Economic Update: The Center Cannot Hold
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 19 сен 2024
- [S11 E22] The Center Cannot Hold
This program begins by analyzing the political monopoly (aka "The Center") operated by the GOP and Dems in the US: its organization and dominance until the last few years. The monopoly deteriorates as both GOP and Dem coalitions suffer splits and cracks opening opportunities for radical political shifts and perhaps new parties. The context of a declining US capitalism facing mounting unsolved social problems adds to the winds of change as do pressures to resort to repression. Wolff affirms that the Center cannot hold.
**Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff is a@democracyatwrk production. We make it a point to provide the show free of ads. Please consider supporting our work. Donate one time or become a monthly donor by visiting us at democracyatwork.info/donate or become a patron of Economic Update on Patreon: / economicupdate . Your contributions help keep this content free and accessible to all. Now more than ever, sharing Prof. Wolff's message is critical.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Learn more about Prof Wolff's new book, "The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself" released in September 2020. Available as a paperback now! www.democracyatwork.info/books
"Richard Wolff in his new book examines frightening and anti-democratic configurations of corporate power, offering not only a blueprint for how we got here, but a plan for how we will rescue ourselves and create new models of economic and political justice.” - Chris Hedges
Check out Prof. Wolff's other books "Understanding Socialism" and "Understanding Marxism" www.lulu.com/sp...
______________________________________________________________________________
Follow us ONLINE:
Patreon: / economicupdate
Websites: www.democracyat...
www.rdwolff.com
Facebook: / economicupdate
/ richarddwolff
/ democracyatwrk
Twitter: / profwolff
/ democracyatwrk
Instagram: / democracyatwrk
Subscribe to our podcast: economicupdate....
Shop our CO-OP made MERCH: democracy-at-w...
I love the way prof wolff talks like he's addressing a bunch of third graders because THAT'S WHAT'S NECESSARY!
I'm 65. I was indoctrinated into capitalism as a child. This is the way I was taught capitalism is "number one", slowly, methodically and precisely.
Unfortunately most of us need to go back 20, 40, 60 years and relearn economics all over again which means beginning with the basics.
We can't be arguing the philosophical meaning of 19th and early 20th century writers about the intricacies of socialism vs communism vs social democracy until we first understand what capitalism really is, not what the textbooks (written, edited and published by capitalist corporations) convinced us it was.
Eugene Debs is a great US writer on socialism. Short, simple, clear, human. What he was writing in the early 20th century is still absolutely correct today, an eerie critique of our 2-party capitalist oligarchy. Socialist Worker's Party needs to be a real thing.
true. i remember thinking ussr was badly organized. now i realize capitalist countries worked against them, and in spite of that, ussr increased the welfare of its poor immensely and also created a modern industrial nation out of a dystopian monarchy.
I just passed my 60 mark, and in my red state and among my baby boomer generation word socialism is still not acceptable, unless you want to bash it. You probably live the North or liberal coast, but here in the South I am losing all hope. :(
@@drakekoefoed1642 China has lifted 850 million people out of extreme poverty since Reagan was inaugurated meanwhile the United States middle class has evaporated and poverty has grown.
These are inconvenient truths American children don't learn about in school.
@@vg7985 I live in rural Ohio. My neighbor is so extreme I was surprised he wasn't one of the people who attacked the capitol on January 6th. He calls me the commie. It's good natured kidding. He was completely dumbfounded when I told him I was a left leaning Democratic socialist. I think I'm the first person he's met in 67 years whoever told him that. Lol. I'm a city boy in trumpland. I actually live in the county Michael Moore filmed trumpland. Lol. Once they get used to the fact that I might as well be a full-blooded bolshevik I'm gonna hoist my rainbow flag. Lol
For three decades I've made efforts in Norman Oklahoma to organize for a socialist party presence. For three decades only the smallest handful of people here have seen the need. However, in these last eight years or so, I've seen people discussing socialism intelligently.
Good for you. Good news. I praise your efforts. I wish i had the same experience.
Thank you. Thank you for your efforts
Its Actually Abundently Apparent To The Entire Planet That The U.S. Version Of ECONOMICS = EPIC Fail : The SOCIETY There Is Totally Collapsing, The Cause : Disgusting Capitalistic SELF Interest : LORD Its Soooo So Obvious The Promised Land Is The Modernity Of The Peoples Republic Of China : The Future Is A Global NEW Economic Model Of World UNITY : The COMMUNIST Party Of China Are Well AWARE : And So Should The Rest Of The Planet Be Also : Wake Up And Get Real !!!
Unfortunately the American mind set will lean toward fascism before embracing socialism when capitalism finally eats itself.
We need more commies to make socialism great agan.
