Theodore Dalrymple | Is Society Broken? | CIS

Noted author and commentator Theodore Dalrymple -- the CIS Max Hartwell Scholar-in-Residence -- delivers a sold-out lecture at Sydney Opera House on the question of whether society is broken.
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[@ienekevanhouten4559]

This man represents the very best of British culture.

[@bupsahn7098]

Then God help Britain.

[@brianwebcam8433]

In what way?

[@Johnconno]

He's a common or garden member of The Patrician Class, I'd figured out most of his little speech by the time I was 16. I looked around me.

[@R_V_]

... or what's left of it. ;-)

[@bennym5244]

He is brave enough to state that money doesn't solve social deprivation.

[@runswithwindz9875]

I find it so painful that we have so few viewings of such an important discusion . We have become a bubble-gum brained culture.

[@gazmasonik2411]

This is Begging for a derogatory term for the guilt of undiagnosed and possibly guiltless halfwits who are possibly the out witted, hence ones of least applicable guilt.? Which is hugely ironic. Considering the subject matter..

[@danielkempton9659]

Yes. Im a mechanic, and have only become aware in the last ten years of such great minds.

[@IDraganM]

Try advertising in purely neoliberal right wing or neonazi groups. This kind of speaches are right down their alley. This is i think a little bit too toxic for average human.

[@jumpingman6612]

​@IDraganM The whole talk just flew over your head? Look at the facts of the problem. Have a look at Thomas Sowell, but I guess he would be a nazi according to your world view.

[@excaliburironforce9908]

​@@IDraganMirresponsible parenthood, criminal behaviors, etc. aren't skin color specific, however, cultural factors domestically and abroad do apply. Why does this offend you, hits close to home, or are you one of those who "feels" you gain by promoting bad behaviors🤔

[@andrewheffel3565]

I climbed from nearly homeless to wealthy, after years of struggle. My great desire for my two sons was for them to not have to suffer as I did. My wife and I spent a lot of time with our sons, reading books to them, taking them to team sports, helping them with homework, attending their school functions. We kept them so busy doing wholesome activities they did not have time to get in trouble. We taught them to work hard, to be frugal, to be responsible. The most important thing we taught them is the world owes them nothing, if they want a good life, they must earn it. They are adults now, one is a financial advisor, the other a marketing professional. Both are happy, with charming girlfriends, and successful friends. If you don't have the time to give your children a chance at a good life, maybe you should not have children.

[@heatherc1563]

You may have told your children the world owes them nothing but you showed them that the world offers them joy , support and an alternative to "trouble". Experience speak louder than words . Have you thought through your ideas , do you realize how contradictory your comments are ?

[@andrewheffel3565]

@@heatherc1563 Where is the contradiction? We did enrich their childhood experiences and have a lot of fun together, but mostly we made them work hard to be prepared for life. Also, they saw us work very hard to get ahead in our careers. My wife and I did all we could to equip our kids with the skills needed to compete in modern society. We pushed them academically and in competitive team sports. One made it to varsity basketball, the other earned a 3rd degree blackbelt. They were both active in student government. Both had jobs in HS and in college. We wore them out. We taught them to work hard to succeed, and that success or failure is up to them. We taught them to be responsible for themselves, but we assisted them to move in the right direction, by being deeply involved in their successes. Once out on their own, they chose to continue working hard to build a good life for themselves. We were a little rough at times. Homework was not optional. More than once they refused to do an assignment, and the response from my wife was you are not leaving this table until the work is done. I despise parents who are permissive and protective of their kids, telling them, "you can do anything" when you grow up, but equipping them to do nothing but wait passively for someone to hand them opportunity on a silver platter, or a medal for participation. The funny thing is, the harder you push your kids, the stronger and more determined, and successful, they become. And they love us for it, because determination, resourcefuness, and genuine toughness lives in their hearts, and no one can take it away from them.

