Scholar, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky kicks off this talk filmed last month with a simple, provocative premise: “Let’s pose that for some perverse reason that we were interested in ruining an economy and a society.” Now, who would want to go and do a thing like that?

Well, for starters, Chomsky looks to the top brass at banks who were generously rewarded for nearly decimating the national and international economies. The current economic system in America, he says, is so dysfunctional “that it cannot put eager hands to needed work using the resources that would be readily available if the economy were designed to serve human needs rather than wealth beyond the dreams of avarice for a privileged few.”

Starting to get the picture? “It’s actually hard to think of a more serious indictment of a socioeconomic system,” Chomsky says, while making just that sort of indictment. Watch him break it down in full here.

–Posted by Kasia Anderson

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#1 percent#banking industry#corporatism#economy#jobs#middle class#noam chomsky#recession#stock market#unemployment