Four Horsemen Documentary

Four Horsemen Transcription:

  Four Horsemen Documentary - Official Full Version

"All experience has shown that mankind is more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." - American Declaration of Independence.

"People are awfully forgiving. They just don't understand what has been done to them. We are at an epochal shift. We're at a point where the West could tip into a complacent and quite well-off redundancy, or we could play a decisive role in the future.

What the banks did was reprehensible. That was why there was outrage at the greed of the bankers when we gave them money that was supposed to help them lend to others, but they decided to use that money to pay themselves bonuses - for what, for record losses?

We are governed by corporations today, often by corporations that don't have much interest in the United States of America. I don't know what happened, man, what happened to the U.S., it went so far in the ditch. You know, what... at what moment did it all go bad? Was it Disco? Was it Donna Summer? Is that what killed America?

We are entering the Age of Consequence. A rapacious financial system, escalating organized violence, abject poverty for billions, and the looming environmental fallout are all converging at a time when governments, religion, and mainstream economists have stalled. War, conquest, famine, and death - the Four Horsemen are coming.

This is not a film that sees conspiracies. It is not a film that mongers fear. It is not a film that blames bankers or politicians. It's a film that questions the systems we've created and suggests ways to reform them.

Over centuries, systems have been subtly modified, manipulated, and even corrupted, often to serve the interests of the few. We have continually accepted these changes, and because humans can adjust to living under virtually any conditions, the trait that has enabled us to survive is the very trait that has suppressed us. Most societies have an elite, and the elites try to stay in power. And the way they stay in power is not merely by controlling the means of production, to be Marxist, i.e., controlling the money, but by controlling the cognitive map, the way we think. And what really matters in that respect is not so much what is actually said in public but what is left undebated, unsaid.

For centuries, gatekeepers have manipulated our cognitive map. But in 1989, a computer scientist by the name of Tim Berners-Lee implemented the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server. The World Wide Web was born. It has since unleashed a tsunami of instantly accessible, freely available information. Just as Gutenberg's printing press wrestled control of the cognitive map away from an ecclesiastical and royal elite, today the internet is beginning to change governments, finance, and the media. We are at the cusp of change. But to enact it, we must first understand the things that have been left unsaid for so long. To do that, we need context from people who speak the truth in the face of collective delusion because to understand something is to be liberated from it.

All a great power has to do to destroy itself is persist in trying to do the impossible." - Stephen Vizinczey

At the end of World War II, we had 50% of the world's gross domestic product; we were making 54,000 airplanes a year, 7,000 ships, etc. We were the new Rome. And we recognized it and devised a power management scheme in the 1947 National Security Act to, we thought, manage it, and it worked fairly well during the Cold War. But we haven't done anything since, and I think.

And thus, the ever-increasing wealth gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow bigger and bigger, and bigger. When a country moves away from the gold standard and adopts a fiat money currency along with a fractional reserve banking system, it ends up accumulating debt at a faster rate than it can produce to support that debt. This leads to a situation where the country finds itself trapped in debt slavery. This is what has happened in the United States, where every dollar of GDP now generates approximately $5.50 worth of debt. When an economy undergoes a shift like this, it ultimately destabilizes and capsizes.

Ironically, the government's solution to address these problems is to create more debt, which only exacerbates the issue. However, creating more debt does not solve the problem of existing debt or generate real wealth. If printing money could create wealth, then Zimbabwe would be the wealthiest nation on Earth, but we all know that this approach doesn't work. Currently, 97% of the money in the world is debt. As the French philosopher Voltaire once said, "All paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value - zero."

For several generations, the world witnessed the struggle between capitalism and communism. However, in the 1980s, the Russian economy started collapsing, leading to the Soviet Union's capitulation and the triumph of so-called capitalism. Before 1989, there was a battle between communism and the market, where criticizing the flaws of the market economy was discouraged to maintain a united front against the opposing team. It became evident that communism failed due to inefficiency, lack of respect for human rights, and the inability to deliver well-being to society. With communism's failure, capitalism, too, is destined to fail because both systems attempt the impossible task of perpetual growth. While communism failed first, capitalism is currently failing or on the verge of failure.

The United States finds itself in a challenging position today. Throughout its history, which spans 200-300 years, the country operated under the assumption that resources could always be expanded. In the face of challenges, the solution was to expand and make the pie bigger so that everyone could have a larger piece. However, the world is now entering an era where resources are becoming more constrained, forcing the country to divide the pie and inflict pain on its people. The nation is ill-prepared for this shift in circumstances.

The American dream has become distorted, deviating significantly from the intentions of the founding fathers. Over the past 30 to 40 years, capitalism has taken an extreme form, influenced by economists like Milton Friedman from the Chicago School, as well as political leaders such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. These figures supported policies that encouraged excessive debt, privatization, smaller governments (despite increased military spending), deregulation, and the absolution of regulations governing corporations. This has resulted in a bloated and invasive state, where corporations and their leaders are left largely unregulated, creating a system where the rich can make mistakes without consequences while the poor suffer the repercussions.

When wealthy individuals claim that they have become rich through exploitative methods, it is merely self-serving propaganda that should be disregarded. While it is true that in any society, some individuals will succeed while others struggle, this is a natural outcome. However, the argument that inequality is necessary for institutions like Goldman Sachs to function is completely illogical.

