d@w-Los Angeles: Richard D. Wolff (Part 2/2)

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Professor Richard D. Wolff speaks to the attendees of Democracy at Work Los Angeles' fundraiser in April of 2017. Part 2 of 2 (The Q&A portion)

Democracy at Work Los Angeles is a local volunteer action group, working to further the goals of the national org directly in our community. We wish to see more worker co-ops in LA, legislation and anchor groups which favor their existence, and more schools which teach them as a viable business alternative. We hold monthly meetings, create content, build connections, and generally exist as a hub for collaboration, a platform for action, and voice calling for a cultural shift towards democracy in the workplace.
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[horizontaalschaalbaar]

I must admit, Mr. Wolff's talks made me tear up quite a few times, the truth bombs he drops are amazing.

[whompbiscuits]

I'm a fan of Prof. Wolff and subscribe to his Economic Update podcasts. His talk of co-ops and unions in the first half of this video reminded me of an old Economic Update episode where he had as his guest professor and author Peter Ranis. This interview was incredibly eye-opening for me, crystallized by this particular quote by Ranis:

“The trade union movement really accepts the capitalist class as the engine of development. Cooperatives really realized that the market is probably necessary under any system, but the capitalist is not. The manager is not.”

For any coalition between unions and co-ops, if there is to be a leader between the two I hope it is the cooperative.

[klubsvetnikov]

Yes, the alliance of cooperatives and unions would be a new quality in politics. And I liked the final explanations about forming a suitable form of working jointly with Greens, Socialist and progressive movements. Divided we will fail, united we will prevail!

[aureliusp]

What a crazy idea. The people who actually create the profit should decide what to do with the profit. The people who actually work should own the business instead of the people who simply make decisions.

[zeroclout]

This is too Lit to be released in the middle of the night.

[rosac]

'You have a factory? Ha ha, you don't.' - Vladimir Lenin, 1917

[presa]

Big Hugs to whoever got these talks broken down to two half hour segments ! Now, back to argument for helping to cultivate the strong foundation that will be needed to convert our current raw-capitalism into future coop-capitalism. I argue: to morph current labor unions that have the history of scalping workers wages for dues is to put a wolf in charge ...
of the hen-house. No pun intended....
...
As explained here by Dr. Wolff ; The Russian feudal estate transition is actually an argument for capitalism.
I would ask Dr. Wolff: What happens to tort law and why does that happen? Do you understand Prosser's explanation of why tort law exists and how capitalism cannot exist without it? The reason you hear of "lawsuit abuse" is an engine of fascism. ...
AS Dr. Wolff has attended lectures by Unions ; I have attended lectures by Movie industry union buster attorneys. Unions are engines of mediocrity. Do not let unions run the co-ops! ....
...
Co-ops as argued for by Dr. Wolff are actually an argument for more company lateral alignment vs the vertical alignment as currently structured. It is not an argument to do away with capitalism, otherwise there is no need to talk of what to do with the profits.

[missingpiece]

Great talk, now we know what to do, to make capitalism sustainable.

[joopvangroot]

Europe thinks that America is a plutocracy!

[coolconfuzer]

Yea like unions in NYC would be okay with this. Shows you how out of touch Acedmics are from the working class.