David Simon on the End of the American Empire
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- Опубліковано 1 гру 2024
- Speaking at Loyola College, David Simon, an author and creator of the acclaimed HBO program, "The Wire," shares his views on the end of the American Empire in three video segments. He says we're headed for separate Americas of "haves and have-nots." Simon faults "unencumbered Capitalism" for making our country care less about the most vulnerable of our citizens. Unless we change, he predicts "we are doomed."
Simon's critique of bureaucratic fraud in both government and the private sector was eerily prescient of the subprime mortgage crisis, as well as offering great insight into how society has been shaped in the last 30 years.
The more I learn the more I realize just how right David Simon was on the systemic flaws of our world.
How refreshing to hear this level of honesty about where we are heading as a society.
I do believe this lecture is worth taking into consideration NOW.there is alot of vision and realities in this lecture.well worth listening to and processing.
Very good analysis, greed has destroyed America.
I'd like to see Chris Hedges sit down and debate David Simon. The dialogue would be enlightening I believe.
Gov't is inefficient not b/c we let it, as if we have a choice in the matter, but b/c there is a lack of accountability that is unheard of in the private sector, which is why the private sector is by far the most efficient means of getting things done. The bigger the bureaucracy, the more problems you get.
In the end, an empire and its dominion (be it physical, economic, etc...) is the result of fear for nation's own survival. When most people talk of the end of the American Empire they picture the country in flames, but I like to see it as America taking a deep breath and having enough faith in its peers to relax and finally let go.
The reason this is the best country in the world and why countless people come here to america is b/c they are given an opportunity, a chance to be the best they can be. America is build on the greatness of the individual, not on the 'backbone' of the average person. There will always be workers, but its the innovators and the best, brightest and smartest that make a civilization grow and prosper. One hand washes the other.
unfortunately, it's looking like he's completely right. I don't think he could have predicted the role that social media echo chambers and other modern technological influences have had in dissolving the ability for people to care about those who are different to them, but he's right all the same. it's looking like the individual is worth less and less in this new age of humanity
We are worth less now, but mostly if we do blue-collar work that can be done by robots and machines.
Give it another 100 years Dave.
That is why we need an internalized system of moral development where people 'police' themselves (where people do right not out of fear of some external agency but rather because of self awareness and understanding the interdependent relationship to others and the universe) PEACE...hopefully but only if we choose it.
Man, you got that right. This guy is a walking education, for me at least. Feel stupid that I never saw "The Wire".
Social corporatism is a result of unregulated free markets. Its when you allow corporations to become complete private tyrannies that are therefore unaccountable to the people they employ. The best system for the most vulnerable understands their rights as humans and is attentive to them. A free market can provide this, but only under certian conditions. By itself, in a completely unregulated fashion, its not in the cards.
HUGELY IMPORTANT
Type in "Ron Paul on Monetary Policy" into youtube here, this man needs our vote in 08. He understands the issues The Wire deals with. It all comes together. He is NOT politics as usual!
I came to the same thesis. Either everything gets turned over to the machines that replace us Terminator-style, or there's a revolt and a collapse.
Yes, people were valued during the Roman Empire, very very valued during the push at The Somme, fantastically valued at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Iwo Jima, Tasmania, the Zulu wars, on and on and on. History shows that only the ruling are valued, the ruled never have been.
@jpeditor ..........His next book is going to be, "David Simon on David Simon. A Portrait."
"War is Hell" Gen. Sherman
Do anybody know how I can email David Simon ? Do he still write for the Newspaper ? If he still do proof it Please
@afterapplepicking
agreed completely brother. he should have the words "personal responsibility" stamped on his forehead so he never forgets what this country is about. our futures start in the 4 walls of the american home. you either live right, work hard, and reap the benefits, or you do the opposite and face the consequences.
he really needs to write a book about this.
david simon is brilliant he's got his finger on the pulse.................
