00:00:01.389 --> 00:00:04.389
(bullfrog croaking)

00:00:18.185 --> 00:00:20.745
(vehicles honking)
(calm music)

00:00:20.745 --> 00:00:23.162
(calm music)
(crowd chattering)

00:00:52.980 --> 00:00:54.960
- Now the modern trend

00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:56.200
throughout the world

00:00:57.360 --> 00:00:59.133
is one which I call,

00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:01.650
and don't be shocked,

00:01:01.650 --> 00:01:04.440
I call it internal colonialism.

00:01:04.440 --> 00:01:08.163
That is to say, within the country.

00:01:09.240 --> 00:01:11.403
So colonies are established.

00:01:12.990 --> 00:01:13.980
Whose colonies are they?

00:01:13.980 --> 00:01:18.980
They are the colonies of
the big metropolitan areas.

00:01:21.750 --> 00:01:24.813
Why do I say this, and use
this nasty word, colony?

00:01:26.310 --> 00:01:29.730
Because a territory

00:01:29.730 --> 00:01:33.370
which doesn't in effect control itself

00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:36.180
but is controlled from far away,

00:01:36.180 --> 00:01:37.923
that would be a colony.

00:01:40.470 --> 00:01:45.470
A territory that is not being
developed for its own sake

00:01:48.360 --> 00:01:50.590
by its own inhabitants

00:01:52.080 --> 00:01:55.830
for the sake of and in the
interest of these inhabitants,

00:01:55.830 --> 00:02:00.830
but is developed by interests
of the colonial power far away

00:02:01.620 --> 00:02:04.080
as a source of raw materials and supplies,

00:02:04.080 --> 00:02:06.870
that would be typically a colony.

00:02:06.870 --> 00:02:10.050
Many of these colonies,
as a matter of fact,

00:02:10.050 --> 00:02:14.980
have served simply as
providers of raw material

00:02:15.930 --> 00:02:20.253
and very often been pressed
into situation of monoculture.

00:02:22.350 --> 00:02:25.020
You can think of timber countries,

00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:26.940
fish countries, iron ore countries,

00:02:26.940 --> 00:02:30.330
bauxite, corn, wheat,
copper phosphate, oil,

00:02:30.330 --> 00:02:32.400
all actual cases.

00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:35.550
Where really there was nothing finally

00:02:35.550 --> 00:02:39.723
but this more or less
monoculture production,

00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:47.100
and where such conditions
establish themselves,

00:02:47.100 --> 00:02:49.143
that's inside a big country.

00:02:50.010 --> 00:02:51.100
If you look north

00:02:52.230 --> 00:02:54.243
you find a great province,

00:02:55.260 --> 00:02:57.270
where they're moaning to me and they say,

00:02:57.270 --> 00:02:58.860
well, it's wheat,

00:02:58.860 --> 00:03:01.951
we're colony, a colony of Toronto,

00:03:01.951 --> 00:03:04.740
wheat, wheat, wheat, nothing but wheat.

00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:07.503
Life becomes intolerably dull.

00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:16.340
A territory that primarily
exports raw materials

00:03:16.500 --> 00:03:21.500
and imports virtually all
manufactured and processed goods.

00:03:23.490 --> 00:03:28.420
It may even export milk in tankers

00:03:29.700 --> 00:03:34.320
and import the same milk
pasteurized and in bottles.

00:03:34.320 --> 00:03:36.270
Also an actual case.

00:03:36.270 --> 00:03:38.830
Such a territory is in danger

00:03:40.200 --> 00:03:45.200
of always being in deficit
on capital account.

00:03:47.130 --> 00:03:49.623
Because unless there are
very special conditions,

00:03:50.880 --> 00:03:52.780
merely producing raw material

00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:57.693
doesn't lead to any sufficient
capital accumulation.

00:04:00.600 --> 00:04:03.580
Now, the difference between raw material

00:04:05.310 --> 00:04:09.540
and a finished article
or processed article

00:04:09.540 --> 00:04:11.853
is what we economists call value added,

00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:15.783
and is a very great interest.

00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:19.530
Ever increasing interest around the world,

00:04:19.530 --> 00:04:21.543
who earns the value added?

00:04:23.700 --> 00:04:26.490
The whole trouble that I'm talking about

00:04:26.490 --> 00:04:29.430
is ultimately that there is not neglect,

00:04:29.430 --> 00:04:30.990
but there's exploitation.

