#041: What is capitalism and why should you care? (ft. Richard Wolff)

Marxian economist Richard Wolff joins us for this episode to help us define our terms. What do we mean when we use words like capitalism, socialism, and communism? Wolff begins his explanation by describing different kinds of relationships and tensions between who has owned property throughout history and who has not. Relationships between slave owner and slave, feudal lord and serf, and capitalist employer and employee, all share some commonalities through history and during each historical period there have been both supporters and critics of each economic system. Wolff explains that although in the US, Karl Marx has been made into an almost cartoon-like villain largely due to the 20th century's "Red Scare," that Marx was just one of many critics of capitalism who believed capitalism was born and would die, followed by eventually systems we might call socialism and communism. Wolff makes clear that definitions of socialism and communism have always been heatedly debated, as has been the question of how we are to move from capitalism to socialism, but Americans in particular are only now coming out of decades long hibernation -- having lagged behind the rest of the world in understanding these ideas, discussing and debating them, and applying all of this to their own lives and societies.

After Professor Wolff's explanation, Harriet and Max share thoughts about how these economic systems impact how people see themselves, their relationships to others, their identification with different kinds of social groups and activities, their sense of purpose and meaning, and their ability to imagine new possibilities within their own and other people's lives.

To learn more about Richard Wolff's work, visit democracyatwork.info and rdwolff.com.

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