- 15 hours ago
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00:04:36So I've got to try and remember where Sal lives.
00:04:39It's a little bit complicated.
00:04:41There's like the snaking road up over the hills.
00:04:44And who is Sal?
00:04:46Sal is a friend who I met in San Diego.
00:04:51And he moved to LA to work in the movie industry.
00:04:54And that's why now he does actually costuming professionally.
00:04:59Builds, like, weird suits out of, you know, pretty much any material you can imagine.
00:05:04And so when we needed a costume, I knew who to call.
00:05:18Yeah, this is it, yeah.
00:05:21Maybe bring him his mail, actually.
00:05:24As long as we're at it here.
00:05:27Yeah, I don't like it. It looks too much like sex stuff instead of...
00:05:31It's not very modern looking.
00:05:33This is the future. This isn't about, like, straps and stuff.
00:05:37That's like dungeons and torture in the past.
00:05:39The costume is a manager's leisure suit.
00:05:42And the idea is that Hank Hardy Unruh, the representative from the World Trade Organization,
00:05:48is going to go and wear this breakaway business suit
00:05:52that's going to be pulled off of him during the middle of the keynote address of the conference.
00:05:56And then a big inflatable phallus is going to emerge from this golden suit.
00:06:01And at the end of it is a TV screen that he uses to manage sweatshops remotely.
00:06:07The reason we got invited to these things is we have a website called GATT.org.
00:06:11The GATT.org website looks a lot like the WTO website, but it is critical of the WTO.
00:06:19Most people, though, who find GATT.org by searching for the World Trade Organization
00:06:24will go without reading it and will send us email directly.
00:06:28So a lot of people ask us weird questions about tariffs and trade, and we try to answer as accurately
00:06:33as we can.
00:06:34And occasionally, invitations come in from official or, you know, quasi-official organizations asking for opinions or asking us to
00:06:42attend a conference.
00:06:44And so when they ask, they really think they're talking to the WTO.
00:06:47And we respond by giving them what we think they want, which is the opinions of the WTO as accurately
00:06:55as we can represent them.
00:06:56You know what I'm thinking actually, looking at this, is that maybe this is a zipper.
00:07:02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:07:04And then he just unzips it and pulls the thing at the same time.
00:07:06Oh, that could be really good.
00:07:07Because to have it burst out of the Velcro, it might not be strong enough to burst out, and then
00:07:13he'd have to pull it.
00:07:14Part of the thing that gives us the courage to go to Tampere with this really absurd suit is that
00:07:23we already went to Salzburg, Austria,
00:07:25to represent the World Trade Organization at a conference on tariffs and trade.
00:07:30And so there, our representative, the same guy who is Hank Hardy Unru here, was Dr. Andreas Bickelbauer there.
00:07:37And he gave a lecture that focused on basically doing away with all customs in the name of free trade,
00:07:45like getting rid of the siesta in Spain and Italy so that business hours could be the same.
00:07:51In Italy, on the other hand, you have a totally different situation in which sleep is done during the day
00:07:58as much as at night, almost.
00:08:01And allowing people to sell their votes over the Internet to the highest bidder
00:08:05so that the barriers to sort of free trade and things like votes were out of the way.
00:08:10One possible solution is being tested in the field of American politics
00:08:14to streamline the grotesquely inefficient system of elections.
00:08:19And VoteAuction.com, in turn, employs only four people to transmit not merely information,
00:08:26but actual money directly to the consuming voter.
00:08:29It's a forum for people voluntarily to offer their vote to the highest bidder.
00:08:37And despite giving what we thought was a lecture that would immediately get us booed off stage
00:08:42or, you know, get Bickelbauer maybe even thrown in jail because people would figure out he was an imposter,
00:08:48the exact opposite happened. Everybody was super polite.
00:08:51Nobody, it didn't seem like everybody, everybody even noticed that what he said was so absurd.
00:09:18So far, we thought Bickelbauer would be very extreme and people would react to it,
00:09:25and we'd get shut down and nothing of the sort happened.
00:09:30So this time we just have to really push it,
00:09:33make it totally extreme.
00:09:34I mean, we keep trying to push things further
00:09:36to try to really clarify the positions of the WTO
00:09:40to make them very legible.
00:09:42There's one back, but this is good.
00:09:56Andi! Andi!
00:09:58That was a terrible fire!
00:10:05I have to check the web when we get upstairs.
00:10:07Oh, my God, though, what are we going to do about this?
00:10:09We've got to watch the Patrick video.
00:10:11Um, it's weird stuff, isn't it?
00:10:16That's one way I'm putting it.
00:10:18It's really a problem.
00:10:19See, he's about the weirdest I've seen from him ever, I think.
00:10:26It looks pretty good on this.
00:10:29Yeah, it's all right.
00:10:34And what we have here is that we have our Cyber Andy here,
00:10:38who's going to be wearing the suit,
00:10:41and I'm going to be showing all the different ways
00:10:45in which the management leisure suit can be useful in industry today
00:10:50and maximize leisure potential.
00:10:55Sometimes I don't think they know what the hell to expect out of me.
00:11:00What I'll come up with is frequently not exactly what they had in mind,
00:11:08but it's, you know, it fits in perfectly with what they're going to do.
00:11:16Well, I mean, I came out of a corporate environment,
00:11:18and a company that I really gave, you know, a good bit of my soul to
00:11:24over a long period of time progressively.
00:11:27There were a lot of downsizing, and of course, you know,
00:11:31the company I was with I thought was going to take care of me.
00:11:34You know, and I realized that the bottom line is the bottom line,
00:11:37and there really isn't any humanity in corporate structures.
00:11:42So therefore, I hope that maybe being part of the Yes Men
00:11:46might in some way help raise issues about global work issues
00:11:50and social issues that are being brought about by globalization, etc.
00:11:58I grew up in the suburbs here,
00:12:00and then I moved to Troy six years ago for a job at the university.
00:12:06There's a place there called Norensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
00:12:09and I teach there.
00:12:10I was moving back home, really, because I'd been away.
00:12:13I'd been on the West Coast for about 12 years.
00:12:17Wait, what is this?
00:12:18Uh, this is, um, it's this, uh, SimCopter, uh, hack.
00:12:23Here it is.
00:12:24I wanted to watch this tape,
00:12:26because this is a tape I've been cleaning out the, uh, archives,
00:12:29you know, and I found this tape in there.
00:12:31I met Andy through a friend, actually, a mutual friend.
00:12:34Actually, two people that we both knew suggested
00:12:38that me and Andy get in contact with one another
00:12:40because we'd both done similar projects.
00:12:42One of the jobs that I had was at this games company called Maxis
00:12:47that makes SimCity.
00:12:49One of the games they were making at the time was, uh, SimCopter.
00:12:53I was in charge of the little people that run around in the game,
00:12:56and I made them, uh, wearing nothing but swim trunks.
00:13:00And they'd all be boys, and they'd be running around kissing each other.
00:13:03So, all the people who ordered this very popular video game
00:13:07suddenly were treated to a completely different spectacle.
00:13:11And so he got a lot of press attention for it,
00:13:14and it was seen as a kind of an activist, you know,
00:13:17kind of statement about video games
00:13:18and the sort of macho nature of them.
00:13:21It all involves the unexpected appearance
00:13:22of some gay kissing muscle men every Friday the 13th.
00:13:26He's becoming a celebrity of sorts in the computer world,
00:13:29especially the gay computer world.
00:13:31And then I had done a, uh, project using Barbie dolls,
00:13:35where we switched the voice boxes of Barbie dolls and GI Joes.
00:13:44And that ended up in GI Joes that said things like,
00:13:47I love to shop with you, and Barbie dolls that said things like,
00:13:51um, dead men tell no lies.
00:13:52And we got them back on store shelves, um, all over the country
00:13:56in what we called our shop giving program.
00:13:59We're like Santa Claus, only less radical,
00:14:01because Santa Claus breaks into people's houses.
00:14:03We don't do that.
00:14:04So that when kids got them at Christmas,
00:14:06they were surprised to find their doll saying something
00:14:08other than what they expected.
00:14:10And the kids thought it was hilarious.
00:14:12You know, they loved having these crazy dolls.
00:14:14Uh, we sent out press releases,
00:14:16so it was in the, in the news on Christmas Day,
00:14:18and for the week following,
00:14:20it just went through every kind of, uh, media channel imaginable.
00:14:25The BLO, the mission of the BLO,
00:14:28the Barbie Liberation Organization, the BLO.
00:14:31That was real funny.
00:14:32Moi, ça m'a fait bien rire.
00:14:33Il a l'air d'un jouet qui dirait,
00:14:35viens te battre.
