The Rich Have You BRAINWASHED: Capitalism is a Zero-sum Game, They WIN, YOU LOSE 

I misspoke at 25:30. I meant to say the RICH, not the poor. Also, unless you are brain-dead, it is clear that I am talking about UPWARD social mobility in this video.

Laws are for The Poor, loopholes are for the rich

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

John D Rockerfeller: "We must never let the masses believe they can revolt." George Carlin: "they call it the american dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

My dad never went to University, I did. He started a small trucking business in the 90's, bought a house, a 4x4 and a motorcycle. Today, he recently retired early, has money. But I'm unemployed, not married and no real assets. Society is broken.

The golden rule, whoever has the gold rules.

We have honored and obeyed successful criminals, The system itself is anti human

5 days of serious dental pain because no funds to pay £350 to dentist, made me more than willing to sign up for a class war

“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them” ― Albert Einstein

It's like Jim Morrison told a crowd, "you are all slaves".

The reason people dont understand what you're saying is because they think a Plumber's son having to become an Engineer is social mobility. If social mobility was a reality in America the Plumbers son would be fine as a Plumber, he wouldnt need more education and experience than his father to make a little bit more money

Next time explain how the poor (or the not rich) can take steps to exit the system, or maybe find a fairer system outside the West where this algorithm seems to be most firmly in effect

I think the rich do know what they do to the environment, and to people. I think they are working hard on A.I. to protect themselves from the rage that is building in all the hard working, frustrated,struggling people. They have no empathy because they dont know what its like to be poor. Also,it doesn't suit them to care. Then,as decent human beings,they would have to do the right thing, and pay their fair share of taxes.

What's worse than capitalism: Lottery. It's a below zero sum game but people are still loving it. The company takes 1/3 as income. The state takes another 1/3 as tax. And the investors will get the remaining 1/3. The trick is that they create an enormous disproportionality when they pay back the winners. This is the transformation of the symbols people are paying for 2/3 of their investments. People are unable to count with this loss, they only see the big prizes, they don't see the much lower chances...

Im taking care of both my parents this system has beaten them to the ground I will not have it. Im 35 and im determine to show them I will live a more prosperous life by showing them its ok they brought me into this world today.i don't want them to leave this planet without knowing I can handle the trails.

FIAT can be easily PRINTED by THEM

"Give me control of a nation's money supply ( now the World!) and I care not who makes its laws." - Amsel Mayer Rothschild.

Never in history have so many people consciously volunteer for a form of slavery imposed on them. People today are in love with and simultaneously bamboozled by capitalism. And his henchmen known as consumer debt. A creed, where everybody strive to be rich, at others people's very costly, and devastatingly so, expense.

Thank you Professor . Rich and Narcissistic seem to go together. Would you speak on Socialism ?

Exit their game when possible , cancel all contracts , reduce service plans of all types , buy used and never new vehicles , never buy a house and be exploited on a 30y deal . Leave the country when possible .

I enjoyed this video very much! I live in Canada, and in my experience many do not understand the seemingly complex nature of the social hierarchy of capitalism; I am a 65 year old artist who has often heard the terms 'deserving' or 'undeserving' in reference to the idea of success. Hard work or work ethic as we know it does not equate to automatic financial success. That's a fool's idea. I have often thought it must be a wide array of abilities one must have to succeed and perhaps being in the right place at the right time, or as they say, who one knows in life. I've heard people say, 'In comparison with the other systems, Capitalism isn't perfect but is the best of what's out there. I am trying to learn what is out there that works well for the people, perhaps a new structured kind of system. No one should have to live without a roof over their head or without food, or in constant fear of losing what sustains them in terms of basic needs. Thank you for your clarity and insights.

You are describing monetary slavery, it is the premise of the song "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve.

I'm a fairly educated person, we live our lives but intuitively we sense changes in the world around us - social changes, economic shifts, political dysfunction - and then someone gives voice to thoughts and our awareness is raised. Excellent.

To become rich or poor not important. Life is not aboit becoming rich. It aboit becoming happy and it dont depend on money.

Thank you professor Sam Vaknin. Once again you have stunned me with your astute observation of the truth that's hiding in plain site.

Oh man. I want the Vaknin vs Peterson debate on this. I would also like to hear Thomas Sowell weigh in on it.

The poor ppl who said it wasn't true that the poor voted for Trump, didn't know they were considered poor.

People realized minimum wage laws make it illegal to be poor but required to be reliant on the government.

I remember Ronald Reagan on TV with a dollar bill on his hand talking about trickle-down economics, have yet to see any trickle.