Plutocracy and capitalism go hand in hand. This is the inborn flaw of capitalism.
Capitalism always leads to monopoly. Monopoly is no different from any other form of totalitarianism.
Plutocracy is the first step back towards feudalism. It won't be kings, princes & dukes, but CEOs, bankers and presidents.
No, it is the normal process of capitalism.
I see some poster's here who may want to read the world socialist website (WSWS)
The part of that poem by the anglo-Irish author, Yeats, which I feel resonates with today's climate is; "The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
Yes! And it shows the (unfortunate?) consistency of human behavior from one age to the next.
Excellent summary of how the American Dream has turned into a nightmare
there never was a dream, from day one you ve put your feet on that soil you ve been living on the costs of others
The nightmare we cant wake up from? I'd take freedy kruger a few nights to this nightmare.
Wolf is a blowhard. A well spoken blowhard.
"They call it the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it"- George Carlin
@@Rick-or2kq Carlin was funny when he was funny. Then he decided to turn into a grouch. Like Wolf
Always fantastic content Prof!
His "fantastic content" glass is always only half-full...never goes into the details, even the simplest of, on how as a nation the 99% of us will recover...perhaps that is the unspoken truth: we are not expected to recover; the rich 1% are insulated enough to survive...the last remaining workers will be tasked at automating everything while the 99% of us will be left to die-off...but then again, that's exactly what, collectively, all the rest of life on Earth is wanting: homo sapiens has overshot Earth's natural carrying capacity for our species by about 6+ billion of us...time for a readjustment.
@@frankwolf3860 you should read Engles’ “the origin of the family, private property and the state” if you want more explanation of what is happening and what should be done. Wolff is just saying what every socialist is thinking.
I see some poster's here who may want to read the world socialist website (WSWS)
There will always be people looking to trap other human beings into inalterable servitude regardless of their stated ideology. The real difference between people is between those who believe in treating others fairly as a matter of principle, and those who see others as a mere means to their own ends.
While you're right, system helps or prevents those traps. Capitalism is a minefield for poor people. System is built to lure you in and then trap you.
And since you believe there will always be people with that goal in life. Do you think the social organization , the community is unable to ever solve the social problems those individuals represent in their social interaction. ??
Is there progress in that respect??
@@georgefurman4371 Yes I think the group can handle that situation in a better or worse degree, but regardless of how it tries to do so honest self awareness has to be the foundation of the culture that produces it.
@@petersepall2590 there are already enough minds at work in presenting the people with alternatives to the established dominant way of life. There is maybe not enough consciousness about the sociopathic nature of the capitalist system. But there must be a push for alternative ways of thinking and transferred to the way of organizing society and to leave behind the system of profit as only motive for organizing the economy. Otherwise we are condemned to permanent conflict and violence. That is unsustainable. The planet won't survive capitalism too long.
@@georgefurman4371 I agree with everything you wrote. I just don't think there is going to be some institutional solution that foregoes messy, context driven pragmatism for a beautiful overarching theory. The real problem is the propensity for self-serving, self-delusion among human beings and the conflict that produces. The only possible chance we have is to create a culture that can help us compensate for that tendency among ourselves, but people generally don't even want to believe in such a thing let alone begin compensating for it.
I thought the people at the top just decided to take EVERYTHING and say to hell with democracies and economies.
Which implies that the people at the top believe either 1) that the system IS going down the tubes, or 2) that the ongoing destruction of our climate will inevitably make all of this moot, or 3) both.
@@RussCR5187 or they could just be sociopaths going at it blind, grabbing what they can for the sake of what is to be got.
If you take our current crop of elites, I don't believe they would be very different from the crop of elites we had during our Robber Baron/Gilded Age period. Just extremely selfish people who by some means or another manage to convince themselves that workers are cattle to be expended and controlled.
Go back to ancient Roman times too and there were elite families that were fabulously wealthy, owned the land and means of production, owned slaves that treated their workers and underlings as means to an end so they could build bigger villas or launch more glorious wars of colonization.
I would offer that the people at the top are very interested in clinging on and preventing the system from going down the tubes at all costs. They'd prefer to keep it running smoothly.
Well, you're almost 99,99% right. They just gonna take Almost everything. Like they always do.
Unfortunately it’s #3 and it’s coming very quickly. When this happens we will see the worst in Man. Stay safe and enjoy things while you can.
@@gfarrell80 Nonsense. These are the robber barons, and the plan hasn't changed since then, and the system is performing exactly as planned. Destabilizing a country is nothing to them other than being another step in the process. That includes the US. They have no particular allegiance to our constitution, and could just as well operate from anywhere within the empire. Think British empire. Rothschilds, Rohdes, Milner, Stead, Rockefeller, JP Morgan, the Fed, the Gates family. It been one long scheme with an obvious pedigree. Read "Tragedy and Hope." It's an insider's look at the so called "elite."
