John le Carre - Blacklight VPRO Interview part 1

[vivascargill]

Is it at all possible to contact mr le carre? he does not answer e-mail and it is important.

[bloemetjen]

@vivascargill, I have no idea. Maybe a letter or email to his publisher or agent?

[vivascargill]

@bloemetjen I tried that--get a form e-,ail back saying h edoesn't answer e-mails

I do know that he hates computers (like me) and he once threw his computer into the ocean hmmm well if you come up with an idea let me know

cheers

[bloemetjen]

@vivascargill , well maybe he values paper writing. Send him a letter via his publisher. They probably would send it to mr le Carre.

[olvoro11]

is this guy relly john le carré or an actor?

[bloemetjen]

@olvoro11, it's the real deal. This is John le Carre.

[MrBasilGanglia]

The lunatic ravings of a deranged mind. Le Carre should go away. He has written nothing decent since A Perfect Spy. Even that was just passable.

[bloemetjen]

Maybe Le Carre makes you think about your classic world view concerning a so called "good" western world and a "bad" rest of the world.

Back in the days of "A perfect spy" everything seemed so simple. Nowadays we know that the western world is at least just as bad as the rest of the world...

[MrBasilGanglia]

@bloemetjen The Western World has been and still is "Better" than the rest of the world. That is a fact. There are criteria to measure that. Check it out sometime.

[bloemetjen]

@MrBasilGanglia, indeed the western world is better to live in for it's freedom's and living standard but maybe the bad thing about the western world is that we do everything to keep ourselves on top of the pyramide. That might be understandable in a natural/scientific way but if it's morally correct...that's the question?

[bloemetjen]

@MrBasilGanglia, indeed the western world is better to live in for it's freedom's and living standard but maybe the bad thing about the western world is that we do everything to keep ourselves on top of the pyramide. That might be understandable in a natural/scientific way but if it's morally correct...that's the question?

[MrBasilGanglia]

@bloemetjen Of course we do what we can to keep ourselves free. Our interests are more important to us than theirs are to us and that is of course natural. What is life without freedom? Slavery.

I believe we should do what needs to be done to preserve freedom and liberty. Tough shit if a tyrant or a dictator does not like us or what we do. They can go piss up a rope.

[vivascargill]

@MrBasilGanglia hey I could be rich too if I went around robbing all the houses in my neighborhood or another neighborhood!

[MrBasilGanglia]

@bloemetjen The Western World has been and still is "Better" than the rest of the world. That is a fact. There are criteria to measure that. Check it out sometime.

[fm951972]

it's not so much a matter of individual/community greed, but it's the system itself that requires, in order to maximize profit, to act like this: it's just the same old story of "accumulation by dispossession."

[bloemetjen]

You're probably right but the problem may be that there are no people within the multi nationals who choose to stand up for morality and fair trade... Befehl ist Befehl...

So in the end it all leads to individual greed...

[vivascargill]

Is that Hitchens interviewing him?Nah!

[666j1]

The world runs on individuals trying to satisfy their greed. Capitalism and demoracy are a short term form of goverment and cannot sustain itself in the long run. Like the roman empire it will fall from within unless we change of course. which will not happen because like i said greed is destroying us all. Greed is the fundemental problem of all suffering on this world, combine that with ignorance , selfishness and patriotism and you get the shithole in which we live today. wonderfull is it not?

[bloemetjen]

I agree with you. In the end greed is the main factor. Greed for a country, district, town or family.

[1DX2020]

without any degree of cynicism...whats your solution ? if greed is the problem..whats your counter argument? if capitlalism is the cause of greif..then, what is the best system to live by ?,if any?

[666j1]

certainly not socialism or communism , i would purpose to get rid of this monetary system which we live in and instead create a resource based system where we do things to help others and not gain money so we can use it on ourselves. it is a nice dream of course..

