Left policy examples from Berlin. Listen up, Mr. Biden - Richard Wolff

[@AlbertSirup]

The "socialist" party is the social democratic party... we would not call them socialist in Germany... but I guess they are "socialist" the same way Americans think Sweden is "socialist"-

[@amihartz]

Many Americans think Joe Biden is a communist.

[@n.r.4579]

@@amihartz Newsmax genuinely called Mitt Romney a communist simply because he supports UBI - nevermind that he wants to replace what meager social safety net we have with this paltry form of UBI, nor that Newsmax' hero, Donald Trump, supported universal $2000 checks til, iirc, the end of the pandemic, which would surely make Trump a socialist, at least, by their definition. Anyway, there's a good video by Kyle Kulinski about this. The accusation was recent, so the video is, too. But yeah, so many Americans don't know what socialism, communism, anarchism are; where the line is between the various kinds of socialism, social democracy, and social liberalism; Hell, the US gov't has admitted to countless war crimes, and people still treat them like they're conspiracy theories. Such a shame.

[@Emil_2808]

I‘m a german socialist as you probably are and the spd is litterally the socialdemocratic party of Germany. Also Richard speaks German quite fluently and it‘s strange that he didn‘t recognize this, even though we use the same terms in Germany as they use in englsih-speaking countries

[@seanpol9863]

@@Emil_2808 I think he does this on purpose to appeal to moderates and those new to socialism to help bring them into the fold. And also those who are still a little fearful of Marx. Not sure if this is a good tact though I suppose if it works, got to be a good thing I guess.

[@n.r.4579]

@@Emil_2808Edit: I just realized you were talking to Albert. I'm sorry about the mixup. If I'd taken a closer look, and reread the comments again, I would have realized that. Regardless, I'll leave my comment here, anyway. I'm not a German socialist, I'm an American anarchist. I know the SPD are the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, and I'm also surprised Richard Wolff doesn't know social democrats from socialists. I was only talking about the ridiculous political atmosphere of my own country, where people don't know basic political terms because the bourgeoisie and settler-colonial state have a vested interest in keeping the American populace uninformed and confused. I'm kinda surprised I accidentally tricked you into thinking I'm a German socialist. Admittedly, it was a German socialist who turned me away from social liberalism and social democracy, toward the left. 😂

[@AndiKuerbiskernNet]

Wow, its nice to see my city and my government in US Media. I'm a member of the left party and member of the communal parliament of Berlin-Mitte (a District of Berlin). Ask me anything, if you want to know more about berlin politics :).

[@tnk657]

Greetings from Athens, Greece and congratulation on your initiatives.Hope will see something similar here.

[@rafa_leo_siempre]

Since we have someone from Berlin and someone from Athens here, I have a question. What is the presence of diem25 in Berlin? Is the left party working together with them? If I understand, MERA is their political presence in Greece

[@AndiKuerbiskernNet]

@@rafa_leo_siempre as far as I can see, Diem25 tried to be in Berlin and Germany, but they didn't get a foothold. It also has a lot of overlapping with DIE LINKE. If they would get strong, we would lose and the Real leftwing voting Potential in Germany is not strong enough for two leftwing party's (DIE LINKE is at 8% on a national level and could go up to 13, the other Party's (SPD and Greens) are more center left and Diem25 wouldn't be able to "steal" their voters.

[@toddsmith293]

Build back the wall, make it 10 meters high, and put all the commies on the other side. Problem solved. Deutschland Uber Alles!

[@tnk657]

@@toddsmith293 Build back the wall. Leave some holes . Put inside trolls like you. Close the holes. Problem solved.

[@catherinerodriguez4598]

Biden wouldn't be at all interested but I bet Bernie would love these initiatives.🗽🕯️

[@nancyk7954]

You'll have to get the attention Biden's bosses, the people who pay him to do what he's told to do.

[@katharinabecker752]

You mean the citizens of the United States?

[@daultontemplet4016]

@@katharinabecker752 No, she means the lobbyists.

[@elvinhayes7120]

The US economy is in ruins, due to decades of extremely corrupt government mismanagement. Printing money and handing it to people is a last ditch act of desperation. Oligarchic "capitalism" has sucked the life and the heart out of the American public.

