Economic Update: Facing The Human Rights Crisis
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- Опубліковано 17 гру 2023
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[EU S13 E46] Facing The Human Rights Crisis
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This week's episode of Economic Update features updates on an analysis of Philadelphia, PA's extreme income inequality, the number of workers on striker per year since 2017 in the U.S., the UAW organizing a strike at the VW plant in Tennessee plus other UAW unionization drives and the 400k public employees on strike in Quebec that are heading towards a general strike. In the second half of, Prof. Wolff interviews Rob Robinson, formerly homeless advocate/fighter for homeless housing rights, housing, official of Human Rights Network and Chairman of The Left Forum.
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There are no human rights in the U S, we have civil rights.
Example, human rights would be having the right to abundant and clean food, having the right to medical care, a right to have shelter/housing, and having the right to make a living.
Civil rights is legislation that protects you from discrimination, having the right to vote, etc and that's the difference.
Indeed. A classic Tomas Hobbes security guard kind of right.
A very importasnt distinction and another reason the Constitution of the US must be re-written.
We can learn much from the Global South which is truly the future of the world if there is one.
@@user-mu4cz6hc8s I am afraid the system in the U S is broken beyond the point of repair. The Constitution cannot be changed very easily.
It was designed to be the way it is. People who run for office need a lot of $$$$$, and they need people to fund their campaigns. The people who fund political campaigns are the people who get what they want, and the voters just get a few choices from other candidates that do the same thing.
As a result, the voters always get shafted, and they wonder why those politicians never keep their promises once they get elected to office.
@@Ace1000ks19751982 who needs politics?
Good post but I'm not even convinced we even care about civil rights; we're far more concerned with individual rights. Individual liberties, individual freedom, individual this, individual that. We're a Me country. To hell with having a functioning society, the public good, public safety, public health.
America is currently plagued by the hydra-headed evil duo of inflation and recession. The worst part about this recession is that consumers are racking up credit card debt. In April alone, credit card debt went up 20% while rates have doubled in a year. Inflation is so high that consumers are literally taking debt for basic life necessities. Collapse has indeed begun..
Every day we have a new problem. It's the new normal. At first we thought it was a crisis, now we know it's a new normal and we have to adapt. this year will be a year of severe economic pain all over the nation.. what steps can we take to generate more income during quantitative adjustment?I can't afford my hard-earned 180k savings to turn to dust
Since the outbreak of 2020, which had a significant impact on the market, I've been running all of my investment decisions through an investment coach because their entire philosophy is centered around using a high-profit oriented blueprint while simultaneously going long and short, as well as reducing risk exposure as a hedge against inevitable downtrends. Underperforming is almost impossible when combined with their access to strange data and analysis.
@@mikegarvey17Mind if I ask you to recommend this particular coach you using their service?
*Camille Alicia Garcia* maintains an online presence. Just make a simple search for her name online.
She appears to be well-educated and well-read. I ran a Google search on her name and came across her website; thank you for sharing...
I'm a major fan of music. As I have begun paying more attention to the lyrics of most modern "feel good" music I noticed common themes. Not needing money, toxic optimism, and not hating on those who have money. I've been so bombarded with adverts for stuff I shouldn't and couldn't buy that it makes me want to hurl. All TV programming that revolves around "reality" show extreme affluence most can't achieve. I don't want all that crap but I would not reproach people for being envious when this is what we are convinced we should be striving for.
There is a gene therapy cure for a type of leukemia. It cost $15000 during the experimental and most expensive phase of development. The Medical Industry charges $150000 for the same treatment, and defends charging that much by referring to "value". As in how much do you "value" your child's life..
All that you are missing are those "pesky" details...
This does not mean that you are wrong or incorrect...
It just means that you have failed to provide sufficient information to make
a convincing argument.
If you can't be bothered your comment serves no useful purpose.
Generational wealth, as I see it is the one thing that helped working class families rise up slowly to improve their standard of living, over time. With the inability to save, in large part due to wages remaining flat since the 1970s (when adjusted for cost of living) the loss of potential generational wealth passed on from parents to children has resulted in a spiraling downward of quality of life for many more working people. It is a disgrace what has and is happening.
Thank FDR.
@@jgalt308thank FDR for what? That comment didn't convey a complete thought.
@@trevaenglish1542 So, you are unfamiliar with what FDR did and why you
are here as a result?
@@jgalt308 I'm unfamiliar with what you were trying to say. Please elaborate on what I'm to thank FDR for in your opinion. We mustn't assume that others are going to understand what is meant by vague and incomplete sentences. I'm genuinely curious here, not trying to give you a hard time. There are many and varied viewpoints of historical events and the comment above didn't make clear what yours is.
@@trevaenglish1542 So, just curious in the same way you are claiming to be curious,
you have "no idea" about anything FDR did...which would suggest that you
are totally ignorant of the history involved, including the "education" of it,
provided by Wolff??????
Nothing about the following is opinion...
FDR gave you "fiat" money...and its continued loss of purchasing power through inflation currently running 5000%
in lawful money or 4800% in terms of the increase in the official price of lawful money.
