Wolff Responds: Lessons of Major US Policy Failures

In this Wolff Responds, Prof. Wolff reflects on this past year and the failures of US policy to adequately handle the ongoing crises that spilled from 2020 into 2021. As we move into 2022, Wolff argues, we must learn from past crises and recognize the importance of mobilizing public and private resources as a solution.
Wolff Responds is a ‪@democracyatwrk‬ production. We provide these videos free of ads. Please consider supporting our work. Visit our website democracyatwork.info/donate or join our growing Patreon community and support Global Capitalism Live Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff at / gcleu .
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[@StevenKHarrison]

If there is anything we can say about learning from the past, it is that we are very slow to do so. Happy New Year, Professor.

[@zalamander8]

The USA is the only country where capitalism is the national religion.

[@randybest9187]

In other words, Greed.

[@jimcarrington6744]

Amen brothers!

[@hengedraws]

I found you from an old 2012 debate and have to say you have a very eloquent and deliberate way of explaining things! I’m happy to see you have a KZbin channel!

[@grantallard]

Happy new year Professor Wolff.

[@adinahaun6001]

Thank you Professor Wolff for all your wisdom and insight into US dysfunction on the economic/political fronts.

[@A_kiwis_view]

A kiwi view: we have 91% of NZ citizens, 12 years and older fully vaccinated voluntarily although we were late starters. We trust our government, elected by proportional representation, and they have led us well. Todate we have had 51 deaths from Covid19, at this rate USA would have had 3,000 not 800,000. Kia kaha - stay strong

[@jackflack9004]

I agree with Ayan. Without freedom what is the point of living.

[@A_kiwis_view]

@Ayan Majumdar The real freedom is freedom from fear, our police are not armed, nor our citizens, we live longer and are a healthier and happier society.. so what is your freedom? Is it to arm yourself to feel secure? To live in a failing democracy is not my idea of a free society.

[@owesteen-hansen2152]

@@jackflack9004 So the 800.000 died of their own free choice? If you were completely alone in the world your freedom wouldn't have any consequences for any other human beings.

[@jackflack9004]

@@owesteen-hansen2152 It's better for the government to fear the people, than the people fear the government. The "800,000" number, how many of these people die FROM covid and not WITH covid. Most of the deaths were older people with comorbidities; they already had one foot in the grave. 30,000 people die each year from auto accidents; are you going to stop everyone from driving. 100,000 people died from drug overdoses. Do you want to expand the "War on Drugs"? Freedom is NOT free! There is always a cost. Most people, I'm guessing like you, want freedom, but are not willing to pay for it.

[@owesteen-hansen2152]

@@jackflack9004 The best is people respect and trust government and government respect and trust the people. Fear is bad fundament for every relation. Fear is mafia policy

[@caseyakasubzero]

happy new years professor wolff and power to the workers of the world

[@paulschumacher1263]

Best Wolff video so far! Brilliant, incisive, and comprehensive. Thanks!

[@maxsweetman6341]

Have a happy healthy prosperous new year professor Wolff Time America woke up looked after its own and left us all alone to enjoy our lives

[@obiwan3993]

why da fuck...is louis dejoy still in charge of the post office. .one of the biggest social services and unions....what the fuck is going on!?!

[@geoffreynhill2833]

Happy New Year, Prof! Fraternal Greetings from London, UK! 😀

[@stevemora7845]

Happy New Year professor Wolff!! 🎉🎊🎈

[@politicallil7060]

Americans have no idea of the difficult days ahead. We have not had any kind of people policy since the 1930s....

[@evita9284]

For those who are not aware, Wolff is not 5 feet tall. The statue behind him is the statue of liberty, making him around 5 km in height. This means his brain is truly massive and you all must listen to him.

[@lepidoptera9337]

So he is collapsing under his own weight. That explains it. ;-)

[@Ashdad99]

Happy new year wolff pack and prof wolff

[@anhedonic-voting]

Thank you 🌎✊️🌹🗽

[@victorkmlee]

Sadly, what you said is absolutely correct. Instead what you have are dysfunctional responses from the government (all levels), public and private bodies and society as a whole. The casualty numbers (infection rates, deaths and hospitalizations) attest to this sorry situation. Denial, blaming others and deflecting responsibilites seem to be the default response.

[@MrDXRamirez]

Government’s reckless behavior cannot be taken out of context, to add to your point. A hallmark feature of capitalism is to manage workers to produce more quantities of the same product in the same constant number of hours in a day. The work performed by all workers changes. What you can do in an hour changes but not what you are paid for that hour does not change. America’s average workday is 820 million hours per day, every year, decade after decade, etc., etc., this never changes but what does change is productivity. The more competent the State gets the higher runs the risk of exposure of this exploitation of labor by capital. Everything that can cause governments to hobble and not function to act to protect the members of society hides this exploitation which is at the source of the crisis we face.

