Weekly Roundup: February 16, 2022

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work.

New this week: Economic Update, All Things Co-op, Global Capitalism & Ask Prof Wolff...

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work!

Economic Update: Fascism

On this week's show, Prof. Wolff talks about the US' 2021 trade deficit and its implications, the FED's inflation policy dilemma, and the political economy of the Baltimore and Bronx fires. In the second half of the show, Wolff uses the actual history of fascism in Italy, Germany and Spain to analyze the positions and prospects of fascism in the US today.

Wolff: "Capitalism is in deep trouble, and if something isn't done about that, the turn towards fascism will only accumulate more steam, more support, more momentum.”

All Things Co-op: Cooperative vs. Capitalist Enterprise

In this episode of All Things Co-op, Kevin recommends a few resources for listeners who are interested in starting and running their own worker co-op. He then takes a step back and contextualizes cooperatives within our current economic system. What does it mean to do startup work in the worker co-op system? How does the co-op model relate to and differ from traditional capitalist enterprises?

Kevin: “Worker cooperatives, like corporations, are also collectively owned enterprises. The difference between bourgeois or capitalist owners and cooperative or socialist owners is that the capitalists aren't workers. They're investors.”

Global Capitalism: This Generation is Ready for a New System

Prof Wolff speaks to the next generation about what they've learned from capitalism's failures, and what this historical moment could mean for further destruction, or a transformation.

Wolff: “This system's dysfunction is teaching a new generation the way, the how and the why a system change is now on the historical agenda.”

Ask Prof Wolff: Anarchism, Libertarianism, and Capitalism

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "Prof. Wolff, could you respond to these ideas of minarchism and anarcho-capitalism, which way too many people seem to be taking seriously these days?" This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response.

Wolff: “Marxists, socialists and anarchists have often collaborated. Their emphasis being a little different: one more on the capitalist, one more on the government. But in many cases, they understood they were fighting a united enemy: state and capitalist.”

Ask Prof Wolff: Workplace Ownership Models

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "What would the difference be between a worker-owned co-op and a consumer-owned one? Are consumers part owners themselves in, say, credit unions or utility cooperatives, by virtue of the dividends they receive at the end of the year? Why should workers have ownership in co-ops and not consumers?" This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response.

Wolff: “Owning something cooperatively is one thing. Running the business cooperatively is something else. Worker co-op refers to how the work is organized, not how the ownership of the enterprise is organized. And those two things don't necessarily go together.”

Ask Prof Wolff: Finding Common Ground with Canadian Truckers

A Patron of Economic Update asks: "I would appreciate hearing your thoughts about how this Canadian Truckers movement aligns with the international workers' movements, if, in fact, you believe it does." This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response.

Wolff: “You can't always choose who leads something, who wants to push it in right-wing directions and so on. That issue has been a problem for the left for a very long time. I am among those who believe we can be and we should be everywhere where working people are moving, struggling [and] questioning.”