FDR gave you the minimum wage and unemployment compensation.
FDR gave you 'social security". ( a tax on wages and an excise tax on employers )
FDR gave you "union monopolies" with the NLRB.
FDR gave you the temporary victory tax ( on wages ) which became
a permanent tax on wages as income.
FDR gave you an ever-expanding federal bureaucracy and an unconstitutional criminal government.
over which you no longer have any control and under which you no longer have
any rights, although no one knows how this happened and what was done to
make it possible.
Thank you Rob Robinson for all you do, we all have to start fighting for our human & civil rights. We must demand for these rights & we have to change the outdated constitution.
Great commentary
Thank you both
Let’s keep these dialogues going!
Peace on this Earth and Beyond
"And beyond" is an important mindset to foster. It helps us imagine beyond our historical failures, and encourages new thinking that doesn't seek old solutions to the same problems.
Yes let’s keep these conversations going, but not only that, let’s turn it into cooperative and collaborative community action, like the One Small Town Contributionism initiative is going all over the world, including towns in the USA!
Prof Wolfs question at 27:13 "what is the relation between human rights on the one hand and war?", takes me to a statement by Yanis Varoufakis from an interview about one of his books where he basically said all war is essentially class war and driven by a profit motive.
Very interesting and informative, especially on the Human Rights interview with Mr. Robinson. I would love to hear more on Human rights and war.
Actually, according to Wolff's numbers, income inequality decreased in Philly.
Also, human rights are delusional and unions simply raised the costs that those
who are not "unionized"...and most unions are "public sector" which produce NOTHING!!!!
One also has to be aware of so-called "private sector unions"...as those connected to
government...i.e. defense contractors and others are not really private sector unions.
So in what sense in any of the nonsense here "informative"?
go listen to thomas sowell
Thank you both!!!
for what????
Today free market trade economy has lead to unscientific industrialisation and unscientific urbanization, degradation of health and educational system which has lead to humanitarian crisis today.
Nice.
Jim Bishop used the term rat race in his book The Golden Ham: A Candid Biography of Jackie Gleason. The term occurs in a letter Jackie Gleason wrote to his wife in which he says: "Television is a rat race, and remember this, even if you win you are still a rat."
the last litigator with courage was RALPH NADER
Maybe I'm imagining things, but it felt like Dr. Wolff might have been struggling to get through certain parts of this episode. Hope he is safe, healthy and well!
We, in America, are losing some of our great thinkers and very few people are stepping up to the plate for there are few people.
Reaganomics meant the lack of civic classes in schools and the complete ruination of public education which was not the greatest to begin with.
Soon, Chomsky will go, richard as well, Mikchael Hudson is 84 and David Harvey, in his 90's.
Gerald Horne does not look well and he is so brilliant he is not allowed on TV, like Chomsky.
The hollowing out of America meant the hollowing out of the American mind and this was replaced with a ghost town and whiskey bottle houses, a virutal carny.
Nihilism is all the rage with few people believing in really anything other than themselves if they know who they are.
This is sadly, what Richard's wife Harriet speaks of often: the break down of the human psyche in favor of menticide.
Alienation is not a concept it is a reality.
And for the baby boomers, or many of them, the Golden Years will be bailing out the boat their fathers, if they had them, bought to retire from their union jobs.
With 31 trillion in debt, 21 trillion in income, US bonds sitting on the table with fewer and fewer takers, no, this will not end well.
We are running into a time problem.
History is either too fast or too slow.
Dr bullshit cant think up enough communist dogshit fast enough.
Been listening to EU for a few years now, and Rob Robinson has always been a must-listen, even back during the days of EU's original bumper music, John Lee Hooker's "Chill Out". Still is. Love having him on.
Thanks Doc!!
I'm a far Lefty but I have come around to appreciating the importance of the 2nd amendment.
Which do you want more?
To maintain your 2nd amendment rights, or to have your far left policies imposed?
@@CesarGarcia-og8rz I don't see them as mutually exclusive.
I interpret the 2nd amendment differently from its original intent:
I can't use a gun to prevent the government from infringing on my rights. Hell, I can't even vote my way out of that if I'm keeping it honest, but people can protect themselves and their loved ones from unhinged people with lots of fire power.
Right wing argument incoming: Laws only take guns from law abiding people.
And I don't personally carry, but I will no longer support laws that take guns from people who want to protect themselves.
It's unconstitutional.
now come around to listening to Thomas Sowell
Thank you
Thanks for having Rob Robinson on.
In the context of the trolley problem, a utilitarian approach would suggest that the morally right thing to do is to divert the trolley onto the track where it would cause the least amount of harm or loss of life. This decision is based on the principle of maximizing overall well-being and minimizing suffering.
Thank you for reporting labor news that is not easy to find.
Thank you for this informatiom ...
Make my day. Its Prof Woolf again. I thought he was Off for a little break over the Season.
Thanks
great convo! 2A is important because of reality but otherwise agreeable!
