0:00:11.924,0:00:15.934
Oh hello, sorry. War! We love it, right?

0:00:16.074,0:00:20.633
Blowing stuff up, watching people suffer and die, it's exciting!

0:00:20.773,0:00:25.074
Violence, domination, retribution and other attributes of this competitive

0:00:25.214,0:00:28.173
warring fascination clearly dominates our media

0:00:28.313,0:00:31.542
with films, television and other expressions constantly

0:00:31.682,0:00:35.357
glorifying and reinforcing this gesture of conflict.

0:00:35.497,0:00:37.980
In fact, it has been found that by the time an average kid

0:00:38.120,0:00:40.519
reaches the age of 14 in the West,

0:00:40.659,0:00:45.984
he or she has visually witnessed over 8,000 depicted acts of murder.

0:00:46.124,0:00:48.505
Given all of this, it might make you wonder:

0:00:48.645,0:00:52.418
Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?

0:00:53.022,0:00:57.569
Likewise, isn't it interesting how most of us in America sleep quite well at night

0:00:57.709,0:01:00.254
while our military forces routinely invade,

0:01:00.394,0:01:02.991
slaughter and steal from other nations at will;

0:01:03.131,0:01:06.664
as, of course, all global empires have done historically,

0:01:06.804,0:01:10.739
with, this time, a global civilian death toll well over 1 million

0:01:10.879,0:01:14.408
in the past decade alone, many of them women and children.

0:01:14.548,0:01:19.136
Yet, the same American culture shudders in horror and confusion

0:01:19.276,0:01:22.817
when some dude stumbles into an American schoolyard and randomly wipes out

0:01:22.957,0:01:25.916
a couple dozen or so kids.

0:01:26.056,0:01:30.051
I ask you, by what measure do we differentiate importance

0:01:30.191,0:01:32.809
when it comes to the death of different groups of people?

0:01:32.949,0:01:35.464
What makes us so special?

0:01:35.604,0:01:39.449
While history is certainly full of xenophobic, racist, religious

0:01:39.589,0:01:44.282
and nationalist conceits which have served as convenient justifications for

0:01:44.422,0:01:48.767
external dehumanization, subjugation and imperial power abuse,

0:01:48.907,0:01:53.358
a rather unnoticed yet profound scientific truth has also emerged:

0:01:53.498,0:01:57.240
Today, every person on Earth can trace his or her lineage

0:01:57.380,0:02:03.784
back to a single common female ancestor who lived about 200,000 years ago.

0:02:03.924,0:02:06.706
'Mitochondrial Eve', she is now called,

0:02:06.846,0:02:09.954
proving indeed that we are truly one family.

0:02:10.674,0:02:15.732
Likewise, the planet Earth, the habitat this family shares, it knows no division.

0:02:15.872,0:02:20.495
It is a unified, synergistic system at every turn, fully connected.

0:02:20.635,0:02:24.587
It has no idea what a nation, a politician or a racist is.

0:02:24.727,0:02:28.113
It has no notion of any such human conceit, for that matter;

0:02:28.253,0:02:30.725
for division simply doesn't exist

0:02:30.865,0:02:34.866
in the order of nature by which we're all invariably subject.

0:02:36.109,0:02:38.408
Mark Twain once wrote

0:02:38.548,0:02:42.483
"Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his country,

0:02:42.623,0:02:45.695
under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations,

0:02:45.835,0:02:50.214
and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense

0:02:50.354,0:02:52.752
to grab slices of other people's countries,

0:02:52.892,0:02:55.765
and keep them from grabbing slices of his.

0:02:55.905,0:03:00.634
And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands

0:03:00.774,0:03:04.980
and works for 'the universal brotherhood of man'- with his mouth."

0:03:05.921,0:03:11.164
While we all love to give lip service to the idea of peace and collaboration,

0:03:11.304,0:03:15.315
holding up icons such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

0:03:15.455,0:03:19.442
something underneath the surface is clearly holding us back.

0:03:19.582,0:03:21.587
Yes, we know for a fact

0:03:21.727,0:03:25.367
that if we took the total war budgets of all the nations on Earth

0:03:25.507,0:03:29.516
(tens of trillions of dollars over the past quarter century alone)

0:03:29.656,0:03:33.613
and applied that energy-producing capital towards creating

0:03:33.753,0:03:38.941
an advanced, intelligent, efficient system of Earth/Human management,

0:03:39.081,0:03:43.344
not only would poverty and most deprivation be removed from our lives on the global scale

0:03:43.484,0:03:46.849
our progressive capacity to create, build and improve

0:03:46.989,0:03:49.655
rather than pillage, seek and destroy

0:03:49.795,0:03:53.396
could catapult the human family into an age of prosperity

0:03:53.536,0:03:55.482
never before seen.

