WEBVTT 00:00:11.924 --> 00:00:15.934 Oh hello, sorry. War! We love it, right? 00:00:16.074 --> 00:00:20.633 Blowing stuff up, watching people suffer and die, it's exciting! 00:00:20.773 --> 00:00:25.074 Violence, domination, retribution and other attributes of this competitive 00:00:25.214 --> 00:00:28.173 warring fascination clearly dominates our media 00:00:28.313 --> 00:00:31.542 with films, television and other expressions constantly 00:00:31.682 --> 00:00:35.357 glorifying and reinforcing this gesture of conflict. 00:00:35.497 --> 00:00:37.980 In fact, it has been found that by the time an average kid 00:00:38.120 --> 00:00:40.519 reaches the age of 14 in the West, 00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:45.984 he or she has visually witnessed over 8,000 depicted acts of murder. 00:00:46.124 --> 00:00:48.505 Given all of this, it might make you wonder: 00:00:48.645 --> 00:00:52.418 Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? 00:00:53.022 --> 00:00:57.569 Likewise, isn't it interesting how most of us in America sleep quite well at night 00:00:57.709 --> 00:01:00.254 while our military forces routinely invade, 00:01:00.394 --> 00:01:02.991 slaughter and steal from other nations at will; 00:01:03.131 --> 00:01:06.664 as, of course, all global empires have done historically, 00:01:06.804 --> 00:01:10.739 with, this time, a global civilian death toll well over 1 million 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.408 in the past decade alone, many of them women and children. 00:01:14.548 --> 00:01:19.136 Yet, the same American culture shudders in horror and confusion 00:01:19.276 --> 00:01:22.817 when some dude stumbles into an American schoolyard and randomly wipes out 00:01:22.957 --> 00:01:25.916 a couple dozen or so kids. 00:01:26.056 --> 00:01:30.051 I ask you, by what measure do we differentiate importance 00:01:30.191 --> 00:01:32.809 when it comes to the death of different groups of people? 00:01:32.949 --> 00:01:35.464 What makes us so special? 00:01:35.604 --> 00:01:39.449 While history is certainly full of xenophobic, racist, religious 00:01:39.589 --> 00:01:44.282 and nationalist conceits which have served as convenient justifications for 00:01:44.422 --> 00:01:48.767 external dehumanization, subjugation and imperial power abuse, 00:01:48.907 --> 00:01:53.358 a rather unnoticed yet profound scientific truth has also emerged: 00:01:53.498 --> 00:01:57.240 Today, every person on Earth can trace his or her lineage 00:01:57.380 --> 00:02:03.784 back to a single common female ancestor who lived about 200,000 years ago. 00:02:03.924 --> 00:02:06.706 'Mitochondrial Eve', she is now called, 00:02:06.846 --> 00:02:09.954 proving indeed that we are truly one family. 00:02:10.674 --> 00:02:15.732 Likewise, the planet Earth, the habitat this family shares, it knows no division. 00:02:15.872 --> 00:02:20.495 It is a unified, synergistic system at every turn, fully connected. 00:02:20.635 --> 00:02:24.587 It has no idea what a nation, a politician or a racist is. 00:02:24.727 --> 00:02:28.113 It has no notion of any such human conceit, for that matter; 00:02:28.253 --> 00:02:30.725 for division simply doesn't exist 00:02:30.865 --> 00:02:34.866 in the order of nature by which we're all invariably subject. 00:02:36.109 --> 00:02:38.408 Mark Twain once wrote 00:02:38.548 --> 00:02:42.483 "Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his country, 00:02:42.623 --> 00:02:45.695 under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, 00:02:45.835 --> 00:02:50.214 and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense 00:02:50.354 --> 00:02:52.752 to grab slices of other people's countries, 00:02:52.892 --> 00:02:55.765 and keep them from grabbing slices of his. 00:02:55.905 --> 00:03:00.634 And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands 00:03:00.774 --> 00:03:04.980 and works for 'the universal brotherhood of man'- with his mouth." 00:03:05.921 --> 00:03:11.164 While we all love to give lip service to the idea of peace and collaboration, 00:03:11.304 --> 00:03:15.315 holding up icons such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. 00:03:15.455 --> 00:03:19.442 something underneath the surface is clearly holding us back. 00:03:19.582 --> 00:03:21.587 Yes, we know for a fact 00:03:21.727 --> 00:03:25.367 that if we took the total war budgets of all the nations on Earth 00:03:25.507 --> 00:03:29.516 (tens of trillions of dollars over the past quarter century alone) 00:03:29.656 --> 00:03:33.613 and applied that energy-producing capital towards creating 00:03:33.753 --> 00:03:38.941 an advanced, intelligent, efficient system of Earth/Human management, 00:03:39.081 --> 00:03:43.344 not only would poverty and most deprivation be removed from our lives on the global scale 00:03:43.484 --> 00:03:46.849 our progressive capacity to create, build and improve 00:03:46.989 --> 00:03:49.655 rather than pillage, seek and destroy 00:03:49.795 --> 00:03:53.396 could catapult the human family into an age of prosperity 00:03:53.536 --> 00:03:55.482 never before seen. 00:03:55.622 --> 00:04:00.891 Just imagine. If we took America's Pentagon or Britain's Northwood 00:04:01.031 --> 00:04:04.268 along with all the world's advanced military centers, 00:04:04.408 --> 00:04:07.032 kicked all the army freaks out... 00:04:07.172 --> 00:04:09.345 OK, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be harsh. 