[@user-qc8vj3vp9v]

Excellent information Dr. Wolffe; very informative. Keep up the great work you are doing to educate the American population. I am a loyal listener as I have learnt sooooo much. Love you - wish I had you as a professor back in my days. 👍🏼👍🏼👏👏💟☮

[@user-qc8vj3vp9v]

Extremely important to know; great job Dr. Wolff. You deserve to be applauded for educating and enlightening the American population who are not well-read or informed of the issues that affect them, as well as world affairs. Big thanks to you.👍🏼👍🏼👏🤗🤗☮💟

[@3jacen]

0:31 "In Berlin there is a government." Real breaking news here.

[@amihartz]

idk im not convinced

[@meinhart_esror]

Seems debateble imho

[@meinhart_esror]

1:20 Although the the first party has socialism in their party plattform, they are called the social democrat party (SPD) and are generally social democrats. Calling them anything other seems to be on shaky ground.

[@Weromano]

they are no socialists at all: there is a saying in the german legt that goes „Wer hat uns verraten? Sozialdemokraten!“

[@elainegoad9777]

Prof. Wolff thank you for all of your videos and information ! We need your voice !

[@angelrobinson334]

*No 1: Don't Only Hope On Government's Responds On security Matter's And Economy growth,* *No 2: As An Individual You Should Be Safeguarded And Also Look For Different Self Business And Trade Not Only Waiting on Betterment of Stock market activities,* *No 3: Most Important Always Save The Little You Can And Think Of What To Do With It When It Become Good For Capital,* *Because Government Have Failed Us In Aspect Of Security, Economics Activities And Other Trading Systems.*

[@maxwelljoshua7438]

Yes sure Bitcoin trade is great unlike the stock market and other financial market Bitcoin has no centralized location since it operates 24hour's in different parts of the world

[@juankeith9355]

Currently the rich stay rich by spending like the poor and investing while the poor stay poor by spending like the rich yet not investing like the rich

[@lupitamary8973]

Wise words that's just the fact and also what is happening day by day

[@sarakaren2716]

I'm just so Lucky to have Dr Benjamin as my investor he really understand all methods of Bitcion

[@christianjessie1471]

We get to see people remain poor due to ignorance and selfishness

[@user-qc8vj3vp9v]

Very informative; I have learned a lot. Wish I had Dr. Wolff back in my days. Keep up the great work as you are providing an invaluable service to the American people . I appreciate your work and efforts.👍🏼👍🏼👏👏💟☮

[@eleanorpolchinski7919]

Thank you . I am grateful to hear this . I am so upset that this video did help me to feel a little better. I’m so distressed financially and otherwise . 💕

[@oldreprobate2748]

Hit on a beauty Richard. Thank you.

[@n.r.2258]

How can you scare the poor Americans that much ? And btw. don’t let the Americans know all that. For reasons like that, they are sanctioning nations like Venezuela.

[@pscgoogle]

In the regard of new rental issue in Berlin, we’ve been having something like this in New York, we call it “rent control”

[@markfischer531]

We've had rent control in New York City probably since World War II. Not only are some of the rents absurdly low but they pass them down from generation to generation at these rents far below fair market value. And it's next to impossible to tear them down and replace them. Many are over 100 years old and weren't exactly luxury homes when they were new. Many are 5 and 6 stories with fire escapes on the outside. They make not much profit, the landlords are reluctant to make repairs and eventually are abandoned to the City government. When you exit the Lincoln tunnel on the extreme right to head south and then take the first left on West 36th street when you get to 11th Avenue it looks exactly like it did 60 years ago only even shabbier. This is the most valuable real estate in the world but instead of new high rise luxury apartments you've got these ancient brownstone buildings. Because of politics the principle of the best use of land was completely ignored. I think the government of New York City owns the most homes in its jurisdiction. Cities run by left wing Democrats have been so badly mismanaged for so long that they had to raise taxes on the middle and upper classes to the point where they are leaving in droves. Close proximity during the pandemic has been the final straw. 20 years ago I moved from the suburbs to a rural area and never looked back. IMO there is no longer a reason to have cities in the United States. They are a relic of the industrial revolution. Most of America is empty land. The peace and quiet of rural life gives infinitely superior quality of life.

[@johnrowe2228]

I'm ok with Socialist, Leftist and Green parties especially since I'm catholic and am taught to take care of the poor and be good stewards of environment. I hope they allow freedom of religion and pray they someday embrace sanctity of life in their platforms. What a beautiful world that would be!

