Catastrophic Capitalism in 2023: The Invisible Causes of Economic Inequality

This show is made possible by you! To become a sustaining member go to https://LauraFlanders.org/donate Thank you for your continued support!

As we commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis, we explore the urgent questions surrounding the extractive nature of capitalism and its impact on democracy and economic inequality. What are the consequences of “capital bias”, an economic and social system that prioritizes wealth and the wealthy at the expense of manufacturing, people and the planet? And in what ways is “wealth supremacy” as deadly as white male supremacy — and every other kind? In this episode, we sit down with Marjorie Kelly, author of the newly-released book “Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s Crises”, and Edgar Villanueva, a member of the Lumbee people and Founder of the Decolonizing Wealth Project. We urgently need a spiritual revolution — could Indigenous perspectives offer alternative ways of thinking about wealth and community? All that, plus an update from Laura on a special collaboration between the Laura Flanders Show and the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature podcast.

“. . . Big capital is out there right now buying water rights . . . Communities are saying no . . . Water needs to be declared a public trust. You have these two completely different worldviews, which show us we can have a financialized world or we can have a democratic world . . .” - Marjorie Kelly

 “. . . Capitalism was completely founded upon the enslavement of Black people in this country. That is the blueprint for our economy. I don't know how to take racism and harm out of that existing system without completely imagining a new system . . .” - Edgar Villanueva