Wolff Responds: World Inequality Report 2022

In this Wolff Responds, Prof. Wolff shares his key takeaways from the 2022 World Inequality Report-a document detailing the most up-to-date data on global inequality. Prof. Wolff argues that this report further confirms that our capitalist system is the driver behind the stunning and ever-worsening inequality in our world today.
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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[@catcaves]

"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"--Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The only way this system ever changes is when enough people stand up to these stunning statistics in this report.

[@kevchard5214]

You can't fight the monster. You will loose every time even if the majority of people would support it. Capitalist are now gods. Money can buy EVERYTHING and they have it all.

[@catcaves]

@@kevchard5214 Just like Prof. Wolff has said many times every economic system the world has exhibited has these characteristics 'it is born it evolves over time and it dies. To think capitalism will be forever is not logical. It may be 100 years or much sooner as nobody knows.

[@kevchard5214]

@@catcaves Yes but in reality they are all the same but with different names. Every economic system through history all profit a small minority of people while enslaving the rest under their rule. Capitalism is just another name with small differences. If mankind would be moving forward in evolution they would create a real democratic society where no one can own another person and the profits are distributed to all that contributed evenly. Capitalism will die but it will be replaced with another system that mimics the previous but with small changes.

[@catcaves]

@@kevchard5214 I agree with your vision but ​ nobody can predict the future. I prefer not to be pessimistic. I surely think human beings are capable of much more than what it allows us under this system.

[@jeremyrangel8138]

@@kevchard5214 So if money can by everything, why don't you go out there and earn some?

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

World has too many Billionaires, & too many Politicians they can buy.

[@jeremyrangel8138]

You're half right. There are certainly too many politicians, but there is no such thing as too many billionaires. Actually, the problem is there are far too many people that have decided to be more envious of other peoples' wealth than they are productive of their own.

[@paradiseoctagon21794]

Honestly, nobody needs a billion dollars, not even a million. But, as we all know, money is above all.

[@Domi_2204]

This system can show us the inequality in detail, but can not and will not change it.

[@geminigirl3800]

Well said

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

Equality is non-existent in this phenomenal sphere. Equality exists in abstract ideas such as mathematics and arguably on the sub-atomic level ALONE.🤓 UNFORTUNATELY, it requires an intelligence quotient above double-digits in order to be able to comprehend such truthful concepts. 😛

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

​@@geminigirl3800, Good Girl! 👌 Incidentally, Slave, are you VEGAN? 🌱

[@alphacause]

What is disheartening about these statistics, aside from the flagrant unfairness of it all, is that many people who make up these marginalized groups mentioned, who have a meager portion of the global wealth, are staunch defenders of "meritocracy" and believe that such a system is the best of any conceivable system. Embedded in their defense is a hope that, through their own grit and determination, they too will ascend the economic ladder, and partake in the bounty that the top 10 percent enjoy. They are like slaves, who extol the virtues of chains and whips, in some vain hope that those chains and whips can act like a rope to climb out of oppression.

[@kevchard5214]

Very well spoken.

[@kevintewey1157]

To true Maschochists and Sadistic

[@dnap0lymerase171]

Beautiful description of false consciousness.

[@michaelandrews4783]

This is the power of Propganda.....

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

Are you a SOCIALIST? 🤔

[@in-cite]

Thank you for another excellent and timely report!

[@Andrearuch97]

Well said systemic violence of the status quo is the deadliest

[@laurajames7809]

At our local laundromat, women are paid 11 bucks an hour to do laundry. They all live in the trailer park and work there because they can walk. And they know the richer the customer is, the bigger the laundry order, the less likely they get even a penny in a tip. South Lyon Michigan 2021

[@stayinalive9434]

Which is why the Salvation Army bellringers set up in front of walmart. Is why the panhandlers haunt the walmart parking lots. Wealthy people simply do not relate to hunger and despair.

[@twistedoperator4422]

It's always been a class war. Always will be.

[@foldby37]

I hear you, and wish more to know how capitalism works. I thank you, for your work to inform us.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

Then this and the Democracy at Work youtube channels are for you my friend.