[@ejensen]

Whether or not someone supports freedom of religion isn't really a left/right thing, but rather an authoritarian/liberal thing. The so called "communist" regimes that have existed and do exist in the world that don't allow for freedom of religion are in fact very authoritarian oligarchies or dictatorships which follow capitalist or mercantilist economic models rather than socialist ones. As far as I can tell most leftists today lean very far to the liberal end of that spectrum, which means they believe that people should be able to make their own choices so long as those choices don't negatively impact others, in all aspects of life. This means that usually they want government to do the things that needs to be done collectively; protect people from abuses of power (economic especially), help those who need it, and undertake and maintain the projects that are too complex or monumental for companies or individuals to undertake. Apart from these things the government should not get involved. For example if pressed I think most left leaning people would be in favor of legalising all drugs and redirect the money used on enforcement of those laws to programs helping people overcome addictions or avoid them in the first place, as well as regulate and tax the drug trade. The upshot of that is that your freedom of religion is pretty much in there by default, so long as you don't hurt other people in practicing it (including stupid stuff like teaching kids that evolution is fake because the bible says so). However with regard to the sanctity of life, it gets a little more tricky. You will find that most left leaning people do value life; you will find a disproportionally high number of vegans and vegetarians among left leaning people for precisely that reason. However on the specific question of abortion it all comes down to body integrity. From a philosophical perspective you can argue that the main reason why violence is intolerable is primarily due to the fact that it violates body integrity. This principle of body integrity holds that you cannot force someone to suffer torture or risk death in order to save someone else's life. You cannot force them to suffer a minor headache or even force them to act at all to save someone else's life. You can expect them to, encourage them to, condemn them if they don't choose to save the life. But they get to choose what how they act, no one else. In this way forcing women to carry a child to term given that we have the option to let her choose otherwise is quite directly analogous to inflicting violence on that woman.

[@johnrubensaragi4125]

Yes. Economic systems has absolutely nothing to do with religion.

[@AndiKuerbiskernNet]

As a member of the leftparty of germany I can tell you that we are pro Freedom of Religion - but in all directions. You are free to practice your religion, but other people also have the right to be free from religion and Religion should not be part of the governement at all. In Berlin in the early 2000s we implemented a Law that forbid any member of the government in a position of authority over citizens (like policemen, judges, teachers ect.pp.) to wear any symbol that indicates a religion or political ideology. So if you are a teacher, you can be religious, but you can't wear a visible cross (or a communist symbol, nazi symbol or any other religious or political ideoligycal symbol) around your neck while teaching children (in your free time, you can, of course). This law is now disputed, especially by the greens, because this law impacted largly only muslim women who want to wear a head scarf.

[@tilemacro]

Catholic Sanctity of life vs leftist Human rights. I chose human rights. They are lets say.. less prone to interpretation and the whims of celestial world leaders. Just pay your taxes and keep your grabby hands off the goverment, you can worship Cthulhu for all i care.

[@noelliebtsie]

@@ejensen Nicely said, and the best way to protect the sanctity of life on earth is to reduce the number of humans being born so we can give life-nourishing plants and (non-human) animals the chance to thrive in healthy eco-systems not used up or demolished by human activity.

[@jamilkhan715]

An eye opener initiative of the Berlin government for all the right thinking people and governments of the world.

[@lilskinny9141]

Germany's highest court just ruled the rent cap illegal.

[@abbas.standup]

It was decided that it is unconstitutional two weeks ago. Now people will have to pay the debts.

[@rob1andrews]

In Boston USA we had rent control which fixed the rent of certain apartments. Rent control was supposed to be for low income folks but renters would go to great lengths to keep the apartments if their income improved or would secretly transfer the apartments for a fee or to a friend. Owners protested by not doing any maintenance on the buildings. The result was a bunch of run down buildings that had lower tax valuation.

[@CatastrophicNewEngland]

That sounds like a solid legal issue between the landlord and the tenants, if they were violating their lease terms by not repairing things that should be their responsibility to repair, or the tenant subletting against the lease terms. Tax valuation should be meaningless since taxing buildings and land is only a loosely correlating relationship between the value of those and the owners income/wealth. The only remotely honest way to have a property tax would be if it was imposed on the value of absolutely everything a person owns, like personal items, jewelry, cars, bank accounts, stocks, foreign holdings, government bonds, businesses under their ownership, etc.