@Newbobdole the US Constitution, rather like the democratic settlement in the UK, was not established with political parties in mind. The presumption was that representatives would present themselves to the (rich, landed, informed, engaged) voters, would be picked on the basis of their credentials and character, and would vote freely on the issues according to their judgement. For better or worse that doesn't happen and the voting system used, FPTP, leads naturally to a 2 party state (Duverger)
It appears things are quite different than what we were taught in school and accepted as real.
Easy to see that nobody attended to it 15 years on...
For as bad as the Wire depicts a modern American city, historically we're living in the best times ever.
Actually, he is describing a system of government that we are supposed to be in right now. It's called a REPUBLICAN form of government, where the people are the SOVEREIGNS and the governments work for us. Instead, we have been fed that this is a DEMOCRACY which takes away our sovereignty and makes us "voluntary servants" under the 14th amendment.
Americans always feel that they are ahead of the world. However Ameirca's future can be seen in another contry: Brazil. All of Brazil's land is owned by 4-10% of the population, and it is the contry with the highest debt, behind the U.S.A. There is a very big gap between rich and poor, and there is a small middle class.
Hard work and determination is the only way one can every make a better life for themselves. I guess that is where you and I differ. In the vacuum of their existence, sure, it will be a miracle if they make it. How this ties into that situation being the fault of society and, more importantly, why the burden falls on society to correct is beyond me.
David Simon for Congress!
@1ngjoxsh when was this?
Smart guy. Good writer.
-Eric Chicago
Profound & interesting, but if the power division outlined in the Constitution has remained wholly unchanged throughout its history, his observations are in no way new, the lines of disparity are simply growing more extreme as we live in a society that is too large and each-man-is-an-island-unto-themselves to possibly regulate. (run on sentence coming from E Baltimore)
Yes agreed it is; Gold, Oil, & Drugs( G.O.D.) Being able to see them all is hard work. But the death of Stanley Meyer, and the blocking of Daniel Dingle, only shows the Gold and Oil part of it, as far as I can tell. Just think how many of us would be off of gasoline and grid power if Stanley was alive today.
The gov't cannot solve every single conceivable problem people face. I mean you are from the UK, look at how gov't is trying to micromanage the crap out of everything...is it any better in the UK? There are things in this world that one cannot change, such as the inevitability of an underclass and downtrodden, and the continued pursuit of the eradication of this is futile.
Capitalism provides the platform for individual achievement that in turn fosters the improvement of the society on all levels. The reason America is great is b/c it allows the individual to achieve unbridled success through luck and hard work. It does NOT guarantee a quality of life to anyone, only the opportunity to have a chance at making a better life.
Once again, not answering my first inquiry as to what form of gov't is better on the planet. You cannot answer b/c you dont know and keep going on and on and never answering the question.
david simon for prez!!
The poorest people in this country have it better than the average person around the world. The middle class in america have a lifestyle enviable by most foreign upper classes. I am a hungarian immigrant and i can attest to the greatness of this country. COuntless people are doing anything to come here...i wonder why?
newark is a city that has recovered greatly
I love your sunny disposition, for the kids from the street how do they afford a ticket out, unless they are dealing drugs. If you live in the ghetto you have no money and have no way of earning a decent living honestly. With the expectation of youth growing the only way of reaching the american dream is drugs. I wish you well though from a kid whom got out:D
@MadCoins I identify as a social-democrat. My guess is that you understand what that is, so no need here to explain further. With respect, to "bide our time" is what is killing us. Politicians of both stripes are selling us short-term solutions to the deep and dangerous structural inefficiencies in this system. When what is called for are urgent reforms. In this society, it takes years and years to achieve baby-steps towards a desirable outcome. Something has got to give, and soon.
@pagola Good point, but I'm speaking of America as a whole, not about subsets of the population.
@TheAnxiousMan What makes you say that?
@nycic Everything in the "visible political spectrum" has failed or is on the way to imminent failure. A glaringly obvious reason for this is because all the "isms" that exist in the political spectrum were created with a thought process that failed to consider resources to be finite. Resources are finite and until there is a system in place that is built first and foremost on this principle any answer to your question is "nowhere, we can just try to bide our time".
i agree about family ties. best show of its time for sure. i was taking the piss about prison break...it's kinda fluff, especially when compared to the wire, a show that will be iconic in american television if we're still here in 100 years. peace out
@
Really? they are great in Scotland. I attended what was statistically the second most violent school in the country and barely got in a single fight, saw very little bullying and know many people, myself included, who left with very good qualifications.