0:03:55.622,0:04:00.891
Just imagine. If we took America's Pentagon or Britain's Northwood

0:04:01.031,0:04:04.268
along with all the world's advanced military centers,

0:04:04.408,0:04:07.032
kicked all the army freaks out...

0:04:07.172,0:04:09.345
OK, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be harsh.

0:04:09.485,0:04:11.420
I guess we have to do something with them.

0:04:11.560,0:04:15.607
Maybe we can just take them all and place them in the Grand Canyon

0:04:15.747,0:04:18.399
and just let them beat the piss out of each other,

0:04:18.539,0:04:21.335
and hopefully they'll get it out of their systems and move on.

0:04:21.475,0:04:23.909
I don't know, we'll figure that out later.

0:04:24.049,0:04:27.244
But we, as the intelligent, mature human family

0:04:27.384,0:04:29.829
now interested in improving the lives of all,

0:04:29.969,0:04:34.983
we use that incredible technology to help assist true developmental progress.

0:04:35.123,0:04:40.775
Imagine if the Manhattan Project, which harnessed about 130,000 people,

0:04:40.915,0:04:44.535
mostly scientists and technicians, was dedicated not

0:04:44.675,0:04:48.519
to building a bomb that could destroy on a scale never before seen;

0:04:48.659,0:04:53.932
but rather, utilizing that collaborative drive to solve true global problems,

0:04:54.072,0:04:56.164
perhaps those very problems

0:04:56.304,0:04:59.844
which are causing the interest in war to begin with.

0:05:00.392,0:05:03.897
Today, the hyper-glorified, romanticized obsession with competition,

0:05:04.037,0:05:08.350
advantage and conflict has made it into almost every facet of our lives.

0:05:08.490,0:05:13.133
Not only do we declare war against virtually everything that annoys us:

0:05:13.273,0:05:16.858
'the war on drugs', 'the war on poverty', 'the war on crime',

0:05:16.998,0:05:20.829
'the war on terrorism', 'the war on cancer', you name it;

0:05:20.969,0:05:24.377
we also, apart from the near constant nationalist wars,

0:05:24.517,0:05:28.418
live in a perpetual state of common war or 'class war'

0:05:28.558,0:05:31.332
where we battle each other on a daily basis

0:05:31.472,0:05:36.284
for unnecessary economic survival and delusions of status.

0:05:36.424,0:05:39.030
The fact is, something has been set in motion

0:05:39.170,0:05:41.958
that keeps us all on a multilevel war path.

0:05:42.098,0:05:46.551
Something in our psychology and, hence, sociology is constantly pushing us

0:05:46.691,0:05:50.910
into justifications of these patterns, and as this episode will argue

0:05:51.050,0:05:54.364
that something appears to reside at the very foundation

0:05:54.504,0:05:57.010
of the socioeconomic condition itself:

0:05:57.150,0:06:02.207
a foundation which has given rise to an ever-expanding destructive neurosis

0:06:02.347,0:06:06.513
a neurosis clearly characteristic of a culture in decline.

0:06:06.754,0:06:09.301
From the creator of the Zeitgeist film trilogy

0:06:09.441,0:06:12.230
comes the worst reality show of all time

0:06:12.370,0:06:15.322
the real one

0:06:15.633,0:06:17.726
GMP Films presents

0:06:19.143,0:06:22.708
Culture In Decline

0:06:25.340,0:06:28.276
with your guide, Peter Joseph.

0:06:35.769,0:06:38.428
Breaking news

0:06:43.177,0:06:46.941
This just in: The President has finished an emergency session at the White House

0:06:47.081,0:06:49.810
where he announced that the security focus of his administration

0:06:49.950,0:06:52.228
will be moving away from the global war on terror,

0:06:52.368,0:06:56.332
instead, focusing all available resources against something the administration

0:06:56.472,0:06:59.304
has deemed a larger threat to US and international security

0:06:59.444,0:07:02.469
than anything recognized before: Nature itself.

0:07:02.787,0:07:06.014
That's right, Dodge, the newly declared war against Nature

0:07:06.154,0:07:09.400
will be usurping funds from the Department of Homeland Security

0:07:09.540,0:07:13.410
effectively replacing it with a new department, the Department of...

0:07:13.550,0:07:15.797
I think I'm reading this right:

0:07:15.937,0:07:19.114
"Fuck The Earth And The Science It Rode In On."

0:07:19.515,0:07:22.636
That's correct, Summer, the administration has already appointed a head

0:07:22.776,0:07:27.318
to this new department, the CEO of Monsanto Corporation, Satan himself.

0:07:27.458,0:07:30.299
When questioned regarding concerns about a possible conflict of interest

0:07:30.439,0:07:33.358
of the new appointee, the Obama administration responded:

0:07:33.736,0:07:37.223
"Monsanto's reputation of challenging the vast power of this intolerant,

0:07:37.363,0:07:40.879
bullying force that goes by the terrorist name 'Natural Science'

0:07:41.019,0:07:43.128
holds great potential for our victory.