You've struck oil Sam. Keep it coming. The world needs to hear this, especially places line the US.

Very interesting lecture. I couldn't help but visualize the curent situation in my home country Haiti. My country of origin never been rich but use to be in much better shape then right now. The state had multiple sources of income from public electricity, to distribution of waters etc. The money made by the state was partially misused but a fair amount of it was use for the good of the population. In the 80's the capital had electricity 24/7 murder rate was relatively low. At some point the super rich in the country, mostly maid of outsiders influence the government and they privatise public services. All the money of the state end up in their pocket. They didn't use the money for a fair redistribution of wealth like building road and school etc Instead just as Sam say the money was kept in vault and even worse they spend the money to buy extravagant good and homes in the Northern countries So not only as parasite they sucked the blood of the country but all their money is used to build fancy houses outside of Haiti or is kept in the banking system of already rich countries. The government of Haiti got poorer and poorer, no source of income also mean a considerably reduce capacity to influence the country and help the population. And the work and wealth produce by the population end so far away from his place of origins. At the very least those rich could build great hotels and palace and encourage tourism but they point out insecurity and violence as reason to avoid constructive investment. The insecurity itself is the product of an empoverish government wich in the absence of ressources can't educate his population, can't have a strong police force neither an army. And the empoverishment of the government is the direct impact of the overtake of the country by the super rich. If my coutry would've kept his door close to malevolent outsider who happens to be billionaire. We would be in a much better place. How sad.

Life is a zero sum game. You come with nothing and leave with nothing.

Live for free when you start out. Parents, or in your car. Work hard, save all pay. Buy small house, or build one yourself, for cash. Work hard, save money. Buy better house, cash. Avoid debt. Don't use whores. Keep biblical morals. Marry smartly, not for looks. Finally send me 10% for this advice. You're welcome.

Somewhere around 27;43 you mention the fiat debt based monetary system. This 300 year old system has been in place allowing the 1% to flourish, putting the debt on the backs of the working poor. The American constitution itself demands in one of the articles that the currency system should be gold only. This article of constitutional law has been ignored by the central banks/federal reserve and congressional law markers for many many many years instead they introduced the fiat debt based system. Both capitalism and socialism have ridden on the rails of this "money printing" system. Currently the only escape ramp out of this system for individuals , countries and companies is bitcoin which is a digital commodity currency totally decentralized. It removes the control of the monetary system from gov'ts, central bankers , Federal reserves. Gold .silver and other similar currencies function in a similar manner to bitcoin but lacks the portability and three ledger accounting system that bitcoin has.Thank you Vakim for your important discussion on this matter which is affecting our world community .

Hold precious metals. Grow food. Learn self-defence, construction, and natural medicine, and generate your own energy.

If you hoard 1 billion dollar bills in crates it takes giant warehouses and you’re a fire hazard… fire marshal will close down your warehouse, if you hoard blips on a computer screen the possibilities are endless!

I always hated working. I attributed it to me being lazy. Growing up, I was taught to work hard and to pull my own weight in order to be successful. I always felt a certain level of guilt for not working hard enough and, at the same time, feeling overburdened and weighed down and constantly failing at life.

Great video. One thing to add - the rich don't pay tax. Not really. Due to monetary expansion, their asset growth far outstrips their tax bill every year. It looks like the rich are paying most of the tax, but it's an illusion. All the tax they pay (and more) is surreptitiously handed back to them each year via government-mandated increases in the money supply, blasting the value of their assets up to Valhalla. Tax is only paid by the aspirational poor. The aspirational poor pay for the other half of the poor. The rich pay nothing at all. And nobody seems to notice. It's morally perverse of course, but you have to admire the dark, twisted genius of it all.

Please do a follow up video on WHY we are “dumb enough to believe them."

I agree with most of your presentation except that global goods are 'for the poor'. These goods are a cost of the rich used to placate and distract the poor. To create a neverending preoccupation and cycle of consumption. While it may seem as if it is for the benefit of the poor, it is actually of benefit to the rich.

Democrats push hard to impose/enforce the tax code on the working class, which the rich often navigate around. My and other's income tax was at its lowest when Trump was in office, wages were high, gas & food prices were reasonable, and unemployment was low. You're talking out your butt on this one 😂

I have to say that this is a quirky take on the economic system but essentially I would tend to ignore economic theory and concentrate on elite theory. After all, elites make the rules and laws including how the financial system works. I can recommend reading the mercifully short book analysing elite theory called 'The Populist Delusion' by Neema Parvini.