I dont need a monolith to tuck me in at night and keep me warm. I'd rather die poor and hungry before i look to the gov't to fix my problems. Selfish a-hole? More like self-reliant and loving it. I dont measure the success of a civilization by how we care for the 'average' person.
@TheAnxiousMan
I am 20 so nearly three years ago. I really enjoyed my time at school, I agree for some people it must be different and schools do seem to give up on underachieving kids. For example the teacher in the lowest English class used to get the kids to play Bingo instead of teaching them literature, as a way of mediation. Also, I don't think 15,16 and 17 year olds should be forced into staying in school as it is literally impossible to teach an adult who does not want to learn.
damn ur 30 now
A subtle dodge of my question as to what is better in the world today than democracy...as for the 'damage' the U.S had done, to ignore America and its faults is not my approach since america has done wrong in this world. At least there is an attempt at some level to correct such mistakes, more than i can say for almost any nation on this planet.
Lest we forget, Simon has a TV show and i know how holly wood loves to foster the notion of a selfish society that exploits the weak and leaves them no choice but to resort to crime in order to survive. Great, i can pick out the plight of the alaskan crab fisherman as it relates to american society as well, but it wont change the fact that some people still want to fish the Bering Sea no matter what they get paid.
the senate is supposed to be geographically balanced.
@jarden69 also, 1:33 "transitive"? what? i know he means period of transition, or experiencing transition. 'transitory' is a word but 'transitive' is a linguistic term used to describe verbs or something
It's a very America-centric view that is focused far too much on what the past was like rarther than trends of the present plenty of cities have experienced deindustrialisation and recovered from the results of the economic vacuum left in its wake. sometimes with brighter futures than they originally had. America is a young, still vibrant economy with a flexible, mobile labour force than many other developed countries lack and although it doesn't mean we should ignore the problem people have r
I am all for making this country better, but the premise that America is on the downslope and cannot be corrected (as Simon states) is false. The overwhelming majority of people in this country enjoy a quality of life that is second to none. There will always be an underclass and i wont try to rebuild a philosophy that is not broken.
The denial of the human condition by people like Simon is sad. It is not a stain on America, just a fact that there will always be downtrodden, broken people who will suffer and die due to their inability to take care of themselves. Its called natural selection and the survival of the fittest.
Yes. But much more so in inner cities obviously. London etc.
you watch the wire chiefliberation?? greatest show of alltime. watch it from season 1 tho. and if you get bored in the first two episodes still stick with it. he created the show. he is a cool ass dude. actually does his homework on shit in the black community and the rest of america instead of guessing from everything cnn tells him
@1ngjoxsh You mis-spelled it. It's faux.
@nycic true...im from africa and trust me...your okay
Sound like you didn't quite get it.
If he wasn't then a Marxist, I'd like to know where he is now on the political spectrum. If one is going to thoroughly condemn this system, where else can one go?
Socialism or barbarism-- Rosa Luxemburg.
My eyes are open and i just dont see the 'decline' of the American civilization and i certainly dont agree with Simon. I live in florida and despite the beauty, there is more violent crime down here than pretty much any other state. Freedom has its price, but i am willing to take the good with the bad.
Anyone interested in what this guy is saying, should look up noam chomsky. They both share the exact same opinions.
Absolve themselves? Last time i checked, the poor in this country have it better than most of the foreign middle classes. The reason people are literally dying to get to this country is probably hard to hear for a person like you, but its b/c there is an opportunity in this country that is not found anywhere else. There are billions of reasons capitalism is the best system out there.
read it (or listen, watch) and weep
I dont need the gov't to give me a minimum wage or to give me health care. I work hard and my destiny is not left up to some gov't monolith to provide for me or my family. "care less and less about our most vulnerable citizens"? Who may these people be? Why this insatiable need for the gov't to fix every social and economic problem the average person faces?
