@@mindlander he's not into revolutionary politics. His works aren't analysing american material conditions to do a revolution like lenin or mao. That's why your smug comment is stupid. Cause he'll teach others who will be able to analyse america and do revolution after achieving critical conditions
There's really good short materials. If you need help. Manifesto is very easy and tells you the basic terms and such. Reform or revolution is good too. Then there's family private property and the working class if u wanna learn about how property rights and patriarchy was created.
I would also like to recommend "Why Socialism?" by Einstein, "the Principles of Communism" by Engels, and "Blackshirts and Reds" by Parenti. The former two are short and easy reads and great introductions, the latter is a longer work that goes into dispelling some of the historical myths about the former Socialist experiments.
Some more good listens w/ Richard Wolff as a guest (note: this first Chapo episode listed is a great intro to Wolff as a whole): - Chapo Trap House #186 2/18/18 - The End of the Myth #16 2/20/22 - Homebrewed Christianity “Why Marx? Why now?” 2022 - Chapo Trap House #713 3/9/23
Yeah, as someone who likes Wolff and credits him as my intro to Marxism back in 2016, I was sort of hoping this wouldn't be as polemical as his own show. I think Sisyphus55 can ask really good questions and would've loved to hear more dialogue between the two of them.
I once again urge y'all to familiarize with Dr. Wolff work if you're still interested in Marx's ideas and want to know more. He is knowledgeable and has this gift to explain topics of his expertise with awesome ease and humor. Me personally started studying Marx with him and never found anyone else who explains these ideas to newbies, and people who didn't (somehow) heard about Marx, better. Stuff what Dr. Wolff is talking about is very eye-opening, especially in broad daylight of propaganda and simple naivness of people in our very interesting times.
@@ThePathOfEudaimonia Personally I never gave his "Democracy at Work" a shot cause lack of time and motivation, but i got interested especially in his videos - debates and lectures. For start i would recommend his lecture at ACLU of Southern California. Lex Fridman invited him on his podcast too and i liked it very much.
I remember him speaking at my community college a few years ago. Such an outstanding brilliant speaking, but too many people asking basic cookie cutter questions, I wish I didn’t have terrible anxiety back then to meet and talk with him.
Wolff does a good job explaining marxism. I do wish he actually engaged with the idea of capitalist realism and the commercialization of anti-capitalism rather than dismissing them as just contradictions that will eventually go away.
I’m not sure you got the main point then: contradictions always happen, no matter whether you define your starting part as ‘good’, and your desired change as ‘bad’. Hopefully, those contradictions become the choice of ice cream, and not whether you live or die.
but it is a contradiction, for in trying to commercialize it and profit off of it, it is spreading the very ideas amongst the populace that undermine it. It chips away at it's own foundation in it's relentless pursuit of profit.
I have at this point listened to 3 talks of proffesor Wolff and I struggle to understand what does he propose for the ideal transition from capitalism to socialism without the intervention of institutional power, which I belive he doesn't advocate for, and neither am I as, in my opinion, involment of goverment leads to stalinism, maoism ect.
@@psychoboo955 It will require institutional power, or at least that institutions do not intervene in the transition. The causes for intense authoritarianism is complex and multi-faceted, and one aspect that cannot be overlooked is societal history, which applies for both russia and china. No country is innately resistant to authoritarianism but the exact shape of that beast will differ in accordance with a whole host a variables. A strong government that is not authoritarian in the manner of stalin/mao is absolutely possible as a base attribute is about the extreme consolidation of power into a single office, it is only this that causes President to equal King, where pre-existing laws do not matter, only the will of the king does.
But they are just contradictions that will go away according to the Marxist theory. Capitalist realism is fundamentally opposed to human nature, because as humans we are always changing and reorganizing ourselves to best suit our needs and interests. Commercialization of anti-capitalist thinking works the same way, ultimately the producers and consumers of this market rely on the same system of commerce that they are purporting to criticize. These contradictions will eventually go away when the workers become conscious of them, causing the workers to organize to overthrow the old system and replace it with one that doesn’t allow for them to happen in the first place.
I can’t believe I was actually able to understand the conversation this time! I feel like one of the grown-ups today! Sisyphus and Dr Wolff, thank you so much for this one!
I enjoy Dr. Wolff. Every time I listen to him or read his content he teaches me new and useful things. I lump Dr. Wolff together with Noam Chomsky, and Michael Parenti as intellectuals who are incredibly useful for critiquing the USA's sociological, political, and economic hegemony. I must read and listen to much more of their content, but the three combined offer lifetimes worth of very useful content.