00:14:36Et en fait, il dit...
00:14:37I love school, don't you?
00:14:39Let's sing with the band tonight.
00:14:40Now we're, we're, with the Yes Men,
00:14:42we're calling that, that sort of basic idea identity correction.
00:14:46Like saying, okay, these things,
00:14:48these things that are not really presenting themselves honestly,
00:14:51or that hide something about their nature that's really scary,
00:14:55we want to, we want to bring that out.
00:14:56We want to show that.
00:14:57We want to demonstrate that.
00:14:58And so, like for the WTO, you know,
00:15:02we think that the WTO is doing all these terrible things
00:15:05that are hurting people and they're saying the exact opposite.
00:15:08And so we're interested in correcting their identity
00:15:11in the same way that an identity thief steals somebody's identity
00:15:14to, in order to basically just engage in criminal practices.
00:15:18We target people we see as criminals
00:15:21and we steal their identity to try to make them honest
00:15:23or to try to present a more honest face.
00:15:26And so, you know, I guess this whole thing has its roots
00:15:30for both me and Andy and stuff that we've been doing for a long time,
00:15:34which is trying to create public spectacles
00:15:36that in some kind of poetic way
00:15:38reveal something about our culture that's profoundly a problem.
00:15:57That must be Sal.
00:15:59Uh-oh.
00:16:00Oh, dude.
00:16:02Are you okay?
00:16:03I'm fucking lost on that.
00:16:08It's been a long day.
00:16:10Holy shit.
00:16:12Oh.
00:16:13Well, I probably started it in, uh, June or July.
00:16:18So, on and off for a good two to three months.
00:16:22Just a couple more pieces of Velcro and that'll really be it.
00:16:26And, yeah, we're...
00:16:28We're at the end of the line.
00:16:32Oh!
00:16:33Okay, look, so here, we're making a list here.
00:16:35Wednesday, we leave for Finland early.
00:16:39So, Sunday.
00:16:41Make... make lecture.
00:16:42Bigger... oh, no, that's a big one.
00:16:44PowerPoint.
00:16:47And then... speech.
00:16:50Finish.
00:17:03It's, uh, 4.03 a.m.
00:17:05And, um...
00:17:08I guess I'll just keep working until morning.
00:17:10I feel...
00:17:11somewhat awake.
00:17:13And then...
00:17:14Andy can take over again.
00:17:16Uh...
00:17:17We can do a round-the-clock shift, I guess.
00:17:22I'm just trying to add a few slides into the PowerPoint here.
00:17:28Um...
00:17:28Because, actually, a lot of the things that...
00:17:30the, sort of, uh, business leaders of the world...
00:17:34say in relation to these issues...
00:17:36are actually, sort of, very similar to what Unruh Hank Hardy says.
00:17:40Even though maybe Unruh Hank Hardy is a little bit more frank about it.
00:17:44And, in fact, when he talked to CNBC...
00:17:46when he was debating an activist...
00:17:49Barry Coates just, sort of, agreed with what he said.
00:17:52When he said, this is what the WTO does, and this is our position.
00:17:56And Barry Coates said, well, that's funny.
00:17:58I... that... that's exactly right, so...
00:18:01After Salzburg, we got an email...
00:18:05asking a representative of the WTO...
00:18:08to appear on CNBC Market Rap Europe.
00:18:11And the producer, apparently, didn't notice...
00:18:14that Gat.org was not the WTO site.
00:18:18And, uh, Granwith Hoolitberry...
00:18:21which is another name that Andy just came up with...
00:18:24responded.
00:18:26And, uh, of course, said, well, I'd be happy...
00:18:28to go on CNBC Market Rap.
00:18:31And the producer wanted him to debate...
00:18:34an anti-globalization protester.
00:18:37If... if the WTO is serious...
00:18:39about addressing...
00:18:41the issues of world poverty...
00:18:43it would do things completely differently...
00:18:46than it is now.
00:18:47Let... let... let me...
00:18:47let me bring in, um, Branwith on that.
00:18:49Is that a fair point?
00:18:51Well, of course it is.
00:18:52But, you know, I think...
00:18:53I think Barry, as well as all the other protestors...
00:18:56are simply, in a word, focused too...
00:18:58too much on reality, and on facts and figures.
00:19:00And I think I would... I would have to say that...
00:19:03this is a long-term problem...
00:19:04that comes down to a problem of education.
00:19:07We have to...
00:19:08find a way to convince, uh, perhaps not the protestors...
00:19:12but the protestors' children...
00:19:13to follow, uh, thinkers like...
00:19:16Milton Friedman and Darwin and, uh, and so on...
00:19:19rather than, uh, what the protestors have been reared on...
00:19:22and, uh, Trotsky and, uh, Robespierre and Abbie Hoffman.
00:19:26And I think that...
00:19:26putting, um, the direction of education...
00:19:30being put into, uh, private hands, uh, uh...
00:19:33concentration of resources in the private sector...
00:19:36will naturally lead to this result.
00:19:38And we'll see the protestors' children...
00:19:40being reared with an entirely different set of...
00:19:42of concerns.
00:19:43But let me bring you in on that, Barry.
00:19:44I mean, can I just...
00:19:46just say that these kind of simplistic arguments...
00:19:48are... are really, I mean, too insulting to...
00:19:52you know, the fact that...
00:19:53we have a choice between Milton Friedman or Abbie Hoffman...
00:19:56for... for where we get our...
00:19:57our source of economic history and philosophy.
00:20:00There are many, many thinkers from around the world...
00:20:03just not those ones employed by the WTO...
00:20:05that think the... the World Trade Organization policies...
00:20:08are deeply damaging for the development prospects...
00:20:11of the poorest countries.
00:20:12Let me go out, uh, to Branwyn.
00:20:15Yes, um, well, I wanted to... to speak to...
00:20:18to Granwith's, uh, sorry, to Barry's point...
00:20:21that there are other thinkers.
00:20:21Well, who... who actually has the power in the world...
00:20:25and so who is correct in this...
00:20:27in this kind of world view?
00:20:28I mean, I think the answer is... is... is easy.
00:20:31And if you look at the... the views held by...
00:20:33myself, my organization, and...
00:20:35and, uh, many, many of the decision makers in...
00:20:38in the world, the powerful people...
00:20:40they happen to coincide with what I'm explaining.
00:20:42And I think this is... is enough in this sort of, uh, view.
00:20:47So, I mean, what we have here is a picture of...
00:20:50the rich and powerful people believe a certain philosophy...
00:20:53which they then propound through the institutions...
00:20:56in which they have a powerful voice.
00:20:58And I think this is exactly the model...
00:21:00that is being questioned.
00:21:02And... and increasingly...
00:21:03what there is...
00:21:04is a very large body...
00:21:07of people who are concerned about these rules.
00:21:09The people on the streets of General or... or... or... in Seattle...
00:21:12are not representative of the overall movement.
00:21:15They are the tip of the iceberg.
00:21:16We did a study last year...
00:21:18that... that looked across developing countries...
00:21:20and found that in the space of one year...
00:21:22in 50 protests...
00:21:23more than a million people from developing countries...
00:21:26were out... trying to change the rules...
00:21:29that were being imposed on them by the World Bank...
00:21:31and the IMF...
00:21:32and locked in through the...
00:21:33World Trade Organization.
00:21:34All right, thank you.
00:21:34We must finish there, unfortunately.
00:21:35Barry Coates, thank you very much for joining us.
00:21:37And also, Graham with her, Helda Batty...
00:21:38and also, Vernon Ellis on the line from New York.
00:21:58I'm looking for plastic bags...
00:22:01to protect these costumes.
00:22:05How are you English?
00:22:07Um... section three.
00:22:12Well, it's not exactly a garment bed...
00:22:16but it's, uh...
00:22:18it'll work.
00:22:21Yeah?
00:22:22You think?
00:22:22Well, this is very business-like.
00:22:24It's, like, very official.
00:22:27Very big money.
00:22:28Okay, good.
00:22:29That's what I need.
00:22:30I need a big money watch.
00:22:33So, are you as nervous...
00:22:35as you were for, uh, Salzburg?
00:22:38The thing is, like, even with the Salzburg thing...
00:22:40we went into it, like...
00:22:43sort of...
00:22:44I mean, we went there really nervous,
00:22:46but the whole time kind of...
00:22:47it doesn't...
00:22:48it doesn't really sink in until you're actually there.
00:22:50Right.
00:22:51Well, I think it's good, you guys, like,
00:22:53from what I've seen of the speech,
00:22:54it kind of starts out the most normal that it is.
00:22:58Yeah.