I have one thing to say about all this... S'all in the game yo.
So true
But to say its a forgone conclusion that America WILL decline is untrue. There may be murder in the big city, but the big city is NOT the center and backbone of america. Rural places, small towns, small businesses are the ones that make this country great. Big cities have some big problems. THe overwhelming majority of people dont live in the big city.
Greed and Corruption is not a byproduct of democracy, but of the human condition. Once again, where is this 'other' form of gov't that is so greater in reality or theory that you are referring to. As if corruption and greed are not part of socialism, communism, fascism, etc?
Third world conditions? The arrogance of the city dweller is overwhelming to say the least. The city is not the center of the universe or america for that matter and does not reflect how good we have it here. Society is not responsible for every unfortunate social situation that befalls people. We have it great here and it can be improved...its not 'too late' as simon declares.
This man is way too smart to be working in TV.
TV like The Wire is what sways people's opinions. Not news.
@hschan4
Indeed HBO is what America should be. Intelligent, daring, stylish and forward thinking. A world away from the mindless propaganda that is created by FOX
@roeroe305 though it is mainly the case with inner city London more than anything
By Alex Jones, right?
Other than you disagreeing with me, anything else? Your argument is not backed up by anything, so i think the flawed part is in your camp, not mine. I'd like you to point to another form of gov't that is better in the slightest. THere is a reason why people from all over the world struggle and sometimes die to get to this country. Proof is in the pudding my friend.
@pharry4life 80% of the workers in China make less than 9 dollars a day. At least 60% of Chinese live below the poverty line. As we speak the American economy is 3.2 times as large as China. Unless there is a war it will take China a long time at an extraordinaryly high growth rate to catch up {and as their economy matures growth will diminish.} In 2009 22.5% of the direct investment in the world was directed to the United States. 4.4% to China. The challenges China faces are monstrous.
@TheAnxiousMan foreal i had no idea i thought america was the only western developed country that was actually fucked education wise.
@afterapplepicking and you know thins because?
Read Chalmers Johnson: Blowback, The Sorrows of Empire, Nemesis- he just about sums it all up- the "fat Lady" is about to sing!
I guess having my family in hungary for the last 500 years was not enough to find out what 'pure' communism is. The trouble with communism is that it looks great in theory and in practice it is a total disaster. Stifles the human spirit. But i guess i am biased in that we moved to this country b/c of capitalism and we are enjoying the american dream...all the while the people who were born here crap on it b/c they dont know what they have. Truly sad.
@jpeditor Have you ever spent a year at the corner of W. Fayette and Monroe in West Baltimore??? Well, David Simon and Ed Burns did, and they wrote one of the BEST documentaries on the American nightmare. You call him whining?? Spend a week in West Baltimore or East St. Louis or Compton etc. and call what this man reported and is explaining to us "whining." And don't give me that shit, "They should go get a job," because in case you haven't noticed THERE AREN"T MANY JOBS! That's his point
a nation that allows unemcumbered capitalism can be many things, but it cannot be Christian
@dempsey981 The roman empire declined that way too. No empire lasts forever.
How come when everyone starts talking about "these People" no one wants to state the fact: THESE BLACK PEOPLE. Yeah, I said it. Thats the majority of the casualities of this so-called drug war and NOONE (particular u left/right wingers) never wants to talk about this on going issue thats been affecting our urban area for over 35yrs now.
@kentucy9999
nice job brother
Well I'm an american and I think France is better.
well im a half japanese and i think japan is better
@DBCOOPER888 america has the largest population of people in jail in the world....what do you mean we are better off...you obviously have never lived in the ghetto
To blame "unencumbered capitalism" is the same thing as blaming unicorns. Theyre both fantasies.
1st
I dont know who told you that gov't has the capacity to plan a more efficient/effective way of doing anything, but they have severely misguided you. Gov't is not the answer. Innovation is handcuffed and stifled by gov't. Only the private sector can have the freedom to make innovations in efficiency.