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

🐟 22. ILLEGITIMATE GOVERNANCES: SOCIALISM (and its more extreme form, communism) is intrinsically evil, because it is based on the ideology of social and economic egalitarianism, which is both a theoretical and a practical impossibility. Equality exists solely in abstract concepts such as mathematics and arguably in the sub-atomic realm. Many proponents of socialism argue that it is purely an economic system and therefore independent of any particular form of governance. However, it is inconceivable that socialism/communism could be implemented on a nationwide scale without any form of government intervention. If a relatively small number of persons wish to unite in order to form a commune or worker-cooperative, that is their prerogative, but it could never work in a country with a large population, because there will always exist entrepreneurs desirous of engaging in wealth-building enterprises. Even a musician who composes a hit tune wants his song to succeed and earn him inordinate wealth. Socialism reduces individual citizens to utilities, who, in practice, are used to support the ruling elite, who are invariably despotic scoundrels, and very far from ideal leaders (i.e. compassionate and righteous monarchs). Those citizens who display talent in business or the arts are either oppressed, or their gifts are coercively utilized by the corrupt state. Despite purporting to be a fair and equitable system of wealth distribution, those in leadership positions seem to live a far more luxurious lifestyle than the mass of menial workers. Wealth is effectively stolen from the rich. Most destructively, virtuous and holy teachings (“dharma”, in Sanskrit) are repressed by the irreligious and ILLEGITIMATE “government”. The argument that some form of government WELFARE programme is essential to aid those who are unable to financially-support themselves for reasons beyond their control, is fallacious. A righteous ruler (i.e. a saintly monarch) will ensure the welfare of each and every citizen by encouraging private welfare. There is no need for a king to extort money from his subjects in order to feed and clothe the impoverished. Of course, in the highly-unlikely event that civilians are unwilling to help a person in dire straits, the king would step-in to assist that person, as one would expect from a patriarch (father of his people). The head of any nation ought to be the penultimate patriarch, not a selfish buffoon. DEMOCRACY is almost as evil, because, just as the rabble favoured the murderous Barabbas over the good King Jesus, the ignorant masses will overwhelmingly vote for the candidate which promises to fulfil their inane desires, rather than one which will enforce the law, and promote a wholesome and just society. Read Chapter 12 for the most authoritative and concise exegesis of law, morality, and ethics, currently available. Even in the miraculous scenario where the vast majority of the population are holy and righteous citizens, it is still immoral for them to vote for a seemingly-righteous leader. This is because that leader will not be, by definition, a king. As clearly and logically explicated in the previous chapter of this Holy Scripture, MONARCHY is the only lawful form of governance. If an elected ruler is truly righteous, he will not be able to condone the fact that the citizens are paying him to perform a job (which is a working-class role), and that an inordinate amount of time, money and resources are being wasted on political campaigning. Furthermore, an actual ruler does not wimpishly pander to voters - he takes power by (divinely-mandated) force, as one would expect from the penultimate alpha-male in society (the ultimate alpha-male being a priest). The thought of children voting for who will be their parents or teachers, would seem utterly RIDICULOUS to the average person, yet most believe that they are qualified to choose their own ruler - they are most assuredly not. Just as a typical child fails to understand that a piece of sweet, juicy, healthy, delicious fruit is more beneficial for them than a cone of pus-infested, fattening, diabetes-inducing ice-cream, so too can the uneducated proletariat not understand that they are unqualified to choose their own leader, even after it is logically explained to them (as it is in this chapter, as well as in the previous chapter). And by “uneducated”, it is simply meant that they are misguided in the realities of life and in righteous living (“dharma”, in Sanskrit), not in facts and figures or in technical training. Intelligence doesn't necessarily correlate to wisdom. No socialist or democratic government will educate its citizens sufficiently well that the citizens have the knowledge of how to usurp their rule. To put it frankly, democracy is rule by the “lowest common denominator”. It should be obvious that ANARCHY can never ever succeed, because even the smallest possible social unit (the nuclear family) requires a dominator. Any family will fall-apart without a strict male household head. In fact, without the husband/father, there is no family, by definition. The English noun “husband” comes from the Old Norse word “hûsbôndi”, meaning “master of the house”. The same paradigm applies to the extended family, which depends on a strong patriarchal figure (customarily, the eldest or most senior male). Likewise with clans, tribes, villages, towns, cities, and nations or countries. Unfortunately, there are many otherwise-intelligent persons who honestly believe that an ENTIRE country can smoothly run without a leader in place. Any sane person can easily understand that even a nuclear family is unable to function properly without a head of the house, what to speak of a populous nation. The reason for anarchists' distrust of any kind of government is due to the corrupt nature of democratic governments, and the adulteration of the monarchy in recent centuries. However, if anarchists were to understand that most all so-called “kings/queens” in recent centuries were not even close to being true monarchs, they may change their stance on that inane “system”. Most of the problems in human society are directly or indirectly attributable to this relatively modern phenomenon (non-monarchies), since it is the government’s role and sacred DUTY to enforce the law (see Chapter 12), and non-monarchical governments are themselves unlawful. One of the many sinister characteristics of democracy, socialism, and other evil forms of governance, is the desire for their so-called “leaders” to control, or at least influence, the private lives of every single citizen (hence the term “Nanny State”). For example, in the wicked, decadent nations in which this holy scripture was composed, The Philippine Islands and The Southland (or “Australia”, as it is known in the Latin tongue), the DEMONIC governments try, and largely succeed, in controlling the rights of parents to properly raise, discipline and punish their children according to their own morals, compulsory vaccination of infants, enforcing feminist ideology, limiting legitimate powers an employer has over his servants, subsidizing animal agriculture, persecuting religious leaders (even to imprisonment and death, believe it or not. Personally, I have been jailed thrice for executing God’s perfect and pure will), and even trying to negatively influence what people eat and wear. Not that a government shouldn’t control what its citizens wear in public, but it should ensure that they are MODESTLY dressed, according to the guidelines outlined in Chapter 28, which is hardly the case in Australia, the Philippines, and similar nations. At least ninety-nine per cent of Filipinas, for instance, are transvestinal, despite Philippines pretending to be a religious nation. Cont...

[@JustaRandomGuy890]

Listening to this while working out💪💪💪 love prof Wolff

[@markpeters7466]

Thanks for another great Video on this subject.

[@cosmicmusicreynolds3266]

its time for action to show the world that the peacefu revolution can happen. Non co operation, rent strikes, no payment of bills everywhere

[@kevintewey1157]

Why not FORCE THEN? Lets stop being nice unless children more should suffer, die?

[@cosmicmusicreynolds3266]

@@kevintewey1157 it does nt work , watch the documentary on the French revolution

[@GhostOnTheHalfShell]

Slavery, feudalism and employer are all about the nature of oligarchy power and the ability of the few to become far better off on the efforts of the many and can do so with coercion. Slavery in the US went along with capitalism. Techno feudalism goes along with capitalism of today. The mirror image is “mob rule” or societal coercion. The eternal question is balancing out competing interests and also shaping the kinds of interests that motivate people in line with human character.

[@EuphoniaPooch]

We love to hear the Wolff respond!

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

Thank you once again Professor.

[@qqui3583]

A very good summary of our current world situation.

[@glm4054]

Merry Christmas Everybody❣️ And a New Year of Positive Change for the People ‼️‼️💚🌏🌠🌠🌠

[@AntonStampfl]

Richard you rock! What an inspiration! What a mind!

[@LUTH1978]

Thank you professor for what you shared as knowledge and information. Respect from Morocco.

[@samuelitohinson5679]

Hello Mr Wolff! I am so excited to see your content! I readily talk to people about this issue of income and wealth inequality that exist. Most call me a utopian commie or a socialist. I happily confirm the latter. However, I do meet a lot of opposition in financial theory from people who have drank the tea of disillusionment. Politically, I am seen a s an outcast and a "one-off" because I do not subscribe to the ideology of these mainstream politicians and their empty promise. I urge people to think, ask questions, and observe voting records. I also ask folks to look at their favorite political theater actors financial situations. How much "lobbying" money do they recieve, who it is from, & how many times did that "lobbying" money pay off to benefit the lobbyists interest. Most people seem to be happy to.just sit back, pick a side, red or blue in this case, & blame the opposing faction for all the problems. They don't think beyond listening to their favorite propagandists news source, CNN or FOX News for good examples, to lead them to a forgone conclusion of what to think and say. It is very sad. I first discovered D@W when I scrolled through youtube several years ago. I watched several of your lectures discussing capitalism, socialism, the origins of it, & so forth. I began reading suggested material and doing comutations on my own and crunched the numbers on my own. Anyone who wakes up should do this. It's not hard to figure out! You put it out there in a way that really makes sense. You have easily become one of my most influential public figures. I reside in the United States and am disabled. I am in the lower poverty income level and struggle everyday just to financially make ends meet. It is an enormous amount of stress and frustratingly difficult to find a symbol of hope in these days. I would happily support you on patreon or at D@W financially if I had the budget for it. I have learned so much from you and continue to do so. I hope that I can continue to learn from you in the future. Thank you for all you do Professor Wolff!