00:04:09.485 --> 00:04:11.420 I guess we have to do something with them. 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:15.607 Maybe we can just take them all and place them in the Grand Canyon 00:04:15.747 --> 00:04:18.399 and just let them beat the piss out of each other, 00:04:18.539 --> 00:04:21.335 and hopefully they'll get it out of their systems and move on. 00:04:21.475 --> 00:04:23.909 I don't know, we'll figure that out later. 00:04:24.049 --> 00:04:27.244 But we, as the intelligent, mature human family 00:04:27.384 --> 00:04:29.829 now interested in improving the lives of all, 00:04:29.969 --> 00:04:34.983 we use that incredible technology to help assist true developmental progress. 00:04:35.123 --> 00:04:40.775 Imagine if the Manhattan Project, which harnessed about 130,000 people, 00:04:40.915 --> 00:04:44.535 mostly scientists and technicians, was dedicated not 00:04:44.675 --> 00:04:48.519 to building a bomb that could destroy on a scale never before seen; 00:04:48.659 --> 00:04:53.932 but rather, utilizing that collaborative drive to solve true global problems, 00:04:54.072 --> 00:04:56.164 perhaps those very problems 00:04:56.304 --> 00:04:59.844 which are causing the interest in war to begin with. 00:05:00.392 --> 00:05:03.897 Today, the hyper-glorified, romanticized obsession with competition, 00:05:04.037 --> 00:05:08.350 advantage and conflict has made it into almost every facet of our lives. 00:05:08.490 --> 00:05:13.133 Not only do we declare war against virtually everything that annoys us: 00:05:13.273 --> 00:05:16.858 'the war on drugs', 'the war on poverty', 'the war on crime', 00:05:16.998 --> 00:05:20.829 'the war on terrorism', 'the war on cancer', you name it; 00:05:20.969 --> 00:05:24.377 we also, apart from the near constant nationalist wars, 00:05:24.517 --> 00:05:28.418 live in a perpetual state of common war or 'class war' 00:05:28.558 --> 00:05:31.332 where we battle each other on a daily basis 00:05:31.472 --> 00:05:36.284 for unnecessary economic survival and delusions of status. 00:05:36.424 --> 00:05:39.030 The fact is, something has been set in motion 00:05:39.170 --> 00:05:41.958 that keeps us all on a multilevel war path. 00:05:42.098 --> 00:05:46.551 Something in our psychology and, hence, sociology is constantly pushing us 00:05:46.691 --> 00:05:50.910 into justifications of these patterns, and as this episode will argue 00:05:51.050 --> 00:05:54.364 that something appears to reside at the very foundation 00:05:54.504 --> 00:05:57.010 of the socioeconomic condition itself: 00:05:57.150 --> 00:06:02.207 a foundation which has given rise to an ever-expanding destructive neurosis 00:06:02.347 --> 00:06:06.513 a neurosis clearly characteristic of a culture in decline. 00:06:06.754 --> 00:06:09.301 From the creator of the Zeitgeist film trilogy 00:06:09.441 --> 00:06:12.230 comes the worst reality show of all time 00:06:12.370 --> 00:06:15.322 the real one 00:06:15.633 --> 00:06:17.726 GMP Films presents 00:06:19.143 --> 00:06:22.708 Culture In Decline 00:06:25.340 --> 00:06:28.276 with your guide, Peter Joseph. 00:06:35.769 --> 00:06:38.428 Breaking news 00:06:43.177 --> 00:06:46.941 This just in: The President has finished an emergency session at the White House 00:06:47.081 --> 00:06:49.810 where he announced that the security focus of his administration 00:06:49.950 --> 00:06:52.228 will be moving away from the global war on terror, 00:06:52.368 --> 00:06:56.332 instead, focusing all available resources against something the administration 00:06:56.472 --> 00:06:59.304 has deemed a larger threat to US and international security 00:06:59.444 --> 00:07:02.469 than anything recognized before: Nature itself. 00:07:02.787 --> 00:07:06.014 That's right, Dodge, the newly declared war against Nature 00:07:06.154 --> 00:07:09.400 will be usurping funds from the Department of Homeland Security 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:13.410 effectively replacing it with a new department, the Department of... 00:07:13.550 --> 00:07:15.797 I think I'm reading this right: 00:07:15.937 --> 00:07:19.114 "Fuck The Earth And The Science It Rode In On." 00:07:19.515 --> 00:07:22.636 That's correct, Summer, the administration has already appointed a head 00:07:22.776 --> 00:07:27.318 to this new department, the CEO of Monsanto Corporation, Satan himself. 