[@AJK_I]

Make a video on ERCOT in texas electric grid

[@RandyHartono]

Awesome 😎 👍 for the people

[@sezzed5663]

Immigration in the US is a joke. I'm a survivor of a severe form of labor human trafficking for what my employer did to me. I also have an advanced degree in science and graduated from university here in the us. I lost my immigration status because of none payment of wages and then he called ICE on me because I was out of status. a year before I had filed a lawsuit to collect my wages but he went to the court and said that we were partners "Based on an oral partnership agreement" despite my official work visa, tax forms, emails, etc etc. The judge accepted his claim and charged me with fraud and breach of contract. Out side of the court he threatened that he would reported me to ICE to have me deported and to have the case dropped automatically. He told my friends that "It's Trump era, what kind of a stupid employee files a lawsuit against his employer?". a few months later ICE raided my address but I wasn't present at the moment. right now I'm being protected by some agencies and I have a case against him through USCIS. This guys bribes police forces, has serious tax violations, build home on wet lands, etc etc, but no one paid attentions to my report. your justice and law enforcement system is blind. I can only tell you that your whole country is an illusion and your immigration and justice system is a joke. I'm currently fighting for justice but I won't stay here in this country after I receive justice, all I see from the US system was cruelty and disrespect. But dear Americans who tend to pay extra attention to jews, remember this: they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me. ** they are coming for you, all your corrupt judges, all your indifferent law enforcement officers, all your self-perpetual ignorance ...

[@georgefurman4371]

You are a true internationalist militant Profr Wolff. Your words matter politically. Hope Biden and the American corporate class have people with enough intelligence and common sense to listen to you and give the message.

[@AndresIsTight]

We need to pass regulations on any entity owning more than 10 housing units here in the US, either by scaling property tax rate to the number of properties owned or as Berlin did, force the owners to sell to the city. Landlordism is a plague on the working people and should be priority #1

[@CatastrophicNewEngland]

exactly!!! Why not make single home owners who live in their home's property taxes a quarter of what they are now, and all second homes 4x what they are. If you're rich enough to own multiple homes, you can pay a lot more taxes. The tax system is set up exactly opposite that. Landlords can deduct expenses like repair and upkeep for their rental units. Homeowners can not. An excuse they use is that people don't have the skills to do the upkeep on their own homes, or the money to take out a mortgage in the first place, which are both true. But, if it wasn't for property investors and rich landlords, the property values would be waaaay lower and people could then afford a mortgage or be able to hire a handyman to fix things that go wrong. Even those industries are so over-regulated to protect the more wealthy, that it makes the prices sky-high to get anything fixed. The whole system has been set up to screw the common folk. Don't even get started on building codes!

[@zurinarctus1329]

The biggest mistake in American history is not choosing Eugene V Debs as the President.

[@midknight1968]

Beautiful

[@judymeyer4315]

shared.

[@CatastrophicNewEngland]

Three THOUSAND???? How about 10. Corporations should not be allowed to own homes. Being a real human landlord is an important thing of value since many people do not have the skills to repair or the income or desire to buy a home. Though if it was not for corporation/investors then home prices would be much more affordable. There should be strict profit/markup caps on rentals though. Corporations profiting off of people having homes to live in is about as disgusting as profiting off selling water and "health care". Why not control and sell the sunlight and air too?

[@adrianaugustus1045]

Outstanding ideas

[@kaduisaui4596]

Pfannkuchen sind Liebe

[@linzierogers7479]

For this to happen in a country that is governed by lobbyists would indeed be a major feat. It isn't going to happen here. Why? Too many people have given too much money to those who govern us and that is not what they want.

[@narancauk]

Referendum !!!!!!!!! Germans organised referendums u Yugoslavia in 1990.And organised and financed referendum dum dum dums later in the century. And created 6 or 7 new states instead of one Yugoslavia. Speaking of German productivity!!!!!! They have always loved us. Every 30 -40 years they come to visit us!!!!!!And we the Serbs, love them back.

[@LONEWOLF..314-S-T-L]

SALUTE 💯👍🏿

[@newquinn22]

Mein herz schlägt links

[@kaduisaui4596]

Pfannkuchen sind Liebe

[@GrandmaCathy]

Blackstone?? What??

[@pappapiccolino9572]

I'm a big Wolff fan, but I'm not sure that Berlin qualifies as "one of the largest cities in the world." Still, a very informative video as always.

[@rickor5036]

It should be noted, that even the law they passed, is widely considered watered down - not necessarily by the SPD (german socialist [in name only] party), but by the left (maybe also green) party and by the people.