[@ReverendDr.Thomas]

🐟 22. ILLEGITIMATE GOVERNANCES: SOCIALISM (and its more extreme form, communism) is intrinsically evil, because it is based on the ideology of social and economic egalitarianism, which is both a theoretical and a practical impossibility. Equality exists solely in abstract concepts such as mathematics and arguably in the sub-atomic realm. Many proponents of socialism argue that it is purely an economic system and therefore independent of any particular form of governance. However, it is inconceivable that socialism/communism could be implemented on a nationwide scale without any form of government intervention. If a relatively small number of persons wish to unite in order to form a commune or worker-cooperative, that is their prerogative, but it could never work in a country with a large population, because there will always exist entrepreneurs desirous of engaging in wealth-building enterprises. Even a musician who composes a hit tune wants his song to succeed and earn him inordinate wealth. Socialism reduces individual citizens to utilities, who, in practice, are used to support the ruling elite, who are invariably despotic scoundrels, and very far from ideal leaders (i.e. compassionate and righteous monarchs). Those citizens who display talent in business or the arts are either oppressed, or their gifts are coercively utilized by the corrupt state. Despite purporting to be a fair and equitable system of wealth distribution, those in leadership positions seem to live a far more luxurious lifestyle than the mass of menial workers. Wealth is effectively stolen from the rich. Most destructively, virtuous and holy teachings (“dharma”, in Sanskrit) are repressed by the irreligious and ILLEGITIMATE “government”. The argument that some form of government WELFARE programme is essential to aid those who are unable to financially-support themselves for reasons beyond their control, is fallacious. A righteous ruler (i.e. a saintly monarch) will ensure the welfare of each and every citizen by encouraging private welfare. There is no need for a king to extort money from his subjects in order to feed and clothe the impoverished. Of course, in the highly-unlikely event that civilians are unwilling to help a person in dire straits, the king would step-in to assist that person, as one would expect from a patriarch (father of his people). The head of any nation ought to be the penultimate patriarch, not a selfish buffoon. DEMOCRACY is almost as evil, because, just as the rabble favoured the murderous Barabbas over the good King Jesus, the ignorant masses will overwhelmingly vote for the candidate which promises to fulfil their inane desires, rather than one which will enforce the law, and promote a wholesome and just society. Read Chapter 12 for the most authoritative and concise exegesis of law, morality, and ethics, currently available. Even in the miraculous scenario where the vast majority of the population are holy and righteous citizens, it is still immoral for them to vote for a seemingly-righteous leader. This is because that leader will not be, by definition, a king. As clearly and logically explicated in the previous chapter of this Holy Scripture, MONARCHY is the only lawful form of governance. If an elected ruler is truly righteous, he will not be able to condone the fact that the citizens are paying him to perform a job (which is a working-class role), and that an inordinate amount of time, money and resources are being wasted on political campaigning. Furthermore, an actual ruler does not wimpishly pander to voters - he takes power by (divinely-mandated) force, as one would expect from the penultimate alpha-male in society (the ultimate alpha-male being a priest). The thought of children voting for who will be their parents or teachers, would seem utterly RIDICULOUS to the average person, yet most believe that they are qualified to choose their own ruler - they are most assuredly not. Just as a typical child fails to understand that a piece of sweet, juicy, healthy, delicious fruit is more beneficial for them than a cone of pus-infested, fattening, diabetes-inducing ice-cream, so too can the uneducated proletariat not understand that they are unqualified to choose their own leader, even after it is logically explained to them (as it is in this chapter, as well as in the previous chapter). And by “uneducated”, it is simply meant that they are misguided in the realities of life and in righteous living (“dharma”, in Sanskrit), not in facts and figures or in technical training. Intelligence doesn't necessarily correlate to wisdom. No socialist or democratic government will educate its citizens sufficiently well that the citizens have the knowledge of how to usurp their rule. To put it frankly, democracy is rule by the “lowest common denominator”. It should be obvious that ANARCHY can never ever succeed, because even the smallest possible social unit (the nuclear family) requires a dominator. Any family will fall-apart without a strict male household head. In fact, without the husband/father, there is no family, by definition. The English noun “husband” comes from the Old Norse word “hûsbôndi”, meaning “master of the house”. The same paradigm applies to the extended family, which depends on a strong patriarchal figure (customarily, the eldest or most senior male). Likewise with clans, tribes, villages, towns, cities, and nations or countries. Unfortunately, there are many otherwise-intelligent persons who honestly believe that an ENTIRE country can smoothly run without a leader in place. Any sane person can easily understand that even a nuclear family is unable to function properly without a head of the house, what to speak of a populous nation. The reason for anarchists' distrust of any kind of government is due to the corrupt nature of democratic governments, and the adulteration of the monarchy in recent centuries. However, if anarchists were to understand that most all so-called “kings/queens” in recent centuries were not even close to being true monarchs, they may change their stance on that inane “system”. Most of the problems in human society are directly or indirectly attributable to this relatively modern phenomenon (non-monarchies), since it is the government’s role and sacred DUTY to enforce the law (see Chapter 12), and non-monarchical governments are themselves unlawful. One of the many sinister characteristics of democracy, socialism, and other evil forms of governance, is the desire for their so-called “leaders” to control, or at least influence, the private lives of every single citizen (hence the term “Nanny State”). For example, in the wicked, decadent nations in which this holy scripture was composed, The Philippine Islands and The Southland (or “Australia”, as it is known in the Latin tongue), the DEMONIC governments try, and largely succeed, in controlling the rights of parents to properly raise, discipline and punish their children according to their own morals, compulsory vaccination of infants, enforcing feminist ideology, limiting legitimate powers an employer has over his servants, subsidizing animal agriculture, persecuting religious leaders (even to imprisonment and death, believe it or not. Personally, I have been jailed thrice for executing God’s perfect and pure will), and even trying to negatively influence what people eat and wear. Not that a government shouldn’t control what its citizens wear in public, but it should ensure that they are MODESTLY dressed, according to the guidelines outlined in Chapter 28, which is hardly the case in Australia, the Philippines, and similar nations. At least ninety-nine per cent of Filipinas, for instance, are transvestinal, despite Philippines pretending to be a religious nation. Cont...

[@anhedonic-voting]

Thank you🌎✊️🌹🗽

[@danahegna4442]

""What is good?" you ask. To be brave is good. Let the little girls say: "To be good is what is pretty, and at the same time touching." They call you heartless: but your heart is true, and I love the bashfulness of your goodwill. You are ashamed of your flow, and others are ashamed of their ebb." - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) I'm gushing, again, but you da yoobermench!!! (I know you know what I mean.) Thank you for your work, Professor.

[@helengarrett6378]

Why regulate a system that will unregulate itself again? I want a cooperative, socialist, democracy instead.

[@kevchard5214]

I agree but lots of blood will flow to try this and probably not succeed. Capitalism has created families of gods that can not be destroyed.

[@5353Jumper]

Social cooperatives still need to be regulated by a democracy or they unregulated too and tend to fall back to something more similar to Capitalism. Particularly on a national scale. Socialism only functions in small communities or some individual small businesses, but falls apart at scale if not heavily regulated. The Democracy is the essential piece of no matter how you want to control economic production. Any system needs a genuinely representative government that does not cater to the oligopoly. Countries that have quality citizen representation also have growing citizen prosperity. Countries that have failed democracy, dictatorship or oligarchy have falling citizen prosperity. Countries that have quality representation for one type of citizen and not others, have some citizens in prosperity and some starving. The most critical piece for any nation is genuinely representative democracy. With that the citizens can mix and match between capitalist and socialist systems defending on the industry and specific need, does not need to be 100% one side or the other. Example things that are infrastructure and public safety are likely better more cooperative or socialist, industries that are innovative are likely better capitalist. As long as all of it is heavily regulated by a genuinely representative democracy. Get involved in politics before it is too late. Citizen apathy allows the oligopoly to lead without any effort or conflict.

