David Harvey on The Contradictions of Capitalism

One of the world's most respected public thinkers visits the RSA to explore the hidden workings of capital. David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York Graduate School, unravels the paradoxes at the heart of capitalism and offers a manifesto for a new way forward.

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[dvmovie]

No matter which systems you've favored in the past... ANY SYSTEM based on perpetual growth, consumption, and waste is no longer an option for the future.  It's that simple, obvious, logical, rational.  The new system will be based around efficiency, preservation, conservation, and sustainability. Infinite growth on a finite planet??!! Not gonna happen.

[starlightbright]

He's getting a little more frail as he gets older, but underneath his calm and well-delivered speech you can still see this enormous anger and frustration that he has for our system. I respect him so much. :)

[ThePromisedWLAN]

Any sound economic system moving forward into the future really only need take two things into consideration:
*1.)* Respect concerning the dynamic equilibrium of planet earth's biosphere & the most efficient usage of it's finite resources.  
*2.)* Equitable access to necessities for all of society to the extent that it fits within the first point.

[yulifts]

I'm basing my school heresy project on this guy's work. I truly admire him!

[michaelmcmedia]

8:00 the reason 3% growth is required is precisely because of central banks selling the public's future labour to bondholders.

[paulscousedownie]

The present pandemic is symptom of capitalism. Suddenly we have great pause going on through the lock down.

Capitalism is in free fall shock, governments are scurrying around to pump money into business with a last after thought for the self employed. Why are so many people self employed to day? It’’s because of nature of capitalism. Workers losing there PaYE jobs of the past having to work and survive in the gig economy. Companies can offload contractors don’t pay national insurance or tax or sick pay or any other fringe benefits such as pensions.

UK governments having to find money for them but there last in line after companies and corporations and the employed! Where’s the money coming from all these billions of pounds from the central banks. Electronic money out of thin air. Billionaires scurrying around for handouts such as blond haired airline owners, the whole capital system stinks it’s rotten to the core. Suddenly nations are socialising their economies. Maybe the chancellor of the exchequer should complete overhaul the tax system after this. Society needs safety nets they have be paid for by the wealthy not on income but on intrinsic hoarded wealth capital!

[DCMaarten]

Pretty interesting to watch this now with the whole NFT Craze. And how the asset bubble fits this market.

[unknownnumber]

David Harvey
1 crisis use value and exchange value (cost of production, saving, vehicle of exchange) market system not best way to use value.
2 adequate use value to all or exchange value system which benefit few.
3 comodification of everything
4 measure of exchange value money not reflective of use value
5 relationship between pvt property and state
6 difficulty in caping compounding growth.
7 investment in asset value creation of bubble than investment in production value.
8 intellectual property activity loss of labor
9 direction if flow of value.
10 universal alienation
Identity vs Jobs
11dissillusioned about political power

1 immense money power concentration influence election circle of power
2 education system good job not a trouble maker service so must pay for it.(ideological and practical level)

[scotgat]

In regards to the contradictions in capitalism, i.e., the 3% growth per year: I'm surprised that Mr. Harvey did not mention Nixon's visit to China in the 1970's. If importance is to be given to China, then it would be apparent that Nixon's visit was not only a geopolitical strategic move against the USSR, but also an economic move to bring China into the capitalist market. Perhaps this was the obvious underpinning to his visit? I don't remember, however, it being openly stated, though I was only about 12 years old when Nixon made his visit.

[nthperson]

At the heart of the debate over the merits of capitalism versus socialism is finding the right balance between protection of "human rights" and "property rights." We cannot even reach consensus over whether we have human rights, or whether all rights exist by contract with one another, by enforced agreed-upon laws. Then, there is a serious disagreement over what is and what is not private property. Is the planet and and what nature provides free of charge rightfully claimed as individual property? Or, is the planet our commons from which we produce tangible goods as our legitimate private property. Decades ago I discovered the writings of the American political economist Henry George. Anyone seeking a clear understanding of what our relationship with the planet is and ought to be under law should read Henry George.

[kforest]

Wonderful to hear him say he’s been told he’s “crazy, ” me too. Lol It’s actually everybody else who is crazy they’re so stupid they go along with everything when the power is in the mind.

[donjames]

After hearing reference to what 'statistics' say about the 1%/2% and the under-class, it occurred to me that that statistic from whatever 'survey' is apart of the 'cycle' we all create-&- contribute in maintaining while drawing attention to the need to improve it ... Fascinating!!

[profkrumdieck]

I don't understand how you can talk about the 2007-2008 economic crisis and not discuss what happens when, within the space of less than 12 months the price of the most widely used and least elastic substance doubles. Oil.

[JabariSJones]

Sorry, but I can't understand a particular term he's using and the captions are confused. It sounds like "wrong tier" or "ron tier" class (15:52). Does anyone know how this term is spelled? Thanks.

[Akoalawithshades]

Every organism has growth which reaches and equilibrium, new traits of a species will change this equilibrium from time to time. To not have growth means that if the species suffers a deprivation of a resource they could lose a portion of the population or in our case culture, without growth this portion will not return back to the equilibrium.

[illegalsmirf]

Has this been edited? Seems like some impatient bastard has cuts bits out to make Harvey's speech go faster.

[jjgdenisrobert]

The idea that people own their own homes is ridiculous, and a clear sign of the interviewer’s boomer POV. Home ownership is plummeting throughout the developed world, and there are few places where even genXers can still afford to buy, let alone younger generations. Even when people “own” their place of lodging, it’s most often a condominium which is rarely owned outright (read the contracts), and rarely can be used to provide rents sufficient to qualify the owner as a rentier. The vast, vast majority of rental units are owned by very large corporations, and AirBNB has only made this worse.

[michaelmcmedia]

Money should either be a unit of account or a store of value, preferably both.

If we think of money as a unit of account, debt-based currency and money printing is outright fraud.

If we think of money as a store of value, removing the backing and money printing is outright fraud.

[clarestucki]

The houses lost to default foreclosure in the yrs following the financial crisis involved little or no financial loss, as the buyers overwhelmingly had no equity in the property.

[dvmovie]

Watch Jeremy Rifkin's recent video "A World Without Markets" (which might be in the Related Videos on this page) to understand how and why we're moving out of the systems we've known in the past.  It's happening right now.  He calls it the "Collaborative Commons".  Others might say a "Natural Law Economy".  We can settle on a term eventually. A World Beyond Markets