0:07:43.268,0:07:45.752
We feel if anyone can take down these insurgent laws

0:07:45.892,0:07:49.170
which restrict our God-given freedom, it is the professional experience

0:07:49.310,0:07:51.822
of our true lord and master: the Prince of Darkness.

0:07:52.547,0:07:55.865
We've just been informed that a press conference is now underway

0:07:56.005,0:07:58.698
with the Pentagon's spokesperson answering questions.

0:07:58.838,0:08:00.693
We now go live to the White House.

0:08:00.927,0:08:03.941
As the President said earlier, the greatest barrier to US interests

0:08:04.081,0:08:07.885
has been a constant state of offensive interference by this rogue network.

0:08:08.025,0:08:12.150
Nature has been forcing its will against our freedom for long enough.

0:08:12.290,0:08:16.359
Our economy, our values, the American way of life, it's not negotiable.

0:08:16.499,0:08:20.381
Either Nature concedes to our interests and stops terrorizing us

0:08:20.521,0:08:22.648
with its hatred of our liberty,

0:08:22.788,0:08:25.794
or we will be forced to destroy it.

0:08:25.934,0:08:27.574
Next question.

0:08:28.736,0:08:30.858
Hi. Joe, from L.A. Times:

0:08:30.998,0:08:33.750
Don't you feel it could be a bad idea to move against

0:08:33.890,0:08:36.828
a force which has historically never been overcome

0:08:36.968,0:08:39.235
or even phased by human action?

0:08:39.375,0:08:42.662
Also, I understand Nature has given a set of demands which, if met,

0:08:42.802,0:08:45.127
would cease many of its counterattacks.

0:08:45.267,0:08:48.624
Has the administration considered just meeting these demands?

0:08:48.764,0:08:53.082
Listen Joe, we don't negotiate with terrorists, and I've seen Nature's demands,

0:08:53.222,0:08:57.162
full of queer Communist propaganda such a balance and sustainability.

0:08:57.302,0:09:00.123
It even demands that we shut down our infinite growth consumption economy

0:09:00.263,0:09:03.839
to make way for something where we are to be slaves to some oppressive

0:09:03.979,0:09:06.390
natural regeneration respect.

0:09:06.530,0:09:10.555
Listen, I didn't spend 35 years defending this country

0:09:10.695,0:09:14.695
to have some metaphysical terrorist group with science on its side

0:09:14.835,0:09:17.457
ruin what has made this nation great.

0:09:17.597,0:09:20.300
No further questions.

0:09:21.585,0:09:25.132
(P. Joseph) When we think of war, we usually think about gun-wielding soldiers,

0:09:25.272,0:09:29.630
tanks, flame throwers, fancy metal honors and other theatrics.

0:09:29.770,0:09:31.991
Yet, when we step outside the theater,

0:09:32.131,0:09:35.138
digging deeper in our examination of the world around us

0:09:35.278,0:09:38.046
we find that war is actually a state of mind,

0:09:38.186,0:09:41.895
a reaction, driven by some type of competitive condition.

0:09:42.391,0:09:46.153
If we had to classify the different levels of large scale competition,

0:09:46.293,0:09:48.852
we might end up with two broad categories:

0:09:48.992,0:09:51.353
imperial war and class war.

0:09:51.975,0:09:54.451
Imperial war, otherwise known as national war,

0:09:54.591,0:09:57.835
is when an aggressor nation decides to invade some other nation,

0:09:57.975,0:10:01.068
justified by some form of perceived threat.

0:10:01.208,0:10:04.804
Back in the day, this threat often appeared as purely ideological with

0:10:04.944,0:10:08.989
religious groups battling it out to make sure they were in good with God,

0:10:09.129,0:10:12.110
while in a mildly more literate scientific world today,

0:10:12.250,0:10:16.133
the threat is more often than not pitched as direct to each of us.

0:10:16.273,0:10:19.163
Such as, a rogue nation getting a nuclear weapon

0:10:19.303,0:10:22.362
to blow up your grandmother's bingo tournament

0:10:22.502,0:10:25.668
or perhaps a crazed state-funded hijacker crashing a plane

0:10:25.808,0:10:28.357
into your favorite taco stand (bastards!).

0:10:28.497,0:10:32.574
Regardless, in virtually every historical case, the justification for war

0:10:32.714,0:10:38.082
put forward for public digestion has always been far from the truth.

0:10:38.222,0:10:40.616
You see, there is indeed always a true threat,

0:10:40.756,0:10:44.630
but that threat has little to do with the vast majority of the population.