Good work!
You are funny!!!!
No advanced economy has ever achieved low poverty rates without high levels of government social spending.
That hasn't worked either.
Universal basic income should be a human right too.
No
I agree but without price controls it would be little more than a transfer of tax dollars to corporations. Many many years ago minimum wage went up about $50 a month. My rent coincidentally rose by that amount. I saw none of it.
Income is something you earn. It is not something you have a right to.
UBI alone won't stop the autocratic mob-rule of the wealthy right-wing minority. Add price-controls and a maximum-wage and you might be on to something. Add capital-gains taxes, corporate-profits taxes, wealth & inheritance taxes on top of that, and you might have a chance to stop the US from going the way of the right-wing Roman Empire, the right-wing Confederacy, and right-wing Nazi Germany.
Great opening commentary and Conversation . I met great Brother Rob at the Left Forum NYC . Great see he’s still putting in great work. Yes, Human Rights must be defined in the constitution
Also . There is no US right to education and that must become a right to build a more egalitarian society
We the people pay the taxes for the early research of all drugs via NiH grants, Universities subsidies, HCP’s student grants and loans, yet we can’t get the benefits of those tax via universal healthcare
So the government is the problem...
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
You were warned!!!!!
Richard is the best memester
You know, what gets me about the class struggle, most social struggle is that we have one position - don't be a smuck.
The capitalists and elites say - well. How about I'm a smuck just 90% of the time?
And we allow this conversation to go back and forth for fucking generations?!
Imagine this in person! A room of people working together and two or three of them are getting in the way, harming and inconvenience others, taking what isn't there, seeking profit for themselves even when it undermines the point of the gameified tasks. They stand there selling our final product out the backdoor, dressed in other peoples best clothes and gear, with other people doing work for them or having their work stolen. And we suggest, hey, cmon, don't be a smuck.....
And somehow we need decades of conversation to fix this?
Thank you Professor Wolff for your work in economics and in consistently pointing out the unfair policies that finance capitalism has engendered for us all and especially in America. What you have just shown your fellow citizens and us tuning in around the world is that people are caught in a meatgrinder without the meat when they have living standards so low that scraping by would be a welcome change to the miserable existence they are leading. How do we address this imbalance? I am an artist and not an economist, although I have written a book which I hope you received called The Treatise of Teknomix which outlines an economic model that turns around the current percentages of the the rich and poor making 90% of the people doing well, 9% that have some problems getting by and only 1% in real difficulty. My system is utopic---it was meant to provoke experts like yourself to see if there is any substance to my, admittedly, dream-baked economic model. Richard, you show us over and over that finance capitalism is feudalism on steroids; the plain simple truth of the matter is that we do not have to put up with an antiquated way of people living in society.
That was Hudson, Wolff has never admitted or conceded the "rentier" aspect
of economics, or that it is NOT capitalism, or the fact that Marx expected
capitalism to end the rentier economy.
At Last: Michael Hudson vs. Richard Wolff...as broadcast on Dialoogue works 1;28:06
Again one has to marvel at the comments that think there is an agreement between
Hudson and Wolff when there is a direct conflict that surfaces around 33 minutes and is
repeated continually from that point on.
Wolff has continually avoided acknowledging this "conflict" regarding the "rentier" aspect
of the pre-industrial economies as well as Marx's expectation that "capitalism" would
resolve this problem. ( and that it failed to do so. )
For Wolff, every problem is CAPITALISM, without distinction...and everything after that is
moral posturing with selective historical references that are inaccurate and are essentially
a distraction designed to continue this avoidance.
Unfortunately, to the detriment of the audience, Wolff has learned that by filibustering
his distraction was successful...and he can continue it, without Hudson directly challenging
his avoidance.
It appears that the goal of this moral posturing is to unite the innumerable faction of "victims"
into the 99% that his rhetoric implies is being "exploited"....and this demonstrates his historical and psychological
ignorance of both human nature as well as the objective reality of existence.
For those more familiar with Wolff than Hudson...what was not emphasized was his typical
reference to democracy as a solution...although his employer/employee was mentioned...
so that the result of this, this discussion????? was a waste of time...and both the meaning
of "capitalism" and "democracy" can remain "undefined" ...and the "virtue signaling" rather
than any actual historical or economic education will continue.
What would be interesting will be the actual time difference between that of Wolff and Hudson
in this exchange.
The answer to the question is...the time consumed by Wolff is roughly twice that of Hudson.
The unfortunate issue with this interview is that they failed to address the source of war, inequality and homelessness. The source of worker unrest and strike. The issue of all of this is capitalism. None of our social issues will be solved using this system. It time to address the system at the problem.
İİt is not surprising that your guest has such a minuscule following.Most people aspire to a quire a roof over their heads and once they have,they defend that roof nail and tooth.The whole philosophy of this fellow can be summed up as the manifesto of the idle.