[1DX2020]

its a great dream....there is a doc you might find interesting if you have'nt seen it already..thomas ferguson mainly- some micheal albert - its called investment theory in politics- paints a good picture of the problem you talk of - and kinda touches on the solution - market abolitionism - i agree completely with you - its markert forces which are essentially the problem- but check the doc out on youtube - hope you find it interesting - best wishes to you

[666j1]

@1DX2020 For now it remains a dream, dont worry the time will come when people will wake up but they have to suffer much before that time comes. it would be possible right now or in the near future but that would require an intelligent and enlighten masses, unfortunately the masses currently love to hang on to the system like addicts, addicted to adding to the never satisfied ego. i do not blame them as they have been taught this. i will check out that doc thanks man , best wishes to you too :]

[MrBasilGanglia]

without a freemarket, where would you get a computer and a Youtube? Don't be a fool.

[MrBasilGanglia]

That is ridiculous. We need a monetary system so that we can thrive and advance as a civilization. What does a philosopher offer to the community? What can he trade for carrots and potatoes? A shoemaker can make out, but not a customer service rep, nor an economist etc...Think a little more deeply.

[mwells219]

if you've listened to this the best solution whether it is socialism true free market capitalism or collectivism or some combination of socioeconomic ideas the best system will be the one that is the most altruistic and the most honestly utilitarian.

[ryko26]

excellent posting - thank you very much

what a great man Le Carre is

[MovieSniper]

Wow, I last posted here 11 months ago. Its been a while. While I will stand by some of what I said earlier, I actually saw a documentary that made me think a bit differently. I still believe that there are many honest people and businesses out there, but I now have realized that (at least in my opinion) there seems to be a lot of corruption in governments. There are so many politicians funded by powerful companies (mainly pharmaceutical and tobacco) that these companies can get away with a lot.

[PSmithFortyTwo]

bloemetjen, thanks very much for posting. Plus great Jim Rogers interview. Would be very useful to have the date of this Le Carre interview in the info. 2005?

[bloemetjen]

It's an interview from october 2006

[siddhanti]

What le carre says is quite right. It seems that many simple folks like Moviesniper do not know the machinations and cleverness of vested interest lobbies who operate so ruthlessly and so cleverly to achieve their objectives. i have seen many of such operators up close and am aware of their manipulative tactics and how easy do they find it identify corrupt, vulnerable people abd buy them off.

[DekalbBlues]

Incidentally, those who find Cornwell's talk of interest might also be interested in an American counterpart (of sorts) of his, John Perkins-- ex-economic-warfare-spook; author of "Confessions of an Economic Hitman"-- whose various interviews & talks on his personal experience in global covert economic subversion & its terrible social sequelae are well represented here at Youtube.

[bloemetjen]

I read this book from John Perkins. It's a bizarre insight into the world of the world bank and IMF. There's something strange about Perkins though, he's off course sorry for what he's done but considering the things he's talking about, and was involved with he should be in prison right now.

On the other hand off course, whe should encourage people like him to tell the truth.

[DekalbBlues]

Bloemetjen, thank you for posting this important discussion of some of the geopolitically thorniest aspects of modernity. David Cornwell, a voice of hard-earned personal knowledge & integrity, is quite effectively lucid on subjects which are (as he points out) ever more & more taboo under the fearful/fearsome regime of "security". Cheers.

[MovieSniper]

He's definitley very opinionated. Some is true, but some is just conspiracy-theorism.

[bloemetjen]

I always say to people who don't take conspiracy theories serieus..."then you must be a strong believer in coincidence..."

Off course their coincidence in this world but also the fact that their are enormously influential and wealthy people who conspire to get more power and money...Seems very reasonable to me...

[MovieSniper]

ofcourse some people conspire to get money. but you have to keep things real and serious. john le carre doesnt know everything just cuz he writes good books. yes he was in the british intelligence, but that doesnt mean he automaticaly knows everything. that i think is a bit arrogant of him

[bloemetjen]

Well, in my opinion he's right on target...

[flymogram]

Mine too!

[MovieSniper]

OK, that's fine. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinion

[orlandocat]

No one wants to silence you - it's your right MS. However, the above respondants have intelligently articulated a complex issue, one which I am still grappling with. One things for certain - Le Carre is a very clever man and the interviews I've seen with him have instilled a great respect for a worthy mind.