This is almost as depressing as it is informative. This series so far delineates the problem; as long as the number of people who understand what you're explaining remains small, our chances of implementing change remain equally paltry. I hope you'll continue our collective enlightenment by presenting possible paths forward.
On a bright note my teenage daughter sees herself as a socialist and so do her friends and they may not understand the history and details of what they call themselves but they all seem to see what capitalism has done to the country. Many of them have conservative parents and the kids don't like either party so it gives me hope.
Where are those "paths forward"...? Nothing, not even hints at where and how the substantive changes necessary will germinate from is presented, as usual, in his presentations...but you can make damn sure he, personally is making $ of every thing he says.
There's no way out except a total collapse of the system, where people are starving and are desperate enough to start a revolution to overthrow the political system. Voting can't fix it, it doesn't matter who you elect.
The problem is it isn't informative, which is why the "faithful" are minimal...because nothing
has been "explained"...and the "choir" isn't..."the tired, the poor or the teeming masses yearning
to breath free." They can't afford Pay-tree- on, or the books or the bubble cum cards...
@@Ashdad99 The world will improve one grave at a time over the next few years.
The dear leaders, the rich, the so called elites need to feel the pain just like the rest of us do and then maybe things would change. The problem is they have never suffered or struggle like regular Americans! One day when the poor eat the rich and America falls like Rome they may get it.
Oh trust me they won't, even if America falls as Rome did. That's because all these oligarchs have their wealth extend beyond borders and nations, not to mention the means to escape into foreign paradises should the need arise. Unless the whole world turns upside down and revolts against the richest capitalists, there is nothing that can change them. The EU is an organization that exclusively exists to protect the interest of the elites. China is another state-owned capitalistic nation that, despite proclaiming themselves communists, will crack down on any workers' solidarity movement. Russian is a corrupted dystopia controlled by powerful capitalists. This world is seriously screwed.
And you must eat soon, before the use by date arrive.
I see some poster's here who may want to read the world socialist website (WSWS)
No instead they're just trying to leave Earth. They'll be in Elysium while we fry on a scorched impoverished planet if they have theitheir way.
Excellent discourse. The political directorate does not want to change course they still cling desperately to the old wealth distribution system
There is no wealth distribution? Greed, is why everything is turning to sh*t!
And water is wet!
@@DrSteveJ-gd3gn
Stating the obvious, is a revolutionary act in a world controlled by greedy, lying savages in suits & their army of troll's who serve no good purpose, just like your comment.
@@tiggtiggs
No it’s not. It’s a waste of time especially here as this is not a channel for 18 year olds with no knowledge of economics, political philosophy or public policy.
@@DrSteveJ-gd3gn
18yr olds have the internet at their fingertips they can educate themselves on philosophy, politics, economics, in fact anything they want, but same as most human beings, they're trained to be passive consumer's & told what to think, not how to think.
There is only one Corporate Party in America with two factions that caters to two different identity politics.
Republicrats. Two sides of the same coin.
And the sun was in your eyes, the winds not favorable, those grapes are probably sour anyway, you weren't ready, it always works at home. Sorry, but it IS your fault.
One party with two right wings. The Democratic Party doesn't actually ally with identity groups: they merely ally with the misleaders in each identity group to keep them voting Democratic and thwart the goals of their constituents. The trade-union aristocrats are a perfect example of that; the labor-faking business agents that control the unions like feudal fiefdoms are there to keep labor in line for the purposes big capital intends for labor and nothing more.
1000000% correct.
Definitely, its a division of labor.
I see some poster's here who may want to read the world socialist website (WSWS)
"Lying by omission" is one of the essential skills of contemporary politicians anywhere anytime, now, in the past and in the future. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss....whatever nutjob control freak "party" there may be. Notice "party", they're all having one on your hard earned dime, not even a crumb left for a church mouse.
The Professor nailed it again.
Also from The Second Coming
'The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.'
If we want strong 'lefty policies', we need to literally vote 'left'. I vote on the 'Democrat' side, but I don't even recognize the party anymore, as they've shifted so far 'right'. Their policy ideals never go far enough, like they're 'half-assing' (pardon✌) everything.
And now some brave hero at the IRS has leaked documents exposing the top richest 25 billionaires have paid only 3.4% income tax, many of them having paid 0!, and the White House says it's going after the America hero who leaked the info all the while ignoring the findings and saying nothing about going after the billionaires and focusing on the sort of whistleblower
@@lukemcguire6363 Thank goodness for whistleblowers!