I am pleased to hear that there are groups actively engaged in narrowing the wealth gap across the country. However, in contradiction to Mr. Robinson, I think that the 9th and 10th Amendments to the USA accommodates American citizens today to include what is needed in order to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Based upon those two amendments, the citizens are urged to bring about the changes needed. Therefore, we must become actively engaged to bring about change. Demand more from our politicians, get rid of Citizens United, and unite as American citizens to bring about the changes that our politicians are reluctant to do.
What changes?
Thanks for the input , Rick
Thank you Prof. Wolff for this podcast.
Who needs to care more about your health than you? Health care begins from the center of you. Your parents were the only other people who were more responsible for your health until you were capable of caring for yourself. Live as though there was no healthcare institutions. No medical doctors. this is possible today unless of course, you've broken a leg and need that doctor to set it and help it along the path of healing.
I'm saying this because soon, there will be no HC industry and its corresponding bureaucracy. We're a nation in deep, economic, cultural, irreversible decline. So today is the day we must break our neurotic dependency on the medical institution. We have the information and the tools to do so. You don't have to be super rich to be super healthy.
My body is a torture chamber i cant escape
I don't think Human Rights Day is actually a holiday (ie. a day off) anywhere.
The UK government wants to _leave_ the European Human Rights Convention so that it can treat humans worse.
And here we still are the same just bigger numbers on and on we go cat chase it's tale.
If America is on top why do most of us feel like we are on the bottom.
the ruling class is on top...the ruled class is not.
at it was in beginning...
Hello professor. I had someone quoting Marx the other day, saying: we will have no regards, we will not spare terror. Or something of the sort. Now, I know that was a completely out of context quote and did not prove anything about the violence and antidemocratic aspects of stalinist dictatorship. And I know that when Marx was attacking democracy, that was simply another name for capitalism back in the 1800s, but could you give in some video or at least some reference, so that I can have a better context of the quote and be able to argue back at that with those mindless ignorants?
👍💐
Basic housing, utilities, healthcare, staple foods, and education need to be de-commodified.
When you de-commodify money ( 1933 ) the consequences follow.
All that matters after that is the time it will take to collapse.
@@jgalt308 What is to decomodify money?
@@mithrandir2006 MAGIC!!!!
@@jgalt308 He's not suggesting to decomodify money, he's just saying that it shouldn't be a personal responsability to solve basic survival rights. It's even dangerous as it is now. There would still be personal money and resourses.
So, you basically want all your needs taken care of. For free. Like an infant.
I am so glad you are here, Professor Wolfe and thanks to Charlie
The problem is cheap credit. Cheap credit goes to the affluent who put it into real estate, stocks and travel etc thus pricing out the less affluent. This is a vicious flywheel with cheap credit creating strong demand and in turn creating inflation which is a tax on the poor. Voila -> you now have increasing inequality every year.
Check Las Vegas...
OurName4Freedom WS
The problem with declaring yourself "human rights" is that it implies that you have the "right" to confiscate the fruits of another person's labors. How does that differ from "the right to steal"??
18 to 26 is quite a jump, 106 to 126 is a bit less. Like a fifth compared to a third. So given enough time going in that direction, only. Ideally I suppose all should meet round 50-60K, How.
40% vs 25%...and the bottom gained 2% over the decade...so inequality actually decreased.
Two great men! I feel very fortunate.
a socialist coward that uses capitalism to sell books, clicks and speaking fees is pathetic.
@@ronaldreagan-ik6hz more crap from that idiot zombie! What does it take! Shoo ronnie shoo!!!
Canada’s private sector needs to get unionized.
unions in the usa are a cancer. they attract those with low ambition due to wage caps, and promotion for seniority over merit. puke
Interesting subject considering Wolff decided that Palestinians don’t deserve human rights.
28:50
Great to see an economist and activist on, Richard.
Yes, of course the Bill of Rights and Human Rights do not apply to the US, the Beacon on the Hill. And Rob is right we need a complete re-write of the Constitution. Sadly, the Koch brothers agree which is one pin in their strategy to force a Constitutional Convention for fascistic purposes.
Rob's story of needing health care for his hand reminds me of my needing health care in Nicaragua some 14 years ago and having a Nicaraguan friend take me to the doctor and when I asked how much? They were offended.
Cuba has had free health care in its Constitution since 1964 and have the best doctors in the world with 37,000 doctors in over 117 countries and doctors in Cuba only make $20 a month, if they are domestic doctors.
Because of their health care system, socialized now for close to 60 years they have pioneered medical care in eyes, organs, diseases and many other areas of concern.
But we as Aemricans are not allowed to go to Cuba for medical care. Too socialist and too cheap.
Remember, capitalist health care hates competition for it is a cartel and part of the growing international fascist movement riding paralell but ahead of the new move in union drives.
So go to Brazil...although Michael Moore had no problem going to Cuba,
all you need is a boat...rent one.