00:07:27.458 --> 00:07:30.299 When questioned regarding concerns about a possible conflict of interest 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:33.358 of the new appointee, the Obama administration responded: 00:07:33.736 --> 00:07:37.223 "Monsanto's reputation of challenging the vast power of this intolerant, 00:07:37.363 --> 00:07:40.879 bullying force that goes by the terrorist name 'Natural Science' 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:43.128 holds great potential for our victory. 00:07:43.268 --> 00:07:45.752 We feel if anyone can take down these insurgent laws 00:07:45.892 --> 00:07:49.170 which restrict our God-given freedom, it is the professional experience 00:07:49.310 --> 00:07:51.822 of our true lord and master: the Prince of Darkness. 00:07:52.547 --> 00:07:55.865 We've just been informed that a press conference is now underway 00:07:56.005 --> 00:07:58.698 with the Pentagon's spokesperson answering questions. 00:07:58.838 --> 00:08:00.693 We now go live to the White House. 00:08:00.927 --> 00:08:03.941 As the President said earlier, the greatest barrier to US interests 00:08:04.081 --> 00:08:07.885 has been a constant state of offensive interference by this rogue network. 00:08:08.025 --> 00:08:12.150 Nature has been forcing its will against our freedom for long enough. 00:08:12.290 --> 00:08:16.359 Our economy, our values, the American way of life, it's not negotiable. 00:08:16.499 --> 00:08:20.381 Either Nature concedes to our interests and stops terrorizing us 00:08:20.521 --> 00:08:22.648 with its hatred of our liberty, 00:08:22.788 --> 00:08:25.794 or we will be forced to destroy it. 00:08:25.934 --> 00:08:27.574 Next question. 00:08:28.736 --> 00:08:30.858 Hi. Joe, from L.A. Times: 00:08:30.998 --> 00:08:33.750 Don't you feel it could be a bad idea to move against 00:08:33.890 --> 00:08:36.828 a force which has historically never been overcome 00:08:36.968 --> 00:08:39.235 or even phased by human action? 00:08:39.375 --> 00:08:42.662 Also, I understand Nature has given a set of demands which, if met, 00:08:42.802 --> 00:08:45.127 would cease many of its counterattacks. 00:08:45.267 --> 00:08:48.624 Has the administration considered just meeting these demands? 00:08:48.764 --> 00:08:53.082 Listen Joe, we don't negotiate with terrorists, and I've seen Nature's demands, 00:08:53.222 --> 00:08:57.162 full of queer Communist propaganda such a balance and sustainability. 00:08:57.302 --> 00:09:00.123 It even demands that we shut down our infinite growth consumption economy 00:09:00.263 --> 00:09:03.839 to make way for something where we are to be slaves to some oppressive 00:09:03.979 --> 00:09:06.390 natural regeneration respect. 00:09:06.530 --> 00:09:10.555 Listen, I didn't spend 35 years defending this country 00:09:10.695 --> 00:09:14.695 to have some metaphysical terrorist group with science on its side 00:09:14.835 --> 00:09:17.457 ruin what has made this nation great. 00:09:17.597 --> 00:09:20.300 No further questions. 00:09:21.585 --> 00:09:25.132 (P. Joseph) When we think of war, we usually think about gun-wielding soldiers, 00:09:25.272 --> 00:09:29.630 tanks, flame throwers, fancy metal honors and other theatrics. 00:09:29.770 --> 00:09:31.991 Yet, when we step outside the theater, 00:09:32.131 --> 00:09:35.138 digging deeper in our examination of the world around us 00:09:35.278 --> 00:09:38.046 we find that war is actually a state of mind, 00:09:38.186 --> 00:09:41.895 a reaction, driven by some type of competitive condition. 00:09:42.391 --> 00:09:46.153 If we had to classify the different levels of large scale competition, 00:09:46.293 --> 00:09:48.852 we might end up with two broad categories: 00:09:48.992 --> 00:09:51.353 imperial war and class war. 00:09:51.975 --> 00:09:54.451 Imperial war, otherwise known as national war, 00:09:54.591 --> 00:09:57.835 is when an aggressor nation decides to invade some other nation, 00:09:57.975 --> 00:10:01.068 justified by some form of perceived threat. 00:10:01.208 --> 00:10:04.804 Back in the day, this threat often appeared as purely ideological with 00:10:04.944 --> 00:10:08.989 religious groups battling it out to make sure they were in good with God, 00:10:09.129 --> 00:10:12.110 while in a mildly more literate scientific world today, 00:10:12.250 --> 00:10:16.133 the threat is more often than not pitched as direct to each of us. 00:10:16.273 --> 00:10:19.163 Such as, a rogue nation getting a nuclear weapon 00:10:19.303 --> 00:10:22.362 to blow up your grandmother's bingo tournament 00:10:22.502 --> 00:10:25.668 or perhaps a crazed state-funded hijacker crashing a plane 00:10:25.808 --> 00:10:28.357 into your favorite taco stand (bastards!). 00:10:28.497 --> 00:10:32.574 Regardless, in virtually every historical case, the justification for war 00:10:32.714 --> 00:10:38.082 put forward for public digestion has always been far from the truth. 00:10:38.222 --> 00:10:40.616 You see, there is indeed always a true threat, 00:10:40.756 --> 00:10:44.630 but that threat has little to do with the vast majority of the population. 