Well said! I too am no longer for the "pro drone", "pro war", "pro death" Dumbocratic Party. Joe Biden never saw a war he didn't like, just like Hillary didn't and Obama was "really good at killing people" hardy har har. There is no "left" there is only the center in the Dealth Cult called "America". Stop watching the death propaganda on TV and Hollyweird propaganda flicks and things will get significantly better for everyone. Turn it off and don't let anyone know you're "for" one part or another, that'll keep the politicians straight if they don't know who or how many constituents they have until they are voted in, they'll all have to behave themselves.
@@lukemcguire6363 Some of those billionaires are "left" or so they say which isn't what they are, they're "center". 95% of the Dumbocrat Party is "center", there's no point in voting for anybody and "grass roots" is where 95% of where corruption occurs on either "side". Here's a novel idea.....something different than Coke or Pepsi for choices and something "different" than what were doing because it isn't working.
@@budcat7 please . Let's change what in reality has already changed long time ago. Never can we say any billionaire is left. That idea is completely deceiving. They may play both sides if there is a left to talk about. But what left politically speaking there?? The only one and is neutralized are the progressives. What position of power they have?? None that I see.
I like that the theme music was made by Prof Wolff's 14 year old nephew. Cute.
The kid discovered Jay Z and can't stop playing the xylophone who was gonna tell him no?
Bill Maher?
How do you know that?
I wish I could find a video of the theme music on loop. It slaps!
Fr?
Excellent talk! As a Chinese, I find this is something we could also learn from and many young Chinese are paying attention to what's happening in US. There are discussions on Chinese net and many feel the solution has to be about finding a system that put capitalism to do things for the majority of people which won't be easy as it doesn't happen automatically.
Structurally speaking, that’s harder to do with capitalism than with socialism because capitalism’s natural inclination by virtue of oligarchical private ownership is to seek greater profits and exploit workers and consumers for the benefit of that oligarchy. Socialism operates with a cooperative worker ownership model that encourages everyone to make choices to benefit themselves in a collectivist way such that an enterprise benefits the local community more than single individuals who may not even be in that community. There’s less to “debug” in a socialist system when it comes to doing well by the majority of people than in a capitalist one.
As I’ve heard, however, your country’s current objective (i.e. that of the CCP) is to build economic power and wealth to lay the foundations of progress towards eliminating rank poverty, which capitalism (for a time) can rapidly address (as it has). Capitalism rewards individual self-interest of owners over that of workers by default, so regulations you impose must ensure that corporate maneuvers taken in individual self-interest are either made unprofitable or outright illegal to make the system work for the majority of people. That demands a lot of thought, paperwork, salaries for state employees who contribute to the accountability process, policy iteration for the inevitable workarounds, etc. It can become an arduous practice.
In cooperative systems, wealth naturally builds more evenly within working communities because workers ease democratic tensions of decision-making by compromising with one another to mutually gain benefits together from their work rather than marginalizing a majority coalition of the workplace. The community hoating the enterprise then becomes richer together, and so there is a broader prosperity being attained. Alongside this, the democratized workplace also better accommodates decisions that reflect human compassion and concern for the community, as there is no singular or linited set of decision-makers in which failures to consider other people would result in an assured neglect of relevant moral dimensions in decision-making.
But, again, it appears the CCP does not believe that the socialist system adequately accomplishes its goals right now or can efficaciously function in its current economic state. By comparison, the US and other developed capitalist nations are OVERRIPE for such a transition and, to varying degrees, have worker co-op presences demonstrating the efficacy of the socialist workplace model in our economies. We just need to figure out how to politically and sociologically DO IT given the cultural stranglehold we allowed the capitalists to gain over us.
My best wishes to you and your countrymen.
@@Sapheiorus Yeah that must be why china is using all that slave labor to make your cell phone,
because THEY CARE!!!!
@@jgalt308 please do your history on which countries use and have laws to promote slavery and trade them for more 300 years. Hint: go to the library, get a world map...
@@j-mobi9209 Hint: watch the latest episode of ON CONTACT...and learn to read...oh, and if you're
a member of the Wolff cult you might want to keep up with the ever shifting meaning of various "words",
with the following quote/explanation.
"Marx used the word "exploitation" to focus analytical attention on what capitalism shared with
feudalism and slavery, something that capitalist revolutions against slavery and feudalism never overcame."
- Richard D. Wolff
@@jgalt308 Perhaps American companies should re-allocate those work now farmed to chinese labours to American slave labours from its 2 million strong prison population and the immigrant slave labours from the US's southern neighbours. That should work out well.
