Richard Wolff: A Marxist Glimmer Of Hope

[SQAAD]

I don't know how many are aware of this guy but i stumbled across him quite recently and i find him very fascinating.

He is a Professor of Economics and has studied at some of the most privileged universities in United States. He is an interesting case because his parents were immigrants and not wealthy.

His critique of capitalism is some high quality stuff. This guy is 80 year old with the mental acuity of a 25 year old and has studied this subject for decades.

He has made some good points that are similar to Leo's point. Some of his points are:

• Even most academic people have no clue about marxism. They simply don't know this stuff. 
• People are not exposed to a critique of capitalism. It is not taught in universities. 
• Many people just have a knee-jerk reaction when they hear about marxism even though they haven't bothered studying it seriously, especially in the US.
• Professors , at the time when he was a student, were fearful and did not talk about marxism. They didn't wanna lose their jobs or upset anybody. 
• There are people who do their job just for the joy of it, without having to get the big money. This notion that people won't do their passion if they are not getting tons of money is unrealistic. (Also to be honest, the real fundamental reason why people want way more money than others, is to attract women)
• Slavery and Feudalism were systems of the past that we overcame. Capitalism is no different.
• In the past, the master knew that he was a master because his parents were masters. The slaves knew they were slaves because their parents were probably slaves. Capitalists claim they are more smart or more able than the rest of us. This is a story so they can feel comfortable because somewhere they know that the system is rigged.

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by SQAAD

[Ulax]

I like him too

[SQAAD]

@Ulax

4 minutes ago, Ulax said:

I like him too

i love this grandpa 

I find him not too extreme in his positions and quite stable as a person. His wife is a psychotherapist and has helped him a lot. He seems like a man with great mental health unlike most other academics.

He has said 'there is not any one person to blame. Its the system'' Which i like a lot.

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by SQAAD

[puporing]

He's a pretty solid resource. I think I just got my fill coz I get his stance and how he approaches current events. Similar with lot of other progressives.

[SQAAD]

@puporing

16 hours ago, puporing said:

He's a pretty solid resource. I think I just got my fill coz I get his stance and how he approaches current events. Similar with lot of other progressives.

He is a good contrast to other academics who are full of crap . Jordan BS Peterson comes to mind.

[Dryas]

Can we just listen to center/ center left voices instead

[SQAAD]

@Dryas

31 minutes ago, Dryas said:

Can we just listen to center/ center left voices instead

Richard Wolff makes some very good points . He promotes a kind of arrangement between the employers and employees and a more democratic process. He is not all or nothing in his approach.

He doesn't want one person to decide what 300 billion dollars are going to do (Elon Musk). He wants more people to have the power to decide what to do with that money and not let the whims of the few affect the lives of the many.

Who decides if the money should be spent on Mars or on bettering the conditions on this planet first?

You have a very socially inept person (Musk) affecting huge societal issues.

Capitalism in its current form is not sustainable forever. Its going to collapse as a system sooner or later.

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by SQAAD

[fortifyacacia3]

Trying to rehabilitate the image of Marxist-Leninist states is a lost cause. He still loves his brand of imperialism. He's more of a liability than he is useful. 

 

[BlueOak]

On 7/4/2022 at 7:32 PM, SQAAD said:

Slavery and Feudalism were systems of the past that we overcame. 

We are in corporate feudalism more than capitalism. Here is a video you might have seen but it was great at the time.

 

 

2 hours ago, fortifyacacia3 said:

Trying to rehabilitate the image of Marxist-Leninist states is a lost cause. He still loves his brand of imperialism. He's more of a liability than he is useful. 

The problem is most of us with any left-leaning parts of ourselves, have got so used to not caring about image, nobody thinks about it. Which is a weakness I understand to abandon it completely. For decades we've been ignored, mocked, derided, and you develop a very tough skin to things like image concerns or just general nonsense abuse. I'd even go as far to say that a good portion of left-leaning people go out of their way to be counter-culture to image. All of this is a strength in things like reform when you need to be able to weather the pushback. You get used to it and gradually don't care.

[DocWatts]

7 hours ago, fortifyacacia3 said:

Love this.

Marxism if applied with care and in light of the changes that have taken place over the last century and a half still is insightful and adaptable enough to be relevant to modern problems, as Richard Wolff aptly demonstrates.

At the same time I have trouble finding anything at all of value in the revolutionary vanguardism of Marx-Leninism, which in my mind is little more than a template for how to use Marxism to justify brutal acts of retributive violence in the service of authoritarianism.

Edited July 8, 2022 by DocWatts

[fortifyacacia3]

On 7/8/2022 at 5:32 AM, DocWatts said:

how to use Marxism to justify brutal acts of retributive violence in the service of authoritarianism.

I love that meme too lmao and yup, Marxism-Leninism was developed by Stalin, it easily coincides with Stalinism in my book. Some of Lenin's early writing contributed to communist thought at best. 

On 7/8/2022 at 1:05 AM, BlueOak said:

 All of this is a strength in things like reform when you need to be able to weather the pushback. 

Yeah, it's all fine and well until people become arbitrarily anti-establishment. And like, ACAB can be too abrasive while also has it's place when accompanied with a cogent argument. The meme for the far-left is "US bad" but to the point of anti-US imperialism at all costs. Even the milquetoast version is "a declining power tries to stop rising powers (China, Russia)" and proceeds to undermine valid criticisms of these states. They'll also be very uncritical of state media like Venezuela's by just taking their word on everything. Wolff's anti-vaccine mandates with Dore was pretty disappointing also. & you know it's bad when liberals are making better anti-imperialist arguments..