00:10:44.770 --> 00:10:48.435 Instead, it is a threat that bothers only the highest echelons 00:10:48.575 --> 00:10:52.612 of social hierarchy, an elitist upper class self-preservation 00:10:52.752 --> 00:10:55.890 based around a loss of broad power and control. 00:10:56.030 --> 00:10:59.740 When was the last time the citizenry actually cried out for war? 00:10:59.880 --> 00:11:03.465 It doesn't happen, only the politicians go for it. 00:11:03.605 --> 00:11:07.635 Since the establishment would be hard-pressed to explain to their citizens 00:11:07.775 --> 00:11:11.239 that they are going to invade some nation for its natural resources, 00:11:11.379 --> 00:11:16.298 maintain currency domination, enable freedom for transnational corporations, 00:11:16.438 --> 00:11:19.488 along with other generally economic concerns 00:11:19.628 --> 00:11:22.225 to secure the interests of the upper 1%, 00:11:22.365 --> 00:11:26.256 various superficial, psychological ploys are used instead. 00:11:26.396 --> 00:11:29.044 The most common today is the moral crusade: 00:11:29.184 --> 00:11:33.775 We must not tolerate this regime using military force against its own people. 00:11:33.915 --> 00:11:37.142 (P. Joseph) coupled with some basic yet irrational threat of attack. 00:11:37.282 --> 00:11:40.560 Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat, 00:11:40.700 --> 00:11:44.816 not just to the US, but to Iran's neighbors and our allies. 00:11:44.956 --> 00:11:50.178 (P. Joseph) In the words of famed sociologist Thorstein Veblen, writing from 1917: 00:11:50.318 --> 00:11:53.424 "Any warlike enterprise that is hopeful to be entered on 00:11:53.564 --> 00:11:55.996 must have the moral sanction of the community. 00:11:56.136 --> 00:12:00.015 It consequently becomes the first concern of the warlike statesman 00:12:00.155 --> 00:12:04.944 to put this moral force in train for the adventure on which he is bent." 00:12:05.084 --> 00:12:07.861 You see, a large part of the imperial war is the psychological war 00:12:08.001 --> 00:12:11.696 against the domestic citizenry itself. 00:12:12.369 --> 00:12:15.380 The US government spends billions of dollars every year 00:12:15.520 --> 00:12:18.335 on public relations and recruitment alone, 00:12:18.475 --> 00:12:20.501 producing signs like this one: 00:12:20.976 --> 00:12:23.540 "For our nation, for us all." 00:12:23.763 --> 00:12:27.115 Is it me, or does that sound like Orwellian doublespeak? 00:12:27.255 --> 00:12:30.574 If it's 'for our nation', then it clearly isn't 'for us all', as the human species 00:12:30.714 --> 00:12:34.554 is the closest thing we have to 'all'. If it's referring to all of us in the nation 00:12:34.694 --> 00:12:38.521 that would be hideously redundant, right? I think what they mean to say 00:12:38.661 --> 00:12:41.875 in this warm, loving community slogan is: 00:12:42.015 --> 00:12:45.796 "For our nation, screw the rest." 00:12:47.743 --> 00:12:51.913 Cooking with Pepé 00:12:52.317 --> 00:12:55.351 Hello! Welcome to the show! My name is Pepé. 00:12:55.491 --> 00:12:57.700 Today, I've got something very special for you, 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:00.243 a true international delicacy: 00:13:00.383 --> 00:13:02.583 War! 00:13:03.614 --> 00:13:06.384 To prepare for war is a very delicate matter. 00:13:06.524 --> 00:13:10.347 The first thing we need to do is create some spicy tension 00:13:10.487 --> 00:13:13.256 to put fire in your belly. 00:13:13.396 --> 00:13:18.740 The first ingredient we need is a well-tempered provocation. 00:13:20.061 --> 00:13:23.719 Provocations are, of course, seasonal and subject to personal taste. 00:13:23.859 --> 00:13:26.970 So may I suggest something along the lines [of] 00:13:27.110 --> 00:13:30.455 a very nice Gulf of Tonkin, 00:13:32.091 --> 00:13:35.731 a robust Pearl Harbor, 00:13:38.059 --> 00:13:41.609 and if you're feeling bored, a bustling 9/11. 00:13:44.653 --> 00:13:50.586 Then, we let that cook for a bit and prepare our second ingredient, 00:13:50.726 --> 00:13:54.608 a special sauté to give life to our fiery dish: 00:13:54.837 --> 00:13:57.626 the mainstream media. 00:14:04.303 --> 00:14:08.793 Can you just smell the propaganda and delectable ignorance? 00:14:11.119 --> 00:14:13.552 After we get a nice sizzle going, 00:14:13.692 --> 00:14:17.145 we now add our final, most important ingredient: 00:14:18.173 --> 00:14:20.210 the delicious soldiers. 00:14:20.350 --> 00:14:23.797 The most ripe soldiers tend to grow in the more poor, 00:14:23.937 --> 00:14:27.991 rural areas of the world, often with limited literacy. 00:14:28.597 --> 00:14:31.212 You want to pick them around 00:14:31.352 --> 00:14:36.374 18, 19, because their brains are very immature and quite yummy, 00:14:36.514 --> 00:14:40.847 perfect for participation in our war meal. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:44.031 We mix it all together. 