Chomsky says the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia “for 76 days and nights” was justified. He is wrong on many topics and I wouldn’t lump him together with Parenti. The rest of this I agree with 🙏
@@gtasaintsI’m sure they have issues with things that both Chomsky and Parenti have said but they’re talking purely about criticising the US, something that both Chomsky and Parenti (according to the original commenter) both have very good takes (and some not so good ones) on. Of course both thinkers have their benefits and their flaws outside of criticising the US but I wouldn’t really object to grouping them together in this specific context.
I like Wolff, but for anyone interested in a stronger, updated, account of the transition to capitalism (also Marxian) these have been really helpful for me! The Origins of Capitalism: Ellen Meiksins Wood Case Studies in the Origins of Capitalism: Post, Lafrance et.al And some further complications on Capitalism's relation to slavery, A Theory of Capitalist Slavery: John Clegg If anyone wants help finding a link to any of the texts I can help :)
This Richard Wolff guy has really been getting a lot of notice recently. I bet his channel will blow up soon. One of my favorite content creators... Lol
Lovely podcast. Don’t really agree w/ Wolff about China and Ukraine, but stil learned a ton from him. You can tell he’s an amazing speaker because he explains extremely complicated things in such a clear and comprehensive way.
@@keenban Can't speak for the commentator obviously, but the idea of a unipolar world with a hegemonic empire is historically simplistic at best and not convincing with specific regard to China's RL development and global strategy. And with regard to Ukraine, Wolff simplifies the war in a way that fits in the declining empire narrative, besides not crediting the fact that it is also part of another (USSR/Russia) declining empire's narrative, it is obviously a corollary of other contingent developments, which aren't intentionally lead by US politics and its hegemonic ambitions. The fact that the Ukraine case is now exploited to some extent to weaken a geo-strategic enemy doesn't mean it's causally a necessary result of that interest, which is however what Wolff and other big talkers of geopolitics claim.
@@domsjuk The USSR doesn t exist brother, and Ukraine was an SSR. The war in Ukraine is a product of capitalism fighting, it always ends this way. Putin wants the gas in Ukraine and to ensure that only Russia can supply Europe with gas, USA wants to kick Russia and take over the market. This is the truth. Always follow the money.
It's so funny how long Prof Wolff can go on about the evolution of economic systems and the characteristics of them. I was happily surprised to see him pop up on your podcast, even if he was long-winded.
Richard's way of speaking reminds me of Ben Lewis, the professor from the movie Accepted. The information was great and made me wonder whats next for western ideology after capitalism.
I think that Prof. missed a crucial moment. Past socioeconomical systems fell not just because exploited masses had enough of it, but because each system inevitably gave birth to a revolutionary economic force inside that built a new more progressive system. E.g. for a long time in history traders remained traders, until they amassed enough wealth and power to realise as a capitalist class. And feudal system of course were suppressing and restricting the emerging capitalist class. But the fall was inevitable because capitalism was economically superior. Same thing with a system to supplant capitalism: it must emerge from within and be economically superior for the masses to support it through a revolution.
It’s a good reflexion to see that the change dynamic comes from the inside of the system ( it’s pretty logical), but from what you said in your comment, it seems to me that « the people being fed up » and « a revolutionary system » are not mutually exclusive: it’s because the people are fed up that they give birth to a new system with time trough out a/multiples revolutions. :)
@@ymoonysun9130 i never ever saw the people actually performing a successful revolution, rather the people are used by said emerging new system to topple down the old one
@@the_travelingbreeze i would extend it to any so called communists who maintain commodity form, property, etc. or claims to find revolutionary aspects in the petty bourgeois.
It's also very interesting that uneducated people defend Capitalism with their teeth, without even knowing what Marxism, Socialism and Communism are. Until some of them get education about these matters, of course, eventually!!🤗
I laughed when the footage cut out lol with the Sisyphus doodles guys eye bags and look of bewilderment really adds a nice touch of absurdism. Actually didn’t mind that there’s no footage just for that chuckle alone
re: about losing the wars (44 minutes in): the wars aren't meant to be won; the wars are to transfer wealth from the proles to the owners of the for-profit military-industrial complex, via regressive taxation.
That's what they think they are doing anyways, but their posterity could have put that iron ore and fossil fuel to much better use than making potholes in wheat fields in the Ukraine or destroying apartment buildings ( and defenceless citizens) in Palestine..but if you could care less about posterity I guess it doesn't matter, ones own perception of ones own legacy and ones own ego( and political career) takes precedence sadly.
I am kind of sad, that the recording stoppped and I missed the back and forth. I already know a bit of the lectures of Dr. Wolff, so it's still nice to hearm but I wished I had more of a discussion or dialogue.