This is the extent of your argument and your sagacious take on human affairs. Nice and the name Galt, cute for those that know the dog whistle. Libertarianism is fascism. Enjoy your permanent visit to the US@@jgalt308
You ain't getting out. The Wall is being built not just to keep foreign people of color out of the US, but is also being erected to keep you in. You are trapped and can listen to podcasts, and figure out the next debt payment or rent payment for social mobility is going down and if you are in the US working class and not organized or organizing you will go down with it. Ayn Rand, by the way, too federal Medicare and Social Security so don't bring up hypocrites.
nothing hates competition more than government. no one wants government monopoly more than the fools on the left.
If Quebec's publc workers go on a indefinate length general strike I hope the rest of Canada joins them.
Im voting #MarianneWilliamson2024❤❤❤ to save unions and people. Just vote Marianne. That is a way to do it. Wake up.
Thanks!
LOL. giving money to a socialist via capitalism is the epitome of stupid.
If I hear Joe Biden or his henchmen and women say one more time that the economy is good i will scream with frustration. It isn't better for people like me who worked one or two jobs to support 2 kids and myself minimally because my ex husband was a deadbeat dad. I was never able to save more than $3,000/ a time. As soon as I saved my tiny cushion, my jalopy broke down or my kids got sick or I collapsed from physical exhaustion. I never made much but I worked a lot and hard. Now in old age when I cannot work I'm still squeezing pennies, clipping coupons and fighting for survival. Actual survival. My newest lease for a supposefly "affordable" apartment was 9% but my Social Security COLA was 3.2%. Once more I lost a little and slipped a little.
How's it going for you?
hey heleng, doesnt make it any easier, but for what its worth you are not alone. hope at least your kids are able to look out for you a little and payback some of the sacrifices that you made for them during your life. In our family everyone worked, same deal, always. People are sick and tired of being sick and tired. This govt is like a host for a broken capitalist system that has lost its moral compass.
I hear you Helen, stay strong. ❤
You are not alone.
So what type of union jobs do your kids have? Public or private?
Not enough to help you out, huh?????
@@jgalt308 I won't allow my hard working kids to help out. I didn't have them as an insurance policy. I had kids because I love them and not to be a burden to them. And yes, union. My daughter loves her union job and has been working there as long as I can remember. She will retire from her union job with a cushion for her old age. Can't say the same for my son who has had non-union jobs.
I can't understand why people expect their kids to pay for the retirement and old age of their parents. Our labor built the country. I worked from the age of 10 years old. I haven't been a drag on the economy at any point. I supported 3 people on low wage working class jobs for half a century. My labor made my bosses a passel of money. The society should care for the young and the aged. That's what's fair for our lifelong contribution to the success of this economy but we don't do that for working class folks. This society uses people up and spits out the wreckage. It's time for a better system than the one in which I made money aplenty for my employers and took home barely enough to survive on.
i thought this is about how united states deny any human right from Palestinie by supporting israel
Health care is simple. You ace medical school, and you're on the taxpayers dime, and you will receive a fair wage. Healthcare is a much better expenditure than war is for a taxpayer. Yet trillions are spent worldwide year by year to guard us from each other instead of us living out our lives in peace. We need a huge change to save our species: We need a common government. We need a common monetary system. We need a common social law. We need the human species to become patriotic to the planet instead of apes divided by body hair content.
I can help.
🙉🙈
What Prof Wolff listed is actually incorrect. The truth is even more extreme. Chestnut Hill, Norther Liberties and Fishtown are all within the city borders. The richest neighborhoods are all right over the city limits in Montgomery county.
Even his claim is false, since the numbers used show a increase of 40% to 25%
for lower-income vs higher, as well as a 2% gain for the lower class over
the previous decade...so inequality actually decreased.
I recall this was about free economics...
Look, the backers of loans, Fannie and Freddy and their state counterparts, don't fund low income construction b/c it's not profitable per congress. The solution is for municipalities to insure the backed loans.
Your welcome. That'll be $95.
What does AFL and CIO stand for?
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) .
It shows people are still humanitarians , when the protest ..
Philadelphia has a great disparity between the rich and poor and in a traditional Democrat state. OMG.
rights!
Don’t forget your responsibilities.
Do they think we have the right to die ? Sometimes I wonder what goes through their minds of the money grubbers .It's not it seems Like , It's You know they don't care .
Canada has passed a law that will assist you if that is what you want.
Unions shouldn't be permanent or they become like politicians only caring about their own profiteering and decreasing standards.
Again we are called "the wealthiest country in the world", the commonly used phrase. Where does this label come from, especially considering that the topic of today's show and others is about our widespread poverty?
Have a super computer organize economic and political data based models to draw on
Is this what we call a republic today ? Republicans ? Republicant's
Nobody calls it a republic, nor does the constitution matter.
Solidarity, unions, and freedom to associate....these are the actions or ideas that give the Super Wealthy nightmares. Super Wealthy create fear, indifference and division among Americans.
What a lie. no one sells division on race, wealth and social justice more than the political left in America
Thanks, Dr. Richard Wolff for keeping the call for democracy alive otherwise, we would be labouring under a dollar democracy of manipulated votes every four years.
we are a constitutional republic not a democracy
At Last: Michael Hudson vs. Richard Wolff...as broadcast on Dialoogue works 1;28:06
Again one has to marvel at the comments that think there is an agreement between
Hudson and Wolff when there is a direct conflict that surfaces around 33 minutes and is
repeated continually from that point on.