[@clarestucki5151]

Rent controls (as with any price control whatsoever) will invariably result in the end of private investment in housing. The consequence of that is inevitably the conversion of all housing to being public housing. Perhaps Wolff thinks that is a desirable situation, but it is not without consequences. Most Americans prefer private housing by a large margin.

[@landkomtur6416]

Well, it's the social-democratic party (SPD), not the socialist party. And they have their own neo-liberal wing.

[@narancauk]

And Biden will forget all your criticism .He could not remember it in the first place!!!!!!

[@y4kv]

I'm not convinced that fixing systemic racism with more systemic racism is going to fix the demographics of the work force...

[@CatastrophicNewEngland]

Isn't that what narcissistic bureaucracies do? When something isn't working, instead of admitting defeat or changing, they double down on similar flawed policies.

[@GrandmaCathy]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@petercua6158]

Capitalist with German Character.

[@michelegosse7116]

Has R. Wolff presented the mouvement-constituant-populaire?

[@narancauk]

And we should not forget Shaking Angela who is in power longer than Comrade P or her fellow countryman Mr A H ...hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha This is zehr gut.

[@jamesreedy1517]

Why not have the City build their own housing units? The untold story here is that 90% of those who tried to enter the rental housing business fail. What ls needed are laws blocking monopolies. Fair markets only exist when stiff competition exists.

[@ejensen]

I'm not sure exactly how it works in Berlin. But in Denmark for a long time when the government has wanted to build housing they have subsidized private construction projects rather than undertake their own projects. To the point where most, bordering on all housing built in major cities in the last couple of decades has been partially financed by the government. The private company that built the housing then turns around and sells the apartments to Blackstone or someone similar who does one of two things: set the rent absurdly high, or don't rent the apartment out at all. The logic from Blackstone's perspective is that real estate prices are bound to go up, they have pretty much always done so(to the tune of 700% over the last 50 years), so just holding on to the apartment for 15 years and then selling it is already going to net them a huge profit. Having people living there is something of a gamble; wear and tear on the apartment might well lower the eventual value of the apartment more than the total profit from rent during that period. And in the meantime the government has subsidized what turns out to be a profit scheme for Blackstone and failed to increase the amount of available or affordable housing.

[@amihartz]

Laws blocking monopolies are called anti-trust laws and anti-trust laws are always doomed to fail, Marx demonstrates this in the first volume of _Capital_ regarding the "laws of the centralization of capitals" and actual real-world experience proves this as every sector of the economy constantly gets more and more centralized over time no matter how many anti-trust laws liberals have put in place. _"The laws of this centralisation of capitals, or of the attraction of capital by capital...The battle of competition is fought by cheapening of commodities. The cheapness of commodities demands, caeteris paribus, on the productiveness of labour, and this again on the scale of production. Therefore, the larger capitals beat the smaller. It will further be remembered that, with the development of the capitalist mode of production, there is an increase in the minimum amount of individual capital necessary to carry on a business under its normal conditions. The smaller capitals, therefore, crowd into spheres of production which Modern Industry has only sporadically or incompletely got hold of. Here competition rages in direct proportion to the number, and in inverse proportion to the magnitudes, of the antagonistic capitals. It always ends in the ruin of many small capitalists, whose capitals partly pass into the hands of their conquerors, partly vanish. Apart from this, with capitalist production an altogether new force comes into play - the credit system, which in its first stages furtively creeps in as the humble assistant of accumulation, drawing into the hands of individual or associated capitalists, by invisible threads, the money resources which lie scattered, over the surface of society, in larger or smaller amounts; but it soon becomes a new and terrible weapon in the battle of competition and is finally transformed into an enormous social mechanism for the centralisation of capitals. "_ -- _Capital,_ Volume 1 _"It is evident that the small manufacturer cannot survive in a struggle in which the first condition of success is production upon an ever greater scale. It is evident that the small manufacturers and thereby increasing the number of candidates for the proletariat - all this requires no further elucidation."_ -- _Wage Labour and Capital_ This is true for all goods and services, but for land and housing, it is even worse, because you can't just build a factory to create new land. Land is an inherently limited resource, causing monopolies to form very quickly, much earlier than for other goods and services, and only get worse as time goes on, as all sectors of the economy approach monopolization in the long-term.

