"The danger is that as dysfunction increases and the people subject to that dysfunction are a very, very large proportion of the population, you start to either experience social disruption or you experience what you might call authoritarian crackdown on that social disruption.

And at one level or another, it would be nice to see a political reform, what you might call a civilized tacking in a new direction, rather than a physical confrontation. But sometimes you have to have a crisis to make change. And it's not clear that the elite stewardship, whether it be corporate or individual, is sufficiently constructive right now and able to bring this, how would I say, onto a new, more healthy path without some crisis as a precipitating factor. It might be environmental, it might be social.

Often, as Bismarck used to say, when you can't solve your own problems, you go to war. I wouldn't rule that out, given the strength and the vitality of the military-industrial complex in this country. But the last two or three wars we've been involved in haven't really shown the American people much that they, how would you say, took solace from. I think warfare's changed quite a lot.

And we're at a juncture now where I think what we really need is a healthy revitalization of politics, first and foremost getting money out of politics."

The entire series is on The Real News Network.