Wolff has continually avoided acknowledging this "conflict" regarding the "rentier" aspect
of the pre-industrial economies as well as Marx's expectation that "capitalism" would
resolve this problem. ( and that it failed to do so. )
For Wolff, every problem is CAPITALISM, without distinction...and everything after that is
moral posturing with selective historical references that are inaccurate and are essentially
a distraction designed to continue this avoidance.
Unfortunately, to the detriment of the audience, Wolff has learned that by filibustering that
his distraction was successful...and he can continue it, without Hudson directly challenging
his avoidance.
It appears that the goal of this moral posturing is to unite the innumerable faction of "victims"
into the 99% that his rhetoric implies is being "exploited"....and this demonstrates his historical and psychological
ignorance of both human nature as well as the objective reality of existence.
For those more familiar with Wolff than Hudson...what was not emphasized was his typical
reference to democracy as a solution...although his employer/employee was mentioned...
so that the result of this, this discussion????? was a waste of time...and both the meaning
of "capitalism" and "democracy" can remain "undefined" ...and the "virtue signaling" rather
than any actual historical or economic education will continue.
What would be interesting will be the actual time difference between that of Wolff and Hudson
in this exchange.
The answer to the question is...the time consumed by Wolff is roughly twice that of Hudson.
Michael Hudson: Well, the irony is that it was Thorstein Veblen, I think, that coined the term neoclassical.
And as Richard points out, that led to all this confusion about what Veblen meant to say. And normally he’s a very good writer. What he meant to say is they reject the classical economics and now this junk economics, this stripped down anti classical economics, is the new mainstream economics. But instead of calling it the new mainstream economics, he called it neoclassical economics.
And that’s what led to so much confusion. And but Richard is absolutely right. Neoclassical economics is anti-classical economics because it rejects the value price and rent theory. And all of the British political economy was about value and price and price was the excess of a rent unearned income over and above the actual cost of production. And Marx said the the aim of industrial capitalism is to reduce prices to the cost of production, get rid of the parasitic landlord class, get rid of the parasitic begging.
And the way to do that is industrial capitalism is going to evolve into socialism. Well, that’s why they banned the study of Marx. Because if you understand classical economics, by the 19th century, everybody thought capitalism was evolving into socialism. And that’s exactly what the discussion about before World War One was. What kind of socialism is it going to evolve into?
And that’s exactly the discussion that should take place in China today. But it’s not taking place in American universities or European universities.
Richard D. Wolff: You know, if we had time, Michael and I, I suspect could give you a lecture that one of the greatest of the neoclassical economists not well known in the United States was an Austrian Böhm-Bawerk last name.
And he’s the one who made Michael’s point crystal clear 100 years ago. He explained how and why neoclassical economics is the refutation of Marx. He then made a logical mistake and thought that he could be located in the relationship between values and prices. That’s another conversation that took people into a boring, endless literature on that subject to which I must admit, I have also contributed.
But I understand that it was a diversion. It’s what it’s called it. What? What Veblen did Marx called this stuff vulgar economics. That was his phrase. And if you ever have the chance and I’m speaking here, obviously to the audience, I hope is watching. If you pick up the early chapters of Volume two of Capital, it’s a discussion there of what they call the circuits of capital.
But if you read it properly, it is it Marx shows you how, depending on which of these circuits you focus on, you will get neoclassical economics, you will get ricardian economics, you will you get the that. And he’s literally conducting a critique in those opening chapters of what has happened to the economics profession and why and how they’re different from what he’s trying to do.
And it’ll show you what more what Michael just said. But within the context, it’s like reading the volumes called Theories of Surplus value. The other three volumes of Marx, where he has all his notebooks of when he read Adam Smith and he read Ricardo and the others and the extensive critique, there’s very few economists in the history of the profession, whoever did this kind of detailed work on everybody who came before them.
In fact, other than the famous Harvard professor Schumpeter, I don’t know of anyone who did that, and certainly not on the scale that either Schumpeter or Marx did. The notion that economics is a discipline so that you can entitle your book economics, like most textbooks are, is an attempt to fudge the fundamental difference and hostility of the different traditions, one for the other and you do nobody a favor by fudging all of that.
Dialogue works (Nima): when you look at China’s economy today how much capital is that? Is it getting more socialist? Is it getting more capital? Is
Michael Hudson: Well, what you’re asking is the question that everyone was talking about 100 years ago. What kind of socialism are we going to have? And the essence of socialism, that there was Christian socialism there was Marxian socialism, there was libertarian socialism. But what everybody agreed upon is that basic needs, basic infrastructure should be in the public domain, natural monopolies should be in the public domain.
If you didn’t have health care and education provided freely to the population, then workers would have to pay for them in order to get by. And if they had to pay for them, that would increase the wages that employers would have to pay. And if you want to make a competitive capitalist system, you need a socialized, certainly basic needs like education and health care.
