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Thoughts from Bath: The Legacy of Wealth

2013-08-23 · Hank, Charlie McDonnell · watch on YouTube · Economics · reflection essay

Touring Bath with Charlie McDonnell, Hank argues that the Roman Baths and other monuments are artifacts of concentrated wealth we both enjoy and rightly criticise, notes how extreme global inequality is, and says our greatest legacy should be peace, plenty and equality.

What is said

00:00:00 — Train through Swindon with Charlie McDonnell; Bath as a UNESCO World Heritage city; abbey, lunch with Charlie's mum, the view, the river, the Royal Crescent

  • ★ The description says Charlie made a Thoughts from Places video about Bath the condition for taking Hank there, so the video was 'a required assignment'. — 00:00:00 · Charlie McDonnell, Thoughts from Places
  • ★★ Hank says that about a week ago he took a train with Charlie McDonnell through Swindon, in the rain, and the touchless train doors scared him. — 00:00:02 · Charlie McDonnell
  • ★★ Hank says that when he asked Charlie to hang out while they were in the UK, Charlie wanted to take them to Bath. — 00:00:10 · Charlie McDonnell, United Kingdom
  • ★★ Hank says Bath is a city of 80,000 people declared in its entirety a UNESCO World Heritage Site (so, he jokes, it has a World Heritage Build-A-Bear and Pizza Hut). — 00:00:15
  • ★ Charlie remarks that Bath Abbey is painted in an episode of Community. — 00:00:30
  • ★ Hank recounts the day: lunch with Charlie's mum talking about inequity and happiness, a drive up a hill for the view, a slippery path, the river, the Royal Crescent and the baths. — 00:00:33

00:01:01 — The Roman Baths: hot spring, Roman Britain, wealthy Romans showing off, curse tablets; how petty and silly we were and are

  • ★★ Hank says the Roman Baths were built nearly 2,000 years ago and still hold water, though, being lead, it should not be drunk. — 00:01:01
  • ★★ Hank says Bath's hot spring was a principal resource of Roman Britain; the Romans built probably England's largest structure around it, a resort for wealthy Romans used so long their wooden shoes wore through the stone floors. (hedged) — 00:01:08
  • ★★ Hank says wealthy Romans came to relax, pray and show off their wealth with more attendants and scented oils: the more things change, the more they stay the same. — 00:01:26
  • ★★ Hank says people of all kinds threw curses inscribed on pewter into the baths, and it is beautiful to see how petty and silly we were then and still are, and that we continue to exist despite it. — 00:01:37

00:01:58 — Monuments to wealth: cultural legacy as an artifact of concentrated wealth (Burj Khalifa, iPhone, Harry Potter films, Hubble); global inequality; the greatest legacy would be peace, plenty, equality

  • ★★★ Hank says the Roman Baths, the abbey, the Royal Crescent and even Marks & Spencer are monuments to wealth, displays of the excesses we rightly complain about: income inequality, concentrated wealth, frivolous spending. — 00:01:58
  • ★★★ Hank says the Roman Baths were built by enslaved survivors of a war of conquest, yet that is why we enjoy them: they were exceptional because only concentrated wealth and power made them possible. — 00:02:18
  • ★★★ Hank says most of what we see of cultural history is an artifact of concentrated wealth, and our age's greatest objects - the Burj Khalifa, iPhone, Harry Potter films, Hubble - likely will be too, much of that wealth American. (hedged) — 00:02:32 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank says inequality is worse globally than within America: an income of $35,000 a year puts you in the richest 1% of the world, and $2,000 in the bank makes you richer than half the world. — 00:02:56 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank says we must notice the amazing creations of our own age and ask what the greatest cultural legacy would be: peace, plenty, equality and awesome. — 00:03:12

Humor (significant)

  • Hank rides the train to Bath with Charlie McDonnell through Swindon in the rain — 00:00:07 > «And the doors of the train scared me because you didn't have to touch them.»
  • Hank notes that UNESCO declared the whole city of Bath, all 80,000 people of it, a World Heritage Site — 00:00:22 > «I guess it's a World Heritage Build-A-Bear there, and a World Heritage Pizza hut.»
  • The Roman Baths, built nearly 2,000 years ago, still hold water — 00:01:05 > «They are made of lead though, so don't drink it.»
  • Romans inscribed curses on pewter and threw them into the baths, with notes like 'I think Jeff stole my gloves' — 00:01:45 > «could you please burn his eyes out of his head please?»

Threads in this video

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