Weekly Roundup: March 1, 2023

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work.

New this week: Stock Markets After Capitalism, Austerity & Policing, Civilians in War, Mega-Corporations

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work!

Economic Update: Are Mega-Corporations Ruining Our World?

Prof. Wolff presents a critique of monopoly and oligopoly; past efforts and success in popular control over mega-corporations - in US and abroad; the fight back by mega-corporations to nullify reforms and regulations. Finally, some real solutions to the social problem and costs of an economy dominated by mega-corporations.

Wolff: “Laws, regulations? It's not enough if you don't deal with the very core of the problem: how we allow private capitalists to compete themselves into monopolies and oligopolies. That's the root of the problem. And that's what has to be changed if we're going to solve the problem. It's not a complex idea. It's only perhaps new.”

Anti-Capitalist Chronicles: The Impact of War on Civilians

Prof. Harvey focuses on the impact of war on civilians, both today in Ukraine and historically. While it is a war crime to attack civilian populations, there is a long, deadly history of it. From the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the fire bombs in Dresden and Tokyo, the US is far from innocent of civilian attack. Harvey reminds us that the horrors inflicted on Ukrainians today should be judged in a similar manner as we judge those atrocities of the past.

Harvey: "I think that it is very much on the agenda that this may happen. If it does happen, it will be terrifying. The results would be terrifying. Radiation if it goes on as it did in Chernobyl, just a cloud of it around the world will cause immense damage to everybody and everything. I think this is an issue that requires a lot of political organization and a lot of concern.”

Ask Prof Wolff: What Happens to the Stock Market After Capitalism?

A supporter of Democracy at Work asks "I, as a socialist myself, agree with the socioeconomic model that you advocate, with worker-owned cooperatives substituting today's private businesses. However, making the actual changes, reforms and, if you like, revolution, would also bring an end to stocks, stock-based companies, and the stock market. I can't get my head around how we actually get rid of the capitalist stock markets without letting the state take over with force or having the capitalists cause big damages to the economy as an act of revenge. What should we do with the stock market?" This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response. To learn how to ask your own questions to Prof Wolff, click here.

Wolff: “The answer is the same as has happened again in history, which is why history is such a good teacher. What did other systems do when it came time to change to a new and different system? What happened to the wealth accumulated in the old system? Well, let me give you a couple of examples.”

Ask Prof Wolff: How Do Austerity Politics Impact Policing?

A supporter of Democracy at Work asks: "From a Marxist economic perspective, can you explain how austerity politics and austerity measures eventually lead to over-policing?" This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response. To learn how to ask your own questions to Prof Wolff, click here.

Wolff: “People are helped a lot less. People who need mental health counseling are helped a lot less. People with all kinds of health problems are helped a lot less and guess what? Those people sometimes go over the edge. They can't handle the problems they have without the help they had become dependent upon, help from the government that made all the difference in the world. That's being cut back and so they act out on one another, mostly on themselves, and then sometimes in the public where they encounter the police. And the problems get worse. The pressure on the police gets worse. You have a disaster coming down the pike.”