0:10:44.770,0:10:48.435
Instead, it is a threat that bothers only the highest echelons

0:10:48.575,0:10:52.612
of social hierarchy, an elitist upper class self-preservation

0:10:52.752,0:10:55.890
based around a loss of broad power and control.

0:10:56.030,0:10:59.740
When was the last time the citizenry actually cried out for war?

0:10:59.880,0:11:03.465
It doesn't happen, only the politicians go for it.

0:11:03.605,0:11:07.635
Since the establishment would be hard-pressed to explain to their citizens

0:11:07.775,0:11:11.239
that they are going to invade some nation for its natural resources,

0:11:11.379,0:11:16.298
maintain currency domination, enable freedom for transnational corporations,

0:11:16.438,0:11:19.488
along with other generally economic concerns

0:11:19.628,0:11:22.225
to secure the interests of the upper 1%,

0:11:22.365,0:11:26.256
various superficial, psychological ploys are used instead.

0:11:26.396,0:11:29.044
The most common today is the moral crusade:

0:11:29.184,0:11:33.775
We must not tolerate this regime using military force against its own people.

0:11:33.915,0:11:37.142
(P. Joseph) coupled with some basic yet irrational threat of attack.

0:11:37.282,0:11:40.560
Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat,

0:11:40.700,0:11:44.816
not just to the US, but to Iran's neighbors and our allies.

0:11:44.956,0:11:50.178
(P. Joseph) In the words of famed sociologist Thorstein Veblen, writing from 1917:

0:11:50.318,0:11:53.424
"Any warlike enterprise that is hopeful to be entered on

0:11:53.564,0:11:55.996
must have the moral sanction of the community.

0:11:56.136,0:12:00.015
It consequently becomes the first concern of the warlike statesman

0:12:00.155,0:12:04.944
to put this moral force in train for the adventure on which he is bent."

0:12:05.084,0:12:07.861
You see, a large part of the imperial war is the psychological war

0:12:08.001,0:12:11.696
against the domestic citizenry itself.

0:12:12.369,0:12:15.380
The US government spends billions of dollars every year

0:12:15.520,0:12:18.335
on public relations and recruitment alone,

0:12:18.475,0:12:20.501
producing signs like this one:

0:12:20.976,0:12:23.540
"For our nation, for us all."

0:12:23.763,0:12:27.115
Is it me, or does that sound like Orwellian doublespeak?

0:12:27.255,0:12:30.574
If it's 'for our nation', then it clearly isn't 'for us all', as the human species

0:12:30.714,0:12:34.554
is the closest thing we have to 'all'. If it's referring to all of us in the nation

0:12:34.694,0:12:38.521
that would be hideously redundant, right? I think what they mean to say

0:12:38.661,0:12:41.875
in this warm, loving community slogan is:

0:12:42.015,0:12:45.796
"For our nation, screw the rest."

0:12:47.743,0:12:51.913
Cooking with Pepé

0:12:52.317,0:12:55.351
Hello! Welcome to the show! My name is Pepé.

0:12:55.491,0:12:57.700
Today, I've got something very special for you,

0:12:57.840,0:13:00.243
a true international delicacy:

0:13:00.383,0:13:02.583
War!

0:13:03.614,0:13:06.384
To prepare for war is a very delicate matter.

0:13:06.524,0:13:10.347
The first thing we need to do is create some spicy tension

0:13:10.487,0:13:13.256
to put fire in your belly.

0:13:13.396,0:13:18.740
The first ingredient we need is a well-tempered provocation.

0:13:20.061,0:13:23.719
Provocations are, of course, seasonal and subject to personal taste.

0:13:23.859,0:13:26.970
So may I suggest something along the lines [of]

0:13:27.110,0:13:30.455
a very nice Gulf of Tonkin,

0:13:32.091,0:13:35.731
a robust Pearl Harbor,

0:13:38.059,0:13:41.609
and if you're feeling bored, a bustling 9/11.

0:13:44.653,0:13:50.586
Then, we let that cook for a bit and prepare our second ingredient,

0:13:50.726,0:13:54.608
a special sauté to give life to our fiery dish:

0:13:54.837,0:13:57.626
the mainstream media.

0:14:04.303,0:14:08.793
Can you just smell the propaganda and delectable ignorance?

0:14:11.119,0:14:13.552
After we get a nice sizzle going,

0:14:13.692,0:14:17.145
we now add our final, most important ingredient:

0:14:18.173,0:14:20.210
the delicious soldiers.

0:14:20.350,0:14:23.797
The most ripe soldiers tend to grow in the more poor,

0:14:23.937,0:14:27.991
rural areas of the world, often with limited literacy.

0:14:28.597,0:14:31.212
You want to pick them around

0:14:31.352,0:14:36.374
18, 19, because their brains are very immature and quite yummy,

0:14:36.514,0:14:40.847
perfect for participation in our war meal.