00:04:30.990 --> 00:04:35.092
It's that metropolis
doesn't neglect these areas

00:04:35.092 --> 00:04:37.690
but just uses them

00:04:38.671 --> 00:04:39.921
as a happy hunting ground

00:04:41.340 --> 00:04:45.420
for raw material supply
or perhaps for tourism,

00:04:45.420 --> 00:04:50.420
but not for serious flourishing
economic development.

00:04:52.260 --> 00:04:56.310
I think one has to look further,

00:04:56.310 --> 00:04:59.640
and I have been interested
in this question of,

00:04:59.640 --> 00:05:04.050
I've looked at technology
for quite a long time

00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:08.073
and studied the technological
development of modern society.

00:05:10.020 --> 00:05:14.613
And there I have come to an insight,

00:05:15.630 --> 00:05:16.463
I think,

00:05:16.463 --> 00:05:19.320
which I call the law of...

00:05:19.320 --> 00:05:21.570
I mean, it's a pompous title,

00:05:21.570 --> 00:05:26.073
but the law of the disappearing middle.

00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:31.263
I mean, this is not happy news
for middle aged gentlemen,

00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:34.533
but it relates only to technology.

00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:38.670
It asserts, and you watch it,

00:05:38.670 --> 00:05:40.473
don't just listen to my words,

00:05:41.490 --> 00:05:42.323
see it,

00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.500
there is a very primitive
technology to start with,

00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:48.000
tools.

00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.150
This will never disappear,
that's unforgettable.

00:05:51.150 --> 00:05:54.840
Then comes some innovators
and bring in machines,

00:05:54.840 --> 00:05:56.130
various things.

00:05:56.130 --> 00:05:58.380
Let's call it stage two technology.

00:05:58.380 --> 00:06:01.470
Stage one and stage
two exist side by side.

00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:05.403
Some make it to stage two,
some not yet, et cetera.

00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:08.280
Then come some innovators

00:06:08.280 --> 00:06:11.130
and develop stage three technology,

00:06:11.130 --> 00:06:15.120
and then something quite
extraordinary happens.

00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.340
Stage two virtually disappears.

00:06:17.340 --> 00:06:20.610
Now, if it's 1, 2, 3, you don't notice it

00:06:20.610 --> 00:06:22.200
because there's close together.

00:06:22.200 --> 00:06:24.030
But if you have a period

00:06:24.030 --> 00:06:26.700
of very great technological development,

00:06:26.700 --> 00:06:28.833
and let's say we're now at stage 12,

00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:32.940
then you find between the most primitive

00:06:32.940 --> 00:06:35.370
and the most advanced, is very little.

00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:36.453
It's all disappeared.

00:06:38.070 --> 00:06:40.770
In the Western world we now
have 15 million unemployed

00:06:40.770 --> 00:06:45.063
because the big technology
doesn't provide the jobs.

00:06:46.380 --> 00:06:48.150
Well, if the big technology doesn't do it,

00:06:48.150 --> 00:06:50.670
well, it's a wooden small technology,

00:06:50.670 --> 00:06:52.470
a self-help technology,

00:06:52.470 --> 00:06:53.430
where little people

00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:55.590
with just a bit of
capital, but not very much,

00:06:55.590 --> 00:06:56.840
can establish themselves.

00:06:58.170 --> 00:06:59.340
The best intelligence

00:06:59.340 --> 00:07:02.610
has to be put into the
development of a technology

00:07:02.610 --> 00:07:04.710
that will look after the people,

00:07:04.710 --> 00:07:07.260
or by which the people
can look after themselves

00:07:07.260 --> 00:07:09.003
outside the big conurbations.

00:07:10.590 --> 00:07:14.310
The word intermediate technology
of course is only one hint,

00:07:14.310 --> 00:07:16.290
no one word can express these things.

00:07:16.290 --> 00:07:19.170
I suppose we don't spend a lot of time

00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:21.630
seeking for definitions of words.

00:07:21.630 --> 00:07:24.153
Now we must just see the reality.

00:07:25.830 --> 00:07:30.510
Now the reality can be
illustrated by a news release

00:07:30.510 --> 00:07:33.330
that I received from some modest people

00:07:33.330 --> 00:07:34.350
who describe themselves

00:07:34.350 --> 00:07:36.450
as America's most respected

00:07:36.450 --> 00:07:39.134
technological markets
research organization.

00:07:39.134 --> 00:07:41.850
- (audience laughing)

00:07:41.850 --> 00:07:46.850
- And it relates to the future
of the US baking industry.

00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:49.717
I just read you a few sentences.

