How Did The Wealthy Gain Power In The Past? - Yuval Noah Harari [2015] | Intelligence Squared

In this clip from our 2015 session ‘The Myths We Need To Survive’, historian Yuval Noah Harari engages in a thought-provoking discussion with Intelligence Squared. He delves into the origins of civilisations and the ascent of the wealthy to power, exploring the mechanisms that enabled them to maintain their influence through to contemporary times. Share your insights with us in the comment section below!

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[hopelessmotorsports]

“If you have trust you can monetize it into almost anything” should be the motto of any successful business

[jayantamukherjee]

Myth making needs free time. Due to the lack of real social responsibilities, like raising a child, man had more time to weave up stories that caused huge human networks as civilization. Man had the control over the stories, so had control over the larger society in civilization.

[Saurabh.Nikhade]

note this video is from 2015. how intelligent this guy is

[sanekabc]

At the end of the day, power is based on force. As Alan Greenspan once said, at the bottom of this pile of contracts is a pistol.

[jedics]

Its more than just an "accident of history" the phrase " Every great fortune was built upon anothers great misfortune" which is a nice way of saying most wealth was taken via the suffering and or slaughter of others.

[AngloSaks]

"The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king."

[cliffjamesmusic]

These days: basic control is automatic but backed by violent intervention if deemed necessary. The automatic part is achieved by having a money creation system built on debt-based, compound-interest money attached to capital. Debt or the fear of it enables our socio-economic system to function automatically through cooperative exploitation and abuse.

[WowUsernameAvailable]

He refers to great civilisations of the past and says throughout history none have been matriarchal; but given the fact that most great civilisations we know of today are founded on looting, conquest and subduing neighbours, I would really question the validity of this approach. Perhaps no civilisations have been female-driven because women aren't interested in looting, conquest and affirming their ego by saying "I have burned cities to the ground, I pillaged, I took goats, and cows, and slaves, I made a pile of dead bodies", the way so many rulers have throughout history.

[anastasiagogina]

Why don't you give the link to the entire conversation? It is rather annoying to pass through cut out pueces of various discussions in search of the complete videos.

[MoralScienceEducation]

Thank you🙏

In regard to the power of women in society, it seems this has been affected by several developments in history, among which - (1) the former role of men as predators (still prevalent in many misogynistic societies and by certain powerful men, who don’t know better), (2) the submissive role of women as depicted in a number of sacred religious works (which may have been “tweaked” by powerful men in the past) and (3) suppression, public humiliation and shaming since centuries in regard to matters related to romance and sex or “the marital embrace”.

Had Adam grabbed the Apple, our lives would have been different today.

And so I believe we should detach from anything that holds us back, and dare to think anew, creatively, - let’s look at the suffering in this world - this is where all of us are needed.”, and in particular women, for we are born to nurture happiness. That should be our moral compass.

[jerryhill]

I like the way Yuval thinks and uses the knowledge available to us from a deep look at society and our history over centuries. I find many people now days take a position on a topic, without understanding what the history is behind a decision that has become a common understanding, so they struggle to look beyond that decision.

[MendeMaria-ejbf]

I appreciate Yuval Noah Harari as a historian and thinker.

[JoseBritesMusic]

funny how "look, 300 years ago, my great great great grandfather had a horse, so now you must all obey me - it wouldn't convince anybody" turns into "look, 3000 years ago, my ancestors were promised this land, so now you must all obey me - it's just my right" real easy

[CarlaKnight-yqrw]

This order man over women was set up in the ancient times. And at that times physical strength was very, very important. To fight animals, to build a cottage, to cut trees, to fight in the battle. Today the physical power is not so important, there are other skills, which are much more valuable and in big demand. Also technical skills were very important in the bygone days - building towns, to mak tools, in the army etc. You develop your skills by doing something, practising. What kind of technical skills do you want to develop taking care od 10-15 children all day? Today it is different, but this man/woman order was established in the ancient times and was inherited by generations.

[marcellobertotti]

Thank you both very good questions and very good insightful answers

[jerryleigh]

I always enjoy his talks. Smart guy. I did read two of his books.

[chrisallen]

What is being described here is politics. Any system regardless of size or placement or gender or color has a form of politics. Politics is the path to power and gains in wealth. The process is enabled or disabled by many things. Physical strength or military power and knowledge of how to use it, access to and availability of resources, available resources of time to learn and prepare and create a plan, access to human capital to provide a more powerful force, ability to operate without constraints, access to a greater knowledge base. A stay at home cave woman with offspring is limited in all areas as with woman today. Men as the primary leaders is not some intrinsic deficit within women. Once the politics shut you out it is difficult to access power and become a political figure in any system. It is played out in exactly this way each and every day in all kinds of in your face situations. Interesting that you do not see it.

[michaelhenault]

The Fed has the asset of public lands in the US as one example...also by fostering a larger GDP over time, they secure a larger tax base which in turn promotes investments in future technological infrastructure.

[DarkSkay]

Difficult to imagine a matriarchal empire or queendom commanding a patriarchal military.

[espomaths]

Related question for Harari - how did Israel get its territories in the past (and present)