00:14:50.176 --> 00:14:55.316 Perhaps add a few, some preservatives like patriotism 00:14:55.456 --> 00:14:57.103 (not too much) 00:14:57.517 --> 00:14:59.229 jingoism, 00:14:59.369 --> 00:15:02.421 and, of course, our very special secret sauce. 00:15:10.988 --> 00:15:17.023 OK! And we are ready! The moment you have all been waiting for. 00:15:22.431 --> 00:15:28.109 I present to you the greatest international delicacy of all time: War. 00:15:30.292 --> 00:15:31.860 Bon appétit. 00:15:32.555 --> 00:15:35.922 (P. Joseph) Perhaps one of the most amusing aspects of national war 00:15:36.062 --> 00:15:39.357 is the circus-like pageantry and ceremonialism. 00:15:39.497 --> 00:15:42.844 Cute costumes, little hats, shiny pieces of metal, 00:15:42.984 --> 00:15:45.258 various parades and official posturing 00:15:45.398 --> 00:15:50.930 and all adornments and theatrics that give this air of honor and authority. 00:15:51.070 --> 00:15:53.706 Of course, this is not to dismiss the true sacrifice 00:15:53.846 --> 00:15:58.761 of those who have given their lives in war, as there are always two sides. 00:15:58.901 --> 00:16:02.748 This true honor comes from a position of working to help others, 00:16:02.888 --> 00:16:06.372 not exploit them. Just as we hold the bravery of a firefighter 00:16:06.512 --> 00:16:10.031 who enters a burning building to save a child in high regard, 00:16:10.171 --> 00:16:15.427 the intention to help society through military service is indeed a noble gesture. 00:16:15.567 --> 00:16:19.700 Even though, sadly enough, 99% of those who enter the military 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:24.133 with such noble intentions are more often than not being exploited 00:16:24.273 --> 00:16:28.417 for the criminal purposes of the corporate state. 00:16:28.780 --> 00:16:33.211 Still, you have to be impressed by the skill to give credence to an idea 00:16:33.351 --> 00:16:36.185 merely because of the nature of its presentation. 00:16:36.325 --> 00:16:40.044 In fact, whether it's academia, the news media, government itself 00:16:40.184 --> 00:16:44.208 the military or anything else in society, our culture tends to believe 00:16:44.348 --> 00:16:49.982 and respect people merely because of their presentation, confidence and rhetoric, 00:16:50.122 --> 00:16:54.291 not the actual meaning or reasoning of the communication itself. 00:17:00.931 --> 00:17:03.870 Did you know that the first television sets of the 1950s 00:17:04.010 --> 00:17:07.179 were actually supposed to be used as prosthetic replacement heads 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:10.287 to give new hope for those who had been tragically decapitated? 00:17:10.427 --> 00:17:12.508 But, technology, weight and 00:17:12.648 --> 00:17:15.823 cord length being what they were at the time, it failed. 00:17:15.963 --> 00:17:19.570 Luckily, they could play other things besides the faces of the deceased 00:17:19.710 --> 00:17:23.824 and TV sets sold nationwide, and it's all true! 00:17:23.964 --> 00:17:28.440 You know why? Because you heard it from some guy in a tie. 00:17:31.890 --> 00:17:36.456 In the end, once the traditional, propagandized illusions in defense 00:17:36.596 --> 00:17:40.719 of the act of organized human murder and resource theft have been overridden, 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:46.113 dismissing such shallow justifications as paternalism, honor and protectionism, 00:17:46.253 --> 00:17:49.870 we realize that war today is actually an inherent characteristic 00:17:50.010 --> 00:17:53.210 of the propertied, scarcity-driven business system. 00:17:53.350 --> 00:17:55.460 Major General Smedley D. Butler, 00:17:55.600 --> 00:17:58.900 one of the most notable and decorated officers in US history 00:17:59.040 --> 00:18:04.240 stated the following with respect to the business of war in 1935: 00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:09.000 "I spent 33 years and 4 months in active military service and during that period 00:18:09.150 --> 00:18:13.120 I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for big business, 00:18:13.270 --> 00:18:15.279 for Wall Street and the bankers. 00:18:15.419 --> 00:18:18.660 In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. 00:18:18.800 --> 00:18:21.116 I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico 00:18:21.256 --> 00:18:25.624 safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba 00:18:25.764 --> 00:18:29.430 a decent place for the National City boys to collect revenues in. 00:18:29.570 --> 00:18:32.899 I helped in the raping of a half a dozen Central American republics 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:36.040 for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua 00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:40.980 for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902 -1912. 00:18:41.120 --> 00:18:45.690 I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. 