[@helengarrett6378]

@@5353Jumper You and I agree about both democracy and regulation. We both agree about citizen responsibility and activism. Voting in more than a right, it is a responsibility. People will go to great lengths to vote if they think their vote matters and benefits them if their opinion succeeds. But a society that puts winning and competition above the survival of all its citizens is a failure from the get go. We did that in the United States when we put slaves and indentured servants is a position of second class citizenship or no citizenship at all as individuals. 3/5th of a human indeed! Besides, the basic structure of capitalism cannot help but divide people into the rich and poor. The best we can hope for in a capitalist system, even a regulated one, is that the poor won't end up in tents sifting garbage for a few coins and that the rich don't end up owning every damned thing of value and the means of producing it. Human lives have no meaning under such a system. Accumulation of wealth and power are everything in an unstable capitalist system. You can regulate it only so far before it collapses because of its speculative way of accumulating wealth but sharing little of it. When the system freezes or collapses it isn't the uber-rich who lose everything and haven't the resources to start over. In a society that values community, cooperation and where it's members have a tangible stake in the survival of all its citizens you necessarily have a smoothing out of disparities in material success and also in expression of power. Governments help organize and regulate worker owned enterprises and such enterprises naturally work democratically for the common good of their participants. The principles of democracy are best expressed if the basic assumption is that life and liberty and success of every person are values to support. But our capitalist society assumes that people are tools for the privileged to exploit. Leaders in a cooperative society do not absolutely stay in power for very long periods. Nobody can accumulate more than a given amount and nobody can suffer. There might be some stratification based on ability and social approval but never too much and always regulated. People work very hard for social approval. Good work and good deeds are rewarding enough if that accomplishment is acknowledged widely. That defines a cooperative society. We have come to worship the rich who most often succeed off the labor of others and from inherited position and wealth. Once the elite gathers a major share of resources, power, and wealth into their own hands they immediately, by hook or by crook, begin to protect their power and privilege. That's why democracy is so important. The rewards of a society must be distributed as broadly as possible and the opportunity to cooperate and reap the rewards of a society must be offered to everyone capable of participating. Those unable to participate fully are protected. That is a moral society and it is values that determines how it succeeds. Education in morality, values and cooperation are necessary. Humans need early training and repeated lessons in the rewards of cooperation which are social approval and participation. Call it propaganda, education, or brain washing but the whole society must support the concept that the survival of all its members is paramount and the failure of any is a failure of everyone.

[@helengarrett6378]

@@kevchard5214 I never support war, pain or aggression, but our society is rotten. It has to change. The very foundation of our society is rotten. We started out giving men ultimate power and approving indentured servitude and outright slavery. Consequently we have developed a male dominated and aggressive power hungry leadership and ethic. We have to start over with different assumptions about citizen participation, who benefits and what is acceptable. There is no way to repair a society that has an immoral concept at its heart. We tried under Roosevelt. The rich and the powerful pulled apart so much of the leveling mechanisms Roosevelt put in place because all power was concentrated in the hands of a privileged class. They automatically get the inherited wealth, status, education, power of an elite class and set about undoing any chance that there is social mobility and acceptance of anyone but their own privileged class. They consolidate their wealth and power until you see that they have now dumped even the concept of democracy and citizen voting to assure that everything and ever more wealth and power is in fewer and fewer hands. The original rotten root assumptions now yield bitter fruit!

[@5353Jumper]

@@helengarrett6378 all good points, but participative and genuine democracy must come first. We need citizen control over the government to make any positive change. I am getting frustrated with all the "capitalism sucks" ranting on social media, because absolutely nothing will change. All this messaging does is divide citizens so we do not unite against the common enemy of oligopoly. 300 million people could all type "capitalism sucks" and absolutely nothing will happen. Those people need to actually participate in our Democracy while it is still pretending to be a democracy, get corruption out of politics and run for office ourselves. Tell our representatives what we want so we can hold them accountable for not doing it and jail them for taking bribes. Systemic change first requires the right people in power. Everyone saying "Socialism is awesome" also does absolutely nothing. Sure maybe some small business somewhere has a bit of success as a social collective but at the scale of genuine national improvement it does f'all. The only way to move toward socialism is to get genuine representative democracy and THEN after that we decide together to move in that direction. If we want to start with more social support and infrastructure (what some people call Socialism just because it has the word social in its description) we still need citizen control over government. If we want to regulate the Capitalism, we still need citizen control over government. If we do suddenly somehow flip society over to socialism (impossible with just words on social media but let's pretend it happens somehow) but leaving the government system the way it is now with the same people in power, we would just end up with a socialism full of corruption and favoritism that still has an oligopoly of greedy people making most of the decisions while the rest of us fall into poverty. Before we make this move we need citizen control over government. So no matter what we want to do after, the first step is to gain genuine citizen representation in our Democracy. Millions of us picketing "Down with Capitalists, Socialism is awesome" will not achieve Democracy, or anything other than selling a bit of lumber and poster board which will make some Forrest industry oligarchs richer. Participate in our Democracy more than voting for the lesser evil candidate every 4 years. Tell your representatives specific changes you want, best to start with either regulating a specific capitalist or election/funding reform. Petition, write, phone, show up. Support any candidate who you think is actually representative of their constituents, no matter which party they are set with. Support them year round not just election day. If there are no good candidates then find some grass roots person to support or run for office yourself. Stop normalizing corruption in government. It is not normal that politicians work for personal gain, listen to corporate lobby over citizens, and collude to get what they want. It is called insider trading and bribery, means jail time. Politicians who do not represent their citizens interests should be on jail. Super-PAC donations are bribes, politicians influenced by them should be in jail. NW Europe is not prospering right now because they have socialist leanings, it is because their governments are more representative of the citizens which allows socialist leanings. The benevolent government comes first the rest falls into place after. If the US (and other nations) can actually regain citizen representation in government, we will have improvements in citizen prosperity, and maybe we can review economic systems. Once we have genuine citizen representation, the next issue is actually racism and bigotry. Representation actually means also representing the bigots who do not want equal opportunity for all. Which is another citizen divide created by the oligopoly to maintain control over the system. If we can heal bigotry, and gain citizen control over government the world will be golden.

[@spiritpeacefulrevolution3523]

We need to create a Peaceful Revolution to address what this report with Piketty. Another great report is the Global Wealth report from the Credit Suisse

[@kevintewey1157]

We are all responsible for each and every child that suffers or is killed because of wealth inequality and everyday we don't do anything about it those dead children are on our conscience ALL ON US

[@kevintewey1157]

How do we sleep? We are all CRUEL COWARDS

[@ramonching7772]

The inequality can easily be flattened when there is a massive devaluation. Stock market crash. Paper wealth that all of a sudden vaporizes.