I have watched Quebec go from an ultraconservative Catholic theocracy to a secular humanist liberal democracy in less than 50 years. It started with Rene Levesque turning all our private electric utilities into a Crown Corporation. Today we no longer recognize religion or race as civic identities. Marriage is whatever consenting adults' wish to make it and gender is whatever we determine our analog genders to be.
We are secular humanists and we have adapted extremely well. Our population is happy optimistic and united. Conservative philosophy is a crock. We can thrive and celebrate our differences.
And our economy is booming.
An excellent evaluation of the situation,
This talk by Proff. Wolff should be reqired listening for all Americans.
The expansion after WWII only happened because of the immense destruction before and during WWII. Usury had run its course through the Gilded Age, and consistent with the nature of usury to maintain commerce, it crashed under the load of debt it naturally accumulates, as it always does periodically. With the debt destroyed, that system starts a fresh cycle.
As always you explain it so well.
Very interesting, thank you.
It means that building an independent, corporate free, activist, non-sectarian, environmental and working class Left wing party is an imperative. It will require a coalition of Left parties, independents, trade unions and activist movements to be active in all sectors of society ALL the time and stand in ALL elections all the time! That’s where all the Left should be focused. The Dems have shown again and again and again has shown that the corporatists control all the levers of its “democratic” process and will resort to all sorts of shenanigans, cheating, fraud and corruption, every bit as much as the Republicans. It’s impossible to reform. Absolutely, 100 percent impossible!
I would like to hear the professor's take on the other great factor in US society namely the military, in particular because it and its associated industries is arguably the equivalent of an authoritarian command economy within the larger US economy.
Thanks as always, Prof Wolff, for the clarity of your analysis and explanation. We need ranked choice voting to help us out of this duopoly scam and fleecing of the people.
Thank you for all the information and insight!!!
Do we just wait until it all falls apart, and then take Action?
No, because before that happens we will have authoritarian rule and fascism, which use military force to quash uprisings.
They say a hydrogen bomb can destroy entire planet. Remember from school? The doldrums, southern hemisphere wind currents flow differently from where we live. Argentina is the place to move.
I see some poster's here who may want to read the world socialist website (WSWS)
This was fantastic! Thanks Professor Wolf!
Said before: This is our Weimar moment!
Eric Li, a major Chinese businessman put it best when he said the key difference between Chinese Market economy and Capitalism is that one manages Capital to generate efficient returns while the other is a system which the interests of Capital rise above the interests of society as a whole and captures the political system for its own benefits. This is why the US is doomed unless it can get rid of Capitalism as Li defined it because no matter how much money is printed and pumped into the economy the money will always end up getting either wasted or siphoned off by corporate interests instead of benefiting the masses. That type of system cannot hold and reality is demonstrating it more and more.
China's system is objectively superior. The results speak for themselves. Hundreds of millions of people lifted out of poverty within the span of mere decades. The greatest increase in human wellbeing ever witnessed in human history in such a short span of time. A milestone for all mankind. And the Belt and Road initiative is set to have similar effects in the rest of the global south, liberating countless people in so-called "underdeveloped" (aka overexploited) countries from the chains of imperialism, neoliberalism, IMF debt slavery and corporate neo-colonialism one infrastructure project at a time, breaking the western global supply chain one link at a time.
This is why China will win and the US will lose. It is inevitable. The time of capitalist hegemony is coming to an end.
I hope Prof Wolff lives a long, cognizant life...we need him.
Beautiful clarity on the various impossible perspectives. Deeply useful addition to the understanding of us little folks.
Thanks Prof. Wolff
I think a lot of Americans probably still cannot accept the fact that things are going down.
Thank you for articulating so well Prof. ❤️
Check out Prof. Wolff's other books "Understanding Socialism" and "Understanding Marxism"
It's when the government does stuff
@@caseyakasubzero I can't wait to read your book: 'When government does stuff
@@caseyakasubzero the more government the more socialism it is
@@Cc-qe6fi if they do alot its communism
@@jrshield7793 my book is under socialism the people are the government
Perhaps it's best if the USA breaks up/breaks apart.
@Carefully Considered isn’t dystopia inevitable?
@Carefully Considered a civil war in america would lift the chains off the rest of humanity. it would save lives in the end
@@krzysztofbroda5376 depends who wins. And the oligarchy has the military. A civil war in America would be very short actually, basically because those with control over the U.S military would just kill all the others.
@@jollyyeholiver1578 unless we had a carnation revolution.
@@jollyyeholiver1578 It also depends on what percentage of the military they manage to keep control of.
Just deciding about stopping other online subscriptions to join Patreon. This is wonderful to hear smart analysis. Yes, we can be afraid, but we were afraid anyway. We did not know why, and the word for that is terror.
Nice post. Also, the 50,000 homeless Elvis Pressleys in Hollywood are still hoping for the dream. That is cruel!
