Weekly Roundup: May 10, 2023

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work.

New this week: U.S. National Debt (Good or Bad?), Values at Work!, Interpreting Marx

Check out the latest content from Democracy at Work!

Anti-Capitalist Chronicles: US Indebtedness & Capitalism’s Internal Contradictions

Prof. Harvey explores the issue of US indebtedness. Drawing on various Marxist theories—the coercive laws of competition, the falling rate of profit, and capitalism’s irrationality—Harvey explains how the US ended up in such a deep foreign indebtedness position, who it may benefit, and the implications on the global economy.

Harvey: “Do not assume that a capitalist economy is rational. Assume individual moments of it can be rational, but might produce irrational results.”

Stuck Nation, Live with Bob Hennelly: Bring Your Values to Work

Bob Hennelly answers how workers can stand up to the undermining of worker solidarity.

Hennelly: “Be willing to take a risk to get past your comfort zone to talk to the people around you. That kind of communication changes the workplace automatically. And it's not something that management likes… Make [that] investment. You spend a lot of time of your life at work. And so, don't leave your values at home. Bring them to work.”

Ask Prof Wolff: The Many Interpretations of Marx

A supporter of Democracy at Work asks: "I wrote an email response to someone who had a lot of strange ideas about Marx and all of the purported evil done in his name. He and others seem to hold Marx personally responsible for the crimes of Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, et al. I've read a bit by and about Marx and listened to many lectures of those who hold him in high regard. Am I missing something?" This is Professor Richard Wolff's video response. To learn how to ask your own questions to Prof Wolff, click here.

Wolff: “There's no denying that some of the people interpreted Marx in ways that they thought justified horrific acts, but many other people interpreted Marxism as something that justified and motivated very positive social acts. Not only is that true for Marxism. It's true for everything else. Like Marxism, other movements that had to do with ways of thinking.”