0:14:41.679,0:14:44.031
We mix it all together.

0:14:50.176,0:14:55.316
Perhaps add a few, some preservatives like patriotism

0:14:55.456,0:14:57.103
(not too much)

0:14:57.517,0:14:59.229
jingoism,

0:14:59.369,0:15:02.421
and, of course, our very special secret sauce.

0:15:10.988,0:15:17.023
OK! And we are ready! The moment you have all been waiting for.

0:15:22.431,0:15:28.109
I present to you the greatest international delicacy of all time: War.

0:15:30.292,0:15:31.860
Bon appétit.

0:15:32.555,0:15:35.922
(P. Joseph) Perhaps one of the most amusing aspects of national war

0:15:36.062,0:15:39.357
is the circus-like pageantry and ceremonialism.

0:15:39.497,0:15:42.844
Cute costumes, little hats, shiny pieces of metal,

0:15:42.984,0:15:45.258
various parades and official posturing

0:15:45.398,0:15:50.930
and all adornments and theatrics that give this air of honor and authority.

0:15:51.070,0:15:53.706
Of course, this is not to dismiss the true sacrifice

0:15:53.846,0:15:58.761
of those who have given their lives in war, as there are always two sides.

0:15:58.901,0:16:02.748
This true honor comes from a position of working to help others,

0:16:02.888,0:16:06.372
not exploit them. Just as we hold the bravery of a firefighter

0:16:06.512,0:16:10.031
who enters a burning building to save a child in high regard,

0:16:10.171,0:16:15.427
the intention to help society through military service is indeed a noble gesture.

0:16:15.567,0:16:19.700
Even though, sadly enough, 99% of those who enter the military

0:16:19.840,0:16:24.133
with such noble intentions are more often than not being exploited

0:16:24.273,0:16:28.417
for the criminal purposes of the corporate state.

0:16:28.780,0:16:33.211
Still, you have to be impressed by the skill to give credence to an idea

0:16:33.351,0:16:36.185
merely because of the nature of its presentation.

0:16:36.325,0:16:40.044
In fact, whether it's academia, the news media, government itself

0:16:40.184,0:16:44.208
the military or anything else in society, our culture tends to believe

0:16:44.348,0:16:49.982
and respect people merely because of their presentation, confidence and rhetoric,

0:16:50.122,0:16:54.291
not the actual meaning or reasoning of the communication itself.

0:17:00.931,0:17:03.870
Did you know that the first television sets of the 1950s

0:17:04.010,0:17:07.179
were actually supposed to be used as prosthetic replacement heads

0:17:07.319,0:17:10.287
to give new hope for those who had been tragically decapitated?

0:17:10.427,0:17:12.508
But, technology, weight and

0:17:12.648,0:17:15.823
cord length being what they were at the time, it failed.

0:17:15.963,0:17:19.570
Luckily, they could play other things besides the faces of the deceased

0:17:19.710,0:17:23.824
and TV sets sold nationwide, and it's all true!

0:17:23.964,0:17:28.440
You know why? Because you heard it from some guy in a tie.

0:17:31.890,0:17:36.456
In the end, once the traditional, propagandized illusions in defense

0:17:36.596,0:17:40.719
of the act of organized human murder and resource theft have been overridden,

0:17:40.859,0:17:46.113
dismissing such shallow justifications as paternalism, honor and protectionism,

0:17:46.253,0:17:49.870
we realize that war today is actually an inherent characteristic

0:17:50.010,0:17:53.210
of the propertied, scarcity-driven business system.

0:17:53.350,0:17:55.460
Major General Smedley D. Butler,

0:17:55.600,0:17:58.900
one of the most notable and decorated officers in US history

0:17:59.040,0:18:04.240
stated the following with respect to the business of war in 1935:

0:18:04.380,0:18:09.000
"I spent 33 years and 4 months in active military service and during that period

0:18:09.150,0:18:13.120
I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for big business,

0:18:13.270,0:18:15.279
for Wall Street and the bankers.

0:18:15.419,0:18:18.660
In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

0:18:18.800,0:18:21.116
I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico

0:18:21.256,0:18:25.624
safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba

0:18:25.764,0:18:29.430
a decent place for the National City boys to collect revenues in.

0:18:29.570,0:18:32.899
I helped in the raping of a half a dozen Central American republics

0:18:33.039,0:18:36.040
for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua

0:18:36.180,0:18:40.980
for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902 -1912.

0:18:41.120,0:18:45.690
I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916.

0:18:45.830,0:18:49.292
I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903.

0:18:49.432,0:18:52.198
In China in 1927, I helped see to it that

0:18:52.338,0:18:55.539
Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.

0:18:55.679,0:18:59.487
Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints.

0:18:59.627,0:19:02.670
The best he could do was operate his racket in three districts.

