Richard Wolff on the Necessity of Transforming Capitalism

I’m currently in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 this past weekend. As I note in a previous post, my symptoms are very mild, and so I’m able to be up and about doing things.

One thing I did today was watch a video I’ve long wanted to watch but had not until now found the time to do so. It’s an hour-long interview from last August with economist Richard Wolff (right) from author and activist Marianne Williamson’s podcast, Transform.

Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School in New York. He specializes in economic methodology and class analysis.

In his conversation with Williamson, Wolff analyzes the deficiencies of modern capitalism, articulating the benefits of a socialist system and the pathway to a more equitable society. As you’ll see, Wolff promotes a gradual transformation involving a shift in consciousness from profits before people to people above all else.





Related Off-site Links:
Richard D. Wolff – Richard Wolff’s YouTube Channel.
Socialism or Capitalism? Arthur Brooks and Richard Wolff Debate – Intercollegiate Studies Institute via YouTube (June 1, 2021).
How to Fix Democracy: An Interview With Richard Wolff – Bertelsmann Foundation via YouTube (May 26, 2020).
A Debate Between Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman and Socialist Economist Richard Wolff – Democracy Now! (February 24, 2020).
Capitalism vs. Socialism: A Soho Forum Debate Between Richard Wolff and Gene Epstein – Reason TV via YouTube (November 14, 2019).
Democracy at Work: Curing Capitalism – Richard Wolff (Talks at Google, June 28, 2017).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Capitalism on Trial
• Marianne Williamson: “Anything That Will Help People Thrive, I’m Interested In”
• Martin Luther King, Jr. and Democratic Socialism
• Pope Francis: Quote of the Day – November 28, 2014
• Something to Think About – November 26, 2013
• Jonty Langley: Quote of the Day – August 17, 2011
• Terry Eagleton: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2011
• In a Blow to Democracy, U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Corporate Personhood
• A Socialist Response to the Financial Crisis
• Remembering the “Radical Ethic” of the Catholic Worker Movement
• John Pilger on Resisting Empire
• John le Carré’s Dark Suspicions
• R.I.P. Neoclassical Economics

Image: Bertelsmann Foundation.