How to be an anti-capitalist for the 21st century

The American sociologist Erik Olin Wright was invited to Stockholm for a talk in 2017 by the Institute for Futures Studies and Katalys. Moderator is Stefan Svallfors, and discussants are: Marika Lindgren Åsbrink, researcher and author, leads LO's equality inquiry; Åsa Odin Ekman, a Social Democrat, editing "Klass i Sverige".

[@robstewart4702]

Of course UBI is affordable, easily! But it might mean Jeff Bezos can't do a play school like jolly space play jump 11 minute space joy ride with his cool bro' and saying "hi mom" for around $35 billion a ride. Of course M4A and UBI all totally unaffordable in such a world. Jeffy Boy even said it himself when he thanked all his employees for paying for his space play!!!

[@haraldkoch4446]

What are you 12 years old?

[@robstewart4702]

@@haraldkoch4446 Oh dear, Harald. Sorry. Perhaps you're on the spectrum and don't understand sarcasm. I was trying to make the point that Bezos is behaving like a 12 year old. I'm just a little older than that. Good luck with your challenges.

[@katscandance]

@@robstewart4702 lollll

[@LongDefiant]

@@haraldkoch4446 Ad Hominem, you lose

[@scotthullinger4684]

Guess why Jeff Bezos is a multi-multi-multi billionaire? Because he employs capitalism. Who benefits ... ? He benefits, his employees benefit, and all of Bezos' customers also benefit. This is absolutely undeniable - WHO does NOT benefit? No such citizen exists. All of you thick headed anti-Capitalists need to get this through your skull. You're all a bunch of cry babies because you believe the world's unfair. Boo hoo. Let's all go cry a few tears. Then wake the hell up and build your very own business while you still have a chance to earn some wealth for yourself, before the crazy crowd destroys such opportunities forever into the future. Do you actually know how to shift your ass into gear, and work work WORK? This is what you must discover, and must love, in order to SUCCEED on your own merits, rather than sucking and absorbing the advantages of other people which they've achieved for themselves. Yes, for themselves! For every millionaire who inherited his money, there are 99 millionaires who EARNED every penny of their wealth from the ground up via preparation and damn hard work. I happen to have a blue collar multi-millionaire brother.

[@777anthonyp]

This is one of the clearest explanations I have heard on different ways to eradicate or tame or erode capitalism and what types of replacements their are.

[@abigailsmith4308]

This fails to address the intersection of colonialism and capitalism-- many governments are fundamentally colonial. Unless you implement UBI as a conceptual relative of mutual aid that takes place on a hyper-local level and undermines the legitimacy of both neo-colonial and capitalistic institutions?

[@benjamingeorgecoles8060]

Great talk, though I think the original 'How to be an Anti-Capitalist for the 21st Century' paper is better structured, at least for purposes of reassuring and convincing those who aren't already on the same page as him. What's more, as this is a public lecture with responses, it does disappoint and worry me that there are no right-wing voices at all here - either on the panel, or among the questioners in the audience. It feels a little like an instance of preaching to the choir. I'd love to see Erik in discussion with people who strongly disagree with him - if anyone knows of a recording like that, please do reply and refer me to it. Finally, just a passing observation: I don't think I've ever seen a lecture with responses less focused on the content of the lecture... That's not necessarily a criticism; just it seemed very strange to me.

[@katscandance]

look up Richard Wolff debates

[@benjamingeorgecoles8060]

@@katscandance Thanks for the reply. You mean debates between Erik Olin Wright and Richard Wolffe? I can't find any like that. I can find some Richard Wolffe debates with right-wing figures, but he does not seem to have the nuance and balance and clarity and sincere diplomacy that Wright has. Hence my preference for seeing Wright debate.

[@user-ok3bu5sy3k]

总的来说，新马克思主义者似乎越来越失去对外界的影响力，正如你所说的，这像是一场布道或者讲经。尽管赖特是我知道的最优秀的社科学者之一，但我对他的真实乌托邦或者其他类似的计划不抱任何希望。

[@benjamingeorgecoles8060]

@user-ok3bu5sy3k Thanks for the reply. Yeah, generally I share your lack of hope. I do feel a little bit of hope, however, when I think about scholars like Kate Raworth, Mariana Mazzucato and Ha-Joon Chang - who do not identify as neo-Marxists, nor even speak much about their debt to Marxism or neo-Marxism, but do clearly have such a debt, and express many of the same values and basic ideas. They seem to get a lot more attention from society at large. Raworth has the city of Amsterdam trying to implement her ideas, for instance. All three are advisors to various governments.

[@user-ok3bu5sy3k]

@@benjamingeorgecoles8060 抱歉现在才回复你的评论,yt不知道为什么没有提示我有新消息.我的想法是尽管新马克思主义由于理论缺陷和外界支持的消退正在丧失力量,但当初导致人们接受马克思主义的许多因素仍然存在,换句话说人们仍然试图创造一个更美好的世界,因此像张夏准这样的学者面临类似的问题吸收马克思主义的经验或与马克思主义出现趋同演化是很正常的事.因此我认为新马克思主义正在死去,但它留下的遗产十分宝贵,值得志愿相同者继承.