00:22:58So that he can get comfortable and people...
00:23:00he can sort of, like, slowly work his way up into it.
00:23:06Oh, you son of a fucking bitch.
00:23:11Shit.
00:23:13Yeah, do you have a rag?
00:23:14Uh...
00:23:15Fuck.
00:23:16Uh, shit.
00:23:18Um...
00:23:18I have one that has shoe polish on it,
00:23:20but that's not right, right?
00:23:23Did the screen get a little paint on it?
00:23:25Yeah.
00:23:30Hmm.
00:23:33It sounds like a lawnmower.
00:23:35It's a little loud, yeah.
00:23:38Mm, that's not good.
00:23:39I got it.
00:23:49Uh-oh.
00:23:49Oh, look, it made a new noise.
00:23:51Good, good, good.
00:23:52Great.
00:23:53Is it great?
00:23:53Try it.
00:23:54And it doesn't work now.
00:23:56Oh, listen.
00:23:57Yes.
00:23:57Okay.
00:23:58I'm free.
00:24:03Oh, si.
00:24:04Plus or moins en même temps.
00:24:06Euh...
00:24:07D'accord.
00:24:08Monsieur et Madame Servin, c'est ça?
00:24:10D'accord.
00:24:11Merci.
00:24:11Au revoir.
00:24:13Okay, ten minutes.
00:24:14They're both here.
00:24:18Hey, Sal.
00:24:20Thanks.
00:24:26We'll see how it goes.
00:24:27Thanks for everything.
00:24:28Yeah.
00:24:28Sleep good.
00:24:29Have a good time here.
00:24:31Yeah.
00:24:31Enjoy.
00:24:32See you soon.
00:24:33I hope.
00:24:33Move into my room.
00:24:34Have enjoyment.
00:24:35Okay.
00:24:35Okay.
00:24:39Is this everything?
00:24:40Wow, look how efficient.
00:24:42Okay.
00:24:45Efficient.
00:24:46A model of efficiency right here.
00:24:51You have some crap on your face right here.
00:24:53No.
00:24:54No.
00:24:54Over here.
00:24:56What's better?
00:25:13What's better?
00:25:14What are these satellites?
00:25:30We arrived last night.
00:25:32You had to take a nap.
00:25:33You had to get some sleep.
00:25:34Oh, I just crashed.
00:25:35Yeah.
00:25:36And I went and basically scoped out the lecture site.
00:25:39There was a sign on the door that said,
00:25:42Textiles of the Future.
00:25:43Unruh Hank Hardy was the first speaker.
00:25:46Hank Hardy, Unruh.
00:25:47And, you know, it all looked sort of official.
00:25:49The coffee cups were out for the morning.
00:25:52So I thought, this is great.
00:25:53I'm all ready.
00:25:54I know exactly where it is.
00:25:55We can go there.
00:25:56I had a time...
00:25:57I set up a little timetable.
00:25:59I got the maps of the thing
00:26:01and all the updated conference information.
00:26:04Came back here.
00:26:06Then we went to sleep early.
00:26:07Hank was snoring immediately.
00:26:09But I wasn't able to sleep at all, really.
00:26:12I just, like, stayed there awake in bed.
00:26:14And occasionally I'd go in the bathroom
00:26:15and turn on the light and read brochures
00:26:17because I was, like, just unable to sleep.
00:26:21And eventually I think I fell asleep
00:26:22just before waking up.
00:26:28Great.
00:26:32So I'm leaving my wallet here.
00:26:38Okay, let's go.
00:26:43It's eight o'clock.
00:26:45I think I really will leave it here.
00:26:52Are you coming?
00:26:59Hank, it's a little early to get up.
00:27:02It's all right.
00:27:03I mean, I thought this was vacation.
00:27:06Like what?
00:27:07Vacation.
00:27:07I know.
00:27:09They take me to Finland.
00:27:17Let me take care of this egg for you.
00:27:19I'll just peel it.
00:27:20That would be nice.
00:27:26Well, you know, we're behind schedule.
00:27:29Are we?
00:27:29Well, a little bit.
00:27:30It's after eight.
00:27:31And I really wanted to be at the venue at eight.
00:27:34Okay.
00:27:35But we're doing fine.
00:27:36Is it after eight?
00:27:37It is after eight.
00:27:38Yeah.
00:27:42You know, pretend, like...
00:27:52Oh, great.
00:27:54More early.
00:27:56Oh, good.
00:27:59Hello.
00:28:00I'm Hank Hardy Unruh.
00:28:02I'm from the...
00:28:03Oh, great.
00:28:03Nice to meet you.
00:28:04Nice to meet you.
00:28:05We were expecting you.
00:28:06Oh, good.
00:28:08It's not 9.30, no.
00:28:09It's 8.30, right?
00:28:11But you would have a...
00:28:12It's 8.30 now.
00:28:149.30.
00:28:15Is it?
00:28:16It...
00:28:17Jeez.
00:28:18It's 9.30, yes.
00:28:20Now?
00:28:20Yes.
00:28:21No, yeah.
00:28:22The time is 9.30?
00:28:23Yes.
00:28:24Almost.
00:28:25I'm on it.
00:28:26Well, I think it's 7 past 9 at the moment.
00:28:28Oh, my God.
00:28:28We're an hour off.
00:28:30Oh, my God.
00:28:32Okay.
00:28:33Well, we have to...
00:28:33Anyhow, it's very nice to see you.
00:28:34We start in three minutes, right?
00:28:36Do they know that he's going on now?
00:28:38Uh, yeah.
00:28:38Well, a person also was expecting...
00:28:40Oh, jeez.
00:28:41Okay.
00:28:44Uh...
00:28:45Are you coming too?
00:28:46Have you raised a drawer?
00:28:48Are you...
00:28:48Um, I'm...
00:28:49I'm his assistant, yeah.
00:28:50Okay.
00:28:51And this also, yeah.
00:28:51We're both working with him.
00:28:53We have to go take care of a few things now.
00:28:56Okay.
00:28:56Okay.
00:28:57Would you like to join the dinner?
00:28:58Uh, yes, please.
00:28:59Okay.
00:29:00Uh, or is there a fee, or...
00:29:02No, it's included.
00:29:03Okay, yes.
00:29:03We'll join the dinner.
00:29:05That's great.
00:29:06Um...
00:29:07Wow.
00:29:07Well, we must hurry, I guess, yes.
00:29:09So, please, yes.
00:29:13Um, actually, no, you can't go in right now, because you have to first take care of that
00:29:16business.
00:29:17Oh, God.
00:29:17See, we're an hour early.
00:29:19We're...
00:29:19We've got five...
00:29:20We had an hour off, so...
00:29:21Uh, I have to...
00:29:22Do something...
00:29:23Um...
00:29:24He has to make a very important phone call right now.
00:29:26It'll take me five minutes, and...
00:29:27Hold on.
00:29:28Yes, I'm sorry.
00:29:29But, uh...
00:29:29But you will have your presentation starting after two minutes.
00:29:32Yes, please tell him that I'll be three minutes late.
00:29:34Okay.
00:29:40There is a detail.
00:29:43Jesus.
00:29:43Fuck.
00:29:44Okay.
00:29:44How come we didn't know that?
00:29:46I don't know.
00:29:46That's really incredible.
00:29:49Come on.
00:29:50Okay.
00:29:51Yeah.
00:29:53Jeez, this is terrible.
00:29:55It's the stupidest...
00:29:56I can't...
00:29:57Watch the method.
00:29:58There's...
00:29:59It's an hour's difference.
00:30:00The time zone is different here.
00:30:02Oh, fuck.
00:30:04It's unbelievable.
00:30:06How the fuck can that happen?
00:30:07Okay.
00:30:07Okay.
00:30:08There.
00:30:09That's done now.
00:30:09Okay.
00:30:11Real quick.
00:30:12The shirt...
00:30:12The underwear.
00:30:15Gold underwear.
00:30:17Okay.
00:30:18Mm-hmm.
00:30:19Does that...
00:30:20Do I have to put something through here?
00:30:21No.
00:30:22Okay.
00:30:23Here we go.
00:30:24Mm-hmm.
00:30:26Your testicles hanging out?
00:30:27Uh, yeah.
00:30:28Okay.
00:30:30Okay.
00:30:31Here we go.
00:30:32Hey.
00:30:34Okay, great.
00:30:37Oh, God.
00:30:39Okay.
00:30:40Great.
00:30:41Got a little air in it.
00:30:42Okay.
00:30:42Now the pants.
00:30:44Hurry.
00:30:49Hi.
00:30:50I'm so sorry.
00:31:11Terrible.