And it was the conservatives that said this in England, it was Israel Disraeli that said Health, health is all evil, their prime minister. And the other thing that needed to be socialized weren’t basic monopolies, like communication is a monopoly. Transportation is a monopoly. Water and sewer for a monopoly, you can’t have competing buildings. And if you leave these in private hands, you end up with Margaret Thatcher’s England, you end up with Ronald Reagan’s America.
You all of a sudden privatize everything and you end up with doing to yourself what the world Bank and the International Monetary Fund had done to wreck third world countries to prevent them from socializing, by privatizing everything mainly in the hands of foreign monopolists and passing an international law saying that if they do socialized these functions to make a competitive economy, they have to pay compensation to the colonizers.
In other words, you’ve made Latin America, Africa and Asia in the position of Haiti when it had the revolution against France. You have to pay for the next two centuries to get your freedom from the financial trammell’s of our financial colonization that we’ve mounted. In order to prevent you from having socialism, you have to realize the dynamic that industrial capitalism has failed in its destiny to become socialism.
It’s reverting to feudalism. It’s created a landlord class. Again. It’s created a predatory banking class. We’re going back to feudalism, not forward to socialism. That’s the failure of industrial capitalism and the job of China and other countries to overcome this failure and say, we realize the West has taken a wrong road and we’re going to pick up where world civilization seemed to be going at the time it was interrupted by World War One.
Afterward, you had the world, the West, so traumatized by the Russian Revolution that it became vehemently anti-socialist and unproductive. And the end of that has been that the industrialized, polarized economy that you see in the United States today.
Richard D. Wolff: Well, you know, again, I agree with what Michael is saying, but I just want to push the argument for me, and this is just, you know, for me, for me, socialism includes beyond the public private issue, very important issue. But beyond that the micro level issue, how do you organize collective labor? How do you organize the workplace places where goods are produced or goods are distributed, services are produced, distributed, and so on. If you organize them in what I take to be the classic capitalist way, and I only give them that label because we call that period in Europe after end, you know, the Renaissance is behind us, feudalism is over, something happens in England and spreads from there to become global.
And for me that something is the organization of the workplace into employer employee. And you can call that making labor power a commodity, you can call it many different names. But that for me, the essence and it’s what distinguishes the preceding period which we capture with Lord and Serve and all that that implies, which distinguishes it from another period which we call master and slave and all that that implies.
For me, then socialism is the rejection of all of those dichotomies, or what Marx called class divided societies, labor, master slave lords serve employer employee. With that, in my mind, I want I think that the solution, the socialism we need is a socialism that undertakes the radical step of saying we are not going to organize workplaces with that dichotomy.
We’re not going to have a small group of people running the show when no masters, no large, no employers. When Marx occasionally uses the phrase classless society, it’s something like that. He’s gesturing toward no classes. I take that literally. I take that as a hard idea. We’re going to organize work. And I want to note that that the desire to do that is as old as human history.
Human beings have collectively formed groups that are equal, one with the other that are egalitarian, that share the decision making. That’s not a new idea. That’s not a product only of capitalism. You have communities that tried to do that in feudalism, in slavery, in ancient villages, which often were organized that way, etc., etc.. I think that is now coming back and becoming in the way Marx foresaw as a commune ism, but now one for modern society, different from but learning from the ancient communes that remember that’s the root of that word community, communism, communal, communitarian.
It’s all about all the efforts human beings did for me. If China is going to be the step next step, which in many ways it already is, it’s different from the Soviet experiment. It’s different from the Scandinavian socialist experiment. It has its own Chinese characteristics, But I want to see it engage with what I’m saying in terms of going that next step.
Is China’s Economy Collapsing? Economic War! Michael Hudson & Richard D. Wolff
Posted on December 11, 2023 by Yves Smith
Yves here. This as a whole is a fine and informative discussion picking apart the regular Western press and pundit bashing of China’s economy. In general, I support the thesis that the scare-mongering is overdone, particularly in light of US chip sanctions looking to have backfired. However, the fact that China is not in too-bad shape does not mean it does not have significant risks to navigate.
I hate to play my usual role of stickler and make sure readers do not treat everything here as gospel. As much as UA-cams and podcasts make for an easy-to-take form of information conveyance, they unfortunately also lend themselves to slips of memory, slips of the tongue, and over-simplification.
To some minor and more significant comments. On the minor side, Michael Hudson says early on that housing prices are up in China. I pinged him and said that Chinese here in Thailand say apartment prices are down and they are worried about their losses. Hudson agreed that was true.
Richard Wolff said China is an explosive period of growth. 6% is not impressive for a developing economy and everyone expects China’s growth to continue to gradually slow down, particularly as its demographics start to bite.
More broadly, China did have a banking crisis in the early 2000s, a bad one, so it is not as if it is invulnerable. China can likely keep the housing debt problem that Hudson explained very clearly from going into the banking sector but it could zombify a big swathe of consumers. That would hurt China’s needed transition to a more consumer-driven economy.