[@heatherc1563]

@@andrewheffel3565 I think that's great. I think it's great they are doing well and I think it's great that you and your wife had each other and had fun doing it. My point is that those experiences teach something else as well, that the world is a predictable and safe place and that hard work will pay off. I'm asking you to imagine a different experience . Try not to judge it from your perspective but a different one. Imagine your wife being totally different and completely unsupportive or imagine that you had to work an extra 8 hours every day and so weren't able to attend those sports that you were working to pay for. What I meant by contradictory is that you said you taught your boys the world owed them nothing but you and your wife SHOWED them that there is hope. Too much empathy doesn't help but neither does too much judgement, especially when the only solution you offer is what they should have done years ago. Im very glad your family is happy and doing well .

[@andrewheffel3565]

@@heatherc1563 I see what you are saying. Yes, there are many families that are not able to spend enough time with their children, and do not, or don't know how, to teach them the values that lead to success. My parents were too busy getting ahead to spend time with me. No sports, school involvement, no concern for academics, no money for college. I left home at 19 without a clue how to make it through life. I floundered through my 20's. But by the grace of God I found a career path in my early 30's, and managed to make a good life. My revenge on my parents was to raise my kids the exact opposite of how I was raised. I love my sons fiercely, and I can die happy because they are doing so well. So yes, they grew up knowing they are loved, and I am sure it made all the difference.

[@joemurphy9549]

@@heatherc1563 ... Yes, what do you say makes sense but also reveals another issue. If your wife (or husband) totally disagrees with the way of raising your children then you may have married the wrong person. It happens. A good friend of mine was married for about four years before they both realised something with profoundly incompatible between them: he wanted children and she did not. He’s a very nice man and no dummy, he has ‘smarts’. So why didn’t they realise this before they Got married? Blinded by love? The only answer I can think of. But it does raise the value of a pre-relationship / pre-marriage commitment Checklist to discuss a bear minimum number of issues, these being one. Such a discussion may also benefit from each person being open with the other about: their ideas around commitment, what is it for them, and what did they expect of their partner? Children? Yes or no? And if so what type of parenting? What is the goal of their parenting? The best one I’ve heard is my goal as a parent is to raise responsible respectful young adults who have goals in life. Anyway, I’m sure there are plenty of other topics people should talk about before they commit to one another in a relationship.

[@MaryQueenOfDots]

I am a massive Theodore Dalrymple fan. He is right about the working class, that’s my cultural/ social background and they do lack social norms most would class as ‘standard behaviour.’

[@mrror8933]

They are mistakenly designated as the "working class" whereas they are in fact the "welfare benefits class".

[@olasmith8132]

Even in Switzerland cracks are starting. I lived in Switzerland for almost 8 years, absolutely wonderful place to live, my family and I called it a bit of heaven, and we were not rich. We used to go on the most charming, enjoyable, pleasant bicycle trips with friends, so beautiful, so peaceful, so lovely. We would stop at farms where you could buy fresh produce, ice cream, etc...with no clerk in sight. So, there would be a money box, you would take what you wanted to buy, write down what you bought in a ledger and put the money you owed into the money box, you could also go into huge flower gardens, cut fresh flowers to take home and pay into a money box. Then, around 2013, when we left, the farmers we got to know were telling us they were thinking of closing these charming markets because they were losing 10% and up of proceeds due to stealing of the goods they provided for sale,... before, they never lost money, unheard of, by 2013 thievery started to become a nuisance...so sad, some build up, others destroy.

[@schmetterling4477]

Dude, Switzerland was broken centuries ago, you just haven't been to the places where the people with money live and you clearly don't know enough about it. This is simply your naive mind speaking.

[@daffidkane8350]

I grew up in Canada and from the post war period up to about 1990 it was much like what this person reported of Switzerland, except in certain parts of big cities. You could collect fruit and leave the money behind. But the new immigrants did not share these values and Canadians themselves began to change. They became more materialistic and hedonistic and disrespectful of others. The society became more divided and divisive. Canada was never perfect but it was decent enough but no society can remain decent beyond a certain level of inequality and social and cultural fragmentation. Decent society operated within fine tolerances. It took two wars and a depression for the people to build a decent society which lasted 40 years and now the decadent phase has set in.