00:31:14Sorry.
00:31:18Uh, I think the World Trade Organization,
00:31:21was supposed to know about time zones, but, uh...
00:31:25Somebody said, isn't there a time difference?
00:31:28And I said, nope.
00:31:29All of Europe, same time zone.
00:31:32So, uh, that convinced us all.
00:31:35Me too.
00:31:35And we were convinced that it was the right time.
00:31:38And we woke up this morning...
00:31:40Arrived there.
00:31:40We were running, we were running five or ten minutes late.
00:31:42And then figured out that, you know, the laptop wasn't working.
00:31:47No, maybe we could switch the order.
00:31:49Could we, could we have somebody else go, and then I go later?
00:31:51And they said, okay, I think we can do that.
00:31:53And then they called the coffee people, and they talked to the coffee people to see if the coffee was
00:31:57possible.
00:31:57And that was it.
00:31:59No, I had a pleasure, uh, to introduce, uh, our guest speaker, uh, Mr. Sankari Kundu,
00:32:13who is a monster of business at Texas in Texas.
00:32:18Sankari Kundu grew up in Montreal Police, Texas,
00:32:22with some of the sort of categorizing.
00:32:26His, uh, earlier experience, with, uh, his part of business in Portugal,
00:32:32he invited to him a large interest in trade,
00:32:36and after updating the markets of business administration,
00:32:39he joined the WTO on the process in 1998.
00:32:45Since then, he has spoken on trade matters before,
00:32:53he is currently currently in business in Paris.
00:32:57And the title from the camera's presentation, uh,
00:33:01uh, is, uh, the future, text us,
00:33:04the future of a lifetime and a lifetime of the future.
00:33:09Thank you very much.
00:33:15Um, it's quite an honor to be here in Tampere,
00:33:19addressing this audience of the most outstanding textile workers in the world today.
00:33:25I see on all the faces here today a touching childlike eagerness
00:33:29to tackle the biggest textiles questions in the world.
00:33:33How do we at the WTO fit in?
00:33:36What we want to do at the WTO is help you achieve your dollar results.
00:33:40And in just 20 minutes from now, I'm going to show you the WTO's very own solution
00:33:47to two of the very biggest problems in management.
00:33:51One, maintaining rapport with distant workforce,
00:33:54and two, maintaining healthful amounts of leisure.
00:33:58This solution, appropriately enough, is based in textiles.
00:34:04Uh, but how did workers ever get to be a problem?
00:34:09Before unveiling our solution, I'd like to talk a bit about the history
00:34:13of the worker management problem.
00:34:16Uh, we all know about the American Civil War, at least in the U.S.
00:34:20Uh, it was the bloodiest, least profitable war in the history of our country.
00:34:24A war in which unbelievably huge amounts of money went right down the drain,
00:34:29and all for textiles.
00:34:30By the 1860s, the South was utterly flush with cash.
00:34:35It had recently benefited from the cotton gin,
00:34:38an invention that took the seeds out of cotton,
00:34:40and the South out of its pre-industrial past.
00:34:43Hundreds of thousands of workers,
00:34:45previously unemployed in their countries of origin,
00:34:47were given useful jobs in textiles.
00:34:50Into this rosy picture, Freedom and Boone stepped, you guessed it, the North.
00:34:56Now, some Civil War apologists have said that the Civil War, for all its faults,
00:35:01at least had the effect of outlawing an involuntarily imported workforce model of work.
00:35:06Now, this model is, of course, a terrible thing.
00:35:09I, myself, am an abolitionist.
00:35:11But, uh, in fact, there is no doubt that, left to their own devices,
00:35:15markets would have eventually replaced slavery with cleaner sources of labor.
00:35:20To prove my point, please, uh, join me on what Albert Einstein used to call a thought experiment.
00:35:28Suppose involuntarily imported labor had never been outlawed,
00:35:31that slaves still existed, and that it were easy to own one.
00:35:35What do you think it would cost today to profitably maintain a slave, say, here in Tampere?
00:35:41Let's see.
00:35:42A finished clothing set costs $50 at the very least.
00:35:46Uh, two meals for McDonald's, uh, cost about $10.
00:35:50The cheapest small room probably runs for about $250 a month.
00:35:54To function well, you have to pay for your slave's health care.
00:35:57If its country of origin was polluted, for example, that might run very expensively.
00:36:01And, of course, what with child labor laws here in Finland, uh, much of the youth market is simply not
00:36:06available.
00:36:08Now, leave the, uh, same slave back at home.
00:36:11Let's say, Gabon.
00:36:12In Gabon, $10 pays for two weeks of food.
00:36:16$250 pays for two years of housing, not a month, at best.
00:36:21Uh, $50 pays for a lifetime of budget clothing.
00:36:25And healthcare is, of course, cheaper.
00:36:27On top of it all, youth can be gainfully employed without restriction.
00:36:32The biggest benefit of the remote labor system, though, is to the slave him or herself.
00:36:37Because in Gabon, there is no need for the slave not to be free.
00:36:41This is primarily because there are no one-time slave transport costs to recoup,
00:36:46and so the potential losses from fleeing are limited to the slave's rudimentary training.
00:36:50So, since the slave can be free, he or she suddenly becomes a worker rather than a slave.
00:36:57Also terrific for morale is that slaves, workers, have the luxury of remaining in their native habitat
00:37:03and don't have to relocate to places where they would be subject to such unpleasantries as homesickness and racism.
00:37:10I think it's clear from our little thought experiment, uh,
00:37:14that if the North and South had simply let the market sorted out without protectionist tariffs,
00:37:18they would have quickly given up slavery for something more efficient anyhow.
00:37:23By forcing the issue, the North not only committed a terrible injustice against the freedom of the South,
00:37:28but also deprived slavery of its natural development into remote labor.
00:37:35Had the leaders of the 1860s United States understood what our leaders understand today,
00:37:40the Civil War would never have happened.
00:37:43In a world where the headquarters of a company might be in New York, Hong Kong, or Espo, Finland,
00:37:48and the workers are in Gabon, Rangu, or Estonia,
00:37:53how does a manager maintain proper rapport with the workers,
00:37:56and how does he or she ensure from a distance that workers perform their work in an ethical fashion?
00:38:02I'm about to show you an actual prototype of the WTO solution to two major management problems of today.
00:38:09Now, we all know that not even the best workplace design can help even the most astute manager keep track
00:38:15of workers.
00:38:16What you need is a solution that enables complete rapport with workers,
00:38:21especially when they're located far away.
00:38:25Mike, would you help me a moment?
00:38:51This is much better, much more comfortable.
00:38:55This is the WTO's answer to two of the major management problems,
00:38:59and we're calling it the management leisure suit.
00:39:03It's the two problems, again, how to maintain close rapport with distant workers,
00:39:08and how to remain comfortable and increase leisure activities.
00:39:13How does the management leisure suit work,
00:39:16besides being extremely comfortable, as I can guarantee you?
00:39:19Well, allow me to describe the suit's core features.
00:39:47This, this is the EVA.
00:39:53The Employee Visualization Appendage.
00:39:57It's an instantly deployable, hip-mounted device with totally hands-free operation
00:40:03that allows the manager to see his employees directly right here.
00:40:08Signals communicating the exact amounts and quality of physical work
00:40:12are transmitted not only visually right here, but directly through electric channels implanted directly into the manager.
00:40:20The workers, for their part, are fitted with corresponding transmitting chips
00:40:24that are implanted humanely directly into the shoulder.
00:40:28But the other equally important achievement of the MLS has to do with leisure.
00:40:33In the United States, leisure, another word for freedom really,
00:40:37has been decreasing steadily since the 1970s.
00:40:41The management leisure suit permits the manager to reverse this trend
00:40:45by letting him do his work anywhere, while remaining in complete touch with the workers,
00:40:51physically sensing what's going on in the workforce, on the floor,
00:40:55through channels implanted directly into the manager.
00:40:57Again, the manager sees the employees, but also feels what they're feeling,
00:41:02and can select where to focus in the workplace environment.
00:41:07So, in conclusion, I'd like to ask, is this a science fiction scenario?
00:41:19The answer is no.
00:41:22Everything we've seen here, everything we've been talking about,
00:41:25is entirely possible today.
00:41:27We can always look forward on the highways of progress towards ever-new horizons,
00:41:32with cooperation and mutual delight in the fruits of prosperity.
00:41:37I'm very excited to be here.
00:41:39Thank you very much.
00:41:40Thank you very much.
00:42:06Something we're trying to do more and more is, yeah.
00:42:09Please, can you please?
00:42:11Sure.