[@helengarrett6378]

Oh terriffic! Let's hope everyone gets desperately poor and we have a massive depression. Isn't there a better way ? I think so.

[@michael511128]

Not really, there have a dozen crashes in the last century. The only one that made the rich a bit poorer was 1929 crash when it coincided with the spread of the Socialist movement initiated by the Communist International in USSR. US Socialist and unions gained power to fight the rich and won a bit more salaries and benefits. After that the rich learned, domestically crushed the socialists with the FBI and internationally the CIA contained them or bombed them. The rich made a lot of money in the 1997 Asian Economic Crises as well as 2008. They control the advisors, the treasury, the Fed, the judges, and the votes in the senate and congress. They print their own money to bail themselves out. They sold at the peak and buy back at the bottom. All they have to do is to print some more money and put it into the market again. This won't end until the RMB took over the dollar. We just need to be patient.

[@kevchard5214]

This would only slow their income but remember they have most of the wealth so they can ride it out but we can't. The only time trickle down economics works is in a depression and the people always loose more than the oligarchs.

[@ramonching7772]

@@michael511128 Agree. I missed the rich owning the money printing part.

[@dogh2o921]

Take 40% of the income from the top 10% and slide it to the bottom 50%. Part of the problem is solved except for transforming business from commercialism to community-driven using the cooperative, non-competitive economic model. That should do it and is technically very simple to do. Easy peasy.

[@miguelmansururpi671]

Thank you professor. Please when you have time talk to us about the contradicción between means and relations of production which today is relavant since vaccine companies are not allowing World to produce enough due to their ownership of patent rights.

[@realdanrusso]

good morning fam

[@Boxer4ever]

We just talking about it. People are aware. Why we can’t change this? Democracy should be possible to execute,

[@helengarrett6378]

I am going to cry!

[@kevchard5214]

Don't cry get mad.

[@jackflack9004]

Don't cry learn a new skill. Watch s KZbin video on how to program a computer. Don't just sit there.

[@helengarrett6378]

I might cry but I don't give up. I have spent 60 years or more actively working for a better way to live for everyone. My personal success or failure is everyone's success or failure as it is for everyone. I believe in a cooperative, democratic socialist society and I won't shut up!

[@jackflack9004]

@@helengarrett6378 Did someone tell you to "shut up!"

[@FredMertzification]

Hierarchical power will always result in those at the top eating their way up the food chain.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

Professor Wolff, can you please research & advocate for full intellectual property (IP) abolition? This is the most important activist aim for working class people! A just 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 & censorship. IP actually stifles innovation & creativity. IP also is the main component of cultural control, propaganda, and advertising. 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 ASAP: patents, copyright, trademarks & trade secrets

[@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.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

NOTICE: To the extent I have any copyright in the comments in this thread, I relinquish those rights to the public domain according to the CC0 license-Signed, /s/ PN. ->Before we abolish IP, everyone use the CC0 license for all types of works (including software) when you’re not in need of money or there if there are no buyers for your copyright-monopoly. Also, as the author you can always ask for donations with crowdfunding even if you no longer have the copyright-monopoly.

[@timmybear4449]

Would love to hear your opinion on Pelosi's family tree and how she is related to Gavin Newsom.

[@bloodybonescomic]

For years I was outraged by these statistics especially considering they occur by un natural means. I myself am poor, but I do own a house on 2 acres and on that land I have a very large very rich garden. Elsewhere I have fruit trees, grapes, strawberries, figs etc. My lifestyle is simple, uncomplicated and pleasurable. The richer you are, the greater an enemy you become. To the environment, to your fellow man and even to yourself.

[@marioRamirez-sv3hm]

I'm never heard or a poor person owning a 2 house and couple acres of land. When there's lots of people living under a bridge. Come on give me huge break. Go get a real day time job.

[@dogh2o921]

This inequality is the primary reason why having a marriage or relationship, let alone a family is a total time waster and a formula for disaster as we see. Horrible!!!!

[@jeremyrangel8138]

LOL, so rich people are to blame for your wife banging her personal trainer, now? Damn. is there anything inequality can't do?

[@dogh2o921]

@@jeremyrangel8138 Rich people are rich through "competition". The major artifacts of a competitive system are vanity, secrecy, coercion, corruption, anxiety, despair and chance. Plug it in however you like and you will know that the cascade of events follows true along these lines. There is no such thing as honesty in a competitive system for that would expose your "competitive advantage" and without honesty democracy falls apart. Lastly, competitive systems are predicated on winning and losing which are not results of logical discussion which means winners are not produced by voting or deciding anything. Competing is gaming and economically speaking this is a 100% fail scenario for 90% of the people. This then leads to emotional dysfunction and compensating with prostitution and drug abuse. If you are not following this logic, you may want to refer to untold stacks of empirical evidence showing that competitive economics is FUBAR. In fact, it's by now a forgone conclusion that humans may likely compete themselves into oblivion.

[@jeremyrangel8138]

@@dogh2o921 Ummmm no. Nowhere inherent in competition is "vanity, coercion, etc," don't be stupid. Competition in marketplaces is simply a matter of who can deliver value under the most favorable terms to its customers. It's probably true that YOU can't prosper under this system, but that's because of your own shortcomings; it's not "the system's fault." My family and friends are faring quite well. If we agreed that there was something wrong with this "system," which we don't, do you have any solutions that don't involve the government just taking things from people by force?

[@dogh2o921]

@@jeremyrangel8138 Show me one competition that doesn't have VSCCADC? You must understand that when you yourself are engaged in a lively competition that at all times the premise is to win and that means you will keep certain things secret in order to win. You will never escape it. It's built into the ethos of the game. The coach hides his mouth when he calls out to the QB. Never let your opponent know your plays. But if the opponent knew your plays, that would be "cheating" and this cheating is why the coach hides his mouth. Cheating is a feature or artifact of engaging in a competition. It's built into the ethos of the game and is encouraged especially when money (life or death) is concerned. If it was just a game, reward would be enjoyment and have no connection to economic reward. When gaming has no "economic" reward, the hiding of the mouth is no longer a "thing". In normal gaming, people will not cheat because the game ultimately is pointless and have a "choice" to participate or not. People have a choice (freedom). But in competitive economics, this form of gaming requires mandatory participation (tyranny). Why is this? You are heading down a slippery slope here. Self-determination through the cooperative "ethos" using OPEN KNOWLEDGE AND DEMOCRACY is the solution - not self-determination through the competitive ethos. It's a tradeoff that pays dividends. LOL. I haven't even touched the other artifacts - just secrecy and implications of corruption, coercion, anxiety, despair, vanity and of course chance. Hey, how about the hail marry pass bro? LOL

[@jeremyrangel8138]

@@dogh2o921 Why do you assume there's secrecy involved? I own several restaurants/coffee shops. Nothing about my businesses is secret, from the pricing, to the ingredients in the food. There are businesses that have trade secrets, sure, but so what? A business keeping a "secret" doesn't infringe on anybody else. What's your brilliant alternative to "competitive economics?" You're either going to have to get people to voluntarily agree to put others interests ahead of their own (good luck with that), or the government is going to have to use force to allocate resources (history doesn't judge such systems very well). Either way, competition is merely the product of the fact that people are selfish (yes, even you), and put their wants and needs ahead of others. If that competition is voluntary, then there's nothing wrong with it. If you don't fare well in this system, it's an indication that you aren't producing very much of value, not an indication that the system is flawed.