0:19:02.810,0:19:05.739
I operated on three continents." -Major General Smedley D. Butler

0:19:06.082,0:19:09.873
Given all of this, it's unique how the general public tends to separate

0:19:10.013,0:19:12.939
the day-to-day competitive business acumen

0:19:13.079,0:19:17.055
from the severe form of competitive violent warfare,

0:19:17.195,0:19:20.949
when there is very good evidence to show that they are deeply intermeshed.

0:19:21.089,0:19:25.060
To gain some perspective on this, we now welcome back our resident guru,

0:19:25.200,0:19:27.055
Louie the Logic Gremlin.

0:19:27.818,0:19:30.263
Ah! Before we get into the questions, I do have a letter here

0:19:30.403,0:19:33.502
that I would like to read to you and get your opinion on.

0:19:33.642,0:19:38.062
It reads: "Dear Peter, I really enjoy the new show.

0:19:38.202,0:19:41.333
I think it is helping get these important messages across.

0:19:41.473,0:19:46.809
However, I am disappointed with the crude Louie the Logic Gremlin character,

0:19:46.949,0:19:50.429
as it is just irritating and hideously stupid.

0:19:50.569,0:19:54.150
Also, would you please stop eating when you are speaking in the show.

0:19:54.290,0:19:57.264
It's really disgusting and annoying.

0:19:57.404,0:19:59.262
Rock on. Joe."

0:19:59.402,0:20:03.008
I'm sorry, Joe. Louie, what do you think about that?

0:20:03.148,0:20:05.768
Aesthetic orientation is largely a cultural phenomenon.

0:20:05.908,0:20:08.500
Your decision to directly agitate your audience is odd,

0:20:08.640,0:20:10.839
but not without its communicative merit.

0:20:10.979,0:20:14.450
Toats! [Totally] Sorry, Joe, shit stays.

0:20:17.271,0:20:21.198
All right, so what's the skinny on war, man?

0:20:21.338,0:20:25.339
Aren't we just crazy animals that have to be in endless conflict

0:20:25.479,0:20:28.360
with each other due to our biology or something?

0:20:28.500,0:20:31.498
While the conflict reaction is predictable in our evolutionary psychology,

0:20:31.638,0:20:33.759
the assumption of inevitably is absurdly false.

0:20:33.899,0:20:36.736
Human nature exists as a propensity of interaction with conditions.

0:20:36.876,0:20:39.120
If you reward competition and produce scarcity

0:20:39.260,0:20:41.945
as we do today, you will perpetuate a conflict propensity.

0:20:42.085,0:20:44.228
If you work to ease stress and reward balance,

0:20:44.368,0:20:47.600
you will generate a collaborative propensity. - OK, I see what you're saying.

0:20:47.740,0:20:51.100
You're saying that war is actually a system consequence?

0:20:51.240,0:20:54.798
Correct. The real underlying conflict is the war against social balance itself.

0:20:54.938,0:20:56.998
National war is really a form of class war.

0:20:57.138,0:21:00.438
Just as we have an economic hierarchy from lower to upper classes in America,

0:21:00.578,0:21:03.290
the world is stratified in the same way, for the same reasons.

0:21:03.430,0:21:05.134
In this case with terms such as

0:21:05.274,0:21:08.003
"super-powers", "sub-powers" and "vassal states". - Interesting.

0:21:08.143,0:21:12.070
So, how do we resolve this war tendency then?

0:21:12.310,0:21:14.356
Remove the social reinforcements of it.

0:21:14.496,0:21:17.439
If society shifts to rewarding balance, abundance and collaboration,

0:21:17.579,0:21:19.300
then your species may have a chance.

0:21:19.440,0:21:21.770
Otherwise, you people are likely fucked, as you are

0:21:21.910,0:21:25.072
too immature right now to handle your own technological power. - Gotcha

0:21:25.212,0:21:27.825
Well, thank you for your time, Louie.

0:21:27.965,0:21:30.244
To gain some public consensus on the issue,

0:21:30.384,0:21:33.446
we now turn live to our east coast 'Culture in Decline' correspondent,

0:21:33.586,0:21:36.150
Big Scottie D, who's live in New York City

0:21:36.290,0:21:38.570
to talk with people about what they think of war.

0:21:40.270,0:21:43.700
Well, thank you, Peter. I am here in New York City

0:21:43.840,0:21:46.452
on a beautiful cold day and

0:21:46.592,0:21:49.861
I'm going to try to find some people to maybe talk to.

0:21:50.001,0:21:52.299
Excuse me, excuse me, Ma'am, would you like to...

0:21:52.439,0:21:54.969
Excuse me, Sir... Sir, would you like to talk about the war?

0:21:55.109,0:21:57.478
- What? - Would you like to talk about the war, Sir? - No.