[@AndiKuerbiskernNet]

The leftist government of Berlin also started building their own houses. But they had to start from scratch (becasue from 2011 to 2016 there was a coalition of the SPD and a the CDU, a conservative party, who didn't do anything about the housing shortage) and real estate is premium in Berlin. So they have to do something about the hedgefonds, who buy houses, "modernize" them, raises the rents sometimes by 200% and kick out the old tenents, who know have to find cheap flats again (which don't exist, because the hedgefonds bought them all and raised the rent prices to a maximum).

[@CatastrophicNewEngland]

Whenever government (in the USA anyways) builds anything, it is multiples more expensive than if anyone else builds it. Eliminating permitting and building codes for people who want to build or repair their own homes, would be a huge help in decreasing unnecessary costs on the working class. The real reason they exist anyway is to protect the banks' investments and insurance companies. These codes and regulatory hoops/expenses is the reason why there are hardly any low income housing units.

[@AndiKuerbiskernNet]

@@CatastrophicNewEngland in Germany the Government build cheaper than private investors, because the need to build affordable housing, while investors only build luxury apartments and houses.

[@yuriarin3237]

Again with the multiple parties case: is there any engagement in D@W with the case of Ian Shapiro in favour of the westminster system being the most democratic and capable of delivering more reasonable policies? Of course there is a problem with America's system and others that have a duopoly, but more parties may be like blood-letting in folk medicine: it does nothing to solve the problem or makes it worse

[@AndiKuerbiskernNet]

From a german point of view the german multi-party system looks way superioer to the american two-party system. But there could be a bias in my point of view :)

[@yuriarin3237]

@@AndiKuerbiskernNet ​ @Andi Baerlin The problem with the American system is that there is no limit to private expenditure on campaigns, so money controls politics and this is recognized by everyone everywhere. But throwing the two-party system with private funding of political campaigns may be throwing the baby with the bathwater, even more so given that the two things are mostly unrelated

[@tirobo]

Ok, but I feel like Germany comes across here as some socialist utopia, which it isn't. The Linke Party mentioned is in the national parliament currently with about 10% of the vote, it's socialist, but not like some huge party, and most people distrust it for its roots in the GDR. The SPD is social-democratic, definitely not socialist, although its history (like before WWII) is more radical. The green party is social-democratic with a bit more of a focus on environmental issues. Still though, all of these parties are way better than Biden

[@meinhart_esror]

Yeah and even calling a not too small part of the greens and socdems social democrats is unfortunately quite generous :/

[@tirobo]

@@meinhart_esror oh well, it was just something i noticed in another video as well

[@dcmurray6466]

Dream on!! It will never happen.

[@Gigika313]

👍🏼👍🏼

[@robertquinn8210]

First: 12 or 35 percent? That's not within the margin of error. Second, and I say this as an American, as an American, WTF are you doing saying anything about Germany's politics? As that great Irish politician, Tip O'Neill, said, "All politics is local." You and I will never be world leaders. At best, you'd be Bebe. God help us from me.

[@pappapiccolino9572]

Also, could somebody from the "real" Democracy At Work do something about an obviously fake account with the same name, which keeps posting the exact same 2 comments as replies to real people's comments ? Thanks

[@tnk657]

Report it as spam. That's what I'm doing for 10 minutes. I got tired. But if more people report maybe they shut down this account. Is frustrating.

[@vibhuvikramaditya4576]

I feel really amused as a classical liberal, who believes in the adam smith version of the markets, I like watching this channel because, Being an economics student , I realise that markets in this world are not adam smith's market, And there are a lot of crony capitalists who look to actually limit competition, this being a supporter of free markets, I dread, That being said I don't agree with what professor wolff advocates, so its really nice to listen to him. Regarding the price ceiling , I would come back after 5 years and explain what the effects were, based on the tradtional model, it is going to lead to lesser people getting homes if prices are not increased, specially with the huge influx of migration that germany is facing.

[@nixoni.bogaine155]

Biden has closed his ears . Don’t waste your time.

[@joshpeck9266]

I don’t think he is listening lol

[@user-bo1hj1rx3s]

Didn’t know berlin were this leftist

[@narancauk]

1:25 ''German socialist party''----------didn't you miss NATIONAL in between .Hahahahahahahahahahah

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

Berlin, du bist so wunderbar! Berlin is my city 😎

[@narancauk]

1945

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

@@narancauk Ok, what about it?

[@LoC28C]

Wow very interesting concepts but i have to say that these concepts are very socialists in nature

[@CAzone10]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t hiring someone based on their race/immigration status racist and discriminatory? Like do we not want meritocracy to triumph?

