffective because we're too busy calling each other tankies to actually come up with a cohesive strategy to implement change.

[@jamesspry3294]

First time I've ever heard someone proclaim that an economy is "complex" and actually know what it means. Also, economies exist for the people, not vice versa! Love his psychology too!

[@DJK-cq2uy]

Yes.

[@mikeash7428]

All we have to do is choose is a but of an understatement.