Ker-plunk 2 of 2

The sup-prime president tells all- in sub-titles. (turn your captions on)

For more analysis check out my ongoing video series on capitalism and crisis.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• bailout
• Bush
• crisis
• economy
• marx
• sub-prime
• speech
• capitalism
• wall
• steet
• recession
• great
• depression
• credit

[pdblower]

Sorry friend but you are on a hiding to nothing. There will be no Marxist revolution. There is only one thing less impressive than the capitalist experiment and that is the socialist one!

[brendanmcooney]

You will not hear any of my videos endorse the failed soviet experiment. Please don't conflate the development of a critical analysis of capitalism in crisis with your own stereotype of "marxist revolution". I happen to think alternatives to capital are possible, but to develop these we have a lot of theoretical work to do, beginning with strengthening our understanding of capital. If you have specific criticism of my analysis please state it. Otherwise refrain from putting words in my mouth.

[eric04050607]

This is the illuminati taking over. Its starting.

[brendanmcooney]

This is not, at all, the intended message of this video.

[HebaruSan]

Follow-up question: Yes, Bush is a moron and an asshole. But doesn't a systemic analysis of crisis compel us to state that even with a competent, conscientious chief executive, something like this would still have been inevitable?

Related to that, consider a parallel universe in which the Glass-Steagall Act had remained in place, and mortgages hadn't gotten out of hand; how would things have played out? In other words, where is the weakness of the main liberal diagnosis here?

[brendanmcooney]

On the first point- yEs.

Glass-Steagall. Of course, one can never really predict the particular outcome of historical events. But we can say what the dominant tendencies and trajectories are. So, even though it's hard to say exactly what would happen in a hypothetical situation, we know that the pending crisis would have still been there, but capital would have to find another way of sustaining fictitious values and absorbing surpluses or else the crisis might have struck sooner.

[allhailtuna]

"Democratic capitalism is the best system ever devised"? They're still trying to capitalise on Cold War propaganda, how completely unpredictable.

[Awesomermac]

we are all screwed, stock up on food and water

[bapyou]

Bloody brilliant, Brendan. Bloody brilliant.

[shuvit90]

Conspiracy theories or the poor man's ideology strike again

[nameofthepen]

@umhalil - do you remember that earnest, "My-sh*t-don't-stink" look you would put on your face when you were 5 years old, and lying about stealing cookies? Can you imagine being a grown-up, and you still can't lie any smoother than you did then? :D

[yadsik]

Hahahaha, wow, this is the best thing I have seen in months!

[emptiermbs]

both videos = awesome

last comments on 2nd video = hilarious

[binjahmon]

The insidious thing about inflation is that it allows the state to tax the populace indirectly. The state is printing dollars to bail out the capitalist class. Those extra dollars will eventually purchase less commodities. People will have to work harder to make enough money to purchase commodities and pay taxes, even without officially raising taxes.

[binjahmon]

The state can't be bankrupt because its debts are in a currency which it controls absolutely and backed by nothing. After this period of fictitious capital destruction (deflation) there will be massive inflation. It won't be hyperinflation, but it will be double digit inflation lasting many years. We won't pay back the govt. debt in 2008 dollars, we will pay it back in 2012 devalued dollars. The inflation will be equivalent to an extra 10-20%/year tax.

[McOath]

you mean there's a place america doesnt control? let us run to this utopia!

[MaxwellX831]

Ingenious, great job.