00:42:12Are there any questions,
00:42:13with the fact that, next,
00:42:16to this moment,
00:42:18you can ask questions when you follow the spirit after now?
00:42:29I wasn't depressed by people not reacting.
00:42:32I wasn't depressed by people just swallowing it and not asking questions,
00:42:35because I thought,
00:42:36well, that shows that you need some sort of control.
00:42:40Because here you can, you know, the WTO, me,
00:42:43can come in and say these amazingly hideous things
00:42:45to this group of the most educated people,
00:42:47like the top 0.1% education-wise people in the entire world,
00:42:52in a developed country like Finland.
00:42:53These people all have PhDs or advanced degrees.
00:42:56And you can say the most atrocious things,
00:42:58and nobody will really react,
00:43:00and nobody will really care.
00:43:02It's like, you know,
00:43:03what can corporations get away with?
00:43:10Are there any questions?
00:43:12Here comes a bus from Järmeckstation,
00:43:14to the airport.
00:43:18So where are we?
00:43:20Well, we're arriving in Helsinki right now.
00:43:23We left the conference this morning.
00:43:26It was just,
00:43:27it had driven us completely mad after dinner last night.
00:43:31I think we'd had our film at dinner.
00:43:33I had to actually leave a little bit early.
00:43:35I went over to the table where Anru, where Hank Hardy had to sit with the big men and eat.
00:43:43And I told them that we needed to leave because we had a telephone meeting with Mobutu Oblongatu immediately.
00:43:53Great.
00:43:54Hi.
00:43:55Sorry about in a minute.
00:43:56We're supposed to meet Manduka Jibango at 10 o'clock.
00:44:00And then we both started laughing, which was really not convenient for the context.
00:44:05So we left.
00:44:06And then we just decided that basically, like, we couldn't figure out what else we could possibly do at this
00:44:13conference.
00:44:13So we just thought, well, let's go to Helsinki instead.
00:44:18So this is the paper on the front page.
00:44:21It just said, just discovered it said, it says, there's a seminar at the university.
00:44:25And somebody talked about controlling remote workers with electrical impulsions.
00:44:32Impulsiari.
00:44:33And then you turn to the page and that's what you get.
00:44:39And this right here represents the World Trade Organization.
00:44:53I went down to these Mexican border towns in the mid-80s.
00:44:59They were called Maquilladoras.
00:45:00And when they first had, you know, the sort of the first trade agreements between Mexico and the United States.
00:45:06And everyone was saying, oh, this is going to raise Mexico out of poverty.
00:45:09And things were going to be so great.
00:45:11And within 10 years, they'd all be driving shiny new cars in Mexico.
00:45:15And I went down there and saw this, the incredible poverty in these Mexican border towns.
00:45:22Fifteen years later, I went back.
00:45:23Not a damn thing had changed.
00:45:25Here's all these workers working for all these American corporations.
00:45:29And you just go across the street and you found people living in the same horrid conditions, the same poverty
00:45:36existing.
00:45:37And you had to ask, well, who was benefiting from this?
00:45:40Well, who benefited were these American corporations during the 1990s?
00:45:45They became even more wealthy.
00:45:46They posted a record profit, larger record profits.
00:45:49And the people in Mexico just continued to suffer.
00:45:52It was all a big scam.
00:46:11Is this the one?
00:46:13No.
00:46:15You got the wrong one.
00:46:17Shit.
00:46:19Will WTO stand up?
00:46:20Oh, yeah.
00:46:21Oh, my God.
00:46:22It's got pictures.
00:46:23They're nice.
00:46:23Yeah.
00:46:24Yeah, they actually look okay at that size.
00:46:26He's a mom, isn't he?
00:46:27Wow, but he plays them on TV.
00:46:30This is basically the core of what we do.
00:46:32All of these newspapers and magazines have articles on the Yes Men, and this is why we are doing these
00:46:41things.
00:46:42This is why we go and do these conferences.
00:46:43It's not for the 200 people or the 100 people that might see us give the lecture, although we'd like
00:46:49them to come away with an interesting experience from the lecture.
00:46:52The reason we do it is so that people who read Bizarre magazine or the New York Times or Fortune
00:46:59or Harper's can read about it in the mainstream press.
00:47:02I mean, this is how millions of people could read about it and potentially get turned on to some of
00:47:09the ideas of anti-globalization.
00:47:11One of the problems with the Fortune thing is that it's in this, well, Fortune, it's like read by business
00:47:20people and accountants and that kind of thing.
00:47:22And that's exactly who we're supposed to be talking to in Australia in May.
00:47:29It's an accounting conference.
00:47:31It's a little, little worrisome.
00:47:45You need a new shirt and one that's not wrinkled?
00:47:47Yeah.
00:47:48Will that be good with your, um, thing?
00:47:51Do you think it'll work with your suit?
00:47:52This one's extra large.
00:47:53Yeah, they'll all work with my suit.
00:47:55It's terrible.
00:47:56Striped, though.
00:47:57Is that okay?
00:47:58Yeah.
00:47:59Sure, it's okay.
00:48:00Well, then why don't you go get a shirt, then?
00:48:02I'll just get this.
00:48:02Wait.
00:48:03Yeah.
00:48:03It's cotton.
00:48:03Oh, it's not very much cotton.
00:48:05How much is it?
00:48:06I hate that.
00:48:0735%?
00:48:0835%.
00:48:08It's like.
00:48:10It doesn't wrinkle much, then.
00:48:11That's nice about that.
00:48:13I'll just wear it.
00:48:13You can pack it in your bag without a lot of wrinkle.
00:48:15All right.
00:48:21I mean, the thing is, like, there's a question of whether he's, like, at what point he recognizes
00:48:26you doesn't really matter.
00:48:27What we want is that moment when he does recognize you.
00:48:31So if he recognizes you here and sees that you're in the room, then he'll be looking back
00:48:36and forth at you at the screen.
00:48:37And at that point, if he recognizes you, we better say something.
00:48:44No, I think it's down here, but I don't know.
00:48:49Oh, it's right over.
00:48:50It must be right down in Morris.
00:48:51Remember, we walked...
00:48:52It's on this man.
00:48:53It must be fine.
00:48:54It's here.
00:49:10Thanks.
00:49:15Hi, nice to meet you.
00:49:17Good to meet you.
00:49:18Good.
00:49:19Great.
00:49:19Yeah.
00:49:20We're in London, and we were just at the offices of the world development movement,
00:49:25where we talked to Barry Coates, who's the director of the world development movement
00:49:29and who showed up on CNBC Market Rap Europe, debating our friend here, Granwith Huletberry,
00:49:37about the prospects of WTO and globalization.
00:49:41We kind of expected him maybe to have a glimmer of recognition immediately, and he didn't.
00:49:46Okay.
00:49:47Then we put on the tape, and he laughed at how horribly stupid it was, but he never realized
00:49:55that this wasn't really a representative of WTO.
00:49:59Even when he saw me like this, right next to it, and then we switched seats, and he still
00:50:03didn't notice, and then I had to put my face next to the thing and, like, go, let's just
00:50:09pause it here.
00:50:10Okay.
00:50:11Good stop.
00:50:12Is there a pause?
00:50:12Stop button.
00:50:13There's no pause.
00:50:14I don't know what I could have said after that clip.
00:50:18I mean, really.
00:50:21Where did they get this guy from?
00:50:23Afterwards, yes.
00:50:24Might have been my first comment.
00:50:25So did you ever figure out where they got the guy from?
00:50:28I understood that he was far in the external relations department of the WTO.
00:50:35Right.
00:50:36That's what they thought, too.
00:50:37That's what they thought as well.
00:50:39But as it happens, he wasn't.
00:50:43Yeah.
00:50:43In fact.
00:50:44Just take one more close look.
00:50:47Oh, wait.
00:50:48Can we?
00:50:49Is this reverse?
00:50:53No.
00:50:58I wasn't going to mention the likeness.
00:51:01You were being very polite, weren't you?
00:51:04Yeah.
00:51:06Yeah.
00:51:06He did it as a spoof.
00:51:07Yeah.
00:51:08Yeah.
00:51:08Basically, we weren't sure how you were doing it.
00:51:14We were really hoping you wouldn't be too offended.
00:51:16We were like, oh, no.
00:51:17Oh, hell no.
00:51:18Oh, that's great.
00:51:19That's really good.
00:51:20I was wondering, because I hadn't seen that guy before, and I did know some of the WTO external
00:51:25relations, people are now thinking, my God, they really put up a right one this time.
00:51:31We wanted to talk to Barry Coates as well, because he has a lot of statistics and information
00:51:36about globalization that we thought would be useful for the lecture in Australia.