[@daffidkane8350]

@@schmetterling4477 unnecessarily nasty. Just disagree. I lived in Canada and visited Switzerland in the 1980s and experienced the same in both countries in most places.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@daffidkane8350 You can disagree all you want. Reality doesn't give a shit. ;-)

[@daffidkane8350]

@@schmetterling4477 I have a right to disagree but I do not need to be disagreeable. Unless you are like most of my angry authoritarian left wing friends for whom the world is shit and filled with hierarchical, patriarchal, racist, misogynistic, and sexist people and institutions. Have a happy and peaceful Easter.

[@wallybingbang9892]

I watched a conversation with him and Jordan Peterson yesterday Interesting 🤔

[@migueldecarvalho8012]

Notice the silence in that room when the speaker mentions weight and eating habits!

[@lcl1016]

The interviewers questions are exceptional. You just don’t get these types of questions being asked, and in particular, and acknowledgement of what is really causing the problem. I haven’t listened to such a good interview on Australian television for a very long time.

[@coreycox2345]

Thank you for this. I have loved this author's books. I thought that he might be reclusive as he publishes under a pseudonym

[@marieroth3940]

British law traditionally disallows any form of advertising by medical practitioners, which would require a pseudonym by a practising doctor, besides the obvious one of writing about people who could imagine he was writing about them.

[@franmorrison1080]

many authors wrote and write under pseydonyms, such as George Elliot, Louisa May Alcott, the Bronte sisters, and currently, JK Rowling and Christopher Gortner

[@pg6296]

Teachers working at a Melbourne school, where almost 100% of children came from families dependent on social security. The teachers spoke of the parents, who were often illiterate, possessing an astonishing ability to fill out complicated social security benefits forms ..

[@mogznwaz]

The welfare state has destroyed the working class. When I was a kid nobody really had much but even us poor working class families had some pride in ourselves and 'cleaned the front step'.

[@schmetterling4477]

So what happened to that pride? When did you lose it?

[@mogznwaz]

@@schmetterling4477 I didn't. But I hate that I am now the exception not the rule.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@mogznwaz Nah, you are the rule. We have plenty of people who think they are the best invention since sliced bread. That's not pride, though. That's just false pride.

[@mogznwaz]

@@schmetterling4477 Pfft you are obviously not someone whose opinion I should take seriously.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@mogznwaz Ditto.

[@MB-dp1rj]

Quite a fascinating presentation. Thank you!!.

[@wattlebough]

The problems begin and end in the home, and in those homes they default to the lowest common denominator in popular culture, for example the anti-intellectualism of Eminem, 50 Cent, Jackass 3D, WWE and Crusty Demons, and parental drug addiction and alcoholism. With this in mind I really liked the finding that vitamin and mineral suppliments made a difference in the behaviour of the young in the studies cited by Mr Dalrymple. But increasing prison sentences is putting the ambulance at the bottom of the hill and alone is not a complete solution. Generating positive influences in the home environment and supporting the family must be made a priority. Without this, by enforcing harsher prison sentences rather than stemming the flow of the youth in to crime, we're just going to be forever expanding budgets for the prison industry.

[@schmetterling4477]

I take it that your parents didn't have all that much money for mineral and vitamin supplements?

[@wattlebough]

@@schmetterling4477 I really don't know how to interpret your comment, but it comes across as narcissistic in tone and despicable.

[@franmorrison1080]

they took the Bible out of schools, and now are distributing it among prisons...

[@wattlebough]

@@franmorrison1080 Maybe there’s more hope for convicts than for school kids now. 🙂

[@MargaritaMagdalena]

Eminem is really funny.

[@danielkempton9659]

My only regret is not hearing this years ago. Great insight.

[@johncee1481]

We have to realise that Britain now has an underclass of about 10 million.

