Richard Wolff – Capitalism Hits the Fan (lecture)
Like that well known substance, Capitalism has hit the fan. The statistics are numbing and do not convey the suffering and trauma citizens are enduring. Gone up in smoke are their savings, pensions, homes and jobs. Poverty is at record levels. For too many, dreams and hopes are shattered. And like the Howard Beale character in the movie “Network,” people are yelling, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” Occupy Wall Street has gone global. People are in the streets pushing back and saying, Enough. “We are the 99%.” There is widespread recognition that the economic crash is not just the result of greed and arrogance and lax regulation. There are deeper structural problems with a system that always prioritizes profits over people. The question is what should replace it?
Richard Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and currently a visiting professor at the New School in New York. He is the author of numerous books on economics including “Capitalism Hits the Fan.”