00:51:41All of the WTO agreements, bar one, are all about restricting what governments can do.
00:51:48And so, essentially, the whole trading system is built on the premise that the companies
00:51:55trading internationally, investing internationally, are going to be preyed upon by nasty governments.
00:52:02And really, I mean, what we have is an international system that is entirely the reverse.
00:52:08What's got squeezed out of the system is democracy, is development, is environment,
00:52:13is the kind of human values, which really ought to be the center of what we're trying
00:52:19to do.
00:52:20We don't kind of live to trade.
00:52:23You know, we live to have decent lives, and that ought to be the goal of our trade policy,
00:52:29not maximizing trade or getting rid of any impediments to it.
00:52:55Oh.
00:52:57Okay.
00:52:59That's good.
00:53:00I got that.
00:53:02I need to get the video.
00:53:05And I'll be off.
00:53:08Let's see.
00:53:12One of the big reasons why I'm up here is that we have the Australia gig for the Yes Men.
00:53:19And I did an animation about, you know, the recycling of post-consumer waste into hamburgers
00:53:25and fast food.
00:53:27So, um, here we go.
00:53:30The answer to the world's sustainable food future is in recycling.
00:53:34And since over half our nutrients are taken in or eliminated, valuable resources are at
00:53:38risk.
00:53:39Mm-hmm.
00:53:40By using post-consumer waste, Reburger allows essential nutrients to be offered to developing
00:53:44countries for greatly reduced cost.
00:53:46Uh-huh.
00:53:46Oh.
00:53:47Okay.
00:53:50Oh, my God.
00:53:53Oh.
00:53:53Oh.
00:53:54It gets better.
00:53:55Oh.
00:53:56Wait, what was that?
00:53:58Was that in outer space?
00:53:59What the hell is that?
00:54:01I think it does the job.
00:54:03I think it does the job.
00:54:07We're here in New York because Herb Alpert, of Herb Alpert and the Tumana Brass, gave us
00:54:15this award, a bunch of money to do what, you know, the kind of stuff that we do.
00:54:20Um, so we had to come here and have dinner with him and, you know, get the money and thank
00:54:26everybody and it was very nice and it's very surprising, but we're very pleased.
00:54:30I think we can say we're very pleased.
00:54:32Um, yeah, it was a big chunk of money.
00:54:35Yeah, it was a big chunk of money.
00:54:35It's going to bankroll a lot of future activities like going to Australia.
00:54:39Oh, yeah.
00:54:39Um, yeah, so we got this chunk of money, but, of course, now we're also using this opportunity and this
00:54:45hotel room here in New York to meet up with Matt, who's been working on the PowerPoint presentation for Australia,
00:54:51and to meet up with Patrick, who's been working on animations for Australia as well.
00:54:56Fortunately, we were lucky, too, because, uh, Snafu was in town and he's sort of a European yes man who's
00:55:02been sort of circulating in the European scene doing yes man type activities.
00:55:07But, uh, it's a good thing he's here, here in the States, so he can go to Plattsburgh with us.
00:55:13Yes, trade liberalization is a religious undertaking, a project of faith, a crusade of sorts, and it has been ever
00:55:18since its founders declared that financial success comes from God and that wealth is a sign of divine favor.
00:55:24Now, why is starvation a problem?
00:55:28First, the facts.
00:55:29As we all know, investment and exports have been on the rise in the third world.
00:55:34There's some bad news.
00:55:36There's some really bad news that came down in the last two days.
00:55:40Um, the conference in Australia, the people from the conference in Australia wrote an email saying that the conference has
00:55:48been canceled because of low enrollment.
00:55:51In some ways it's really kind of, I guess, uh, a nice thing that there was under enrollment because it
00:55:56was really a hideous conference and it seemed like a really dire thing that people would actually want to go
00:56:02to that thing.
00:56:03And so it's really encouraging for humanity that the conference actually has been canceled.
00:56:08But at the same time, it's really, um, made things difficult for us.
00:56:12And so I wrote back to them as Hildegard West and I asked them if they would please set up
00:56:17another venue because Kinnathrung Spratt is already en route to Australia.
00:56:21So right now I'm waiting to see if they come back to us with the suggestion that they'll actually have
00:56:28a public presentation.
00:56:29But since the conference has been canceled, now the event in Plattsburgh is kind of like, it might be the
00:56:35only venue we have for this lecture.
00:56:37And so it's really important now that we get the lecture done and sort of together so it's no longer
00:56:42a dress rehearsal.
00:56:43It's actually, like, the final, you know, production.
00:56:49It's about time.
00:56:50What?
00:56:51I was so worried about your shoes.
00:56:52About what?
00:56:53This guy brought shoes.
00:56:54He brought real shoes for you.
00:56:55Look.
00:56:55Do we have the hamburgers yet?
00:56:58Uh, we have to pick them up.
00:56:59But you mentioned?
00:57:00They're ordered.
00:57:01They're ordered.
00:57:01Yeah, Richard ordered them already.
00:57:03That's fantastic.
00:57:04Basically, there's this guy named Richard Robbins who I met at a conference about a month ago.
00:57:10And he has written several books on sort of global, globalization.
00:57:15He was interested in having the, the WTO come speak at the economics department.
00:57:21And only he really knows that this isn't, um, really the WTO.
00:57:24Everybody else will think that it's the WTO.
00:57:27But another good thing is that it will be a hungry audience.
00:57:29So there's a good chance they are going to eat those hamburgers, which we weren't sure
00:57:34was actually going to happen with the accountants in Australia.
00:57:38You know, I think for, uh, for a look, I should probably carry these in.
00:57:43Okay.
00:57:44Can you do it?
00:57:45Yeah, I'm thinking that, uh, that you probably shouldn't be associated with the hamburgers.
00:57:49Okay.
00:57:50I'd like to thank everybody for coming.
00:57:52Um, you have many education choices, and, uh, we're all grateful at the WTO that you
00:57:59have chosen to listen to us for an hour and to our messages about things that will impact
00:58:03everyone.
00:58:04I'd like to, to say that by joining us here, you're essentially embarking with us on a
00:58:09mission.
00:58:11I'd like to start right at the beginning.
00:58:14As I was saying, trade liberalization is a, a project of faith.
00:58:18It's a crusade.
00:58:20And in any crusade, there are problems.
00:58:22There are invading armies.
00:58:23There are big blockades.
00:58:25And one of the, the problems that we run into in this crusade is starvation in the third
00:58:31world.
00:58:31You may recognize that symbol from those green bins you see, you know, where cans, bottles,
00:58:36blah, blah.
00:58:37The kind of recycling I'm talking about that we have developed at the WTO is not, not really
00:58:43this, this irrelevant kind of recycling where the target individual consumers like you and
00:58:49me or of, uh, non-edible industrial products is such a tiny part of the problem.
00:58:55Rather, we're talking about really recycling what counts, where it counts.
00:58:59To begin to understand the theory behind this, you must first realize that the human body is
00:59:04not really very efficient.
00:59:06When ingesting heavy foods, only about 20% of the nutrients are absorbed by the elementary
00:59:12passageway, while the other 80% finds itself expelled in post-consumer by-products.
00:59:17Already 20 years ago, NASA scientists began to tap into this nutritional gold mine by developing
00:59:24filters that could transform their astronauts' waste into healthy, hygienic, and even delicious
00:59:29food once again.
00:59:30With the use of this technology, a single hamburger, for example, can be eaten more than 10 times,
00:59:36providing a cumulative total of three times the nutritional value of the original fresh
00:59:43hamburger.
00:59:44Now again, a certain amount of cultural openness is required, um, as we investigate solutions.
00:59:50And I'd love to take any, uh, questions.
00:59:53Yes, you've been...
00:59:54Coming from a third world country, I found most of what you said pretty offensive.
00:59:59It's as if, uh, everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others.
01:00:04And, uh, who is to say whether people in the third world want a burger?
01:00:09You know, I, in my heart, sometimes find it to, to agree that, that cultures deserve equal
01:00:16consideration, perhaps to develop on their own terms, but, you know, we're, we're different.
01:00:21We're culturally different.
01:00:22We're rich, they're poor.
01:00:23This is the, the most humane solution we can come up with that stays within the market logic.
01:00:27If it's all right, I could, I could answer a portion of that, of that question as well.
01:00:31And this answers the question about desire for the product, because the biggest growth areas
01:00:37are the developing world.
01:00:38And so, uh, in fact, people do want the product.
01:00:42We, we do have a, a kind of video presentation about this that I, I came prepared to show.
01:00:48It's not, the program isn't actually completely ready yet.