0:21:57.787,0:21:59.979
- Would you like to talk about the war today?

0:22:00.119,0:22:01.723
War? No?

0:22:02.307,0:22:04.720
Sir, would you like to talk about the war? - God bless.

0:22:04.860,0:22:07.112
- No? The war? Please? The war?

0:22:07.252,0:22:10.253
Anyone who would like to talk about the war?

0:22:12.440,0:22:15.530
I am just sick of this, Peter. You're sending me on these assignments.

0:22:15.670,0:22:17.876
It's freaking freezing out here!

0:22:18.016,0:22:21.899
I'd rather be in a bar getting drunk and then maybe I can do this, all right?

0:22:22.039,0:22:23.999
I think there's a bar up here.

0:22:24.139,0:22:25.909
Let me just grab my shit.

0:22:26.049,0:22:27.879
You know, I'm just sick of this.

0:22:28.391,0:22:30.390
Goddammit!

0:22:33.691,0:22:36.180
I said I am done, man! I am done!

0:22:36.320,0:22:38.456
Get some other monkey, OK?

0:22:39.127,0:22:41.789
There's trash and shit all over the place!

0:22:41.929,0:22:45.160
What does Peter wants to know about? He wants to know about the war!

0:22:45.300,0:22:47.916
Well, I am sick of it, man!

0:22:48.056,0:22:51.101
I've got to calm down. I just need a drink.

0:22:51.811,0:22:54.529
- Any of you are Occupy Wall Street types?

0:22:54.669,0:22:56.468
[Praise. Applause]

0:22:56.608,0:22:59.950
♪ Oooh it's not about money, except when you can't eat ♫

0:23:00.090,0:23:04.119
♪ and it's not about foreclosures except when you've got nowhere to sleep ♫

0:23:04.259,0:23:07.729
♪ It's not about elections except when they can be bought ♫

0:23:07.869,0:23:11.371
♪ and it's not about the wars except when they're fought. ♫

0:23:11.511,0:23:15.091
♪ It's not about the environment except if we're running out of time ♫

0:23:15.231,0:23:18.749
♪ It's not about my choices, except when they're not mine ♫

0:23:18.889,0:23:21.919
♪ It's not the lack of justice, except when you can't fight back ♫

0:23:22.059,0:23:26.159
♪ and it's not about the police, unless, umm, your black! ♫

0:23:26.299,0:23:29.795
♪ Fuck this shit! Fuck this shit! ♫

0:23:29.935,0:23:33.583
♪ Come on, you want to say it, fuck this shit! Everybody ♫

0:23:33.723,0:23:36.554
♪ fuck this shit! fuck this shit! ♫

0:23:36.694,0:23:39.300
♪ Don't worry, none of these people are going to be at work tomorrow ♫

0:23:39.440,0:23:41.036
♪ Fuck this shit, oooh ♫

0:23:41.176,0:23:44.670
We're so totally ruled by the 1%, which is basically all the corporations.

0:23:44.810,0:23:47.853
wanting to sell us shit, influence us, influence our culture,

0:23:47.993,0:23:50.420
so that we can't even think for ourselves and we're...

0:23:50.560,0:23:53.750
our sense of self is altered and even our sense of health.

0:23:53.890,0:23:57.350
I don't even fucking smoke! I don't know where this comes from? Jesus!

0:23:58.720,0:24:02.149
Peter Joseph has asked us to stand out here in the freezing cold

0:24:02.289,0:24:05.150
and talk about the difference of classes here, but

0:24:05.290,0:24:08.440
he is sitting in his LA loft, relaxing

0:24:08.580,0:24:12.170
with his big flat screen TV.

0:24:28.335,0:24:29.692
New video message!

0:24:36.040,0:24:37.957
- Yeah, fuck him!

0:24:38.683,0:24:40.130
- Fuck Peter Joseph!

0:24:40.394,0:24:45.039
The only thing that we don't have a war on, is a war on war,

0:24:45.179,0:24:48.350
and I think that, as peace activists,we don't want to fight;

0:24:48.490,0:24:51.669
so, we are going to end up loosing, due to irony!

0:24:54.350,0:24:56.113
Final thoughts:

0:24:56.253,0:25:00.292
How do we think about resolution of something as detrimental as national war,

0:25:00.432,0:25:04.740
when, on the micro level, we in society actually praise, reward

0:25:04.880,0:25:08.400
and reinforce the same basic underlying competitive drive?

0:25:08.782,0:25:12.430
Generally, when faced with such a question, people tend to play the morality card,

0:25:12.570,0:25:15.496
as though a matter of degree is what's relevant

0:25:15.636,0:25:18.249
not the philosophical basis itself.

0:25:18.389,0:25:22.096
Usually this vague distinction is gestured to the effect that

0:25:22.236,0:25:27.365
competition is good, but we should never go too far and be violent in any way.