[@ejensen]

usually yes, but in government work? I'm not actually sure that should be the goal. But even ignoring that; meritocracy can only work if you have equality of opportunity, if the actual employment statistics are so skewed something is clearly impeding that, and normalizing the situation with quotas is a reasonable approach to eliminating any racist or bigoted issues present in the system. But in point of fact I think this is more along the lines of helping the integration issue than any kind of affirmative action.

[@AndiKuerbiskernNet]

The rule that is usally used is: "if the qualifications are the same, somebody who is a migrant / women / handicapped is prefered".

[@ejensen]

@Kevin Tewey The "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and "you are the master of your own destiny" parts of meritocracy is total bullshit, at least in the absence of a level of equality of opportunity that we'll likely never get to But the part that say you want the best qualified and highest motivated people in the most critical positions isn't bullshit; it's a utopian ideal that may be impossible in practice, but is still worth aiming for The alternative can quickly start looking like the worst aspects of Soviet Russia

[@dennisrichards7994]

That sort or fair governance would never ever happen in the United States !!!

[@lloydmoore982]

Some people need stop doing this nonsense i personally believe most people mean well, it's all about ideas and debate,why do they accused folks with different ideas of wanting hand out and things for free?

[@tristin1916]

Hey Richard could you stop saying "in Berlin". Berlin isn't close to the whole country. It's like saying "in Washington"

[@HighlyUnlikely_]

I'm commenting to see if the fake bit account is gonna try and scam me

[@3jacen]

Equality of outcome demands the destroying of equality of opportunity. This happens the moment you put quotas on employment as you suggest.

[@ejensen]

Equality of outcome is never a good goal, and quotas are usually a stupid idea. However. Think of it like this; something has to be done about integration, the refugee crisis has utterly upended the cultural landscape of Berlin. They also aren't imposing quotas on private businesses which has to attempt to find the best qualified people, they are imposing them on the government jobs, which are usually more about maintenance and bureaucracy. It honestly seems like a reasonable idea to me.

[@amihartz]

Literally no one wants equality of outcome. Marx argues this is a horrible idea in _Critique of the Gotha Programme_ and instead argues for equality of opportunity through an equal standard, and the equal standard he puts forwards is labor, i.e. distribution according to labor performed, which will inherently lead to inequalities of outcome as some people would perform more labor than others, but he argues that this is a necessity in a world with scarcity and could only be done away with in a post-scarcity world.

[@3jacen]

@@ejensen "they are imposing them on the government jobs, which are usually more about maintenance and bureaucracy". This is disgusting to me. The government SHOULD be trying to find the best qualified people. @4:41, Richard Wolff gives the example of kindergarten teacher. If I have kids, I want the best teacher teaching them, regardless of immigration. I wouldn't be bothered if 99% ended up being refugees/immigrants, as long as this occurs because they are better at the job. Putting in these quotas will end up hurting the children. I didn't want to make the argument "won't someone think of the children", but that was his first example. I see any enforcement of race or ethnicity based hiring as evil. I see this as the same evil as saying only whites can have the job or only Asians can have the job.

[@3jacen]

@@amihartz Racial or immigrant quotas ARE equality of outcome. It is trying to demand this percent of people be hired. Richard Wolff literally praised this racist idea in this video. Did you not watch it? It is the third idea he talks about. "Literally no one wants equality of outcome" LITERALLY *RICHARD* *WOLFF* WANTS EQUALITY OF OUTCOME

[@amihartz]

@@3jacen The point of affirmative action is to literally provide equality of opportunity to make up for unfair loss of opportunity due to prejudices and discrimination biases. You are trying to redefine equality of outcome to be the same thing as equality of opportunity, if we provide people the same education or the same job opportunities, then in your mind that's equality of outcome. Your point is just laughable and should be mocked. Providing people equal opportunities *_is not the same thing_* as providing people equal outcomes. If all people have the same opportunity of employment, that doesn't mean they will all have the same outcome.

[@dystopiaisutopia]

What happened to your neck? You and Bernie Sanders need to work on your posture, seriously. Talk to your doctor because you have no neck. It's not normal for your shoulders to be up to your ears.

[@supremo6090]

But but but communism...

[@johnrubensaragi4125]

Vuvuzela, kil 500 trillion and no iphone...

[@dystopiaisutopia]

Usually ends in authoritarian and totalitarian rulers.