00:18:45.830 --> 00:18:49.292 I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. 00:18:49.432 --> 00:18:52.198 In China in 1927, I helped see to it that 00:18:52.338 --> 00:18:55.539 Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. 00:18:55.679 --> 00:18:59.487 Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. 00:18:59.627 --> 00:19:02.670 The best he could do was operate his racket in three districts. 00:19:02.810 --> 00:19:05.739 I operated on three continents." -Major General Smedley D. Butler 00:19:06.082 --> 00:19:09.873 Given all of this, it's unique how the general public tends to separate 00:19:10.013 --> 00:19:12.939 the day-to-day competitive business acumen 00:19:13.079 --> 00:19:17.055 from the severe form of competitive violent warfare, 00:19:17.195 --> 00:19:20.949 when there is very good evidence to show that they are deeply intermeshed. 00:19:21.089 --> 00:19:25.060 To gain some perspective on this, we now welcome back our resident guru, 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.055 Louie the Logic Gremlin. 00:19:27.818 --> 00:19:30.263 Ah! Before we get into the questions, I do have a letter here 00:19:30.403 --> 00:19:33.502 that I would like to read to you and get your opinion on. 00:19:33.642 --> 00:19:38.062 It reads: "Dear Peter, I really enjoy the new show. 00:19:38.202 --> 00:19:41.333 I think it is helping get these important messages across. 00:19:41.473 --> 00:19:46.809 However, I am disappointed with the crude Louie the Logic Gremlin character, 00:19:46.949 --> 00:19:50.429 as it is just irritating and hideously stupid. 00:19:50.569 --> 00:19:54.150 Also, would you please stop eating when you are speaking in the show. 00:19:54.290 --> 00:19:57.264 It's really disgusting and annoying. 00:19:57.404 --> 00:19:59.262 Rock on. Joe." 00:19:59.402 --> 00:20:03.008 I'm sorry, Joe. Louie, what do you think about that? 00:20:03.148 --> 00:20:05.768 Aesthetic orientation is largely a cultural phenomenon. 00:20:05.908 --> 00:20:08.500 Your decision to directly agitate your audience is odd, 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:10.839 but not without its communicative merit. 00:20:10.979 --> 00:20:14.450 Toats! [Totally] Sorry, Joe, shit stays. 00:20:17.271 --> 00:20:21.198 All right, so what's the skinny on war, man? 00:20:21.338 --> 00:20:25.339 Aren't we just crazy animals that have to be in endless conflict 00:20:25.479 --> 00:20:28.360 with each other due to our biology or something? 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:31.498 While the conflict reaction is predictable in our evolutionary psychology, 00:20:31.638 --> 00:20:33.759 the assumption of inevitably is absurdly false. 00:20:33.899 --> 00:20:36.736 Human nature exists as a propensity of interaction with conditions. 00:20:36.876 --> 00:20:39.120 If you reward competition and produce scarcity 00:20:39.260 --> 00:20:41.945 as we do today, you will perpetuate a conflict propensity. 00:20:42.085 --> 00:20:44.228 If you work to ease stress and reward balance, 00:20:44.368 --> 00:20:47.600 you will generate a collaborative propensity. - OK, I see what you're saying. 00:20:47.740 --> 00:20:51.100 You're saying that war is actually a system consequence? 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:54.798 Correct. The real underlying conflict is the war against social balance itself. 00:20:54.938 --> 00:20:56.998 National war is really a form of class war. 00:20:57.138 --> 00:21:00.438 Just as we have an economic hierarchy from lower to upper classes in America, 00:21:00.578 --> 00:21:03.290 the world is stratified in the same way, for the same reasons. 00:21:03.430 --> 00:21:05.134 In this case with terms such as 00:21:05.274 --> 00:21:08.003 "super-powers", "sub-powers" and "vassal states". - Interesting. 00:21:08.143 --> 00:21:12.070 So, how do we resolve this war tendency then? 00:21:12.310 --> 00:21:14.356 Remove the social reinforcements of it. 00:21:14.496 --> 00:21:17.439 If society shifts to rewarding balance, abundance and collaboration, 00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:19.300 then your species may have a chance. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.770 Otherwise, you people are likely fucked, as you are 00:21:21.910 --> 00:21:25.072 too immature right now to handle your own technological power. - Gotcha 00:21:25.212 --> 00:21:27.825 Well, thank you for your time, Louie. 00:21:27.965 --> 00:21:30.244 To gain some public consensus on the issue, 00:21:30.384 --> 00:21:33.446 we now turn live to our east coast 'Culture in Decline' correspondent, 00:21:33.586 --> 00:21:36.150 Big Scottie D, who's live in New York City 00:21:36.290 --> 00:21:38.570 to talk with people about what they think of war. 00:21:40.270 --> 00:21:43.700 Well, thank you, Peter. I am here in New York City 00:21:43.840 --> 00:21:46.452 on a beautiful cold day and 00:21:46.592 --> 00:21:49.861 I'm going to try to find some people to maybe talk to. 00:21:50.001 --> 00:21:52.299 Excuse me, excuse me, Ma'am, would you like to... 00:21:52.439 --> 00:21:54.969 Excuse me, Sir... Sir, would you like to talk about the war? 00:21:55.109 --> 00:21:57.478 - What? - Would you like to talk about the war, Sir? - No. 00:21:57.787 --> 00:21:59.979 - Would you like to talk about the war today? 