0:25:27.505,0:25:31.340
Then, of course, the question becomes "What constitutes violence?"

0:25:32.051,0:25:34.590
What if, instead of physically attacking you directly,

0:25:34.730,0:25:37.762
I put you into a subtle yet deeply toxic condition,

0:25:37.902,0:25:40.999
where your life is shorten by decades via heart disease, cancer,

0:25:41.139,0:25:43.600
mental illness, and other such consequences.

0:25:43.740,0:25:45.694
Would that be considered violent?

0:25:45.834,0:25:49.100
And what if such intentions were not even directly malicious,

0:25:49.240,0:25:52.185
such as a lower class, desperate single mother

0:25:52.325,0:25:54.509
forced to work three jobs to keep up,

0:25:54.649,0:25:57.930
who fails one night to provide proper supervision for her child,

0:25:58.070,0:26:00.661
resulting in the death of her child?

0:26:00.801,0:26:05.296
I ask you "What is the true origin of the resulting death,

0:26:05.436,0:26:08.196
and does that qualify as violent?"

0:26:08.751,0:26:10.907
To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi

0:26:11.047,0:26:14.506
"Poverty is the worst form of violence."

0:26:14.646,0:26:18.400
You see, the real war going on is not as obvious as many think.

0:26:18.540,0:26:22.927
The real war exists in the very structure of our society itself,

0:26:23.212,0:26:25.646
something public health officials have now termed

0:26:25.786,0:26:27.552
'Structural Violence':

0:26:27.692,0:26:31.658
a war, in fact, against public health and balance itself,

0:26:31.798,0:26:36.500
constantly producing casualty after casualty in its hidden oppression;

0:26:36.640,0:26:39.669
and this form of violence today kills more people

0:26:39.809,0:26:43.881
than every type of direct behavioral violence put together.

0:26:44.021,0:26:46.119
Its origin? A social system

0:26:46.259,0:26:50.856
literally built upon competition and exploitation itself

0:26:50.996,0:26:53.698
So, for all you noble activists out there, for all of you

0:26:53.838,0:26:57.507
who pile into protest zones each time a new national war emerges

0:26:57.647,0:27:00.500
and yell at the top of your lungs, keep in mind,

0:27:00.640,0:27:05.297
that you are only targeting a symptom of a larger sociological problem

0:27:05.437,0:27:09.150
and until the activist community realizes this, I am sorry to say:

0:27:09.290,0:27:12.003
your protests have no long-term consequence,

0:27:12.143,0:27:14.595
as they do not address the root problem.

0:27:15.341,0:27:19.419
But, on the bright side, it's still great entertainment, right?

0:27:19.559,0:27:21.950
so let's keep watching this bizarre human experiment,

0:27:22.090,0:27:25.772
certainly the greatest, yet worst reality show of all time, for sure.

0:27:25.912,0:27:28.739
I am Peter Joseph, and yes I, like you,

0:27:28.879,0:27:32.364
am an agent and victim of a culture in decline.

0:27:35.690,0:27:37.819
Where is the credit scene?

0:27:37.959,0:27:41.708
What? What do you mean "Bob didn't get hurt"?

0:27:44.630,0:27:46.312
I'm sorry, Bob.

0:27:46.452,0:27:48.500
It's the format of the show.

0:27:51.123,0:27:54.525
"Neither the great political and financial power structures of the world,

0:27:54.665,0:27:58.121
nor the specialization-blinded professionals nor the population in general

0:27:58.261,0:28:01.747
realizes that... it is now highly feasible to take care of everyone on earth

0:28:01.887,0:28:04.641
at a higher standard of living than they have ever known.

0:28:04.781,0:28:07.650
It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary

0:28:07.790,0:28:10.542
and henceforth unrationalizable as mandated by survival.

0:28:10.682,0:28:14.470
War is obsolete." - R. Buckminster Fuller

0:28:20.326,0:28:25.790
Written and edited by Peter Joseph while severely constipated

0:28:26.377,0:28:29.366
Culture in Decline

0:28:44.840,0:28:48.870
What if what I'm about to tell you makes you question 'what is what'?

0:28:49.010,0:28:51.997
What if I propose a 'what if' scenario?

0:28:52.137,0:28:55.154
What if I were to take up precious time in your busy life

0:28:55.294,0:28:59.678
just spinning you on a soul-dulling spiral with meaningless double-talk?

0:28:59.818,0:29:03.940
But at the same time, what if I kept you distracted with flashy graphics?

0:29:04.080,0:29:07.230
Would you notice? Or for that matter, would you care?

0:29:07.429,0:29:12.129
Naah. You're too busy, listening to some guy in a tie.

0:29:12.269,0:29:13.489
And sleep. (Snap!)