[@celestebredin6213]

I read that in psych course. I was taught by ProfJohn Perry. He spoke about the war in Uganda that prevented there annual “migration from their hillside grazing

[@carolineassheton5624]

Very friendly and wonderful.

[@brianvanvriends]

Our education systems are antiquated, sloppy and ineffective to such a degree it's an embarrassment.

[@MrRampertshammer]

Thank-you CIS for this enlightening talk, I am so glad I subscribed to your you-tube channel.

[@enochgoodfellow8972]

So happy they let the little girl at the end ask her question.

[@jajones-ford2226]

Excellent lecture. Thank you for sharing this video .

[@elizabethblasucci5024]

Brilliant and truth told.

[@speggeri90]

Great speaker. Just sad that there aren't any of the people that should be there to listen to it. Namely the young adults. All I see are grey haired retired folk.

[@gosiachaaban2484]

Closing down grammar schools and leaving just a few means that children from private primary schools or those with years of tuition have much better chance of getting into one. As for teaching children how to read.... I once sat with ESOL tutors ( I'm one, too) whose job is to teach immigrants English, one of my colleagues questioned the very need of immigrants to learn English when they can manage without it staying within their culture and language in England.

[@DavidLee-mp8us]

What a great mind

[@nottenvironmental6208]

Good thinking material

[@bennym5244]

Brave brave man.

[@celestebredin6213]

South Africa is like an Irish coffee Largely black and bitter Above that tan On top of that used to be ,rather perilously rich cream and THEN a generous sprinkling of sweet dark chocolate🥂

[@dontpanic1812]

This may be just the forum for this inquiry: Correct me if I'm wrong, but mandatory voting in Australia has actually made politicians more responsive to the public than the reverse and has caused politicians to both act more like leaders and deliverers of people's well-being with higher levels of integrity and collaboration on the federal level, increasing individual effort and productivity, personal freedoms and prosperity and calmer political engagement among the populous has it not? This proposal is floating around in America right now in response to our gridlock, polarization, irrationality and self-preservation priorities of our political leaders who largely seem to be divorcing themselves completely from dependency on the public for their legitimacy. Eliminating covid restrictions (I know it's hard, but please try), may I ask Australians if they think mandatory voting has been a net positive for them, for their leaders and for their country? If so, might such a measure have a positive effect in America in their learned opinion?

[@celestebredin6213]

Not migration just seasonal relocation . One thinks of the elephant “ tribe” that is prevented using their seasonal access to water by the more recent use of their through route by African cattle herders.

[@stephenarnold6359]

At 28 minutes: is he talking about Polly Toynbee ?

[@jcortese3300]

You know, in a way, the fact that poverty and crime are related IS due to the fact that we care so little about poor people -- but not because we lack empathy for the poor carjacker who comes from a broken family. We lack empathy for the poor victim who now can't get to work because their beater got stolen out from under them. As long as the carjackers and thieves contain their depravities to other poor people, we're okay with it. Then we wonder why there is more crime in poor areas: because we've taught the local criminals that that's where you can get away with it!

[@relevantelevant8203]

This aged tragically well….look at how much worse we are now! Same in the US!

[@tractorhead971]

Most animals will turn on each other when too many are in one place. Humans are no different.

[@petermathieson5692]

The levers available to government for the reform of society are far from limited. They proved this by introducing and relentlessly expanding the dependency- producing welfare state and its associated bureaucratic apparatus. It was built up. It can be built back down... and if it isn't, expect no change.

[@CSUnger]

What most modern-day sociologists always seem to either intentionally leave out of these inquiries into the decline in societal norms because, either, the data does not line up with preconceived ideologies, or completely miss due to the absence in their own experiences, is the effect on the individual in a society when the social norms are informed by an unspoken and unwritten higher moral order that is subconsciously acknowledged due to its ubiquity in everyday affairs. The West is experiencing its quite obvious crisis in social stability and cohesion in direct proportion to its abandonment of its previously assumed Christian and Biblical influences in the culture. The effect of a large number of a community's citizens holding a religious outlook on their individual lives and behavior has a concomitant effect even on those who do not hold the same or similar religious outlooks even if those religious sentiments are not expressed openly, and the absence of that influence has an opposite effect on the laws, customs, and social mores of its citizens. What the West is most in need of right now is another John Wesley and friends calling us back to our former moral boundaries.

