We live in the era of the ascendancy of the corporation. Endowed with the rights of man and none of the responsibilities, they have proved corrosive to human values. Mike Daisey argues that working inside corporations is akin to collaboration in Vichy France, and that only when we have the courage to look at the truth about these flawed creations can we bring ethics back into this sphere of life.
Daisey has been called "the master storyteller" by the New York Times for his ground-breaking monologues which weave together autobiography, gonzo journalism, and unscripted performance. He’s been a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, as well as a commentator and contributor to WIRED, Vanity Fair, Slate, Salon, NPR and the BBC. Daisey has toured his performances to five continents, in venues ranging from Off-Broadway to abandoned theatres in post-Communist Tajikistan, from remote islands in the South Pacific to this one at the Sydney Opera House.
His talk at the 2011 Festival of Dangerous is titled “Sleeping With the Enemy: Collaborating with Corporations Sells Out the Human Race”. Afterwards, he is interviewed by ABC broadcaster and columnist Richard Glover.
Mike Daisey is an actor, commentator and professional monologist. His celebrated monologue performances include the critically acclaimed “The Last Cargo Cult”, the controversial “How Theatre Failed America”, the six-hour epic “Great Men of Genius”, the unrepeatable series “All Stories Are Fiction”, the international sensation “21 Dog Years”, and his latest,” The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” which also played as part of the 2011 Festival of Dangerous Ideas. His first film, “Layover”, was shown at Cannes Film Festival in 2011, and a feature film of his monologue “If You See Something Say Something” is currently in post production. His second book, “Rough Magic”, a collected anthology of his monologues, will be published in 2011. He has won numerous awards for his work. Daisey lives in Brooklyn with his wife and collaborator Jean-Michele Gregory.
22 Comments
dystopianfuturetodayProvocative stuff. If he looks familiar, you probably saw him in this video. http://politics.videosift.com/video/Mike-Daisey-Audience-Protest-Walkout-and-Attack
Trancecoachwe cannot have this complacency if we are not also complicit in this travesty in which we're engaged.
GallowflakWish I could *promote this. God, I have the points, let me do it. I'd be happy to give up my capacity to self-promote so that I could promote other sifts. It makes no fucking sense.
siftbotInvocations (promote) cannot be called by Gallowflak because Gallowflak is not privileged - sorry.
MrConrads*promote
siftbotPromoting this video back to the front page; last published Thursday, November 24th, 2011 3:47pm PST - promote requested by MrConrads.
messengerThis content is NSFW indeed, meaning for them, not for you.
messengerThis embed is a bit weird, at least on my comp, so if you want to watch it full-screen or be able to scroll back or forward, you might prefer to watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7mun2TRCbg then come back and upvote it.
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kir_mokumdelete.
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NetRunnerThis doesn't have enough votes yet.
*quality
siftbotBoosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by NetRunner.
notarobotUse the youtube embed for improved viewing.
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A10anis"My business is so successful it's going global. F**K, It's SO successful it's in danger of becoming that anathema, a CORPORATION. Better for me to stop employing people, producing goods that people want, and go back to selling from the back of my truck."
"Jeez, I'm a successful lawyer, family and friends are shunning me. Better for me to leave justice solely in the hands of government, without any intervention from scum like me."
"Damn, being a successful banker sucks, even my wife and kids think I'm an evil bastard. Better for me to leave financial matters in the capable hands of street corner money lenders."
NO system is perfect, and our current one definitely needs tweaking. But his rant has no reasoned explanation as to what he would replace it with. In short, it appears to be vacuous, vitriolic, rhetoric.
NetRunner@A10anis don't worry, it'll get clearer once you're sealed inside the pyramid.
cosmovitellisays...Nice sentiment but unfortunately only a few percent of the world are in a financial position to turn down any paid work from anyone. Few whores choose to be on their knees for a living.
notarobotBack to the frontpage with you. *promote.
siftbotPromoting this video back to the front page; last published Friday, November 25th, 2011 8:36am PST - promote requested by notarobot.
Edgeman2112...IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!
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