CORNEL WEST (Part 1 of 7)

[PrinceMyshkin22]

@hardmod777 You my friend are in complete denial or misunderstanding of his point. People of color have been subjugated and dominated by whites for hundreds of years. It wasn't until just recently, 1964, that blacks FINALLY were guaranteed all the same rights as you and I. Yet just because the Civil Rights Act passed, doesn't mean racism disappeared over-night. It still lingers as what he calls "Jim Crow Jr." The fight for Civil Rights goes on even today.

[hardmod777]

Cornel West is an archaic voice of the past. As we Gringos become the minority, his banter will become more of a joke. Where is your boogy man, when the white man is the minority? Who will he blame then? Christian Socialism makes as much sense as M&M.

[metatron4070]

I find it interesting that even though the mans vocabulary is vast, he can make a point that even a person with general education like myself can understand his passion as well as his points, yet others on here with replies showing that they understand his vocabulary miss his point. I cant help but believe that it is a choice...or simply that the struggle which he addresses is not yours....

[kevcas73]

the woman signing for this earned her paycheck..........

[Kinghercules]

This is a joke man!!

Dr West be on that "appealing to your emotions" while tryna sound righteous.

I couldnt listen to his ass at 1st but I wanted to come back and listen to the whole thing.

And I still say that DR AMOS WILSON videos are better!!!!!!!!

[jtkalehua]

I'm native Hawaiian and I absolutely love Cornel West. I have so many of his lectures on my iPod. Him and Michael Eric Dyson are two of my favorite thinkers and intellectuals/

[meast36]

Cornel West is nothing but a bigoted, Anti-American, racist. He is nothing but an excuse maker and champion of made up victims. Everything according to him is the fault of the white man. He acts as if he preaches love and understanding then blasts white people. He criticizes those "who have grown rich or very rich". How about you Mr West? You charge 35,000 per speech, why don't you give every penny to charity? Because you want the redistribution of OTHER people's money. Just like all liberals

[MrClipper23]

@meast36 Meast, you don't believe anything you just said or you are insane. It's one of those two possibilities.

[kevcas73]

@meast36 he has a family Socrates.........He has been in the race for 40+ years, where you been? Think twice, press enter once...........

[dreed007]

A lot of lyrical emotional ranting, but where's the beef?

[radiohogan]

@dreed007

I understand your point. As I listened to Professor West, I was enthralled. After a short time, I could not remember a single thing the man said.

[kirby74192]

@radiohogan did you ever consider the complexity of his words and your inability to process the framework that he presents? I think that it would behoove you to consider your inability in the face of an intricate thinker rather than question the validity or impact of his words.

[kevcas73]

@radiohogan

why don't you watch the first minute, he explains quite clearly and specifically...........radio you were there, why don't you beat back the comments that call in to question the message?????

[Danno1850]

@radiohogan you're not listening hard enough

[ScholarforTruth]

@radiohogan If you want his unique, meaty philosophical perspective, you should pick up his Prophesy Deliverance.

[oldscorpion13]

@radiohogan Think for yourself should be the one of the things you should take away from him. The very fact that you see no "guidance" in some of what he said, is that you have to figure things out for yourself, i.e. again, he achieved one of his points. Did he get you there? Perhaps.. despair is the symptom of achieving independent thinking and attempt at introspection. Are you looking for the beef... handed to you? ;) Poverty not important enough-a-topic as a critical part of human society?

[kevcas73]

@dreed007

dreed, dr west has 40 years in the struggle........the beef has been found..........grow up and out my friend

[dreed007]

@kevcas73 The man rants on and on using emotionally laden words and changes in tone and pace to keep your attention, but the content is complete BS. He was the guy in school that wrote 20 page papers filled with superlative after superlative but in the end said nothing. It's BS, guys. Leave the cult and think for yourselves.

[kevcas73]

@dreed007 40 years fighting for "the least of these"........where you been????? on the sidelines pointing and snickering...........stay there, we don't the likes of you.

the best quaterbacks always start on Monday.................

[dreed007]

@kevcas73 Your "poetry" as well as Cornell West's is vacuous. He puts on a facade of multi-syllabic pseudo-intellectual babble and you're mesmerized. End of story.

[kevcas73]

@dreed007 you're a footnote, a soundbite, a small dog scratching at the feet of real issues.........have a good one.



[elfujitivo8777]

@dreed007 What you talkin bout Willis? What he's sayin is what he's sayin. He's talking about fucking freeing yourself from the Matrix. Seeing the light and what not, literacy not ignorance.

[projectindy]

great video... thanx for the upload!

[gunman806]

I'd appreciate it if you'd share the ethical system that informs your political and economic goals. You're clearly highly ideological, and ascertaining the foundation of your prescriptions would permit me to gain a better understanding of your perspective.

[radiohogan]

Q Gunman806

Are you addressing me or Professor West?

[gunman806]

ScottBrown666, although I'd be interested to know what normative ethical system you subscribe to as well.

[radiohogan]

@ G-man

See my video Existentialism & Pragmatism.

[k9jive]

Thanks for the post,very informative!