I've seen this guy before, if I remember his main point: "Socialism is when the government does stuff, and its more Socialism, the more stuff it does, and if it does a whole lotta stuff, it's communism."
bro the title led me to believe that you were gonna talk about marxism and Dr. Wolff's take on it all. I didn't realise you got him on the podcast! You should make that more clear, honestly the more people that hear this the better :)
I would recommend that you read further into Marx's theory of worker alienation if you have not already, it provides insight into why we hate working and how we can change this.
I dont pretend to be philosophical. It's interesting to me, because it's always felt wrong. Abuse by boss, constant anxiety over your own mood. There is a better way.
I liked the podcast, primarily because I enjoy Dr. Wolff a lot, but at times I forgot I wasn‘t listening to a lecture of his haha I enjoyed that you gave him enough room to explain his position, but I would sometimes have liked for you to interject with some observations of your own
i thought the same honestly. my presumption was he wanted to be respectful & allow him to finish his points, but wolff’s other doctorate is in Yappinese 😂
The notion of hegelian dialectics is not about finding contradiction in one being (in einem Sein/ perceived objekt) or one state of being. It is about either negation in said thing through the perception of a broader field of attributes or finding contradiction and developement in dynamics and historical movement. (this obviously is a narrowed down recollection of dialectics and especially the phenomenology) These Metaphysics were being made materialist through dialectic materialism by marx. What Dr. Wolf describes rather seems to be some form of Derridas Binaries.
I hope Sisyphus 55 will collaborate with other Marxists in the near future like Second Thought, Hakim, Yugopnik, Marxism Today, Midwestern Marx, etc. Leftist thought is refreshingly rigorous and deep.
Idk if this is exactly what he said but sport players themselves aren’t bought and sold it’s one team buying out the contract of a player of another team in order to offer them a contract for their own team. The player is not obligated to play for the team “buying” them. If a players contract runs out they are considered a “free agent” because it no longer costs any money to buy out their contract since it has run out. They are not however slaves which are owned as property and obligated by force to work for someone.
This is a great introduction to Marxism, though I would encourage intellectually curious people to also explore the ideas of Austrian Economics and Keynesian Economics. If you want to hear more from brilliant Dr. Richard Wolff, I'd recommend his appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast.
Strange imo that you say he is a "hit or miss," because I don't recall a single time he did not express his point eloquently and with clarity. His analysis does often stay on a 101 level for ease of understanding though, so actually reading Marx is recommended instead of just listening to him.
@@寂び侘び-b6s he does loves to ramble a bit and previously in his dabate with destiny he was giving different definitions of what it is being a marxist - conveniently changing it a bit every time to suit his arguments. it was also frustrating to listen to him giving a unrelated prologue before answering any questions destiny was asking him. also, he was unable to give any convincing explanations about how marxist economic policies are actually going to function in real life. I haven't seen this podcast yet though, so I'm going into this with an open mind, but I don't have much expectations.
He makes a great point about accumulation of power in the hands of the few and the contradictions it brings. But cooperatives won't save us. As much as I am a rabid leftist myself who is looking for ways to start or become a part of a cooperative, those companies aren't inherently beyond capitalism nor do they necessarily lead to a fairer society. Cooperatives are not immune to being profit-driven, and aren't the answer to monopolies and price-fixing.
Small portion of people are very motivated. An even smaller part of them are smart enough and in the right position to create something substantial. No matter the system, it will just pick winners and losers.
I agree with Marx mostly in his assessment of capitalism but I have my criticisms of his simple linear view of history from slave society to feudalism to capitalism to socialism as a bit eurocentric. The bronze age kingdoms of the middle east actually had top down economies similar to the USSR, China seems to have been more or less feudal from the beginning, slave society re-emerged in the American south, the Caribbean and Brazil. My point is history doesn't follow a set pattern like this necessarily.
he was actually only talking about europe with that line of history, he’s more-so eurocentric in that he didn’t extend his analysis beyond europe very often
@@blake1935Isn't the end of history also a very Hegelian idea that Marx pulls into the dialectic? Wasn't the Hegelian idea that geist would be realized without contradiction, much like communism is supposed to be cohesive and make economic antagonisms irrelevant (except people start to jump on status and other forms of hierarchical tension)?