[@PaulHenry137]

Public opinion has become a commodity. We inhabit a virtual Skinner box.

[@chuckleaf8027]

I'm hungry now!!!

[@glm4054]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@zmalim1]

The poorest 50% do the work that the richest 10% get rich on. That is exploitation, the root cause of inequality. That is the problem with the capitalist system, and that is what would be remedied by workplace democracy. The concept of exploitation is not part of the vocabulary of Picketty and the other authors of the report. Inequality is measured, its consequences are described, and even remedies are suggested, but beyond saying that the problem is the system and the solution is a democratic workplace, we need to nail down what is at the root of it.

[@phyllisbooth3395]

Thank you Richard Wolff. We have sociopathic billionaires too are the problem. They choose to exploit.

[@TheMDM1956]

The problem is not necessarily the capitalist system, in my personal view, but the deterioration of morality in society and, with it, the increase in corruption. The world has lost its moral compass, so anything goes, and the vulnerable suffers when this happens.

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

Capitalism incentivizes greed and corruption and incentivizes a lack of morality. The root of the problem is the Capitalist system.

[@spanky7277]

didn't our factories sell out our own country after all they Have the first dibs on products Bought from China . So instead of paying Americans Fair wages they went to China to buy products to sell . , No healthcare , no Social Security , No Medicare and no Compensation if the workers get hurt . So who screwed who ? Remember the success of a business comes from his workers . Even in America Jobs are outsources , But we never accuse workers of taking Jobs from Americans . Or do we , Ask the people from Detroit where their jobs went . North Carolina , South Carolina ? . Removing Jobs from a very well distribution of workers White Black Hispanic Chinese Latino . Italian . called a Union .

[@RKZX2]

i fear this will only get worse. the people have the numbers, but not the power. there are only 2 ways out of this one is very bleak & the other is even worse. the first would have be a revolution on a global scale. the military would have to be involved & be on the side of the people. possibly negotiations may work, but not likely. the other is an E.L.E. (extinction level event) with humanity wiped out & only the animals remain. i really don't have much optimism moving into 2022.

[@lepidoptera9337]

You are the life of the party, Bob. :-)

[@premnas651]

Throughout all of human history, and across every civilization, irrespective of government, and indifferent to beliefs- is this where we end up. Enormous wealth hoarded by a small fraction of people, ultimately culminating in class divide, followed by struggle, revolt, revolution, or war, and interspersed with atrocities. It's what people do, in spite of having the ability to conceptualize, but never to agree, on Utopia. While I dislike capitalism, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's the worst thing we've come up with... But I would like to see better guardrails in place to keep capitalism's greed in check, rather than enabling it.

[@lot110]

Does your scenario count the thousand of years collective survival of our species! It would seem hierarchy systems are the problem.

[@JoseJimenez-gv6cv]

we are splitetd in 2 categories savers and debtors savers create services and products and debtors end broke

[@craigtoth]

Thank you so much for sharing things with the goal of promoting human flourishing.

[@Qmpz85]

According to my in depth analysis of "Das Capital", Marx was a closeted homosexual and Engels was sharing the closet with him.

[@godonlyknows13]

*Unpopular opinion* (maybe less so in this comments section lol): Money serves a social function. It should be considered to be owned by the society, held in trust by the individual.

[@lot110]

Or just simply not exist

[@godonlyknows13]

@@lot110 I'm open to this concept... But what would a society without money (without any currency, I assume) look like?

[@jackdeniston59]

Unequal, but wealthier than ever, ever before in history. Globally, extreme poverty has rapidly declined. New poverty estimates by the World Bank suggest that the number of extremely poor people - those who live on $1.90 a day or less - has fallen from 1.9 billion in 1990 to about 736 million in 2015. More people, less poverty. Free markets did this.

[@lot110]

What bull

[@wapple4240]

1.90 is too low for world poverty. If you correctly adjust it, and include inflation, then poverty is increasing.

[@JoseJimenez-gv6cv]

If you find the way fabricate more than 1,000 cars a day you deserve to be rich or super rich

[@garyhamlin3299]

should we tell him that worker owned businesses are already allowed in capitalism?

[@jeremyrangel8138]

There's no point. If he didn't figure it out in the first 70 years of his life, he's not going to in the remaining 10. What Richard Wolff REALLY wants, which he's too cowardly to admit, is for the government to force people into worker co-ops. It's simply not enough for Mr. Wolff for worker co-ops to be something that people can opt into, voluntarily. Since more rational approaches to business will dominate the marketplace if people are free to do as they choose, the only way for worker co-ops to proliferate is for the government to force people into those arrangements. This would require taking entire businesses and giving them over to the workers. That would be grotesque, but Mr. Wolff would be, undoubtedly, fine with it.

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

He already knows that.

[@bartkaplan2691]

The hypnotic trance in which slaves go through life is masterful. Propaganda maintains the trance of religion like the religion of work producing prosperity.

[@michaelhiggins2562]

So, according to Wolff, in a group of 1,000 people whatever difference in capabilities that exist should be driven by the govenment to "equlity." Sounds like Wolff doesn't understand why a hard working "engineer" makes more money than someone working at Pizza Hut. According to him the numbers are stunding! And, we should take steps to ensure equity between these people to ensure like income and wealth? Really?

[@lot110]

Can you eat an engineer? Meritocracy is a joke! Why evaluate people on their worth to a capitalist system. The engineer could make nuclear bombs and the pizza hut worker could became a world class pizza chef. Which one has more value now? GROW UP!

[@michaelhiggins2562]

@@lot110 Meruticracy is a joke? Pizza chef? Eat an engineer? Who needs to grow up? Communism has only killed 100,000,000 people. Pizza Hut workers unite!

[@spanky7277]

Inequality causes Only for The top an economy . If Money flows Only to the top who has the most of the Money ? so who is Screwing with our economy , Write after the start of a epidemic , the corporations decide to raise prices after a bailout From Trump , Mnuchin Passed out money like Candy . with no restrictions or regulations and No penalties, even when they pay no taxes . The way they thank you is by creating Inflation and make you pay High prices . Goods that at a low cost is Being sold from china at 1000 % . It's called commodities . In other words when a pair of sneakers comes off a ship the cost of the Sneakers is $ 2.50 , Nike , sketchers . Commercialize the products for 2 million dollars in commercials . and the middle man sells them at $130. 00 . so i hope you get the idea and the message . The idea of selling products from China was to make it affordable to buy the goods . But once any American Company and middle man get's a hold of it It more than triples In price . I'm not playing the trump BS game because its his fault . Trump was making you think It's Chinas fault . But one thing we can learn that China's profits are over whelming Because of the mass production and Volume they can sell the products .