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:01.723 War? No? 00:22:02.307 --> 00:22:04.720 Sir, would you like to talk about the war? - God bless. 00:22:04.860 --> 00:22:07.112 - No? The war? Please? The war? 00:22:07.252 --> 00:22:10.253 Anyone who would like to talk about the war? 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:15.530 I am just sick of this, Peter. You're sending me on these assignments. 00:22:15.670 --> 00:22:17.876 It's freaking freezing out here! 00:22:18.016 --> 00:22:21.899 I'd rather be in a bar getting drunk and then maybe I can do this, all right? 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:23.999 I think there's a bar up here. 00:22:24.139 --> 00:22:25.909 Let me just grab my shit. 00:22:26.049 --> 00:22:27.879 You know, I'm just sick of this. 00:22:28.391 --> 00:22:30.390 Goddammit! 00:22:33.691 --> 00:22:36.180 I said I am done, man! I am done! 00:22:36.320 --> 00:22:38.456 Get some other monkey, OK? 00:22:39.127 --> 00:22:41.789 There's trash and shit all over the place! 00:22:41.929 --> 00:22:45.160 What does Peter wants to know about? He wants to know about the war! 00:22:45.300 --> 00:22:47.916 Well, I am sick of it, man! 00:22:48.056 --> 00:22:51.101 I've got to calm down. I just need a drink. 00:22:51.811 --> 00:22:54.529 - Any of you are Occupy Wall Street types? 00:22:54.669 --> 00:22:56.468 [Praise. Applause] 00:22:56.608 --> 00:22:59.950 ♪ Oooh it's not about money, except when you can't eat ♫ 00:23:00.090 --> 00:23:04.119 ♪ and it's not about foreclosures except when you've got nowhere to sleep ♫ 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:07.729 ♪ It's not about elections except when they can be bought ♫ 00:23:07.869 --> 00:23:11.371 ♪ and it's not about the wars except when they're fought. ♫ 00:23:11.511 --> 00:23:15.091 ♪ It's not about the environment except if we're running out of time ♫ 00:23:15.231 --> 00:23:18.749 ♪ It's not about my choices, except when they're not mine ♫ 00:23:18.889 --> 00:23:21.919 ♪ It's not the lack of justice, except when you can't fight back ♫ 00:23:22.059 --> 00:23:26.159 ♪ and it's not about the police, unless, umm, your black! ♫ 00:23:26.299 --> 00:23:29.795 ♪ Fuck this shit! Fuck this shit! ♫ 00:23:29.935 --> 00:23:33.583 ♪ Come on, you want to say it, fuck this shit! Everybody ♫ 00:23:33.723 --> 00:23:36.554 ♪ fuck this shit! fuck this shit! ♫ 00:23:36.694 --> 00:23:39.300 ♪ Don't worry, none of these people are going to be at work tomorrow ♫ 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:41.036 ♪ Fuck this shit, oooh ♫ 00:23:41.176 --> 00:23:44.670 We're so totally ruled by the 1%, which is basically all the corporations. 00:23:44.810 --> 00:23:47.853 wanting to sell us shit, influence us, influence our culture, 00:23:47.993 --> 00:23:50.420 so that we can't even think for ourselves and we're... 00:23:50.560 --> 00:23:53.750 our sense of self is altered and even our sense of health. 00:23:53.890 --> 00:23:57.350 I don't even fucking smoke! I don't know where this comes from? Jesus! 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:02.149 Peter Joseph has asked us to stand out here in the freezing cold 00:24:02.289 --> 00:24:05.150 and talk about the difference of classes here, but 00:24:05.290 --> 00:24:08.440 he is sitting in his LA loft, relaxing 00:24:08.580 --> 00:24:12.170 with his big flat screen TV. 00:24:28.335 --> 00:24:29.692 New video message! 00:24:36.040 --> 00:24:37.957 - Yeah, fuck him! 00:24:38.683 --> 00:24:40.130 - Fuck Peter Joseph! 00:24:40.394 --> 00:24:45.039 The only thing that we don't have a war on, is a war on war, 00:24:45.179 --> 00:24:48.350 and I think that, as peace activists,we don't want to fight; 00:24:48.490 --> 00:24:51.669 so, we are going to end up loosing, due to irony! 00:24:54.350 --> 00:24:56.113 Final thoughts: 00:24:56.253 --> 00:25:00.292 How do we think about resolution of something as detrimental as national war, 00:25:00.432 --> 00:25:04.740 when, on the micro level, we in society actually praise, reward 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:08.400 and reinforce the same basic underlying competitive drive? 00:25:08.782 --> 00:25:12.430 Generally, when faced with such a question, people tend to play the morality card, 00:25:12.570 --> 00:25:15.496 as though a matter of degree is what's relevant 00:25:15.636 --> 00:25:18.249 not the philosophical basis itself. 00:25:18.389 --> 00:25:22.096 Usually this vague distinction is gestured to the effect that 00:25:22.236 --> 00:25:27.365 competition is good, but we should never go too far and be violent in any way. 00:25:27.505 --> 00:25:31.340 Then, of course, the question becomes "What constitutes violence?" 