[@whitetiana3022]

"in new zealand the increase in crime isn't due to race and i'll just not talk about race when mentioning the US"

[@connordavey4422]

Oh the pain, im sat on my own, eating a oven ready pizza (its terrible btw). Swear the promise of life, was so sweet as a child now as an adult not so much...

[@rufusstevenson1369]

Great talk. Just wish the chap at the end had provided evidence for lead in petrol causing violance as it is in fact causational - even down to state level in US as they gradually outlawed.

[@schmetterling4477]

I haven't seen leaded gasoline since I was a teenager. They phased it out together with the disco ball. It might have done some brain damage to you, though, if you were sniffing it. Why were you sniffing it?

[@Junglebtc]

@@schmetterling4477 I still dance illuminated by a crystal ball. Why wasn't I informed of this

[@schmetterling4477]

@@Junglebtc No idea, but John Travolta called and he wants his disco shirt back. ;-)

[@petermathieson5692]

The solutions to these self-inflicted problems lie in the study of history, replete with the well-intentioned but consequentially disastrous policies, compounded by vested institutional interests they have created.

[@christinejones9620]

@hello Peter, your statement ‘the well-intentioned but consequently disastrous policies, compounded by vested institutional interests.....’ cuts to the chase. Dalrymple’s book ‘Spoilt Rotten; The Toxic Cult Of Sentimentality’ and ‘Admirable Evasions’ in particular, shine a light on the superficial and self gratifying inclinations motivating us to fall for the vast array of deceptions badged up as movements/initiatives of ‘progress’ and ‘equity’. The sanctimony of victim culture as a rhetorical force for manipulation appeals to many seeking the gratification of secular piety. Narcissistic do-gooders gratify their appetites and Charitable Foundations rake in funding. Dr Daniels nails it with his phrase ‘poverty and perversion of spirit’ and his candid description of the withering of ‘the will’. Victim culture with all its external excusing, robs individuals of the awareness, motivation and knowledge to develop their internal resilience. I don’t deny the suffering of genuine victims of varied circumstances. I do see that wholly conflated with state sponsored and media glamourized ‘Learned Helplessness’. The indulging of ‘self esteem’ at the cost of competencies and self discipline in Education fuels this pathology in society and keeps the poorest (especially) from upward mobility. Teachers who do not hold individual students to account and see through the fallacy of ‘isms’ (a money maker for the poisonous ‘Special Needs’ industry) are failing students. We’ve seen this en mass now for many years.

[@petermathieson5692]

@@christinejones9620 Mg goodness Christine, what a well judged and well expressed comment. A pleasure to read. Thank you.

[@christinejones9620]

Thanks Peter. I wish more people had your clarity of perception.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@christinejones9620 Why are you a sock puppet? :-)

[@dontpanic1812]

So, a more robust interpretation in the analysis of deprivation is needed. Rather than using only the perspective of privilege, it could be complemented by perspectives of the poor, using the view points of both to submit the rationalizations of each, amounting to four-- the privileged perspective from the point of view of both and the impoverished perspective using the point of view of each, providing blanket coverage of all possibilities an parties. Though, each implies it's own, I'd be very interested in the perspectives of either using the perspectives of the other. More, I'd be interested in dedicated analyses directed internally at one's own. That's four times the thinking, but would probably be invaluable, be worth the extra reading time, leading to greater understanding and wiser interventions, avoiding monolithic and ineffective solutions where we're just spinning our wheels or making matters worse, wasting time and effort and resources. Hmm. This is the "measure twice, cut once" philosophical method, I think. Could be really good at eliminating irrationality, if all were consistently interpreted as a collective and none were culled for special significance (abused to promote an agenda). This could be something incredibly beneficial were it to come into vogue.* * Not only would those against or underserved be reading perspectives relevant to them, finally reaching them, they'd be more widely and more easily exposed to counternarratives to get them thinking more broadly about issues and all possible available interventions. Cemented in gender neutral language, none any longer are left out.