RIGHT to the POINT as ALWAYS
TRUE FACTS THE PEOPLE NEED TO HEAR.
I am so happy to discover onto this channel. The views are very objective and clear.
I like it, title it! It makes me click more readily.
As an anarchist, I'm not focused on electoral politics and politicians, for the most part. They have more power to do harm, than good. They were never going to save us. We have to do that ourselves.
Richard, you're one of the best. You are 100% correct to be focused on worker cooperatives, but I never hear you discuss a dual power movement. That's what we need. We agree that the system is coming apart. It's going to be up to radical leftists to pick up the pieces of civilization, after Capitalism blows its own brains out, and Climate Change wreaks havoc on mankind. When we discuss the problems with politicians, which sometimes we should, we are still just focused on politicians and elections. That is not a way out. It never was. A solution involving the state was never realistic. Why not talk more about solutions that have a fighting chance? Surely, Dual Power is the best solution. It's the best solution that I know of.
Wonderful observations!
I have watched the entire thing twice to better absorb!
This episode is one of my favorites, quality A1. Professor Wolff narrates a good-n-wholesome story of the troublesome goings-on with party allegiance and motivations for allegiance.
"Life is too short to not be cool." - Grandpa
"Life is too long if too hot." - Grandson
"Careful as we will, careful as we go." - Grandpa
New World Man - RUSH
Lce, gt 1 thms ap. Thcs Ggl algrthm. E gt u n E sits.
Thank you, Prof. Wolff. As always, your analysis is clear, brilliant, and perfectly argued.
To highlight the corporate control of the USA politics, in 2021 the US still does not have a single-payer healthcare insurance program run by the government. All other advanced countries have had similar public healthcare programs since the 1960's.
The US spends more than any other country on healthcare and millions go without HC daily. The OECD shows a decline in the health of Americans due to private healthcare!
One reaction to this is the movement for the people's party.
Why vote for them when they think that they can reform capitalism to be kind and gentler? I would rather vote for the Green Party USA or the Party for Socialism and Liberation. When one realizes capitalism is the problem then one should not vote for the two corporate parties or any left leaning party that thinks they can reform the current system.
@@JohnT.4321 with rank choice voting you can. It is the biggest thing we need. But you really should research what the movement for the people's party is because your question shows you don't know what they stand for.
@@DanA-nl5uo Yes, we need rank choice voting; however, I am aware of The People's Party and I find no difference with them or with the Democratic Socialist of America. Why create a new party from scratch? We have two that are already established in most states when it comes to voting for them.
@@JohnT.4321 established seem like a stretch for the green party or the DSA in US electoral politics. How many senate or house seats have they ever won?
I think it is time for a new approach because clearly theirs has not worked.
@@DanA-nl5uo I think the problem really does lie with the stranglehold the duopoly has on the whole electoral system. Ranked choice voting seems an essential part of the way out. Also, focusing on more local elections (as the Tea Party did, and I'm no fan, but their strategy worked.) I also agree with John T that the PP is very noncommittal about breaking from capitalism altogether.
Always love economic update! Thanks Prof!
Totally spot on and brilliant analysis! Bravo. 💯💯💯💯💪👍 Thank you. I'm sharing. 👏👏
sounds like Argentina about 100 years ago. Perhaps Argentina's 20th century will be our 21st.
I love you and your show
Titanic sinking before very eyes 😳🥺😟
You are a dangerous, beautiful, well educated, well versed and very wise man professor Wolff !!
I am Grateful that there are honourble uncorrupted men like yourself left on earth...
Excellent, Prof. Wolff! Thanks for this great synopsis. Very helpful.
Well done, I'll include in my discourse.
Did you photo shop your head on someone else's body or is that the real you? Wow!
@@mikehayne538 that's me pal. Thank you.
I see some poster's here who may want to read the world socialist website (WSWS)
the Wolff!
I agree with your assessments Mr. Wolff. You have done the easier part of the lifting. You have described the problems. What do we do, what do we need to begin to solve the problems? That is the heavy lifting.
I believe all of the powers that are entrenched will do everything possible to maintain that power. With that being the case then we are destined for more of the same until something catastrophic happens to "break" the system. What can we do before that catastrophe?
I always try and give this guy the benefit of the doubt but again, heavy on rhetoric, light on detail and facts.
Eloquent, and unfortunately true. Would like to hear these same points compared to the writings of Socrates, who did not prefer democracy as a form of government for many of the very same reasons that Dr. Wolff puts forth as the reasons why the 'Middle Can't Hold.' So the issues which cause the middle to fail have been known for about 2500 years now.
Well done. Simple and easy to understand.