Sam, I am absolutely smitten with most of your lectures. This one in particular is absolute truth and as it is, people will try and reject it to save themselves from reality. I appreciate you taking the time to bring this to us all.

Another example of this is investing. Even if you put your money into a standard index fund, the wealthy are doing, at the very least, the exact same thing. They will always have more than you because they are starting with more. Anything you do helps yourself, but it naturally helps them even more, keeping them ahead indefinitely. There is no way to catch up except for starting a business, but this is much more difficult as time goes on because you are competing with mega corporations with near infinite resources and reach. Imagine it as a busy ecosystem with no spots left to fill.

I like the idea of running a business to earn profits. The problem that I have with US capitalism is that profits are more important than morals and ethics over here. We need to put people over profits, not profits over people.

Nothing is free, there is always a counter or balancing effect to everything. If you are offered something for free (or discounted), you are being lied to. Why would you want to do business with someone, or some entity, which starts off with dishonesty?

Based Sam Vaknin strikes again.

I've lost all my beliefs and have no idea what the right 'system' is now I was a socialist when I was young, became a pretty strong libertarian for a while, then started to see the benefits of a moral balanced liberal democracy. But then it seems there's failures happening there too now. Is China going the right way? Some people seem to think they have all the answers, and sure they're progressing in some ways, but I don't know, they seem to have some serious problems too. Quite disillusioned trying to imagine how we govern ourselves in a fair way. Perhaps we just have to focus on our own lives

We don''t have capitalism, how is the centralization of economy capitalism,

I'm 25 and I've shared your video with a friend of my age. We already had a very similar opinion about capitalism, but it feels hopeful to have someone from another generation talking more openly about it. As a young generation we feel like there's lack of guidance on how to act when facing these issues. I'm very grateful I found your video and channel. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

"Yeah I know how that trickle down works. It's when you feed the horse oats and what comes out the back end and lands on the street is what's left for the sparrows." I live in a rural part of Northern MN. I've been trying to explain to anyone who will listen that politics in America is about wealth, who gets it, who keeps it, and that capitalism is a giant game of Monopoly. I have paid dearly for speaking of such things. I have torn into the belief systems of both Democrats and Republicans and wow does that make people hate you. The wealthy elite own both political parties because when you can buy both parties why buy only one? Most people don't understand that the wealthy elite and their corporations have so much money they can't even spend it all, they are literally hoarding it. The Republican party is entirely about protecting the interests of the wealthy elite but with the Democratic party there is a little bit of hope for the poor and middle class to not be completely robbed blind. Discussing the problems capitalism causes society is a taboo subject with even most Democrats. A fairly recent study on American politics showed that for the economic bottom 80% the likelihood of these people getting laws passed that they want is next to zero. The wealthy are calling the shots. They bought the lawmakers to protect their money. Problems galore. Take for example that in the 1950s the average working class guy could buy a house in America for 2.2 times his yearly salary. Now decades after the neoliberalism policies the rich got passed to extract more wealth from the peasants the average working man pays over ten times his yearly salary for a home. It is a zero sum game. The rich getting richer does not make the peasants richer. A rising tide does not raise all boats. Tax cuts for the wealthy do not improve the lives of the poor and middle class. The rich are taking more from the rest of us. I can give examples all day long. Even Billionaire Warren Buffet will tell you "There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning." And I really appreciate what Voltaire said about this issue: "The comfort of the rich depends on an ample supply of the poor." We peasants are like a heard for a cattle rancher. Have you fellow Americans ever considered the possibility that the Republicans opposing abortions are actually essentially the same as ranchers growing their heard? Is it just a coincidence that every policy a Republican supports benefits the wealthy? And that's just a taste of the economic pitfalls of capitalism. Just look at the psychological and social devastation of so many people living in poverty and the numbers are growing. It destroys people, families, relationships, integrity. When the wealth of a society is extracted by a few and the rest are left to fight for the remains things get ugly. Competition is not always good no matter how many times the rich tell you it is. Everybody is playing everyone else in one degree or another in a capitalist society. You can't trust anybody. Not your spouse, your friends, or even your family in many cases. "Competition is the law of the jungle but cooperation is the law of civilization." Adam Smith even said, and I'm paraphrasing, that unregulated capitalism always results in a monopoly. And who wants no regulations? The guy who is winning and wants everything everybody else has. Not surprising one of the core philosophies of the Republican party is elimination of regulations. These broke ass Trump supporters walk around regurgitating this shit that is absolutely toxic to them, their families, their community, their health. "Duh,, regulathins bad,, duh,,, drool. Murica." Hasn't anybody else noticed that we don't have free markets, competition among businesses in America? In each industry there are a handful of companies and they strategize with each other to raise their prices together in order to fleece the public. That's the result of lack of regulations. It's heartbreaking to see so many of my fellow Americans so misinformed and misled. To see them mindlessly repeat political talking points they don't fully understand and with absolute certainty. And that is the real danger, certainty. Mankind has been there before. I think of Brownowski outside of Auschwitz quoting Oliver Cromwell "I beseech you from the bowels of Christ think it that you might be mistaken." And now we have a Presidential candidate calling his political opponents "vermin," talking about arresting them, putting them all in internment camps like during the great war. And his fans love him for it. Holy fuck. These people have no idea where this is going. I'm not a believer but all I can think of saying is God help us. I don't know what economic system is the solution to capitalism. That's a discussion for economists and philosophers. I am neither. But I can tell you that we need to be having a discussion about the damage capitalism is doing. That discussion is not allowed on the national stage, in our corporate media, and especially with our elected leaders.

