Ask Prof Wolff: Capitalism Doesn't Care About You

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I see so many young people that are highly qualified and educated and hard working yet they struggle to find work in their respective fields. Could there be a greater underlying economic or systemic issue behind all this and if so, what are some good solutions?"

A Supporter of Democracy at Work asks: "In co-op format, the people who run the business naturally have different skills and contributions to their organization so there would be expectation that each person to be compensated based on his/her work value. How is this issue handled?"

This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response.

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“Marxism always was the critical shadow of capitalism. Their interactions changed them both. Now Marxism is once again stepping into the light as capitalism shakes from its own excesses and confronts decline.”

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[treefrog]

This is the GIANT "elephant in the room" that so many citizens are unable to see. Or, if they DO see it, they deny that it is there. Thanks again, Prof. Wolff, for shining a brighter light on it.

[treefrog]

I spent the first half of my life as a well-paid Merchant Marine Navigator. Excellent benefits, health insurance, pension plan etc. For family reasons I returned to Ohio in mid-life. Because my sea-going credentials and bona fides had no relevance in the land-based world I was required to enter the "blue collar" world as a wage slave. Going from a job where I was respected and well-compensated for my contributions to one where I was little more than a piece of human "meat" was a shocking eye-opener from which I have still not recovered from at the age of 73. I am a living testament to the truths spoken here.

[shawnosborne]

People who benefit from this system do not have a problem with inflation, inflation is only a burden for the working class. Seems to like a tool use to herd us into obedience and complacency.

[Stikibits]

Free Market Capitalism is just another term for fascism.

[ethanddog]

Prof Wolf makes me feel better about my situation.

[egnielson]

Up at 5 am with girlfriend as we plan to flee the country. We literally just said “nobody cares”, then this video is uploaded 15 seconds later. Spooky timing…

[halfhouse]

Professor Wolff is correct. I used to work for several large U.S. corporations. They paid well but they expected you to be on call 80 hours a week. I once had to fly to Canada at a moment's notice and spend the period between Christmas and New Year there. And once your role becomes redundant or unnecessary, you're history. They use you up and then discard you.

[ratatouille]

Awesome as always.I recover my center following your line of thinking! In a world of caos and contradiction

[emiebex]

I've known for a long while Capitalism is a joke. But thank you Professor Wolff for talking about it in more detail.

[funckymonkey]

I have some questions. If there will be no employers, won't the workers become employers ? Will they vote communally and democratically to hire new workers ? And, even in the case of a co-op, won't some skills be unnecessary for the surtain product that the co-op produces, even if the person that they hire has a wider set of skills, from surtain studies, passions, and goals ? How will this be solved ?

[juliosanchez]

I don't understand why videos like this don't get more views or likes ?. This guy speaks the truth.

[fallenswan]

Just few days ago there were published new scientific research results ("Nuorten hyvä elämä" - "Good life of youth") about Finnish youth. Majority (53%) of youth (20-29 years old people) in Finland are worried about their mental health and strength. Research tells that youth in Finland feel that disabled people, youth and refugees are not heard in Finland enough (decisions are not made favourable for them or by listen them).

According the research, most important things for Finnish youth are: love relationship, enjoyable job, income, welfare and friends. Less than 40% of youth sees having a child is as one of top priority things.

77% of youth in Finland sees mental health problems as major reason for "feeling bad"* (*= In Finnish language "welfare" is literally "feeling good", and this is literal opposition of it, "feeling bad" or possibly "lack of welfare" or all good things in life).

Every third of youth in Finland feels their life meaningless and they fear loneliness.

According the research youth feel that they are "forced to become successful", meaning that they fear for failure and just have ordinary life. And they wish that in working places they could have reasonable conditions. In interviews in the research youth with immigration backgrounds and physically disabled youth felt discrimination in their lives.

Majority of youth (62%) think that future of Finland should be build on equality and equantity. According the survey youth feel that Finland is build now on older generation's power and finance interests on mind.

51% of youth in Finland felt that they were not heard in decisions of Covid-19 era decision making. Also, that youth, refugees and disabled people should be heard more in decision making in Finland.

"Part of youth" (article what I use on here, does not tell how big such part is) questioning if there is solidarity between generations and feelt disappoint for older generation's decisions.

The research was funded by multiple state organisations, including several cities and universities in Finland.

(I didn't read the research, but article about it in Kansan Uutiset. Probably can find the article with "Kansan Uutiset" + "Nuorten hyvä elämä" and look few days old articles, and use auto translation if needed. But I wrote almost everything in the article... But other media had news about the research too....).

[stevesedio]

You say co-workers in a co-op "need" to care about your skills and needs. What is the benefit to the members of the co-op? What if your needs (cost) far exceed your skill (contribution)? A co-op may not need "profit", but it needs to cover its costs.

How much "profit" (that goes into the owner's pocket) does a company make? As an example, Walmart made 2.26% profit in April 2022, and the top 6 executives got 0.02%. If it was a co-op, the $15 an hour person would be bumped up to $15.34.

[georgegates]

That is the best title I've ever saw.
Regarding skills: What's to stop an an employer, spotting a person with many skills to be hired as a supervisor to teach skills that are needed.

[rapcase]

Take a look at Encore Wire in McKinney, Texas for an example of this.

[socialistsolidarity]

All the capitalism defenders need to watch this. A very common question answered perfectly by Prof Wolf. Thank you!

[antimattv]

It was a good question and a great answer too. It illustrated the inhumane and cruel roots of capitalism. "Held hostage". That's it.

[lancebon]

Question for Professor Wolff. Is there an organization that help a start up to organize and find those that are interest in joining a workers co-op. The majority of workers and those looking for work have no idea this type of system even exist. Back in 2011, I created a 20 page plan for a workers community with even apprentices receiving money. this included living spaces for the people. I took this to some people in power back then, and their response was I would have to have a extremely large amount of capital to even get this to be looked at. I would love to send you a copy of my plan. I only learned of the co-op way about three, maybe four years ago after first listening to to you broadcasts. My plan would not exclude non-college, high school drop outs, or released prisoners.

[yu-jdjg]

Capitalism is Individualism and Socialism is Society

[patricialongo]

I work for a company from Texas who owns my job in the Pacific Northwest. The training for the job I was doing begins today. I will be trained by two people -. This is new skills for my community, tax break for the company! Or it's fraud.