Capitalism & the Illusion of Money - David Korten

Former Harvard Business School Professor David Korten explains how the capitalist economic system is based on the illusion that money is real, when in truth it's not. Actual "capital" exists within each of us, the things we create together; in families, cultures, communities and our direct relationship to the land around us.

Partial video transcript:

"The term capital is one of the major reasons we're unable to have an intelligent conversation about the economy. I know at business school you use the [same] terms: resources, assets, and capital [interchangeably].

None of those tell you whether the person whose using the term is talking about a real resource like land, a building, technology or human skills. Anything necessary to a productive life. Or whether they are simply talking about money, which properly understood is nothing but an accounting chit.

You think about it, there is nothing outside the human mind that can recognize [money]. It's totally intangible. And the fascinating thing is we organize our economy around the idea that money is the ultimate constraint. Isn't that odd?

Because as we all see, if you're paying attention, the federal reserve can create it with a key stroke, trillions of dollars. Or the market's inflated and it goes away, trillions of dollars just disappear overnight. Real capital doesn't disappear, instantly...

THAT is part of a process, of reducing the whole of society, into a condition of slavery. You know, there's different levels of slavery, some is more tolerable than others, but it is essentially different forms of involuntary servitude.

And the kind of situation we're in currently where people are desperate for any kind of job they can get in order to get money to be able to have access to the real assessts that corporations increasingly own...

We're told by the World Bank & IMF that the market system, capitalism, is eliminating global poverty. If you take that apart, the "development" process - the movement of "capitalism" (corporate control) into the economies of poor countries was a process of pushing people off the land, the means by which they created their livelihood, without money.

But many of them lived very well in terms of a healthy diet, strong families and communities, secure shelter. But they had no money. Well, some people claim they really weren't poor, until "development" pushed them off of the farms, into the factories, into the itinerant [industrial] agricultural workforce and left them dependent on money.

And then the World Bank comes in and says "look at this we're ending poverty. We got people now earning more than a dollar and half a day. So they're better off."

You begin to get into this framework and you see what's happening with the whole global [economic] system. So part of this regaining control is reducing our dependence on the market economy.

Youth going back to the land, growing their own food. Young couples going back and taking care of their young children, cooking their own meals. Things that we do as a family to reduce our dependence on money."

see also:

[lowtech]

This is probably the best example of how this monetary slavery system works. Thank you Mr. Korten.

[NikiWonoto]

he should speaks more of this truth & knowledge to the wider public audience!

[summondadrummin]

For those inspired to change how money works. Look up talks by Richard Werner, Bernard Litaer and the activist groups~ Positive Money and The American Monetary Institute

[Inkulabi]

this resonates with Jaque Fresco talking about Money in the Zeitgiest movie

[summondadrummin]

1)Money is numbers simply made up by Banks (its not grown or built in a factory and it has to come from somewhere)
2)Money is Not Real Wealth (Though we act like it is)
3) How, why and what for money is issued or created makes a huge difference! ( our money is created out of thin air by banks and defined as an interest bearing debt)
4) This power of issuance and allocation acts similar to a steering wheel of economic output
5) Most of the stupid imbalances in the world can likely be explained by the compounding misdirection of allowing Money/Banks to control the economy through this mechanism.
6) Audit, Regulate and Prioritize~ How Banks Issue and Allocate Money.If Trillions can be allocated for Militarization... Trillions can just as easily be Made up for Any Sensible Social Concern: Health, Education, Renewable Energy etc
7) Its Our Money. Its made valuable only through the ongoing work of people maintaining and sustaining society. Goods, Services, People and Nature are the Real Wealth of Nations

[MrBuckyJ]

This dude sound like David Letterman to anyone else?

[-Atrocious]

He said in other words I better shut up now if I wanna keep any Money Rollin in.

[battlehill]

Great video --- I always say this to people --- look out your window that is your country's wealth - not the digit on your computer screen. I can't stand the gold bugs and bitcoiners the most --- I like both bitcoin and Gold as investments and store of value --- BUT NEVER as a country's currency.

[djscuffedjays]

Good talk, but remember that when money systems are implemented correctly they are a good thing. They allow for flexibility and longevity, because you wouldnt want to get paid 40, 000 apples today you'd want the monetary equal so that you can buy apples as you need them. But when regulation allows for scammy systems, we get nonstop inflation and a devestation of the lower and middle classes while the top accumulates their collective wealth.

[coziboi]

Money is a generational curse. A mental addiction in need for reprogramming.

[joshpollack]

the last sentence is
"we could go on and talk about this banking system and so forth but i think we need to"
I think we need to as well.
ps
Obama's stimulus package effectively kicked the notion of a central bank free society square in the dick

[DrumWild]

Destroy a society by changing a 1 to a 0.