Prof Wolff should do an advanced class too.
Here in the west, we are in a feedback loop into apocalyptic desertification. My friends, the wild birds and reptiles, are dying and suffering from the catastrophic heat and drought. And the vast majority of people just shrug. No one seems to know where their food comes from.
If there ever was a topic that should bring everyone together in solidarity to overthrow the ruling elites it would be the ongoing destruction of our climate, now visible before our very eyes. But it seems that "we the people" have their eyes wide shut.
Richard Wolf's analysis is always an enlightening and you always come out with a better understanding of what the state of our economic well-being is after hearing what he has to say.
Climate change? Racial tension? Covid?
Hes a propagandist top to bottom.
This fool wants communism.
I have stated it before and I state it again: you cannot teach one who will not learn.
These fools want communism
"Politically correct" has nothing to do with lying! It about not using racial slurs, etc.
It's socialisim or barbarism, period. Big up Proff🐺
Try reading the world socialist website (WSWS)
Outstanding analysis! My local state park has many cabins and other building that are still in use that were built by the CCC. No need for a private contractor to skim money off the top. In fact, I know this because threr was an historian of this park within the CCC whose book was published by the Fed gov't.. There are examples in every state of the wonderful WPA and CCC projects.
I always love what I learn from this guy. professor Wolff can you give an explanation of why prices of everything are going up?
Check on you tube
Michael Hudson
Milton Friedman
Peter Shiff podcast
Jim Ricards
Mike Maloney Hidden Sickrets of Money.
@Kevin Tewey first did you see Mike Maloney Hidden Sickrets of Money. second Michael Hudson is Marxist but in the part that all banks should be state owned. and you have No chance to challenge Milton Friedman because he died about 12 or 15 years ago. I have watched them for many years and it's really like education on line. But what do you wont to debate with them that is the question.
I see some poster's here who may want to read the world socialist website (WSWS)
respectable presentation sir
Money culture has two modes : Gun in the face/ Gun under the table.
Same here in the uk but our government still has unelected second chamber and our left party has been at war with us socialists since the new leadership took hold
Thankyou
Like music to my ears
Well said
great stuff. so clear
The lack of knowledge (ignorance) is our biggest problem. Too many people believe intelligence is all that is necessary, but intelligence is useless without knowledge. Those who have erroneous knowledge (false facts), no matter how intelligent they are, are worse than useless, they are a threat to our society. The vast majority of the "meritorious-class" are extremely ignorant (religious-minded), again despite their level of intelligence.
This change needs to hurry up and get here now!
As fellow fishermen, we need patience. Although I would love to see the collapse happen within this decade so I can finally see the people rise to force the change we desperate need. I stock up on fishing tackles so in case there's scarcity, I'm all set to enjoy my days fishing even if the world around me burns.
Please help me understand. If the economy is so bad, why do I see packed malls with people driving nice cars, busy restaurants, thousands of new, expensive homes being built. All of these consumers can’t be wealthy. Where is the disconnect?
The increasing levels of debt.
Housing has also become completely unaffordable to most Americans, and there's not a single county in the US where a minimum wage earner can even afford a one-bedroom apartment, this despite the fact that the US has a huge surplus of homes. And there are currently somewhere around 17 million vacant homes in the US despite the fact that the country keeps building them as you say but the vast majority of people can't even afford them. Bearing in mind too that the US faces a homelessness crisis with over half a million Americans. Of course the real problem is, homelessness is not profitable, and it appears, neither are minimum wage earners.
Another thing to bear in mind is median personal income and median household income. In other words, for the vast majority of people their expenditures tend to be more than what they earn.
The median personal income in the United States for example is almost $36K, median household income on the other hand is almost $80K given standard living costs, housing insurance, education, and dozens of other costs. In fact it's a miracle people manage to save anything at all. In reality though they don't save much.
In fact, some 38% of Americans can't even come up with $500 in cash without selling something or taking out a loan. And those loans also push people more into debt.
He covered debt. A person with good credit can buy a house. Married, spouse helps with monthly payment. Both have $100k college debt. Add children, more expenses each month. It is similar to slavery, people need to get up each day because they are forced to.
The Division of Light and Power. By Dennis Kucinich. An Important Book. I finished it last evening. What a story - true and well paced and presented as the best novels. It is the tale of a principled politician who takes on oligopoly business, corporate media, and political corruption where everyone who opposes him, Democrats and Republicans, care nothing for the people or the truth, their principles unlike Kucinich's are Greed and power. In microcosm his Cleveland is like Washington DC today. Kucinich is a compassionate writer who attempts to understand humanity, what drives such corruption.
