‘Global Capitalism: A Monthly Update’ published on May 15, 2013
Economics Professor Richard Wolff publishes these monthly updates on developments relevant to capitalism around the world. His analysis is really on point. It’s long but it’s worth watching, listening to & learning from.
- Professor Wolff’s website
- Professor Wolff’s podcast
- Democracy at Work (an organization co-founded by Richard Wolff)
“When capitalism got going, say in England in the 18th and 19th century. It produced horrible conditions for people, paid them horrible wages, they lived in horrible slums. You know how we know that? Because we all read, or I hope we did, the novels of Charles Dickens because that’s what he wrote about..The descriptions of Charles Dickens are absolutely spot on for Dhaka, Bangladesh. So here’s the irony, we live in the 21st century of modern capitalism, and the success is rendered by the fact that the bulk of the working men and women producing for 21st century capitalism are living in 19th century conditions in third world countries around the world. And you know what was a typical feature of 19th century british workshops, if you read Dickens? Fires. Fires, because they’re all old wooden structures and they couldn’t cope with the risks and dangers of machine production so they had fires in which working men and women died in huge numbers. The exact same…it’s as if, not that capitalism has changed. It hasn’t. What’s changed is the idea, in the minds of Americans particularly, that we don’t have a system that works that way. Even though it’s been working that way for two hundred years, three hundred years.”
That’s a great one. I could quote the whole thing, but that’s a really good one. Please watch & reblog.
I understand that this is some dry material for people, but Wolff is actually pretty great at making the subject matter both interesting and relate-able. His comments on the economy, student debt, and global capitalism are so much more important than what most people talk about today. Please, take some time to get a bit of perspective. The more you know.
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