[@treefrog3349]

After giving it much thought over the last couple of decades I can only come to one conclusion : we are experiencing the early stages of a "winnowing". I don't mean to suggest a conscious cabal of unscrupulous, and intentional miscreants (even though there are plenty of those hiding in the bushes) but rather an unspoken acknowledgement that, as a species at the top of the food chain, we have taken things too far. The Earth is over-populated by many BILLIONS. Our husbandry of the natural World has been atrocious and rapacious and the Earth is starting to huff and puff under the sheer overload of humanity. Those relatively few around the planet who have most of the wealth, and power are starting to "circle the wagons" either consciously or unconsciously. I believe that the momentum ( momentum = mass x velocity) of this point in time is too great to overcome by well-meaning people like Prof. Wolff. We all can acknowledge that next year's World Inequality Report will be progressively worse : 7.8 BILLION humans (Mass) x RAPID accumulation of wealth by the moneyed few (Velocity) = a huge downhill momentum for the Human Species, a winnowing. From a Cosmic perspective I cannot help but wonder if that might not be a good and just thing. Over the relatively brief span of his presence on the 4.5 BILLION-year-old Earth, homo sapiens have behaved like a pernicious invasive species. In the grand scheme of things wouldn't the Earth be much better off without us? Honestly. Ask yourself that question.

[@ramonching7772]

Inequality is not caused by over population. Inequality is a human construct. Inequality is caused by those who don't want to share. A lot of humans means a lot of things can be done, quickly, like what China is doing. A lot of humans means deserts can be turned green. With good leadership.

[@kevchard5214]

I have asked this question for years and always answer yes.

[@kevchard5214]

@@ramonching7772 In reality you are wrong. Everything on this planet is limited and can only sustain so much. Sharing does not fix the problem all it does is make everyone starve. Your example of china is not correct. China had a limit on their population (2 children per family) for years because they realized the limits of their country. Chinas financial growth is very impressive but it is because of the greed of capitalist from other countries as well as the extreme destruction they are causing to their country and the planet. By denying the impact of over population you only increase the problem.

[@timbrady9539]

Nailed it. Great response. Forward thinking. Sophisticated.

[@lot110]

@@kevchard5214 You wrong not them. The cycles of earth can go until the sun burns out that's another 5 billion years. It called a cycle for a reason. However, we can't go on with global corporate consumer capitalism as our main economic system! RBE NOW

[@kaustavkashyap7722]

But your theory remains silent about the distribution. Communist class process, the way you and Resnick defined, depends on the sole criteria of performance and appropriation of surplus labour getting done by the same group of people. I understand when labourers will appropriate their surplus and will distribute it by themselves the scenario will be different. But it might not in this contradictory and contingent world. As you said in "Class Theory and History" book that means of production can be held under private ownership even in a society dominated by communist class process. They can earn gigantic rent, and many other possibilities you have mentioned there. So inequality might be maintained under Communism. So from within your framework how to address the issue of inequality which pertains to the distributional sphere????

[@michaelhiggins2562]

So the people in Bangladish are having a hard time of it. What am I suspose to do? And, no Professor Wolff, your analysis do not strick me as being worth while.

[@sergiocastaneda6]

The majority of people love capitalist system but hate their position on it. Many people want to live on others expenses. is it right bureaucrats?

[@lot110]

WTF

[@lepidoptera9337]

You are living on someone's expense when you are employed somewhere. That was never any different.

[@skapunkoialternativeliving6522]

I don't feel sorry for employees because if you have something to sell you have your own business like I do.. in fact that's the way to go have your own business this way you live life on your terms and not on other people's terms when you work for someone else..

[@advandepol7537]

There will be exceptions, but it leads to unfair competition and a cold society.

[@skapunkoialternativeliving6522]

@@advandepol7537 that's 22 in a funny way you kind of right actually as well but this is why I work for myself and not work for other people cuz I still work for other people as well years ago I stopped doing that for that reason.. and this ensures that I live life on my terms and not annoy employers terms.. which most people have to do unfortunately thank God I'm not one of them..

[@advandepol7537]

@@skapunkoialternativeliving6522 Not everyone is suited for a democratic workplace. Richard Wolff will not deny that.

[@kevchard5214]

So you are part of the problem Richard always speaks of. Everything you mentioned is a lie you don't live your life the way you want it is still dictated by others in your field wether you want to believe it or not.

[@skapunkoialternativeliving6522]

@@kevchard5214 I disagree my friend because I leave alternatively I live small I don't own a house I'm by the pixel and I'm a minimalist and I leave very small I don't pay much bills I am debt-free so I'm very very free that's by myself I dictate How I Live no one else does my friend you always make choices the choice is yours how you want to live which is why some people get rich some people stay poor

[@darthjarjarbinkstherealsit6832]

Star wars fact. Yoda died on Dagobah.

[@user-wl2xl5hm7k]

Hey Jar Jar

[@darthjarjarbinkstherealsit6832]

@@user-wl2xl5hm7k Hey P N

[@p8entlyobvious383]

Business must be regulated again like In ww2 . Capitalism provides incentive . Unregulated Capatalism is in my opinion the cause of inequality

[@ExpatZ266]

And the wealthy in the US taxed like they were in 1951.

[@veritas4104]

Capitalism does not exist without inequality. Capitalism provides the wrong type of incentives, that's why most of the people in power are corrupt and have predatorial tendencies.

[@p8entlyobvious383]

@@veritas4104 yeah Because what was criminal yesterday is now legal. . No regulations .in my opinion Roosevelt is the closest we will ever get to true socialism . There will always be predators. That's why there has to be laws

[@veritas4104]

@@p8entlyobvious383 Roosevelt did some good but in the end he was just protecting the bourgeoise from the pitchforks.

[@p8entlyobvious383]

@@veritas4104 are you a communist? Remember, it wasnt STLALINS POLICIES

[@davidmeridian1288]

Misleading propaganda. The problem isn't inequality, but poverty. Poverty is much *worse* in socialist or socialist-lite countries (NKorea & Venezuela, respectively), than in market-capitalist systems (US, Switzerland, Luxembourg, etc).

[@jackflack9004]

@Lumi-Eivor Blaidd if you think it's BS then make an argument. Provide a like to some data. Show how Venezuela is doing better than USA. Show how North Korea is well feed and free. Here is my argument, if people risk their lives to leave a country then it's a bad place. Also these places always socialist/communist.

[@chuckleaf8027]

@@jackflack9004 World migration goes one way, towards freer, western countries, who have capitalism.

[@davidmeridian1288]

@Charles Brainard Socialism = where the People [in practice: central government] own & control the means of production [economy].

