154 - Richard Wolff: Karl Marx and the Myths of Marxism

Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s second appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In episode #127, he and Robinson discussed some of the most profound criticisms of capitalism. In this installment, they focus on Marx himself, including Karl Marx’s background, his most important views, what he wrote and didn’t write, and some of the common—and potentially devastating—criticisms of Marxism.

Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com

Economic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdate

The Sickness is the System: https://a.co/d/jf5w5wy

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:22 Introduction

03:55 Who Was Karl Marx?

32:15 Karl Marx, Armchair Intellectual?

37:40 Answering Karl Marx’s Critics

50:38 Is Karl Marx Responsible for the Communist Genocides?

01:14:09 Marxism and The World Economy of Today

01:17:53 Is Socialism a Monolith? Does Marxism Evolve?

01:25:13 On Marxism and Mass Death

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.