Parenti predicted the financial crisis of 2008 and said that giant corporate capitalism â by itâs very nature â is an apocalyptic system. When unregulated the built in elements of ever increased growth may well bring the whole system down. And he described the growing national debt not as a tragic mistake but as a means to shift ever more money from the tax payers to the financial institutions in the form of interest payments. This speech is an analysis of the many structural flaws of a capitalist system that puts it on a permanent collision course with democracy.
Recorded on August 23, 2008 at the closing reception for Maria Gilardinâs art show, entitled: Toasting the End of Capitalism. This rebroadcast, made in June 2017, is eerily contemporary and lends a historic perspective to current events.