[@celestebredin6213]

South Africa is like an Irish coffee Largely black and bitter Above that the tan milky part tan On top of that used to be ,rather perilously rich cream and THEN a generous sprinkling of sweet dark chocolate🥂

[@nurhelmi5390]

rich people crime is always manipulation,but not all rich people do that..

[@petercharles8306]

Voting in australia is NOT mandatory! Voters are obliged by law to register at a polling booth...or be fined...but they can cast a blank vote!

[@wakeupuk3860]

Oh such common sense, shown so very well by the Mother when asked why she had not mowed the lawn so her kids could play in the back garden saying back "I keep ringing the council but they never come" What Theodore Dalrymple did not refer to that once a poor person had the grit and determination due to their animal instinct in them will survive and for the most part do all they can to better than selves excepting it could be crime but neverless would try. The reason is and speaking as an ex teacher from 'industry' who could not believe the every day indoctrination of left wing teachers telling children it was the duty of others to provide for them.

[@mataform]

Goodness you are a teacher? Surely not of English? I couldn't decipher what you were trying to say.

[@heatherc1563]

It wasn't cut the grass it was rubbish. But when it comes to the grass if one isnt allowed to have or will have a lawnmower stolen is the reality as to why one may feel the council is the only option for a well groomed garden. What is missing from people's understanding of this is that the "escape" from this culture from the perspective of a different culture is simply not realistic and on a large scale simply impossible. The short sightedness that is evident in your comments is the same short sightedness that holds the lower class to its culture. People give up on themselves( and each other) for exactly the same reasons that you give up on them. Why is it realistic for you to find their situation hopeless but for them, their believe in the hopelessness of their situation is the cause?

[@clavo3352]

The problem I see with this great effort is that it totally ignores legal fictions like statutes of limitations and the inability of the poor to access the courts. My client was gutted like a fish when her uterus was harvested by an unethical doctor. The medical community and their mafia came after me, my home, and any alternate career I tried to engage in. There are two criminal elements here the thieving poor and the self serving rich. The good doctor belonging to the latter.

[@clavo3352]

@zum zum I offered the case to at least 5 big law firms They wouldn't touch it. Texas protects negligent doctors.

[@Johnconno]

Thank Gawd for the patrician class, untouched by ordinary life.

[@teresahall8762]

His mother was an immigrant. He's not of posh roots. Just educated

[@Johnconno]

@@teresahall8762 Sure, aren't they all?

[@schmetterling4477]

@@Johnconno If by "ordinary life" you mean the squalor that you created for yourself by not paying attention in school and using alcohol and drugs, then, yes, he is probably untouched by that.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@Johnconno I simply know a drunk fella when I see one. I am looking at you, kid.

[@Bob-nd2mr]

I am British and recognize Doctor Daniels description of the huge flat screen TV and the microwave. the incessant noise and clamour from the flat screen is just like the food. unhealthy. This is how the children grow up. The covid virus has accelerated all this and the nightmare of Calhouns Universe 25 is upon us. (the mouse paradise). The beautiful ones ..... we have people like Daniels (Theodore Dalrymple) and Jordan Peterson to guide us out of this nightmare and people better start paying attention. When the "coooncil" is called and there is no response ... bad things happen. Money is the trigger. Energy can be equated. 1 kWh (kiloWatthour) = 30 p ....diesel @ £1.50p / litre .. See what the mice do when these numbers double and treble. Storm a commin.

[@arjanv45]

Is society broken? Yes it is.