01:00:54So, as you, you can see here, there's a consumer, uh, in the first world entering McDonald's
01:01:01and, uh, consuming a hamburger.
01:01:06And afterward, this is a process we're all familiar with.
01:01:10I don't need to explain it to anyone.
01:01:16But, you see, it's rendered out in this style because, uh, studies have shown that consumers,
01:01:22uh, are, are most responsive to 3D animation right now, particularly in developing cultures.
01:01:29So, as you can see, it goes through a, a piping system, a kind of, and this isn't unusual.
01:01:34We do this for oil.
01:01:35We could do this for food as well.
01:01:37And, uh, as you can see, it goes back up through the plumbing and emerges in a McDonald's.
01:01:44Now, the part of this video that isn't completed yet is the filtering process.
01:01:48There will be a, a very well-rendered, uh, filtering.
01:02:03And, uh, as you can see, uh, this, that might answer somebody's question from before, but
01:02:08at the McDonald's in a developing country, and in fact in this country as well, you would
01:02:12be able to choose, uh, the number one, number two, number three, number four, and number five
01:02:16would no longer refer to combinations of food, but rather just, uh, the number of times the
01:02:22product had been recycled.
01:02:24We're lucky to be able to partner with the World Trade Organization, which, uh, you know,
01:02:29has slightly different goals.
01:02:30Of course, McDonald's goals are to profit and grow.
01:02:33So, and, uh, we hope that we can provide a nutritious and tasty product in the process.
01:02:38Our goals are to help McDonald's profit and grow and all other corporations.
01:02:42I think you guys, like, the WTO is kind of lacking, uh, kind of like a human element, you
01:02:49know, like, if you, if you saw, have you, like, have you ever seen starving people?
01:02:55Uh, in pictures, yes.
01:02:57Okay, but tell me, if you, if you saw somebody starving to death, you would probably think a
01:03:02lot, you know, like, that would kind of hit you in a, a sensitive, you know, place to
01:03:07say, like, oh, well, you know, maybe markets and money and this and that don't really mean
01:03:13as much, and actually, like, eating people means a little bit more, you know?
01:03:16Yeah, well, it is true that there's a personal side of it that, um, I, I have to say, in
01:03:21the
01:03:21WTO, there are questions that we, we have about this as human beings, but we're not as
01:03:26subject, um, uh, we have a kind of firmer grasp on theory.
01:03:29We are able, um, fortunately, to simply direct world trade in a much more theoretical way,
01:03:37um, in collaboration with our, our colleagues at, at the largest corporations.
01:03:41So, uh, you know, yes, probably if, if I went to these countries, I'd be, I'd feel, um, I,
01:03:50I'd think about things a little differently, perhaps, but, um, at the same time, I don't
01:03:55think I would forget all my schooling.
01:03:56I don't think I would forget, you know, all these theories, um, and so on.
01:03:59So, um, perhaps one day I'll do that.
01:04:02This is a moneymaker, correct?
01:04:04Yes.
01:04:05Well, it's a moneymaker, starvation solver, sure.
01:04:08And how much does McDonald's pay you to come here and speak this garbage book?
01:04:12Did I see a mouse with an ear growing out of its back?
01:04:15How are you going to get around the cultural and legal implications of cannibalism and basically
01:04:20asking us to recycle shit?
01:04:21I think there's no ethical behavior, I mean, you don't have morals, that's what I think.
01:04:27I mean, that's not, I mean, I can't believe the corporate bonus, I don't know if you guys
01:04:32look at that.
01:04:35I can't help but feel hurt, that way that my, uh, I, the way I feed my cat, my dog,
01:04:40that's
01:04:41actually better.
01:04:42And the people you're talking about, you know, there's a number of people here, I'm a number
01:04:46of people, and it just, that seems, we're giving them lower, we're giving them shit, litter.
01:04:50The, the reality is that we already treat, um, people in the third world far worse than
01:04:55we treat our domestic animals.
01:04:57That's, that's, it's not saying it's right, it's just saying that's the reality.
01:05:10Well, after thinking about it for a little while, it seems the Plattsburgh lecture just
01:05:14went great, and it went exactly the way we originally expected these lectures to work,
01:05:20which is that, at a certain point, it was like light bulbs going off in the heads of
01:05:23the different people in the audience, and they were realizing that it was just too crazy to
01:05:28be real, and yet it was sort of based in reality, and so, you know, they started throwing globes
01:05:34at us, they got angry, they got frustrated, it worked exactly like we thought it would.
01:05:43They don't ask you if you believe in it, you don't get to vote on the World Trade Organization
01:05:46treaties, they don't let you vote on it, they don't give you a say in it, they let you listen
01:05:51to the, to the one-sided propaganda, name me a single columnist in America who doesn't
01:05:56stand up and cheer under the banner of so-called free trade.
01:05:59There's no public discussion, there's no dissent in any of the parties, political parties.
01:06:05You, there's no debate, there's no discussion, there's no vote.
01:06:08In fact, the only nation which has called for a vote is Brazil, and already, which is saying
01:06:15that it will not sign any more trade treaties without a plebiscite of its people, and the
01:06:20world trade barons are losing their damn minds trying to prevent this type of democracy
01:06:26from spreading planet-wide, because once people know what this stuff is about and get to vote
01:06:31on it, no one's going to vote themselves into poverty.
01:06:39Here we go, Australia, country code.
01:06:42Oops.
01:06:44Oh, Australia, 61.
01:06:46It's 61.
01:06:4761.
01:06:52Hi, uh, this is, uh, Kenneth Rung Spratt from the WTO.
01:06:57Hello, how are you?
01:06:58Good, thanks, how are you?
01:06:59Where are you now?
01:07:00I'm in New York at the moment.
01:07:03New York, are you?
01:07:04Yes.
01:07:05Kenneth Rung Spratt just called the person who's, uh, coordinating Spratt's visit.
01:07:10I'm, I'm due in Hong Kong the week after, um, this, and that date is, is firm, but my travel
01:07:17to Australia is as yet, um, not, not firm.
01:07:21Yeah.
01:07:21She's actually, it turns out, been emailing all these people and, and trying, and basically
01:07:26calling journalists and getting people to attend his lecture, and she fully expects him
01:07:30to attend because she had spoken to Hildegard West, uh, Spratt's assistant, and Hildegard West
01:07:35had told her that everything was, was on and Spratt was definitely going.
01:07:39So now we just decide we, we really have to go to honor this arrangement with, uh, Australia.
01:07:45So it's back on now after we totally thought it was off.
01:07:49And instead of giving this lecture that we've been planning for, like, nine months, we're
01:07:53gonna, like, you know, just disband the WTO.
01:07:59Should we get you a pair of shoes that actually are reasonable?
01:08:03I mean, they just don't look like dress shoes.
01:08:04They look like wrestling shoes.
01:08:06All right, well, we, there are no shoes here for you.
01:08:08Never mind.
01:08:08No, shoes are out.
01:08:10No, it's hard.
01:08:12Uh-huh.
01:08:13Around thin.
01:08:14Yep.
01:08:16Oh, wait, did you try this?
01:08:19Yeah.
01:08:22I did a set of these with an inkjet, and they just don't look as real.
01:08:26Ah.
01:08:27Something about them, they look, uh, kind of handmade.
01:08:31I printed off some letterhead for you, but you guys already saw that, and I just kept
01:08:36it real simple.
01:08:37That's perfect.
01:08:37So that, uh, it would show up well on the fax.
01:08:41That is the most ridiculous photo.
01:08:43It's like something really weird about this maniacal public relations guy.
01:08:47Wow, and a little magnetic strip in the bag.
01:08:48A little magnetic strip in the bag.
01:08:50Yeah, really beautiful.
01:08:52Wow.
01:08:53You know what I did?
01:08:54I went to, uh, I went to Google, and I went to Google Image Search, and I typed in ID
01:09:00card.
01:09:01And you wouldn't believe the numbers of ID, pictures of ID cards that show up on the web.
01:09:07And I just went through and took a little bit from each one.
01:09:10You know, I said, all right, this one's got, like, a little barcode at the bottom, and this
01:09:13one uses the logo over here.
01:09:15That is so nice.
01:09:26Down, simple, third, down, under, under, I know.
01:09:29Oh, well, airplane.
01:09:34Where's the rental car area?
01:09:55Now, I don't know.
01:09:56I'm just really nervous, because, um, I don't know.
01:09:58This feels different from all the other things that we've done.
01:10:01It's not, like, the same kind of play, fun, crazy, weird, um, impossible stuff.
01:10:08This is, like, sincere, you know?
01:10:09It's, like, about replacing the WTO with something better.