00:07:49.717 --> 00:07:54.717
"The US baking industry
revolutionizing its processes

00:07:54.960 --> 00:07:58.980
sees automation as most likely solution

00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:01.620
for its progress and prosperity."

00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:02.453
It goes on.

00:08:02.453 --> 00:08:04.080
"The supermarkets

00:08:04.080 --> 00:08:07.830
will become the industry's
largest retail outlets,

00:08:07.830 --> 00:08:12.243
accounting for over
80% of all bread sales.

00:08:14.070 --> 00:08:18.480
The overall move will be toward first,

00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.103
fewer bakery plants, with
larger processing facilities.

00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:27.277
Second," listen to this,

00:08:27.277 --> 00:08:31.173
"Distribution ranging up
to 500 miles from base.

00:08:33.390 --> 00:08:37.440
Third, a marked decrease
in bakery personnel,

00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:40.917
and fourth, better profit."

00:08:43.410 --> 00:08:45.990
But surely there won't be the oil

00:08:45.990 --> 00:08:48.123
to transport bread 500 miles.

00:08:49.290 --> 00:08:50.283
It's just silly.

00:08:51.210 --> 00:08:53.100
We want bakeries where we are.

00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:55.740
We want fresh bread and we want drums.

00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:58.410
So let's give our best intelligence

00:08:58.410 --> 00:09:02.190
to developing an appropriate
technology for bread making

00:09:02.190 --> 00:09:07.190
so that things are made
mainly local production,

00:09:07.530 --> 00:09:10.983
from local resources, for local use.

00:09:12.810 --> 00:09:15.150
And this in my economist language

00:09:15.150 --> 00:09:17.883
means that the value added
stays in the community.

00:09:19.410 --> 00:09:22.227
I'm not suggesting that
this is the only motivation

00:09:22.227 --> 00:09:24.960
for interest in an appropriate technology.

00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:26.280
No, indeed,

00:09:26.280 --> 00:09:29.580
there are some other extremely
powerful motivations.

00:09:29.580 --> 00:09:30.413
Namely,

00:09:32.550 --> 00:09:35.050
that we are unquestionably

00:09:36.030 --> 00:09:39.843
running into a very, very
severe energy crunch.

00:09:41.160 --> 00:09:44.943
I started crying Wolf in the '50s.

00:09:46.260 --> 00:09:48.750
I said, "This is ridiculous

00:09:48.750 --> 00:09:52.030
that you imagine you
can in the next 10 years

00:09:53.010 --> 00:09:57.510
calmly consume as much
energy as all mankind

00:09:57.510 --> 00:10:00.477
in all previous history has consumed."

00:10:01.770 --> 00:10:04.890
But the oil company said,
"Oh, just leave it to us,

00:10:04.890 --> 00:10:07.560
because oil will be
there forever and ever."

00:10:07.560 --> 00:10:10.050
Never has there been such a case

00:10:10.050 --> 00:10:12.993
of what I call the
bland leading the blind.

00:10:13.872 --> 00:10:15.030
We are still here.

00:10:15.030 --> 00:10:17.100
Oh, well, when it comes the next boom

00:10:17.100 --> 00:10:19.923
the unemployed will be
reabsorbed into society.

00:10:21.900 --> 00:10:24.480
Well, perhaps after the
second heart attack,

00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.573
society will take some notice of reality.

00:10:28.890 --> 00:10:30.543
And as I see the future,

00:10:31.380 --> 00:10:35.590
the pressure from the
big metropolitan areas

00:10:36.750 --> 00:10:41.010
on those countries or parts of countries

00:10:41.010 --> 00:10:45.870
where there are still substantial
energy and other resources

00:10:45.870 --> 00:10:50.043
that pressure will increase tremendously.

00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:53.490
The pressure will get bigger and bigger,

00:10:53.490 --> 00:10:55.500
and it seems to me,

00:10:55.500 --> 00:11:00.000
the only way one can to some
extent safeguard oneself,

00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:05.000
is to try and build a really
solid economic foundation.

00:11:07.893 --> 00:11:10.833
What would be a solid economic basis?

00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:16.020
Well, the first asset is always people.

00:11:16.020 --> 00:11:19.860
If one has solid and self reliant people

00:11:19.860 --> 00:11:24.660
who don't live in fear
of what might happen,

00:11:24.660 --> 00:11:27.270
who know that they can
look after themselves.

00:11:27.270 --> 00:11:31.170
And this means that one is
really conducting economic policy

00:11:31.170 --> 00:11:35.373
in the direction of a
relatively high degree,

00:11:36.750 --> 00:11:41.550
of local and state self sufficiency.