what about compound interest, for those who need to borrow it snowballs their cost, for those with extra money it snowballs their wealth? also as a matter of principle, the pie does grow, even if it does not grow fast enough or there are other issues, the wealth pie is growing and those on the lower end of the economic spectrum are wealthier than the rich 100 years ago by a large margin despite population growth

In some circles this is known as “house rules”. The real problem is that we cannot live on bread alone.

I think I got it. Contrary to what I believed that I was winning by receiving a product or service in exchange for currency, I am realistically a net loser in that exchange. The only way, therefore, that I see to win is to make way beyond my ability to spend, in other words upper middle class or rich.

If you didn't have to pay tax for 1 year, your life would change dramatically as you won't have to work the first half of the month to pay all the taxes. Taxes is just expropriation of assets.

Yes but the question is will the people recover all that excess wealth the richest absconded with for years or will it just disappear never to be seen in our lifetime again?

I don't know. I worked in security for many rich people; they seem to enjoy screwing each other as much as any other group. This man's argument is more against greed as any -ism. Conquer greed and scarcity and you'll solve most of society's problems.

“Capitalism refers to an economic system in which a society’s means of production are held by private individuals or organizations, not the government, and where products, prices, and the distribution of goods are determined mainly by competition in a free market.” why can’t we just enforce this? because the people we vote into power are not doing their jobs. we vote for people to technically police this to make sure there is no cheating in the “competition”and they don’t, so if they can’t police this, the idea is we give them more power and ownership to make sure it gets done?

It's time to revolt

Spot on. Capitalism relies on continued gain in a finite environment. Greetings from a social democracy.

What if we all exchanged our 💩 with the agricultural sector as fertiliser in return for food credits? This would be a much fairer system.

If you are born in a medium family and if you go no contact with them and stay single you can became poor, I live in Europe, we are expect to be high funcional single happy individuals.

You've found your life's calling. Your unique background in finance and psychology positions you well to take a leadership role on the side of pro-social reform in the dire times ahead.

People don't like to hear the truth. Especially those who swear they are right. Welcome to the modern world.

The economy is not growing, but the cost of living & debt won't stop growing. Many economists compare present time in the USA to the 1970s. Wishful thinking at best.

Despite AAALLLLLLL my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage 🐀🏛

So, i should marry rich? Got it 🤣

So what do we do to save our lives?

But how can we deal with the looming techno-feudalism that appears to be destined to become our future reality? What policies should governments adopt to tame it, reduce inequality and increase social mobility…

The Narrative 'American Dream' always gave me the idea of a ' Mirage' I had once traveled to the US on work. My US colleagues were busy talking new cars, new laptops, where to eat, where to play golf, where to buy what...during the times we were taking a break from work. Also gossiping about others in the workplace. Where I was staying, on TV, while watching the news ..three things took center stage. Gunshot fatalities, car pile ups and wild fires..( it was summer in California) That was my strange experience of the US during my short stay there.. But yes, the houses were cool, the greenery, the manicured landscapes.. And yes...the alarm of my colleagues when i thought of taking a short stroll! Never do that they warned...even if there is a perfectly made pretty lane for pedestrians.. nope.. They did not want to frighten me about getting shot....

It would be great if Sam spoke on the Sam Harris podcast

Is this not fractional reserve banking? I love your channel btw.

I have seen people who started with very little and became wealthy. It takes work ethic, time, and discipline. Three qualities that most people lack. A good idea for a business is hard to come by and even harder to execute into a business. If you help society fix a problem you can become very wealthy. You won't get something for nothing.

The game is rigged, but a self sufficient can out maneuver the sheep and achieve his own Future as an individual in USA,by not buying the common societal. Illusions.!!!

