O Capital no Século XXI

A very interesting, well sourced, look at Capitalism in the context of history, and it's modern day problems

A memorising journey through time following the flow of wealth across centuries to give insight into where we might be heading.

The film is based on the best-selling book of the same name by French economist Thomas Piketty, who's research suggests we're trending back to a world resembling 18th Century style capitalism -- where a small number of mega-rich own everything and the rest of us are forced to 'rent' our lives; and where the middle-class shirks back to be almost as poor as the poorest. It's a world where social mobility is low and inheritance is king.

Already today the very wealthy are able to avoid paying taxes - just like the aristocracy of the past - and many use their wealth to distort democracy for their benefit. The film is a call to rewire capitalism to produce fairer outcomes for the majority of the population. It doesn't reject capital, but instead calls for it to be tamed.

Though this is no dry lecture... never has economics been more entertaining. Capital in the Twenty-First Century is a mash-up of pop culture through time that reflects the moods of the eras it traverses - from Jane Austin to The Simpsons - and it's all set to a killer soundtrack!

That said, the film is also careful not to dumb down the economics. Piketty's most famous finding, R>G (essentially that the growth rate of capital over time is consistently higher than the growth rate of the economy), is elegantly explained. As are ideas for solving tax havens and new ways to tax and control capital.

Highly recommend the film as an easy introduction to the ideas of one of the world's preeminent economic thinkers. Of course the 700 page book goes much deeper, but this is far more fun.

I definitely learned some things, and also didn't. We keep on hearing the same story over and over again. The economy seems to keep lurching from crisis to crisis, and people throw up their hands every time there's a collapse of sorts and then private equity shows up and buys up everything, and the cycle of wealth accumulation goes basically unchallenged. Rinse, repeat. I don't really think it's that hard to imagine a solution. Politically, it shouldn't even be that hard. The elites make it seem like the solutions are untenable, but they distort the narrative significantly.

I have been reading a book about the Koch brothers, and I can say with absolute certainty: do not trust ANYTHING they say. I say to my family, when Eminem even acknowledges the very existence of mumble rappers, it gives them more power. It's the same with the 'mainstream news' media. If you even accept the very idea that someone's views on an opposing channel are worth debating, you have implicitly bought into the idea that they even have merit in the first place. So it's simple: don't accept the narratives of the elites. They live in a complete bubble and think the entire universe revolves around them, and they are absolutely myopic because they only hear each others' opinions and live in separate zip codes. I once heard, "To be rich in America means never having to be around people who aren't." So don't even accept any of the premises they are arguing from.

We need to have a reckoning. Don't accept the status quo.

There is a good documentary underneath the layers of ideology pushed in this documentary. The people who made this documentary humorously talk about equality whilst promoting identity politics. Further, this documentary suffers from people who don't know their history very well. I specifically do not put this onto the author of the book.

The documentary opens with slavery and tries to attribute all wealth of Europe and England to slavery. This doesn't work for countries like Germany and Switzerland (among others). Further, they purposely ignored slavery in Africa (by Africans) or slavery by the Arabs and why that was somehow different.

What the creators almost completely missed was the Industrial Revolution (it was touched on). The drive away from slavery had a significant impact on productivity and competition (but you have to know history to know that).

Then during the documentary, you have people like Kate William who (unbelievably) said we must remember the "working class and women". It's unclear if she meant "no woman must ever be poor" or if she was promoting the "Ophrah Winfrey is oppressed" angle. With an ideologist (more specifically, a sexist), reason is always missing.

The documentary also touched on how noble China was, ignoring how people were welded into their houses, how Hong Kong was destroyed, or how the Uyghurs are interned in concentration camps. This isn't to side-step the criticisms of the west (which are predominantly spelled out in this documentary - and quite fairly might I add). It's unclear what the motive of this false narrative was.

Then there's the jaw-dropping narcissism of Faiza Shaheen who unbelievably said "why does my 26yo brother in law have to live at home". My parents lived in a garage for 10 years! I lived in shabby accommodation for 10 years - but Ms Shaheen believes she is special! The narcissim was unbeliebable.

Then there's the "all white people are racist narrative". In recent months, AOC and Nancy Pelosi and Jo BIden who continually disparage all white people with the "white supremacy" pejorative that the documentary "glossed over". Instead, they went for the "we are all equal (some more than others)" narrative.

Rather than glorifying Margaret Thatcher in a "girl power" narrative, they could have talked how she destroyed working class Brits and incited significant levels of violence whilst destroying people's lives, especially as that was a theme of the documentary. Sadly, such analysis would never have been permitted when the documentary was heavily influenced by ideology.

If you can make it past the indoctrination and the "you shouldn't think for yourself", there is an excellent message about tax havens, inheritance, concentrations of wealth and the failure of trickle down economics.

My honest advice is the director and several of the guest speakers were unfit to be involved in a documentary and the documentary suffered for it. The message was clear... all people are equal but some are more equal than others. A message sung loudly by Kate William and Ms Shaheen

I'm being kind and giving it 6/10 because the underlying message (under the ideology) was solid.

It's impossible not to be deeply affected by this film. It brings out the gross inequalities that exist today, but more importantly, how they relate to the history of the last 200+ years.

I wish our politicians would see this film and act ... before it is too late!