00:11:41.550 --> 00:11:44.363
People feel that they are something

00:11:44.363 --> 00:11:48.453
and not just little mechanical
gap fillers in a vast system.

00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:51.090
Now, I don't believe,

00:11:51.090 --> 00:11:52.950
with the greatest respect to government,

00:11:52.950 --> 00:11:56.673
that this can be done by
government institutions alone.

00:11:58.020 --> 00:11:59.970
I believe that it is necessary

00:11:59.970 --> 00:12:02.253
to penetrate the whole of society.

00:12:03.330 --> 00:12:07.290
I don't think it's just
a matter of scaling down,

00:12:07.290 --> 00:12:08.540
quite apart from the fact

00:12:09.412 --> 00:12:13.650
that I couldn't scale
down modern technology.

00:12:13.650 --> 00:12:15.500
I mean, that is so well looked after.

00:12:16.470 --> 00:12:17.850
I think it's much more

00:12:17.850 --> 00:12:19.750
we should imitate nature

00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:24.390
who has something viable ready

00:12:24.390 --> 00:12:26.640
when the old structures
are no longer viable.

00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:30.900
But what we need is a
non-violent technology.

00:12:30.900 --> 00:12:33.420
I know this is an imperfect world,

00:12:33.420 --> 00:12:38.290
but to go ahead with the most
monstrously violent processes

00:12:39.630 --> 00:12:42.033
like for instance, the
production of plutonium.

00:12:43.230 --> 00:12:45.210
And then to say, oh, don't worry,

00:12:45.210 --> 00:12:48.210
we are so clever, we will look to it

00:12:48.210 --> 00:12:50.760
that for the next 3 million years

00:12:50.760 --> 00:12:54.060
nothing of it escapes into the biosphere.

00:12:54.060 --> 00:12:56.970
Well, I think any future generation

00:12:56.970 --> 00:12:58.950
will think we're completely nuts.

00:12:58.950 --> 00:13:00.330
I am much more in favor

00:13:00.330 --> 00:13:04.830
of restoring a great variety of industrial

00:13:04.830 --> 00:13:07.170
and other activities

00:13:07.170 --> 00:13:11.340
in places like Fontana or
Tasmania or Prince Edward island

00:13:11.340 --> 00:13:12.540
and so on,

00:13:12.540 --> 00:13:15.980
so that there are enough jobs.

00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:19.710
That people don't have
to do these wild things,

00:13:19.710 --> 00:13:21.720
tremendous schemes,

00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:23.917
and they go on doing it
because somebody says,

00:13:23.917 --> 00:13:25.890
"That's 3000 jobs."

00:13:25.890 --> 00:13:29.340
No, 3000 jobs should grow

00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:31.680
with doing most of the
things that we need,

00:13:31.680 --> 00:13:32.970
doing it nearby.

00:13:32.970 --> 00:13:36.573
That is a much better society
than an exporting society.

00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:45.740
Our troubles are really not
political, economic, ecological,

00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:47.793
and so on.

00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:50.550
In the essence,

00:13:50.550 --> 00:13:53.763
they stem from what I call
our metaphysical confusion.

00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:59.730
That we drum it into our children,

00:13:59.730 --> 00:14:02.490
all sorts of weird and wonderful theories

00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:05.973
that prove that there's
no meaning in anything.

00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:11.250
The most important
subjects are not taught.

00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:13.500
Why are we here in this world?

00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:16.890
And so they grow up very
confused and very perplexed.

00:14:16.890 --> 00:14:21.030
I don't think I would even
try to motivate people

00:14:21.030 --> 00:14:24.693
to enjoy mindless,
repetitive, stupid work.

00:14:26.670 --> 00:14:28.530
That is manipulation.

00:14:28.530 --> 00:14:29.520
That is brainwashing.

00:14:29.520 --> 00:14:31.383
They ought to kick against it.

00:14:32.430 --> 00:14:34.800
I think the answer is simply

00:14:34.800 --> 00:14:39.800
that we have allowed
technology to conquer the world

00:14:40.860 --> 00:14:42.750
which was not conceived

00:14:42.750 --> 00:14:44.820
from the point of view of the human being,

00:14:44.820 --> 00:14:48.990
but just conceived from point
of view of maximum production.

00:14:48.990 --> 00:14:50.040
This is a mistake.

00:14:50.040 --> 00:14:51.870
This is a metaphysical error.

00:14:51.870 --> 00:14:54.450
It's a philosophical error.

00:14:54.450 --> 00:14:55.293
It's killing us.