Meritocracy: Capitalism’s #1 Myth to Control You

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Meritocracy is a myth, a sweet lie we are told to make capitalism seem fair. But is this lie really all that sweet? Is meritocracy something good to strive for – or is it trash?

This video will:

1. Discuss how belief in meritocracy is used to pacify, control, and manipulate us into supporting a system that is against our interests.

2. Present evidence that society is not a meritocracy: meritocracy is a myth.

3. Assert that the capitalist class makes money not by merit but by owning assets, and that profit gained from this ownership can be considered a legally protected form of theft. This is not a meritocracy but a kleptocracy.

4. Make the case that meritocracy, although it would be an improvement from our current society, is not a desirable goal to aspire to. It is capitalism’s version of utopia, but it is a dystopian utopia.

5. Present what I consider a preferable alternative to meritocracy, as described by Peter (Pyotr) Kropotkin in his book The Conquest of Bread (aka The Bread Book).

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►►►Check out some of my other videos◄◄◄

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► Playlist

VIDEO SECTIONS

0:00 Introduction
0:17 Plutonomy: Citigroup’s Secret Memos
3:12 Part 1: The Meritocracy Myth is Pacifying
5:55 Part 2: Meritocracy is a Myth
9:31 Part 2.1: Merit and the Capitalist Class
11:39 Part 3: Meritocracy is Not Worth Having
26:30 Wrap-Up
27:40 Outro

SOURCES

Part 1

Citigroup’s secret memos:
- “Plutonomy: Buying Luxury, Explaining Global Imbalances” 16 Oct 2005
- “Revisiting Plutonomy: The Rich Getting Richer” 5 Mar 2006
- “The Plutonomy Symposium - Rising Tides, Lifting Yachts” 29 Sep 2006

Links to download all three memos


Part 2

Edward N. Wolff & Maury Gittleman, “Inheritances and the Distribution of Wealth - Or Whatever Happened to the Great Inheritance Boom?” US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Working Papers # 445, Jan 2011, Table 7


Raj Chetty, et al. “IS THE UNITED STATES STILL A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY? RECENT TRENDS IN INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY.” National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper Series # 19844. Jan 2014


Matt Bruenig “What’s more important: a college degree or being born rich?” 13 Jun 2013


Part 3

Pyotr Kropotkin, The Conquest of Bread. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1906 (original: 1892)


MUSIC CREDITS

Winter (Vivaldi)
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Tchaikovsky)
In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Grieg)
MydNyte (Noir Et Blanc Vie)
Beyond (Patrick Patrikios)
slow-trap-drums_104bpm (dMoney) samplefocus.com
Entry Of The Gladiators (Julius Fucik)
Boardroom Theme (Unicorn Heads)
Connection (Wayne Jones)
Epic Battle Speech (Wayne Jones)
Sound Off Alert March (US Marine Band)

MISC. CREDITS

Video clip: George Carlin, Life Is Worth Losing

Intro inspired by Michael Moore: Capitalism a Love Story

Usually my main creative inspiration is ContraPoints but here I’m going for a style similar to Some More News or Last Week Tonight

VISUAL CREDITS

freepik.com pictures by
drobotdean
cookie_studio
katemangostar
vectorpocket
8photo
starline
freepik
upklyak
luis_molinero
rawpixel.com

Wikimedia Commons, Mwaldeck, Citibank_Rio_de_Janeiro.jpg

4K Planet Earth Spinning in Space: Free HD Videos - No Copyright

KEYWORD SEARCH TERMS
meritocracy capitalism capitalist meritocracy myth pacify control manipulate class plutonomy plutocracy kleptocracy class struggle class conflict class war Kropotkin Conquest of Bread The Bread Book, LuckyBlackCat, Lucky Black Cat


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