Capitalism, you need capital to play.

"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other”.

As Joan Crawford said to Christina in the film Mommie Dearest, 'You have to compete AND win!' She's not wrong. The people who have all the wealth just so happen to write the rules in their favor so they always win. Isn't that what being a winner is all about? 'Its NOT FAIR' Christina said. .... 'Ah, but Tina, nobody said life was fair.' -Joan Crawford.

Thank you. I could never put into words how I feel about the economy. I’m an Econ major and could resonate with how Bishop Fulton Sheen said about the capitalism of the old is not the same of the new. Now I understand.

One of the best videos iv'e ever seen! Well explained. Thank you.

Thank you, Sam. Thank you for always telling the truth, even when we don't want to hear it. I've come to trust your analyses.

It’s a DEBT BASED SYSTEM to place the common people, in economic slavery, to banks and corporations. The vast majority of people are in, medical debt, school debt, credit card debit, car loan debt or mortgage debt. Making enough money to purchase food for their families is a huge challenge, when you're living, pay check, to pay check.

Damn the truth hurts, but it’s to painful for most people to accept it much easier to accept that they are middle class and not the working poor it make them better.

The problem isn’t “capitalism”… The problem is government. An anarchist society is the only logically and morally sound way to organize society.

Government money, eg the U.S. Dollar is a tax credit, and we can’t pay a tax liability until the government has given us its own tax credit, right? So the government has to spend its tax credits first before we can pay a tax, right? That would be “pre-distribution”, yes?

Nobody would be anyone's slave IF it was simply made financially worthwhile for people to SHARE the jobs we would democratically AGREE we NEED to have done and work much less. Everyone sharing in doing something they agree is doing something they need. No more primarily working FOR money but sharing in doing something we need and being paid for doing it is an entirely different thing. It would then no longer matter how rich you are, or how much money you have, you couldn't get anyone to be your SLAVE they wouldn't need YOUR jobs or YOUR money, You couldn't get anyone to build you a mansion or a yacht or to clean your house.

I have a college degree and middle class, but in my opinion, voting for either party is against our best interest. United, we stand. Divided, we fall. We are falling!

Well this guy would be a hell of an advisor

"but the poor in the USA have coffee-maker, a fridge and a TV" !

In USA many, many Rich Politicians Take The Government Money Allocated for the Poor and Distribute among their Rich Friends...They Stay in Office. ? I Find that Disturbing.

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich" Napoleon Bonaparte

I hate this life :(

This is excellent. Intelligent people are converging.

The argument is very well set out here by Sam V. Many factors to consider. Many of these assertions undoubtedly hold water. How do we do it better one ponders. Dpj

I've been obsessed with political economy and social theory my entire life. After 2008, my understanding of everything changed. I watch and read a lot of supposed "left" media by Marxists, Anarchists, and Socialists. None of them speak directly to all of us and our truly shared economic reality as the working class as this video does. Excellent stuff.

So what is the answer?

Capitalism needs to change. If inflation benefits the rich and the Federal Reserve prints more fiat dollars in the United States, then the opposite of inflation, deflation, would make all the prices of the goods fall. I think that would benefit the poor, and disadvantageous to the rich that they wouldn't want that happening to them. I agree that capitalism is a zero-sum game, no matter where the money flows, to the poor or rich. I think capitalism can be a fair system if there is a change in how the resources are being allocated by distributing them to the poor. What can cause a deflation in our monetary system? Has deflation ever happened in the United States' history? Great video to watch, the information is valuable to learn and to think about. There's another question that I have about economics relating to scarcity because scarcity affects our behavior with resources. If the planet has a finite resource, what could we try to do to preserve or rejuvenate the scarcity of our planet that would somehow stabilize the productivity of the economy that would benefit the poor, and check the greed of the rich?

That leaves us: Regionalisation to heighten the visibility and responsibility of the people in power whilst minimizing the individual sphere of influence and capability of forming groups of interests(corruption).

True enough, just wish they'd stop blaming the CEO's entirely. They shouldn't be paid as much as they are, but it's the shareholder system that's really screwing everyone, legally pushing corpos to do what's best for the shareholders at the expense of everything else. You could divy up the Ceo's salary and it would barely add $1000 per year to everyone's wages, compare that to the overall profits that go directly to the shareholders. The middle class just doesn't want to admit it because that's where most of their retirement savings are. They want us to blame the rich ceo's because it doesn't solve the problem and allows them to keep their investments.

Very cool your work is getting recognition.

No, the poor are advising people how to become rich on YT... They can't.