At what point does morality come into play when considering economic calculations? Many people believe that Adam Smith gave us a free pass by stating that individuals, in pursuit of their self-interest, are guided by an invisible hand towards the well-being of society. However, it is important to note that Adam Smith did not explicitly state this. He was well aware of the negative aspects of businesses, such as conspiring against the public interest, raising prices, and the importance of education, which the private sector couldn't provide. Unfortunately, his later followers seem to have forgotten these caveats.

Adam Smith is often referred to as the godfather of classical economics. However, since the publication of his work, it has been manipulated and used as a political tool by financiers to suit their own interests. Lord Griffiths, for example, promotes ruthless individualism to support the idea that if bankers become rich, everyone else will benefit through trickle-down economics. The concept is often referred to as the "Horse-and-Sparrow theory," suggesting that if you feed the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows. The belief is that extreme wealth concentrated among a minority will eventually trickle down to the rest of society. However, this theory does not hold up in reality. By the time the wealth reaches the bottom of the wealth pyramid, it has lost its purchasing power.

The public is now understandably confused about why political leaders have allowed this situation to occur. The answer lies in the flawed political processes that depend heavily on lobbyists and campaign contributions. To address this issue, many people, including myself, believe that we need to restructure our political processes to give more voice to ordinary citizens and reduce the influence of interest groups and moneyed entities that have played a significant role in shaping our tax code and regulations.

The speaker recounts a conversation with Colin Powell, where he asked about Powell's plans for the future. Powell mentioned the possibility of a Cabinet position but emphasized the importance of money, stating that millions are required to hold such a position in the American government. This anecdote highlights how both Democrats and Republicans are beholden to corporate interests, and until they break free from that influence, our republic will not be well-governed.

Moving on to the topic of terrorism, the speaker quotes George Orwell, who described political language as a tool to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable. The speaker points out that the inherent iniquity in our money, banking, and political systems has had significant global consequences, not just domestically. Western leaders often present military campaigns in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan as moral obligations, but there may be other motivations behind these actions.

The first financial beneficiaries of America's foreign policy are the military and those who supply it with arms and equipment. However, the effectiveness of the military in eradicating terrorism is questionable. Drone attacks, for instance, have not only failed but have also contributed to increased extremism and radicalization of youth in certain regions. There is speculation that these attacks might be deliberately carried out to destabilize countries like Pakistan. The speaker questions the need for massive military operations that displace millions of people when surgical commando operations could target militant leaders more effectively.

Another group that benefits financially from military campaigns are the contractors who win contracts for the rebuilding process. While it may seem positive when developed nations invest billions of dollars in developing nations for infrastructure development, the reality is often different. Economic hit men, as the speaker describes them, create.

"Otherwise, not only will they be nasty, brutish, and short, but they'll be lonely. The West is coming to the realization that its human project is failing. The West was convinced that pushing people to achieve as individuals would result in accumulated individual achievements and a successful society. However, the West is now beginning to realize that individual achievement without incorporating the vulnerable community is a myth.

The idea was to make one's own life, be individually aspiring, achieve individual prosperity, and find individual happiness. However, pursuing this individualistic path is like living in a glass jar with limited height, encapsulating oneself. In the end, it leads to a lack of oxygen and implosion. Human beings seek attachment and are propelled by affection. Therefore, the isolated achieving individual eventually collapses. To find a purpose in life, it has to be outside oneself. It doesn't matter how it is constructed outside oneself as long as it adds positive value to society.

Progress:
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain

One of the most powerful cultural frameworks shaping Western thinking today is the Hollywood film construction. It follows a pattern of a beginning, a middle, and an end, with drama, tension, resolution, and usually a good guy and a bad guy. This Hollywoodization of communication and storytelling has impacted the way people view the financial crisis. People expect a resolution, baddies to blame, and sacrificial victims. However, the financial crisis was not caused by one or two individuals but by systemic flaws. People find it hard to grasp this idea and even harder to depict it as a good story.

Cleansing a few "bad apples" will not rectify the flaws in the Western economic system. The current system, which should protect people, enables the Four Horsemen (rapacious financial system, escalating organized violence, abject poverty for billions, and the exhaustion of Earth's resources) to ride roughshod over the most vulnerable. This situation is perpetuated by the cognitive map established by schools, universities, and the media, which discourages questioning accepted norms and fosters apathy.

To address these issues, societies need to become more equal and reduce income differences. Creating a qualitatively better society for everyone requires recognizing that most problems can be substantially improved by reducing inequality. However, the apathy is engineered through disinformation and propaganda perpetuated by the real estate and financial interests that own the public media.

The disinformation is also propagated through the neo-classical school of economics, which has convinced the world that its models are gospel. However, with the dawn of the internet enlightenment, the cloud of ignorance upheld by academic and media gatekeepers is being removed. It is crucial to question and understand the issues surrounding economics, power, and democracy, as they affect everyone.

The current monetary system, based on fiat money, is unsustainable and could lead to the collapse of industrial civilization. Gold, as a natural form of money, offers stability in purchasing power due to its consistent supply-demand equation. Sound money is necessary for human liberty, and gold remains outside the control of politicians. The chronic excess of debt in today's monetary processes has enslaved societies, and debt cancellation, as demonstrated by the German economic miracle in 1947, can provide a fresh start.

Taxation systems need to be reformed, shifting from taxing production to taxing consumption. Land taxation, based on the value of natural resources, would be a fair and efficient source of taxation, reducing the need for income tax and other burdensome taxes. Implementing this system would address global poverty, housing and debt crises, and promote entrepreneurship.

Another principle to be resurrected is worker ownership of plants, which was promoted during the Industrial Revolution. Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party of the late .