01:10:12Do you think that satire is more fun?
01:10:14Yeah, definitely.
01:10:16That's, I got this feeling that it's less, for some reason, um, maybe it's less fun to
01:10:20be sincere.
01:10:21But it is less fun, isn't it?
01:10:23In a way, yeah.
01:10:25Maybe it's more fun to be satirical than serious.
01:10:31Yeah.
01:10:36It's about 9 o'clock in the morning, and this is the big day for Kenneth Rung-Spratt to
01:10:42go talk to CPA Australia and close down the WTO.
01:10:46It's kind of an exciting day for us.
01:10:48And we finally get to shut it down.
01:11:05I'm writing the local phone number for this cell phone on the business card, so if we give
01:11:11these to journalists or anybody else who wants to contact Mr. Spratt, they'll be able to
01:11:15do it in the next couple days.
01:11:20We have to leave in about 10 minutes, though.
01:11:22I know.
01:11:23I'm just going to do as little as possible.
01:11:30Okay, let's just go by there.
01:11:32We have some time yet.
01:11:33Let's just keep walking.
01:11:34Just walk straight.
01:11:36Don't look.
01:11:37Don't walk.
01:11:37Don't turn left.
01:11:39Don't.
01:11:40Oh.
01:11:40Okay, no.
01:11:41Don't.
01:11:42Don't do that.
01:11:43Uh-oh.
01:11:45Answer it.
01:11:47Hello, Michael Bonanno here.
01:11:51Hi, Jane.
01:11:52How are you?
01:11:55All right, then.
01:11:55I guess we'll see you in just a few minutes.
01:11:58And do we just come up to level three, then?
01:12:01Great.
01:12:02Thank you very much.
01:12:03All right.
01:12:03Bye-bye.
01:12:04Run!
01:12:10Oh, wait, shit.
01:12:11This is the building.
01:12:12Thank you for coming.
01:12:13Oh, thank you for having us.
01:12:14Sorry for the confusion and problems and everything else.
01:12:18It's to be expected these days, I think.
01:12:21No, thanks for going out of your way to arrange this.
01:12:23This is really terrific.
01:12:31Thank you all for coming.
01:12:32I'd like to thank the organizers for going out of their way to create this panel, this
01:12:40luncheon, in the face of some odds, the conference having been canceled, of course.
01:12:47And I'd especially like to begin by apologizing for a rather sudden change in the program, consequent
01:12:55upon a rather dramatic development in Geneva yesterday.
01:13:00I originally intended to transmit today an upbeat report on some new technologies that
01:13:06affect agribusiness in a global sense.
01:13:08Instead, I find myself the messenger of some rather disturbing news.
01:13:14The WTO will be issuing a public statement in detail by the end of the week, but the
01:13:20die has been cast.
01:13:21As of September 2002, having seen the effects of policies whose only intent was to bring
01:13:28greater prosperity and peace, the World Trade Organization, in its present form, will
01:13:33cease to exist.
01:13:36Over the next two years, we of the WTO will endeavor to re-found our organization along
01:13:41different lines, based in a different understanding of the purposes of world trade.
01:13:47The new organization will have as its foundation and basis the United Nations Universal Declaration
01:13:53of Human Rights, upon which we feel we can make a good foundation to ensuring that the organization
01:14:00will have human, rather than business interests as its bottom line.
01:14:04My reaction was one of total surprise.
01:14:06We're expecting a speech more based on what the World Trade Organization does in its relation
01:14:11to Australian trade.
01:14:12It sort of blew me out of the water when the announcement was made that the World Trade
01:14:16Organization is significantly reinventing itself to focus on issues relating to people as
01:14:23opposed to economics, something that hopefully could be of significant benefit to the poor
01:14:29and needy throughout the world in all the developing countries.
01:14:32The UN estimates that poor countries, the poorest countries in the world, lose approximately
01:14:38$2 billion a day because of unjust trade rules, many of them instituted by our own organization.
01:14:45And this is 14 times the amount that they receive in aid from developed countries.
01:14:51I thought the speech itself was compelling in terms of its information.
01:14:56But I was astounded to find that they're actually going to dismantle the WTO.
01:15:02I was also amazed to see that there was an omission that perhaps it had failed.
01:15:07It's going to have a huge effect on international business, and particularly for us as an organization,
01:15:12I feel the hardest thing I find will be the balance that, let's say, the U.S., EU, and Japan,
01:15:20in terms of being major components of the world economy, the effect, you know, will they really
01:15:25change in terms of this new organization, and will there actually be genuine change and
01:15:31perhaps a benefit, you know, to the world's poorest countries?
01:15:34I must admit I'm a cynic with regards to that occurring.
01:15:37Liberalization, the process of liberalization, often enables the knowledge of the poor to be
01:15:43converted into the property of global corporations.
01:15:47Specific statistics are rather shocking.
01:15:50Out of 26,000 patents applied for in Africa in 2000 and 2001, only 31 were from residents of Africa.
01:16:02The rest were from residents of first world countries, 31 out of 26,000 patent applications.
01:16:09It wasn't what I was expecting.
01:16:11I was expecting something on agribusiness and what the World Trade Organization does, but
01:16:16I'd have to say I believe it's fairly positive because I think that, as the gentleman said,
01:16:23the strong are getting stronger and the weaker getting weaker, and you can't let that keep on going.
01:16:28And even we notice it here in Australia, where some of the trade arrangements that are made,
01:16:34if you're powerful, you can get whatever you like, and if you're not, you can't.
01:16:38And it's just the world with the population we've got can't keep going that way.
01:16:42So I think it was fairly positive, and I think it's a very brave decision by an organization
01:16:46to admit that they've been going down the wrong track and dissolve themselves
01:16:49and start to look for something different, and I think it's fantastic.
01:16:54Disparity is growing between rich and poor.
01:16:56The richest fifth have 80% of the world's income, and the poorest fifth have 1%.
01:17:00This gap, we all know this figure, but we don't always remember that this gap has actually
01:17:06doubled since 1960.
01:17:09More and more thinkers are therefore noting that there is no evidence that liberalization
01:17:15favors growth or benefits the poor.
01:17:17I think we're all generally aware of increases in poverty and low living standards and issues
01:17:22faced by developing countries, and what Mr. Spratt, I think, had to say today really gives
01:17:27a terrific sign of hope for what I think we all aspire to, and that's a global economy that
01:17:33benefits all people.
01:17:43Now, after protected, protracted, and detailed review of current trade policy, the World Trade
01:17:49Organization has decided to affect a cessation of all operations to be accomplished over the
01:17:56next four months, culminating by the end of September.
01:18:00Well, I think that the Yes Men have kind of played out their course in relation to the
01:18:06World Trade Organization for the moment.
01:18:08You never know when we might get another invitation.
01:18:11We're lucky to be able to provide a sort of sense of closure by ending the WTO.
01:18:16We also hope that other people will just start doing the same things in all kinds of different
01:18:20contexts, you know, impersonating whoever holds power that needs to be criticized.
01:18:27So if the opportunity arises, we're just going to keep doing it.
01:18:31We're going to go and be the Yes Men again, or I should say be the WTO again at another
01:18:36event.
01:18:37The future is bright for the Yes Men.
01:18:39The future of the world is a different story.
01:19:18No, this isn't the way he usually dresses.
01:19:21He works for the World Trade Organization, you know, the WTO.
01:19:25He works, see, we're at a conference and he's demonstrating a new kind of technology.
01:19:32This is, well, it's a device to measure employee working in less developed countries.
01:19:39There's a thing here where on this screen I can see.
01:19:47See, he watches, he watches people working there.
01:19:50And they have little devices that give them shots.
01:19:54It's just regular fabric.
01:19:56In the future, it'll be sensitive, smart fabric.
01:19:59It's a little hot, but that one looks better.
01:20:21Oh, la, la, la, la, la, la.
01:20:32Oh, la, la, la, la, la, la.
01:20:34Oh, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
01:20:38Quelle choisi d'y a-aurus, rien que des enfants.
01:20:42On se dispute tout bien mon riz, c'est notre façon de s'aimer.
01:20:47Mais c'est la rive du gros ennui.
01:20:50Tu demandes, se trouve pas semblé.
01:20:53Oh, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
01:20:58Qui va vivre lecommunなので goodelle à la polie.
01:21:03Oh la la la, quelle famille
01:21:05Oh la la la, quelle famille
01:21:08Et que je voudrais garder tout dans ma vie
01:21:13Oh la la la, quelle famille
01:21:16Oh la la la, quelle famille
01:21:19Et que je voudrais garder tout dans ma vie
01:22:01I'll see you next time.
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