He truly cares about the people when he is elected the youngest mayor ever of a major American city, and he continues to care despite, threats to his career, mob death threats, and a constant onslaught of devious politicians and business leaders all out for power and money and Kucinich's demise. Comparing this, before his times politician, with another member of his generation, Joe Biden, the contrast is striking. Biiden is not mentioned in the book because it is about the past and events in Cleveland. But you can see him and other corrupt DC Democrats/Republicans, lobbyists and attorneys, in the story represented by the many politicians, business characters, and media leaders, who parade across Kucinich's Tale. The book is timely because the corruption he experienced in the 1970s in Cleveland, with its tentacles extending to DC, is everywhere worse today and even more accepted. As Matt Taibbi said, it is a metaphor for now.
“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power”
------- Quote often attributed to Benito Mussolini
Young people have refused to live under capitalism
Because it's a shit show and they know it. They've received the brunt of the broken corrupt system in recent years.
It's called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it...that line from George Carlin is still valid today.
Richard wolf thanks for your hard work God bless you.
I really deeply respect his analysis.
I have said for years that nothing will improve unless our leaders still remember what it was like to exist on apples and ramen 🍜 every day. I thought maybe Obama, or AOC, would remember, and show genuine empathy to the non-moneyed. Alas, I was mistaken. Cash and power dominate 😣
Try reading the world socialist website (WSWS)
PRW's commentary is like a glimpse through the eyes of a hawk high above the trees for everyone wandering in the Dark Forest our world is right now.
Very good lecture mister Richard Woolf.Thanks a lot.
Awesome stuff as per usual. The clear view of things is somehow calming, thank you
Thanks for all you do professor!
the need for a revived and very militant working people's movement is way overdue. something akin to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 only with much bigger numbers of workers. unfortunately i don't see this happening any time soon
Damn, he got the picture real clear.
Seems the problem is capitalism collectivism as a culture. Many congressmen can't think of something better and just go along with the plan they always had. Businessmen have financial security and are free from being uncomfortable and pain and don't have any incentive to think and actually work to lead. As the system goes into chaos it encounters friction and outrageous anomalies and there is nobody at the wheel, or if they care to take the wheel they don't look at the road, they just look at their ideal picture of capitalism and pretend this is the landscape they see and they turn the wheel as if the curb was really there...
You are being too kind to the people who are strategically and deliberately screwing you.
Nice explanation
Well done mr. Wolff.
"They push back not because they want to, but because they HAVE to."
"Bart, don't!"
"Uh-uh, baby. I HAVE to!"
Excellent video very informative
Thank you again.
Engaging in an analysis of American Politics, it is pivotal to understand that although both parties are Ruling Class parties, and can generally come to some kind of a consensus, there are, however, divisions within the Ruling Class. It seems that over the past 40-50 years, the Democrats have become the party of the deeply-entrenched wealth in this country, and monopoly capital. They are the party of the old wealth in the USA, the so-called "Eastern Establishment." These are the "Captains of Industry" aka the "Robber Barons" of the 19th Century. The Rockefellers, Carnegies, Vanderbilts, Goulds, Morgans, Fords, Dukes, Harrimans, DuPonts, and so on, along with the new tech oligarchs created by Silicon Valley, make up the power core of the Democratic Party. This ultra-wealthy faction of the Ruling Class just wants to maintain stability in the US, and strategically manage the empire from upon high.
The Republicans, on the other hand, are the lower levels of capital who have not yet reached the level of wealth that the Carnegies or DuPonts have, and they are mad about it. They want immediate growth, they think only in terms of the next quarter because they are still trying to accumulate massive fortunes, in the hope that they too can someday be part of the club. The Republicans are the box stores like Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and Home Depot, they are the so-called "fracking cowboys" who want the Keystone XL pipeline, they are the big mega-churches, they are the private security firms like Blackwater, they are the private prison firms, the large hotel magnates like the late Sheldon Adelson, and the coal companies who loudly (and falsely) proclaim that there's a "War on Coal." All of the factions just named want to make more money, so they want tax breaks, deregulation, more privatization, et cetera ... we all know the script.
But as Prof Wolff pointed out, the system is far too calamitous and fragile, in this present stage, to deliver a larger part of the pie to the lower levels of capital, while not taking it from the faction of the Ruling Class represented by the Democrats. And, I believe, as the inherent contradictions underlying this system become more pronounced and untenable, we are going to see the Republican Party begin to abandon its stupid, politically illiterate, hyper-masculine, sales pitch, and we may see it realize that, in order to survive, it is going to have to make a political alliance with the working class ... because, as Prof Wolff also pointed out, the business community is beginning to abandon the Republican Party. So, as this current trend unfolds, I think we are going to see the Republicans become the 'Left' party in this country, over the next 15-20 years.
Ty