[@missniksa420]

We had the equipment, and most of the new equipment that China sent us to help out our government had people throw it all away in a landfill. same with masks we had plenty the government made sure that we didnt have "enough"

[@missniksa420]

all while screaming "ChInA bAd" china being helpful doesnt suit their narrative. which is something the USA has done in the past. meanwhile we find excuses to invade and commit genocide all over the world, but 'we' cant be bothered to send the vaccine to the global south. we are trying to systematically trying to starve out Cuba with our embargos. because they want no part of our Country after we have been feeding anti-communism propaganda there for decades. when people say they "Defeat" is they mean they listened to that propaganda, and came here in search of "a better life" when all it was, was well a ploy to create discourse in another country because our government disagrees with what they are doing. We will never give up on our pursuit to gain power over smaller countries. only way we will is if we do a complete over haul of our government and the laws surrounding them all. And like you had mentioned Sir, that china's numbers are low, yes they, why because their people didnt see it as a government invasion of their "FrEeDoMs" but as a way to ensure the health and safety of everyone in their country knowing that if everyone did their part they could beat it. The USA has zero business trying to tell other countries what to do, not until they tell themselves first.

[@hoseacheng1825]

Happy new year. And I guess all of human beings should respect science . Ignoring crisis shouldn’t be happened in a mature modern nation.

[@yu-jd5jg]

Politicians cannot solve the problems as listed by the good Prof. What the US needs badly and urgently now are true capable competent brave-to-take-responsibility leaders

[@TwiztedHumor]

yup. he said it. horrible but true.

[@sandylong1529]

We don’t have the leadership that can monilize the public & private sectors

[@lepidoptera9337]

All you need "to mobilize" the private sector is money. You ask for something, they deliver, you pay the bills. What in the world are you talking about????

[@sjkayes]

They're not failures when they're intended

[@kimberleyhollyman90]

Thank you Prof. Wolff. 💯👍 Happy New Year, Sir!! 🇨🇦

[@qake2021]

👍👍great video👌👌 🎊👍happy new year👌🎊 🎉👏👏👏👏👏👏👏✌🏻🎉

[@columbiamccaleb208]

Can you explain the idea of public/private partnership? That sounds very neoliberal and technocratic to me.

[@advandepol7537]

Very best wishes for the new year, Prof. Dr. Richard Wolff

[@notsure9379]

As far as Afghanistan, if we would have waited until winter. It would have a better chance of some success. As someone who is familiar with the topic personally

[@lepidoptera9337]

You have lost a war in Afghanistan before? Just not so badly because it was in winter? What? What are you talking about? ;-)

[@spiritpeacefulrevolution3523]

It would be amazing to create a worker-owned global cooperative social enterprise app that would do all these things

[@lepidoptera9337]

They have. It has two active members and they decided to block each other. ;-)

[@spiritpeacefulrevolution3523]

@@lepidoptera9337 what’s it called :)

[@lepidoptera9337]

@@spiritpeacefulrevolution3523 Nobody knows. The two active members stopped communicating years ago. Some say it was just one guy and his sock puppet. ;-)

[@l15t3nr]

I love how intense the message is, and then he always ends the video with "This is Richard Wolff for Democracy at work"

[@campsiegrothendieck7857]

He is the best.

[@l15t3nr]

@@campsiegrothendieck7857 yes 😂

[@pipster1891]

Don't forget the US victory over Grenada!

[@cosmicmusicreynolds3266]

Thanks for the video Richard and a Happy New Year to you , all the comrades at Democracy at Work and the followers of this channel too

[@staatsfeindlich9939]

Uh...about New Zealand. They're not faring so well even with vaccination rate and lockdowns. Same with Singapore, Iceland, Israel and Gibraltar with over 80% vax rates and curfews and mask mandates. Why is that?

[@earlviney5212]

They are faring a hell of a lot better than us.

[@michael511128]

Happy New Year! It’s already New Year in China.

[@lindascanlan6317]

I just love you.

[@lindascanlan6317]

I share I spread the word Every one you said on this video...I've said too...gosh.....we think alike ...

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

Prof. Wolff: Can you please research & advocate for full intellectual property (IP) abolition? This is the most important activist aim for working class people! A worker co-op economy (& most leftist projects) has very little chance without first abolishing IP. IP is the most severe & oppressive tool of the rich & powerful. Please see the work of Stephan Kinsella, Michele Boldrin, & David K. Levine. These are the best experts on intellectual property in the world. Everyone who cares about seriously improving things for humanity needs to know what IP abolition is about.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

IP laws make no sense from either left or right politics. The ‘property’ in intellectual property is a false term used for propaganda purposes. Intellectual property is not property in any sense. It’s monopoly. IP actually stifles innovation & creativity. And IP seriously screws up our economy & stacks it for the rich & powerful more than any other tool (especially IP with digital tech and the internet). IP abolition is the most important aim to liberate artists, programmers, inventors, etc. and make them all better off financially.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

All 4 types of IP must be fully abolished in any & all countries ASAP: patents, copyright, trademarks & trade secrets.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

