The Real Dawn of Everything pt.4: the origins and future of modern life

Why did social liberalism become widespread again, after thousands of years of socially conservative tribes, monarchies and empires? How did democratic states emerge after thousands of years of the state being primarily a tool to help ruling classes steal grain and rice from peasants? Why did the ballooning inequality of the industrial revolution suddenly contract into the capitalist welfare state era that’s now being undone? And what can we do about it? Can we go “Back to the Future” and have an liberal egalitarian world in the era of modern civilization? Cover art: The Abisnthe Drinker, Viktor Oliva, 1901 TO SUPPORT MY EXISTENCE (I do not monetize my channel, and depend on donations in order to do this!): PAYPAL ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... PATREON PER EPISODE DONATIONS:   / whatispolitics   (subscribe via web browser, and NOT the apple app which takes 30% of your money!) KO-FI ONE TIME OR MONTHLY DONATIONS: https://ko-fi.com/whatispolitics BIBLIOGRAPHY: (coming soon) TRANSCRIPT: (coming soon) AUDIO PODCAST: https://www.podfollow.com/worbs or search for “worbs” on your podcast app RSS FEED: http://feeds.feedburner.com/WHATISPOL... tweeter: @worbsintowords 00:00 hello fellow kids: theory and action 7:00 states and the growth of commerce 8:56 egalitarian cities? the indus valley civilization 10:53 urban religious orthodoxy vs rural resistance and idiosyncracy 13:57 urban life, commerce and social liberalism 16:22 from grain extraction empires to oligarchal commerce states 21:25 commerce, printing and the decline of state religion 24:57 the agricultural and industrial revolutions 25:50 enclosure: the business controlled state versus the population 29:31 urban life and social liberalism 31:09 capitalism, property rights and the new urban working class 33:24 the urban working classes organize 34:06 when the clergy clashes with the nobility 38:17 how capitalism breaks the standard political compass 39:56 capitalism as a system of (authoritarian) government 42:54 the rebirth of democracy: back to the first quadrant 45:17 similarities between people living in welfare states and hunter gatherer societies 46:02 the neo-liberal era: not so fast, star trek fans! 47:39 current material conditions and hopeful prospects for the future 51:53 flushing elitism out of the left 53:41 more hopeful prospects for the future