[lenarita1]

i love this man.  i never tire of listening to him.

[Kinghercules]

@lenarita1

You need to check out Amos Wilson videos then.

[JSprings27]

This man speaks the truth.

[sindrole]

what a shitty metallica cover?

[gunman806]

Amusing, although I'm saddened by the fact that this fellow fails to recognize that Greenspan headed an institution which is antithetical to the market system.

[ScottBrown666]

Life itself is antithetical to the market system. Why defend that crude and inhumane institution? True freedom is in the grave that the free market stands upon.

We are either all free or we are all slaves.

[gunman806]

In terms of social constraints, or a lack thereof, the market system surpasses all others. Permitting individuals to trade with whom they wish and pursue livelihoods of their choosing is surely a preferable arrangement to all other systems that have been experimented with. What would you rather see in place markets, and for what reason?

[ScottBrown666]

I would rather see a rational means of production based on goods and services rather than a market based on the motivation of insatiable greed. Perpetual consumption and competition leaves us self-preserving callous cannibals. The only thing free in a free market system is the market. Everyone knows our government is owned by corporations. Capitalism ultimately results in the exact thing that communism is claimed to engender. Namely monopolies, bread lines, mass poverty and oligarchy. Two roads.

[gunman806]

Spare me the value-judgements and fluff and describe the system that you would like in place of the market system, the end that your system would serve and why it is superior. Your conclusions do not appear to be supported by much of anything, as bread lines, monopolies, mass poverty and oligarchy do not exist within countries that have properly functioning market systems in place. Your description would be better suited to pre-market China, North Korea or Cuba, not the Group of Ten.

[ScottBrown666]

I guess what it comes down to is capitalism values only capital, and only values human life in accordance with its market value. It can't get any more malevolent than that.

ANOTHER problem with capitalism: It, contrary to you free market objectivists, is a brain drain, not socialism. Our current state is a perfect example. The smartest mathematicians and physicists in our nation go to wall street, they don't advance us technologically or scientifically, but they create incredibly complicated...

[gunman806]

Your contention that markets serve to impede knowledge generation is ridiculous and is in direct conflict with an abundance of empirical evidence. The United States produces more knowledge per capita than any other nation-state in existence (as measured by academic journal submissions), hosts world class universities, leads the world in terms of genetics, pharmacology, nanotechnology and numerous other disciplines and experiences a net gain of individuals with post-graduate degrees annually.

[ScottBrown666]

Rather than impede, it redirects top minds towards the generation of money for personal gain instead of using their minds for prosocial means.

That's not really supporting evidence. As i said, people who are good at what they do don't do it for money. They do it regardless of their current economic system as long as their basic survival needs are met and they have access, economically, to required materials for their erudition and experimentation.

[ScottBrown666]

Also, The US was in the right economic condition for our "knowledge production." Only an affluent nation beyond the food/clothes/shelter stage can begin to have the popular luxury of education. Now that the top capitalists have taken our money and ran, our great nation is cutting education everywhere, all for the love of money. You see, the ultimate results of capitalism haven't been realized yet. Just because everything has been peachy in the recent past doesn't mean it's sustainable.

[ScottBrown666]

financial transactions that regulators can't even disentangle, all for their own personal benefit, and ultimately resulting in economic crises. (see: the one we're in now.)

The people who are really good at what they do don't do it for money. Try proving that wrong.

[gunman806]

What exactly do you mean by rational production, a centrally-managed economy? Production in market systems is allocated in accordance with demand, and a large portion of goods and services that are demanded constitute needs. As for competition, it serves a useful end if properly channeled. In addition, it's a basic feature of humans that cannot be extinguished through socialization, in spite of what you might like to believe.

[gunman806]

One such instance of the usefulness of competition is intra-market and inter-market competition among business entities resulting in greater prosperity. The desire of corporations to gain market share and enlarge profit margins serves as a powerful incentive to automate processes, this ultimately translates into greater productivity and frees up human capital for other pursuits. This is what happened to agriculture and manufacturing to a large extent and continues to affect the tertiary sector.

[ScottBrown666]

But the problem is demand is manufactured here. Huge sectors of our workforce is dedicated to making people want something they wouldn't otherwise want.

Another damn problem with capitalism: It demands perpetual consumption and therefore has a neverending demand for labor. Capitalism has no end, because greed cannot be sated with goods. Just like a cancer cell it has no stop codon. The working class is disposable and only exist to serve a mechanical purpose until their retirement.

[gunman806]

I'm not sure what you're on about. Can you elaborate on your claim that in order for a capitalist economy to function, growth must occur?

[gunman806]

If I may ask, what ethical system underlines your political and economic prescriptions?

[ScottBrown666]

Since I'm not the king or god I'll refrain from elucidating on the hypothetical system of my desires, but one main element of it would be some way to prevent extreme economic disparity. In the compromise of reality I am not opposed to having some degree of capitalism, but when 10% of the people own 80% of the wealth, that's just bullshit. I think there needs to be some kind of poverty floor where we at least feed, clothe, and house the poorest. One main problem with capitalism is that poverty...