IP provides for censorship. IP is the main component of cultural control, propaganda, & advertising. Copyright does not just monopolize art- copyright also monopolizes all text, video, audio, photos, images, software & websites. And patents monopolize important aspects of media infrastructure. Therefore, IP is the main component which allows media conglomerates to “manufacture consent”.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

The 2008 economics book ‘Against Intellectual Monopoly’ and the 2001 essay ‘Against Intellectual Property’ are both as important as Marx’s ‘Capital’! Each has nearly flawless argumentation. All leftists need to read both (free online). If you can’t read them now, then write down both titles so you can tell others so they can read them

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

And Uniquenameosaurus has two excellent and entertaining videos from April 2021 about IP abolition. Patricia Taxxon has another excellent one from October 2017 about copyright abolition.

[@mikesquish]

The real problem (and it applies to all countries) is the lack of smart politicians. The quality of leadership has dropped steadily for 80 years. As well as their responsibility.

[@shainowen2520]

Follow the money. It's always about money and power

[@cosmicmusicreynolds3266]

its slipping away from the American government because of china

[@shainowen2520]

@Account NumberEight true

[@markbirkeland5643]

When will the people of North America come to the realization that we need to rise to the situation at hand.

[@terencewallis3562]

But Professor, the FED caused the recent depression/economic crash, as it did the 1929 depression.................

[@kevintewey1157]

Short, succinct, pertinent timely ...if you don't have time for Professor Richard Wolff you either know too much already or you don't care to the point of sociopathy

[@stuckinthemud4352]

I would argue that if you have watched richard and thik Marxism is agood idea u haven't taken the time to learn basic economic principles.

[@stuckinthemud4352]

Would you agree that investment leads to economic growth and spending leads to inflation in any type of system?

[@cosmicmusicreynolds3266]

@@stuckinthemud4352 well time for you to spell right , look at your text !

[@cosmicmusicreynolds3266]

@@stuckinthemud4352 not if its invested in only limited industry and inflation is added profit to increase prices

[@hape3862]

​@@stuckinthemud4352 "Economic growth" - The cancer that has befallen the planet …

[@WealthAndMoney]

I love you dude!

[@philippepeltier142]

M Wolf I salute your courage from France. Honneur aux gilets jaunes !!! 👍

[@peterplunkett5621]

And the rest ✌️ thank you

[@happy-go-commie]

Oh-my-cron is a valid pronounciation for British English, although seldom used. Hipster choice by the good professor, but still factual. Traditional Greek alphabet pronounciation is the one with the short i sound as in inch.

[@aintdatsnipes177]

War is a symptom, not the problem, just like the debt/deficit, the shit economy, the soaring poverty and dependence on Big Gov't,all symptoms of a greater problem....DC.This is what happens when your elected officials see there jobs not as public service but more of a way to get rich quick,by any means necessary, and the quickest way to a fat bank acct is to sell your vote to WS and the MIC, and never in recorded history have we seen elected officials sell out there country en masse as we've seen in DC in the last 30 years!

[@jackflack9004]

I would like to see your data( or link) about the soaring poverty. Where is it? How bad is it? Details matter!

[@davidw6936]

Oh Micron?

[@john-lenin]

Chyyyyyna lover

[@magz875]

Now Omicron, a mild cold, is a crises, Professor?! And yeah, thank God for the big difference between America and New Zealand! Oh by the way, didn't Jacinda's net worth go up from less than 1 million to over 20 million this year?

[@tgifford4]

I don't think it's very smart using China as a shining example.

[@RedFortress]

Why not?

[@cosmicmusicreynolds3266]

it true china is q terrible dictatorship, its a deformed workers state

[@petestanton1945]

I do

[@petestanton1945]

some deformed grammar around here

[@jackflack9004]

@Account NumberEight China uses Uyghurs as slaves. China sales human organs. China should not be praised for being the biggest economy.

[@buddysnackit1758]

You are always crying about Capitalism, but how is the U.S. capitalist? Isn't it really corporatist and/or Fascist? Isn't capitalism actually the fix? I mean a real capitalist environment with laws being enforced. Even way back in Robber Baron days we were essentially corporatist with family corporations. The big take away is that your centralized system failed. If we were free and capitalist this would not be a problem. Why because everyone could get treatments that work. Your a quack as far as I can tell. Totally inconsistent with your definitions. Your claims are easily proven false. Really this is a Democratic failure. Proof...which states are locked down AND higher in cases. Total failure as anyone listening to you would be as well.

[@Gigika313]

I feel you, you have a good point.

[@stevesmith291]

Corporatism is the only kind of capitalism that has ever existed anywhere in the world. Suggesting that there’s some kind of “real capitalism“ is utopian thinking.

[@davidzapen8974]

L'shana tovah, all y'all. 🍎🍯

[@obiwan3993]

why da fuck...is louis dejoy still in charge of the post office. .one of the biggest social services and unions....what the fuck is going on!?!

[@petestanton1945]

NoJoy