[@davidmeridian1288]

@Charles Brainard I agree.

[@chuckleaf8027]

Dr Pavlov........ sorry,... Dr Wolff will give you a scooby snack, each time he rings the bell, or says "capitalism".

[@ExpatZ266]

Thank you for the propagandised view point. You must be an oligarch, because if you aren't you are incredibly ignorant and naive.

[@chuckleaf8027]

@@ExpatZ266 Capitalism... YUCK!!!!! ( Can I get my reward now??? )

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

@@chuckleaf8027 I cringed at your comment so yeah you got your reward. It must be very satisfying for you.

[@chuckleaf8027]

@@dinnerwithfranklin2451 Well, Wolff's shtick is light on detail, and heavy on repetition. His answer to every disparity is simply 'capitalism" or "employers are greedy"..... as facile as one could get.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

@@chuckleaf8027 If Capitalism is the source of many societal problems today then referring to that is appropriate. To say that something else should be blamed is to know what the disease is but insist that there is some other cause that needs to be addressed.. If that is too difficult to understand maybe try where else. There is no shortage of youtubers who have diagnoses that may be more to your taste.

[@Guitarpima]

For a professor of economics, it is amazing you do not understand what capital is. It is hard to listen to you because of that. Yes, you understand economics very well and I have learned a lot from you. Sadly, you still do not understand what capitalism is. The former Greek finance minister is correct, we live in feudalism.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

Varoufakis does not say we live in a feudalist society. He says we are moving toward a techno-feudalist one. I don't believe he has ever said our current system is anything but Capitalist.

[@Guitarpima]

He is figuring it out. But yes, you are correct. The irony, Richard Wolff agrees with me. There was a video of Richard Wolff and the former Greek finance minister having a debate. Richard Wolff disagreed with his viewpoint on techno feudalism by describing feudalism. It was humorous.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

Again, Varoufakis says we currently live in a Capitalist society not a feudal one. As for the difference between feudalism and technofeudalism will new but the technology part isn't what is important. It is the feudalism that is. Like when slavery became "wage slavery" (a coin termed by the people who lived at the time) it was not the wage that was important it was the society that was a continuation of slavery. Finally, what is the definition of Capitalism? The one Professor Wolff isn't smart enough to understand.

[@Guitarpima]

Again, he says we live in “techno feudalism“. He still does not understand either. He is figuring it out.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

@@Guitarpima I need to see that interview. The last I saw of Varoufakis talking about technofeudalism he was describing the all encompassing environment that Meta is meant to be. And once in that environment you are in a technofeudal environment. Which means that you are not in that environment until you enter Meta.

[@jeremyrangel8138]

Mr. Wolff believes so strongly in worker co-ops that he has started several flourishing businesses that function under this model. Oh wait..... No.... He actually hasn't done that... He hasn't actually brought ANYTHING to market before. Who would have guessed?

[@itcouldbelupus2842]

Why would he start a business? Do you know other economists who start businesses?

[@chuckleaf8027]

Is the Federal Reserve a feature of capitalism? No, it's a feature of government, and the trillions in fiat money they've pumped into the stock market is the reason for the wealth inequality.

[@chuckleaf8027]

@Charles Brainard So, you seem to be saying maybe that I've got the cart in front of the horse, so to speak. I agree that big money controls government, of course, but it's my belief that the prime suspect with the big wealth inequality is the Fed. Change that, or eliminate it, and you get them off one of the big levers of power, ie monetary policy. I don;t mind if you call them capitalists..it's what they are, but more specifically they are crony capitalists... or corporatists, since incorporation is also a creation of government. (and the Fed being created by government charter, as in not emerging from the free-market spontaneously. ) Here's a question. Workers unions, public and private, lavish millions on democrat politicians; so does that mean they're capitalists too?

[@chuckleaf8027]

@Charles Brainard Nice take there. The dilemma is a pesky pickle, for sure. I certainly don't have the answer, but I think getting rid of the Fed would be a good start. That's just a glaring monster for me, the epitome of corruption, all dressed up in mushy platitudes like "attaining full employment", or serious bullshit like "price stabilization" and keeping "inflation in check". Here we have the money supply being inflated 40 percent in 20 months, and Wolff says inflation is just due to greedy employers? What a crock, when the real wealth disparity is asset valuations, where Musk is now worth 300 billion. Is he really selling that many cars, or is it just all the fricken funny money the banksters are pumping into the market?

[@lepidoptera9337]

He is not very good as a salesmen. :-)

[@TheLaxfizzle]

inequality in the world is due to vaccine mandates, you taught me that.

[@chuckleaf8027]

He could go on, but he doesn't have to? The top ten percent own...blah blah blah.. HOW are they doing it? Capitalism? What's the mechanism? How is Musk's wealth now almost 200 billion? Capitalism? Thanks for the in depth analysis, Dr Wolff.

[@jaym10918]

Dude, this is a 12 minute video. It takes a good hour to just explain the basics of the labor theory of value. If you really want to learn about it, I suggest reading Marx's work Capital, or tune into David Harvey's podcast, where you can get a full in-depth analysis.

[@chuckleaf8027]

@@jaym10918 I suggest watching Murray Rothbard's "The Founding of the Federal reserve".

[@Ddkrew1]

You do not distinguish free market capitalism from authoritarian capitalism

[@ExpatZ266]

What's to distinguish, it is capitlaism and the outcomes are exactly the same. That you appear to be avocating for laissez-faire capitlaism shows even more ignorance and ideological blindnes on your part, your chosen form of capitalism means the capitalists are free to be even worse than they are now.

[@Ddkrew1]

@@ExpatZ266 ignorance is playing into the subjective authoritarian capitalism narrative which thwarts creativity and objectivity.

[@jaym10918]

@@Ddkrew1 - ANY form of capitalism is antithetical to creativity.

[@clarestucki5151]

Not true that employees can never become employers. BIG LIE! And Wolff is too ignorant to realize that 'income inequality' is simply the reflection of 'productivity inequality'. The people who contribute much to the material welfare of society have much income, and the people who contribute very little or nothing to the material welfare of society, have very little or no income. How could it be otherwise? But whether you're smart enough to grasp those simple truths or not, be SURE you contribute to Wolff's material welfare, right?

[@tradeprosper5002]

Watch a few episodes of "Undercover Boss". Half the time the CEO can't do what their frontline workers do. How do you explain upper management now makes hundreds of times their employees pay when only a few decades ago it was tens of times? Do you really think they are that much better than 50 years ago?

[@garrethoien6666]

Is he really saying that capitalism is best described as a small group of people make all of the decisions (employer) and the rest get told what to do. ( employees) what a lie. Cause the system by which each individual is able to make their own choices. Also this clown talks percentages..how much do you need to earn each year to be in the top 10%? My guess this dork is in the 10%, and is free to give his wealth away as a example for us to show how much he believes in what he says.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

How do you define capitalism? I mean how do you distinguish it from other systems.