[@frederickwinn6574]

It depends upon what you consider "Society" to be. It also depends upon what you consider "Broken".

[@GJ-ol5ev]

5:49

[@chinleytbiggins]

Controlled diet options which put fresh food out of reach for ordinary people keep poverty and ill health in partnership

[@dontpanic1812]

Okay, let's look at the logic of this... Jews value education, family and religion and therefore are successful. Sikhs value education, family and religion and therefore are successful. Filipinos value education, family and religion and therefore are successful. Anglos value education, family and religion and therefore are successful. The Chinese value education, family and community and therefore are successful. Blacks value education, family and religion but are not successful. Hispanics value family, religion and work but are not successful. Are we saying the cause of success depends upon effort and connections and group safety/solidarity/insularity/collaboration or saying the cause of failure is still dependent upon race, ignoring the fact that exactly the same or similar values aren't producing the same results among a third of society? Can't have generational wealth if it all keeps getting taken away or the social cohesion to do so if it's constantly being undermined. If success isn't finite and there's room at the top for everyone, education, family and religion obviously aren't the causes of success for everyone, nor is effort causing it for many. Either a little self-protectionism, prejudice and suppression is going on or it's actually necessary that some don't succeed so others can. If you believe 'dissatisfaction is the permanent condition of mankind,' like Dr. Samuel Johnson relays in Rasselas, take your pick. Though it's true having every want fulfilled is a heaven bereft of pleasure or desire, filled with unrelenting boredom, it does not stand that suffering is necessary for happiness to exist. What it does suggest is the journey of earning one's happiness is true heaven on earth, which likely includes securing that opportunity for others. Western and British culture have historically been excellent at producing this for many, but sadly not for all, and there's yet been a valid reason submitted in all of either's history for why neither cannot do so. Wee rant over, this lecture is rather magnificent.

[@mogznwaz]

It's broken because centuries, if not millennia, of human behaviour, culture, community, are being atomised by globalisation, liberalism, multiculturalism and mass immigration. Cultures exist and survive because of things passed down by families and societies, creating a unifying culture. But this can be undone within just 1 generation. For example, how many men now could fix a car? How many bell ringers / morris dancers / blacksmiths etc still exist? How many kids now are taught about British history in a positive way?

[@schmetterling4477]

I have a 14 year old car. Times it broke down: 0. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, person from the 19th century.

[@mogznwaz]

@@schmetterling4477 I think you're entirely missing my point. But of course you are, people like you always do.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@mogznwaz And you are entirely missing that this is the 21st century.

[@mogznwaz]

@@schmetterling4477 No I'm not, you absurd fool.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@mogznwaz My 14 year old car that never needed repairs says otherwise.

[@jorgequintanicho8206]

survival of the unfit...

[@bikecontroller3268]

What a pity you could not provide comfortable chairs. Poor Dalrymple looked like falling off his perch most of the time .

[@plekkchand]

@@NicholasTaitMusician truly profound and unbelievably witty. What a great genius you must be.

[@celestebredin6213]

Oh DO visit The Republic of South Africa Bring Pinker with you 🤣

[@tinacolby7416]

I would challenge ur assessment, regarding wealth. As reparative hx past present and future. First being dubbed a mere study at ones muse second proven fact ones ability to.make wise decision, given faulty information procuring wealth and keeping it, is nothing short of r a King who life role a mere court jester. 2 things p life hard 2 do: 1) something one has never been Taught exposed to. 2) something one does not want to do.

[@Johnconno]

It certainly is now. The police don't visit Whitechapel at all. Very delicate...

[@schmetterling4477]

You mean to say that the people who live there don't start pub brawls all the time like the folks in your neighborhood? OK. So what? So nothing.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@Johnconno Your hobby... pub brawls with police involvement.

[@get2rog]

Today in 2021 the title of this talk is a moot point.

[@schmetterling4477]

Nothing has changed. The internet has simply exposed the sad reality of the human condition: almost half of our fellow citizens have very limited minds.

