Secret History #1: How Power Works (4K Re-Upload with Audio Fixed)

Professor Jiang states that we can never know objective reality, which Immanuel Kant calls the noumena or 'things in themselves'.

Professor Jiang explains that we perceive the world through our senses, which warp reality into a structure called phenomena, or 'things that appear to us'.

Professor Jiang asserts that time and space do not exist outside of us or in reality, but are added by us to understand reality.

Professor Jiang claims that reality is what we imagine it to be, and there is no objective reality.

Professor Jiang states that the class will analyze the past, present (geopolitics), and future to construct a more objective reality, acknowledging that they will likely fail but the process will train critical thinking.

Professor Jiang explains that analytical models of geopolitics will be used to make predictions about the future, which will then validate the correctness of the models.

Professor Jiang states that understanding how power works will lead to liberation and freedom from manipulation.

Professor Jiang states that Chinese banks like the Bank of China, Bank of Industry and Commerce, and Agriculture Bank of China became the largest in the world over the past 20 years by creating money out of nothing to finance infrastructure projects.

Professor Jiang explains that historically, merchants who became wealthy started banks, trading in gold and issuing receipts for safekeeping, which facilitated trade.

Professor Jiang describes how banks effectively doubled the amount of gold by issuing receipts for gold that was already deposited, and then issuing more receipts as loans, creating money out of nothing.

Professor Jiang explains that the problem with the early banking system was the risk of bank runs if too many people demanded their gold back simultaneously.

Professor Jiang states that early banks primarily lent money to kings and noble people for wars, which carried risks like the king being killed or refusing to repay.

Professor Jiang asserts that central banking controls the world today.

Professor Jiang states that powerful people have brainwashed society into believing money is scarce, when in fact it is infinite.

Professor Jiang claims that school is primarily for brainwashing, not for learning or acquiring knowledge.

All of you get together and you put $5 million in the bank, not $5 million.

I got $5 million from you guys.

Theoretically, I can I can lend out $5 million.