Filmed at the Royal Geographical society on 9th April 2013.
We can't say Karl Marx didn't warn us: capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction. In their chase for ever higher profits, the capitalists shed workers for machines. The higher return on capital means that the share of profits rises and the share of wages falls, and soon the mass of the population isn't earning enough to buy the goods capitalism produces. And that's exactly what's been happening over the past four years of the Great Recession: ever increasing income inequality, leading to ever weaker aggregate demand -- temporarily disguised by an unsustainable credit binge -- leading to collapse. You don't have to be a communist to see that this is so. We should all be Marxists now.
Or should we? Every time capitalism hits an inevitable bad patch, Marx's name is invoked with wearisome regularity. But no serious economist or political thinker -- with the possible exception of Gordon Brown -- has ever suggested capitalism can break free of booms and busts. Once bust, as we've seen time and again, the capitalist economy has a robust in-built ability to restore itself. As for all the talk of growing inequality, hasn't anyone noticed that ordinary people in the capitalist West have enjoyed an astonishing long-term rise in their standard of living? We are not suffering an existential economic crisis. We do not need extraordinary remedies. We do not need Marx.
So which is it? Is Marx the voice we should be heeding? Or are his modern day apostles resuscitating a late Victorian corpse whose main contribution to human affairs has been the Soviet gulag?
9 Comments
Kofisays...But Marx failed to see how adaptive capitalism could be. That said, he did write before capitalism had even fully emerged.
YogiYeah there's tons of very intelligent people throughout history who were wrong about tons of stuff, but were still prolific and jumped forward thought and disciplines further than others before them.
Marx is a very intelligent person and you're stupid to ignore people like him outright.
But Marx failed to see how adaptive capitalism could be. That said, he did write before capitalism had even fully emerged.
G-barsays...Marx definitely had some good ideas... but was very wrong about how humans will use and abuse them... We are horrible to each other as a collective group...
kulpims*quality
siftbotBoosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by kulpims.
radxI haven't had time to watch this just yet, but there's something in the description worth commenting:
But no serious economist or political thinker -- with the possible exception of Gordon Brown -- has ever suggested capitalism can break free of booms and busts.
With Germany's elections coming up in three weeks, I'd like to point out the fifth party of our current parliament, Die Linke (The Left), who argue for a modified form of capitalism, focused on the benefit of the population, not the corporations.
Naturally, they are a pariah amongst market-friendly proponents of corporatism, but they still keep all the other parties in check... to some degree.
poolcleanerNo, we're just horrible to each other. Collective or no.
Marx definitely had some good ideas... but was very wrong about how humans will use and abuse them... We are horrible to each other as a collective group...
9547bisThe gentleman starting at 00:30 and the lady starting at 00:47 are the ones that make most sense by pointing out the obvious:
* Its is communism that has imploded, not capitalism. The USSR is dead, and China is essentially capitalistic.
* Since the end of the cold war, an astonishing two billion people have left poverty or extreme poverty (and not to mention the increase in the number of democracies since the end of communism). 'The West' might have stagnated, but humanity as a whole is much better off.
alcomsays...Capitalism is nearing the end of its useful life. Indeed, it has improved the lot for billions world wide but the wealth gap trend is concentrating power and money into a tiny and untouchable group if power elitists. I don't think we're heading for a USSR/China model of communism, but based on this repeating cycle of boom and bust where the oligarchy always comes out well ahead and the vast majority are left to suffer.
I heard throughout the talk that "Capitalism is stagnant," and "the problem is productivity." These points really ignore that those at the top of the heap actually profited during the financial crisis. I don't think this is simply a complaint about "fairness." I think this is the central issue.
Those with real wealth can leverage it to not only stay wealthy, but grow that wealth continuously. Since money begets influence, no significant change will take place until some major upheaval forces the masses into action. If Capitalism can keep adding bandage "corrections" after every recession, the status quo will probably continue.
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