In addition, I have to take issue with Wolff on the North Dakota public bank. It is a niche bank, substantially acting as the depositary/banker for the state, with retail services so restricted as to be close to non-existant. If Wolff had looked at the Bank of North Dakota site, he could have seen what its services are. The first set listed are what amounts to acting as a back office/tech platform, presumably for very small banks. Second is as mentioned acting as the bank to state agencies. Third is services to the public:
Bank of North Dakota (BND) offers basic checking and savings accounts and other retail banking services to North Dakota residents. To prove North Dakota residency, an individual must have a North Dakota driver’s license or North Dakota government-issued photo identification card, and a physical address in North Dakota. A business must have a physical address in North Dakota and at least one signatory on the account must be a North Dakota resident.
Because of our unique structure as a state-owned bank, it is the Bank’s policy not to compete with the private sector for retail deposits. Therefore, convenience products such as debit cards, credit cards or online bill pay are not offered. BND has one location at 1200 Memorial Highway in Bismarck, North Dakota. In order to open a checking or savings account or purchase a CD, you must schedule an appointment to come to the Bank location during lobby hours, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. CT, Monday - Friday.
I don’t want to belabor this issue, but in previous posts I pointed out that the Bank of North Dakota did, and I assume still does, join with other banks in making commercial loans, as in the private bank is the lead lender and has the customer relationship.
There was a time when there were many state and government banks. They all were shuttered due to corruption scandals and/or crippling loan losses. So this model is fraught with issues. I’d rather see a Post Office bank with somewhat better retail offerings, at least a good old fashioned ATM card.
With what happens if you are part American Indian ?
The Government is NOT responsible for your housing.
Try working for it.
It is getting worse in America now.
yes, much worse because of biden.
"Workers of the world unite" Karl Marx.
Too bad he spent all of his life avoiding it.
@@jgalt308 WTF are u talking about.
@@danielcaraveo4844 So you have no knowledge of Marx? Maybe
you should investigate.
@@jgalt308 I think your projecting.
@@danielcaraveo4844 Then you're obviously not good at that...luckily
for you, it's not necessary as bio's of Marx are rather easy to find, and he
was never "working class" but pretty much a parasite, freeloader, and a rather
despicable type.
Not exactly leadership material.
At this moment all who wants to work and for a decent salary is able to do so. Go and believe all what this person says and you're only supporting laziness.
So 100k a year makes you a part of the rich?
This channel is a waste of time.
Revolution NOW, or StFU.
How 'bout a how-to guide on founding worker co-ops?
I don’t think inequality is that bad
Why?
So, you don't understand the problem or you are the problem. Either way, You are an outlier.
@@screenarts It’s based on how talented you are and how hard you work, and yes, some of it is luck. So what? It’s impossible to make it all even.
simpleton in self serve land 😂
@@SinclairPoppinsLMAO
Striking against the government is like a shakedown of the tax paying public. The Government produces nothing and gets its revenue from taxes, mostly from the middle class. It's not a private company where the top brass make the lions share vs the workers. Most gov workers make good living wages and get good benefits due to their unions. I'm not against striking but realise most who pay taxes in the workforce are not union members and don't have the luxury of striking when they don't get what they want. Sure, you might get your 20-30 percent increases over a few years by striking, but many others won't get close to that and have to pay for your wage increase through more taxation. Don't get too greedy.
Richard, quit it with this "us" crap. There is no "us" when you make a six-figure income. I can't speak for other viewers, but the gap between you and me is massive, despite the fact I definitely work more because I have two physically demanding jobs.
Actually, the gap is so wide, Richard doesn't even read comments on his videos, so he'll never see this! Matter of fact, if I wanted to tell him this directly and get an explanation, I'd have to PAY!!
Paying won't get you an "answer"...and even if he did, he has this habit of
re-framing whatever the question is, to fit the answer he already pre-determined
that fits HIS narrative.
@@jgalt308 Oh of course, sideways rhetoric is one of his specialties.
But he makes these videos for the sake of shedding light on the situation of people like yourself? Taking issue with his use of "us" just seems like a way to be contrarian.
@@storm7617 And Wolff a hypocrite, which may explain his attraction to Marx.
@@storm7617 No, he doesn't. He (as in his employees) makes these videos for an income, using "our" plights as topics. It's not being contrarian, it's being fed up with years of being led on, only for Richard to come out on top.
Human Rights?????? From what source at whose expense????
Thank you all as always! True wisdom! The Monday motivation we all need!
using wisdom and wolff in the same sentence makes you a fool buddy. Thomas sowell is a hero of wisdom and truth.
Elon Musk says letting workers unionize creates ‘lords and peasants’. What?
TESLA Update:
"At Tesla, it’s $45 an hour in wages and benefits versus about $65 for UAW workers at the Detroit automakers - and that was before the UAW won a 25%
raise over four and a half years after its six-week strike." The Guardian Dec 20, 2023
the uaw bankrupted detroit. its still a ghost town because of it.