[@get2rog]

@@schmetterling4477 Yes that's true but the point is it has given those people an extensive platform to peddle their stupidity. Like attracts like.

[@schmetterling4477]

@@get2rog That is true. The dumb masses have been given a megaphone.

[@reverendbarker650]

Not a surprise that this is a product of the centre for 'independent 'studies. Not particularly impressed by his cherry picking his selection of information from the past , as it ignores many aspects of working class life in the late 19th and early 20th century. He also totally ignores the changes in available WORK and the security of that employment that has occurred in the later part of the 20th century and the last two decades, which in my mind has most contributed to the decline in morale amongst those who are at the bottom of the heap. its hard to feel positive about life when your family has lost secure employment and the ways out of the poverty trap , further education, considerable dedication and self motivation , are not values shared by most of your classmates or family. Financial barriers have also been raised by governments of all ilks that stand in the way of further education, or even TAFE training , asking $2000 to do a cert 2 vet course which is just one small step towards working as a waitress is a huge hurdle for many families , apprentices have to subsist on low wages for four years before they can enter a trade. previously industry did most of this job training, now they expect workers to pay for it themselves ,top quality govt training such as thst that took place for railways apprentices have all but disappeared in the storm of economic rationalism. Libertarians love to blame welfare for apathy and lack of enterprise in the poorest members of society, there is some truth in this claim, but in my experience in teaching for nearly 40 years in lower income areas, its peer group pressure that is the biggest problem. people do not want to be social outcasts, it is easier to go along with the attitudes and belief systems of those around you . its ironic that the hurdles raised by libertarian neo liberal politicians are completely ignored by their supporters , who prefer to blame welfare for the lack of enterprise of the poor, perhaps they should have a chat to the lad I met that I used to teach from a poor family who was trying to do a science degree and work three jobs at the same time , pressure from his family for him to contribute killed his chances of bettering himself ( although perhaps it was goodthing, he'd have ended likely up with a $40,000 dept and probably wouldnt' have got a decent job anyway as conservative govts ( strongly influenced by think tanks such as the CIS ) have killed most research here in oz, i know a lot of people with low end science degrees who are not working in the science field as there are bugger all jobs unless you have a top end PHD.

[@jimmygeorge161]

You said is not correct poor countries are poor because rich countries are rich .now can you explain how America and England became rich . I am not mentioning the other European countries,holland ,Italy etc

[@schmetterling4477]

Both America and Great Brittan had natural resources through the roof, kid, and some very educated people, too. You clearly weren't paying attention in school.

[@raykeller6693]

Fat chance!

[@michaeldamato9466]

Total hypocrisy, I've known very wealthy people to be the tightest as far as money or affection for their family or friends, it's the wealthy that cause all the human suffering on the planet, I could go on, but there's no point, if you don't get my drift, you're the problem.

[@onlycorner5565]

meh

[@ozzycast]

🆘️👨‍👩‍👦‍👦💉🔜⚰⏳

[@rerite2]

The interviewer. SMH.

[@celestebredin6213]

Poor eyesight .. Bad spelling

[@brianwebcam8433]

This man is an understated fascist who is poking fun at those whom he is pretending to help.

[@rustyshackleford2719]

you couldn't be more wrong.The welfare state encourages moral and material poverty.

[@brianwebcam8433]

@@rustyshackleford2719 Theodore doesn't give a fig about poverty and certainly not about people's welfare. It is a ruse to gain your sympathy and support. He is a fascist pushing a right wing agenda. He sees these people as useless mouths who society needs to be rid of. He isn't advocating training or other forms of support.

[@GamiGreen]

@@brianwebcam8433 So the fact he spent many years as a doctor trying to help people from poor and broken families means nothing?

[@rustyshackleford2719]

@@brianwebcam8433 You're probably a communist bedwetter who thinks people only care if they want the government to steal half the labor from anonymous strangers to help allegedly downtrodden people.

[@brianwebcam8433]

@@GamiGreen exactly.