[@googleit4606]

At the moment when he was trying to make a critique on a moral foundation, he already failed in a Marxist way.

[@christopherestrada2474]

Elaborate

[@googleit4606]

@@christopherestrada2474 A hypothetical moral foundation for society is exactly what Marx's historical materialism is against (personally think there's a heavy influence from Hume). Recommend you to read his German Ideology.

[@robstewart4702]

The last thing the free market wants is publicly funded seawalls around Manhattan! There's a plethora of clean up, salvage and rehab private company interests that would lose out big time of you did that. They'd want $10,000,000,000,000 compensation for vacating the space, so it won't happen. This is the way the system (doesn't) work!

[@haraldkoch4446]

That's right trying...

[@cloudbusting_]

He addresses this in the book directly by representing classical Marxism as knowing which side of the fence you're on and describing how class interests would sort out this delineation in the long-term under such an approach. History, of course, has not so far carried out the classical Marxist eschaton of historical materialism. Class interests are demonstrated as being in conflict going back all the way to Marx and Engels, where Engels was an example of "contradictory locations within class relations" because he was the son of a wealthy manufacturer (a proper capitalist) who sought the liberation of the proletariat. This is a demonstration of how a capitalist found himself on the side of the proletariat based on normative or ethical grounds. Normative foundations are something he is very self-aware of as being a departure from Marx.

[@TT-pv6fz]

Surely edit out the coughing that is annoying. Still enjoyed.

[@SilverSquirrel]

A very Euro-centric view of the world.

[@smooa1889]

i hate that i was born before communism. i want to die because im so poor.

[@alternativearchival5379]

a hopeful thinking is what we desperately need. radicalism is the answer the revolution is coming, very soon. I'm sure you'll be joining us.

[@sch4891]

please call this number is you ever want to hurt yourself 1-800-273-8255 also reading eckhart tolle's 'a new earth' greatly helped me with my mental health. it's basically the philosophical/practical part of zen buddhism. you can find summaries of it for free online

[@ershamohan3847]

Well create the revolution. Even though we might not be able to live in a socialist society in our life, being a socialist revolutionary is definitely worth it. You have to seize the opportunity for revolution when it comes.So it's better to be prepared with a revolutionary organization, so when the opportunity comes we could lead it to we workers revolution and maybe not lost the opportunity for workers revolution like Germans did in 1923

[@oro7114]

I love that the water is labelled and owned

[@LongDefiant]

Is that ownership backed by state violence the way business ownership is? (I really wish people who argued with leftists would learn about private property versus personal property).

[@oro7114]

@@LongDefiant im not arguing with anyone, its a 3/10 bit of silliness nothing more meant by it

[@johnsmith6974]

Uses capitalism to fight capitalism

[@nathanswann1198]

this guy is like the neoliberal-apologist version of Flea.....

[@michaelmappin1830]

Why do you say that?

[@christopherestrada2474]

Haha yeah he looks like him

[@Sol66459]

Haha he looks like Flea but he’s the opposite of a neoliberal apologist.

[@K3nMastrz]

must have a critqiue.. and a diagnosis first.. how Helegian dialectical of you!!... thesis, antithisis, synthesis everyone into graves yeah?

[@LongDefiant]

Mumble mumble sneer sneer

[@Raelspark]

How to be an a$$hole in the 21st century

[@mkzhero]

Yeah, pretty hard to be a capitalist when capitalism's been dead for 40-110~ years eh? "Capitalism!" "Do you own your apartment, stuff and land?" "No, still capitalism though!" "Is the money free and unregulated?" "No, but its capitalism!" "Do I keep what I earn, or do I pay iver half of it to income tax even if I'm borderline poor?" "No,but capitalism!" "Is there at least free trade? Can I sell stuff, make a buisnesses without taxes and licences?" "NO! BUT ITS CAPITALISM I TELL YA!!!"

[@derpherp1810]

bro what copium are you huffing my guy? If this isn't capitalism then what is it? and don't say socialism or communism because that ain't it chief. Maybe, neo-feudalism if I am being charitable but no my friend capitalism is very much alive and breathing.

[@mkzhero]

@@derpherp1810 Ah yes, capitalism, with 30-50% total taxation rate on MINIMAL wage (depending on country), inability to own property (property tax means its a lease, not yours), can't hold savings due to a 3+% yearly money printing inflation devaluating your savings, can't trade freely without taxes, licenses, and more shit, etc, etc. Also i see you're extremely limited in your knowledge of systems... Also what capitalism is, go read it up on wiki i guess. The current system is stateism/corporatism, come back to talk about capitalism when the total taxation rate is at least under 10% and you won't have your house taken if you forget/decide not to pay the property tax roof money cuz you dared to assume that land and house you 'own' actually belongs to you.