[gunman806]

Just to clarify, the principal reason for my attraction to the market system is pragmatics. It isn't perfect, no human arrangement is; relative to other systems however, it is vastly superior in terms of its ability to encourage efficiency, respond to fluctuations in demand, promote automation and ultimately increase prosperity. Individuals can acquire far more goods and services than they could 50 years ago, and for fewer hours worked.

[gunman806]

Capitalism emerges from a basic system of private land ownership. It is a system in which the means of production are privately held, freely exchanged and developed. Poverty and scarcity are not necessary conditions for such a system to function. The perversion of a legislature by special economic interest groups is not part of the system itself, it is instead a consequence of ill-defined functions for the state and the ease at which humans are corrupted.

[ScottBrown666]

is built into the system. In your dream world anyone who "works hard" can attain some degree of wealth, but that's just disingenuous. You have to live in the suburbs to believe that. And it's especially complete bullshit unless some form of reparations for slavery are made, although the capitalist corruption of African American culture may render that overall an ineffectual mistake. I know you'll disagree on that one, but that's one point where the "fairness" of the free market system breaksdown

[gunman806]

I'm not sure how reparations are relevant, but for the record, and don't think paying the descendants of slaves would serve to do anything but inflame tensions. Furthermore, the current generation of America should not be held responsible, as generally in order for someone to be responsible for something one must have committed a voluntary action. Last time I checked, it's not possible to control the actions of ancestors from the 19th and 18th centuries.

[ScottBrown666]

Oh, and we live in an oligarchy. You know this. Don't piss in my ass and tell me it's raining. Our govt. is a corporate government. Goldman Sachs is our treasury department. Nearly every congressman is own by a few corporate interests. You know this.

In the past few months, where I live at least, I've seen extralong lines at the monopolizing corporations such as Mcdonalds and Wal Mart. The wait may not be long as bread lines in the Soviet Union... yet. A shrinking quantitative difference.

[00Sonic]

Thanks for posting these videos radiohogan. I just recently discovered Dr. Cornel West and I truly admire him.

[filigreeshadow]

Thanks for posting this series RadioHogan. I saw Dr. West about 12 years ago in St. Louis, have read many of his books and watch his lectures when I can online or on DVD. Dr. West is, in my opinion, the greatest living US philosopher, critical theorist, and orator.

[kajes5]

Dr West has been forwarding this mantra since 1994! He is dynamic! The W.E.B DuBois of our time! If you love this speech please, please, please watch his speech in Santa Fe NM on Democracynow from 2006.

[taipan69]

This is a great group of videos of perhaps the greatest public intellectual of our time -- thanks for putting it up!

[radiohogan]

It was my extreme pleasure to do so. Being in a packed gymnasium when he was speaking beamed me up to a very high place.

[affirmativeaction]

this guy is so amazing.. he inspires me to read everything i can and become powerfully intelligent.. i can't get enough of him thanks for the uploads

[radiohogan]

It was my extreme pleasure to do so. Being in a packed gymnasium when he was speaking beamed me up to a very high place.

[CoreyTaft]

I'd watch these series of videos everyday if I could. I believe if I were a Princeton student I would make it foremost goal to attend his classes. Not that I'm making a shout out to the Princeton University recruitment office or anything I just think it should be known that my education is currently shopping around for a seller and I expect the best. What we're we talking about? Oh yeah, this video series...amazing!

[CoreyTaft]

Oh man, I made a typo. I left out an "a" after "make it." (sigh) I've embarrassed myself once again on the internet. I suppose I'll never learn. (hums to self)

[rocktop15]

thank you for upping this series of videos on Dr. West---truly a great, important individual

[radiohogan]

Hello Rocktop15:

I agree with your assessment of Dr. West. As I sat in the audience watching the professor, my human spirit soared.

Please tell your friends about the videos.

Live & Be Well / Mike Hogan

[PigsCantFly]

"You have to learn how to die in order to live, even though in the end we all die. Education at the deepest level is about wrestling with dogma and assumptions and presuppositions that you have to let go of and when you let go of certain dogma and presuppositions and assumptions, that's a form of death so that you can be reborn and revitalized and undergo maturation."

Fantastic. Thanks so much for putting this up.

[radiohogan]

Hello PigsCantFly:

You are most welcome. Please tell your friends about the video series of Professor West's presentation.

Thank you for drawing my attention to the two sentences you quoted.

All the Best / Mike Hogan

[intrascoobz]

hey you pigscantfly! Thanks for writing out exactly the part that just had my spirit roaring....woo hoo! So, here I've been rereading what you posted here from his lecture. I was going to write it out word for word so I could just swim in the thoughts for a bit...yep...yeppers...powerful­! Thanks to radiohogan too for this post!

[ccisugarloaf]

thank you for this video

one of my favorite critical thinkers of our time

[radiohogan]

Dear Ccisugarloaf:

Please believe me when I say it is my extreme pleasure to present Professor Cornel West. I will be sending a copy of the recording to Professor West as a present.

Please tell your friends to enjoy the video.

All the Best / Mike Hogan