00:25:32.051 --> 00:25:34.590 What if, instead of physically attacking you directly, 00:25:34.730 --> 00:25:37.762 I put you into a subtle yet deeply toxic condition, 00:25:37.902 --> 00:25:40.999 where your life is shorten by decades via heart disease, cancer, 00:25:41.139 --> 00:25:43.600 mental illness, and other such consequences. 00:25:43.740 --> 00:25:45.694 Would that be considered violent? 00:25:45.834 --> 00:25:49.100 And what if such intentions were not even directly malicious, 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:52.185 such as a lower class, desperate single mother 00:25:52.325 --> 00:25:54.509 forced to work three jobs to keep up, 00:25:54.649 --> 00:25:57.930 who fails one night to provide proper supervision for her child, 00:25:58.070 --> 00:26:00.661 resulting in the death of her child? 00:26:00.801 --> 00:26:05.296 I ask you "What is the true origin of the resulting death, 00:26:05.436 --> 00:26:08.196 and does that qualify as violent?" 00:26:08.751 --> 00:26:10.907 To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi 00:26:11.047 --> 00:26:14.506 "Poverty is the worst form of violence." 00:26:14.646 --> 00:26:18.400 You see, the real war going on is not as obvious as many think. 00:26:18.540 --> 00:26:22.927 The real war exists in the very structure of our society itself, 00:26:23.212 --> 00:26:25.646 something public health officials have now termed 00:26:25.786 --> 00:26:27.552 'Structural Violence': 00:26:27.692 --> 00:26:31.658 a war, in fact, against public health and balance itself, 00:26:31.798 --> 00:26:36.500 constantly producing casualty after casualty in its hidden oppression; 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:39.669 and this form of violence today kills more people 00:26:39.809 --> 00:26:43.881 than every type of direct behavioral violence put together. 00:26:44.021 --> 00:26:46.119 Its origin? A social system 00:26:46.259 --> 00:26:50.856 literally built upon competition and exploitation itself 00:26:50.996 --> 00:26:53.698 So, for all you noble activists out there, for all of you 00:26:53.838 --> 00:26:57.507 who pile into protest zones each time a new national war emerges 00:26:57.647 --> 00:27:00.500 and yell at the top of your lungs, keep in mind, 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:05.297 that you are only targeting a symptom of a larger sociological problem 00:27:05.437 --> 00:27:09.150 and until the activist community realizes this, I am sorry to say: 00:27:09.290 --> 00:27:12.003 your protests have no long-term consequence, 00:27:12.143 --> 00:27:14.595 as they do not address the root problem. 00:27:15.341 --> 00:27:19.419 But, on the bright side, it's still great entertainment, right? 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:21.950 so let's keep watching this bizarre human experiment, 00:27:22.090 --> 00:27:25.772 certainly the greatest, yet worst reality show of all time, for sure. 00:27:25.912 --> 00:27:28.739 I am Peter Joseph, and yes I, like you, 00:27:28.879 --> 00:27:32.364 am an agent and victim of a culture in decline. 00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:37.819 Where is the credit scene? 00:27:37.959 --> 00:27:41.708 What? What do you mean "Bob didn't get hurt"? 00:27:44.630 --> 00:27:46.312 I'm sorry, Bob. 00:27:46.452 --> 00:27:48.500 It's the format of the show. 00:27:51.123 --> 00:27:54.525 "Neither the great political and financial power structures of the world, 00:27:54.665 --> 00:27:58.121 nor the specialization-blinded professionals nor the population in general 00:27:58.261 --> 00:28:01.747 realizes that... it is now highly feasible to take care of everyone on earth 00:28:01.887 --> 00:28:04.641 at a higher standard of living than they have ever known. 00:28:04.781 --> 00:28:07.650 It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary 00:28:07.790 --> 00:28:10.542 and henceforth unrationalizable as mandated by survival. 00:28:10.682 --> 00:28:14.470 War is obsolete." - R. Buckminster Fuller 00:28:20.326 --> 00:28:25.790 Written and edited by Peter Joseph while severely constipated 00:28:26.377 --> 00:28:29.366 Culture in Decline 00:28:44.840 --> 00:28:48.870 What if what I'm about to tell you makes you question 'what is what'? 00:28:49.010 --> 00:28:51.997 What if I propose a 'what if' scenario? 00:28:52.137 --> 00:28:55.154 What if I were to take up precious time in your busy life 00:28:55.294 --> 00:28:59.678 just spinning you on a soul-dulling spiral with meaningless double-talk? 00:28:59.818 --> 00:29:03.940 But at the same time, what if I kept you distracted with flashy graphics? 00:29:04.080 --> 00:29:07.230 Would you notice? Or for that matter, would you care? 00:29:07.429 --> 00:29:12.129 Naah. You're too busy, listening to some guy in a tie. 00:29:12.269 --> 00:29:13.489 And sleep. (Snap!)