His work has flaws that can be difficult to point out to those who have idolized him or his theories. Disclaimer so people don't come for my throat: not saying he's all wrong, just that he didn't achieve complete perfection
27:05 actually feudalism lasted in Europe until 2008 on the island of Sark, and also quite recently in Scotland. On an unrelated note, in 1990 a random French nuclear physicist attempted to take over Sark island with a semi-automatic rifle.
i think the problem with this is that no one wants to make big picture decisions about their workplace. if you wait tables at a restraunt, im sure the last thing you want to be doing is coming in early to talk about how to spend the business marketing budget and franchise oppurtunities. not to mention what if we hire someone new? then we have to split the revenue even further than what it already was, and what if not everyone agrees with who to hire
Interestingly enough, Dr. wolff is talking about all of this from a European/western point of view, some of the indigenous tribes of America didn't really have even a concept of ownership, and that is one of the ways they were oppressed by America. Just another point to think about
Needs are not only materialistic but also spiritual. One must never deny the soul as being a dynamo for becoming a whole in the summation of the individual. The path to this realm is beyond the everyday reality. Follow this path to enlightenment. Find many different sources.
6:21 as someone who is already entirely open to Marx, I’m tempted to say this is where the video actually starts. I was turned off by Wolff before hearing a compelling case for Marx. And I’m still rather put off by him. Even with the reputation Marx has in the west, I can’t get onboard with the approach of starting off by playing defense before actually speaking to what you’re defending. There’s something (as far as I’m concerned) inherently off about that. If you’re starting off by putting up walls, your listener will match you there.
Putting up the walls first before speaking about what you're defending makes more sense than attacking the ideas before you know what you're attacking. The former is a response to the latter. I don't see what's off about it. It's normal to have a disclaimer if you're saying something that you think might be unpopular, or that people have strong feelings about. Maybe it won't work on everyone, but that primer could be what gets some people to listen instead of closing the video immediately.
@@keenban "social hierarchy" is a very broad term, so broad that yeah I guess I agree? You could reduce all of marx's analysis to that, but it is such an uninformatice statement there is no reason to even mention it
I can't recall how many times Dr Wolff used the term "contradiction" in this talk. There is merit in exploring Yrjö Engeströms work that makes contradictions a principal driver in learning about and improving problematic situations though Change Laboratories.
Whenever I listen to Wolff I find it hard not to notice that he's selling an experience rather than a coherent set of ideas. The comparison to the romantic tribal society as he put it depends on the size. The comparison to the slavery part does not depend on the slavery part. A majority of people can also own a minority of people. The surplus could be negative. The payment could be positive or negative. Society can decide how to split the costs and rewards but it can't decide if something becomes a surplus or deficit. As he points out earlier, everything has pros and cons. You can't just compare the most romantic aspects of communism and then point at all the worst aspects of capitalism expecting anything other than selling an experience. He talks about slavery and other disgusting imagry for so long that you'd think he majored in creative writing rather than economics. I'm 25 mins in and he spent less than 10% of his talk on content and that content is just basic game theory but biased as fuck? But even that's wrong. It's less of a "contradiction" and more of strategies, genes, memes, etc adapting to the environment aka game theory or in this PARTICULAR case, Systems-Learning. Also, his definition of slavery can and will exist REGARDLESS of economic system because the fundamental economic constraints simply decide to whom or what we are enslaved to, and we all already know mob rule sucks too. It all sucks. "It blows up when the slaves say we're done" - Does poli-sci agree? Do non-human animals that are also subject to systems-learning agree? Do non-animal organisms agree? NO? Well shit then. He's selling a fucking experience, and a lie. He's pointing at a person who graduated college and is like "your dog, too, can be a nuclear physicist" Get the fuck out of here wtf kind of logic is that? Holy fuck. Does he listen to the things that come out of his mouth? Yeah, I agree with the pre-amble. Capitalism is shit. I even think that communism can be, and WILL be less shit assuming AI doesn't kill us all. But all he's doing is being a fucking weasel as if every single thing he says doesn't also hit back at communism with a relatively equal, and historically, harder force. 35:00 wtf is wrong with immigrants? What's wrong with economic migration? What's wrong with hiring out of country? There are both pros and cons to this, but the FACT that he's just saying these things because it's politically savvy with his LISTENERS means he knows 100%, he fucking knows, he's not being an economist right now. Holy fuck. I have so many questions about all the things mentioned like comparative pros/cons, issues that each system utterly fails at addressing, misunderstandings of capabilities. All he's talking about is pros for one side cons for the other. One system's failures. Misunderstandings of CURRENT moral psychology? 36:00 the less money your workers will have to spend in their own country?... WTF does he think 'money' is? Also, your own country isn't the only place to sell your shit?? Also, if the money supply drops, he has to make a case regarding how the PRICE cannot also drop otherwise his "you can't sell your output" doesn't fukcing work??? Holy fuck. I have so many questions. Does he answer anything ever? ????? 38:00 "in 2008 it bit us in the rear end." fucking MISalignment of beliefs reality does that! THAT'S ALL IT IS. Holy fuck. He didn't point out an economic problem. He pointed out literally the fact that when you make a mistake, a mistake is made!! God fuck! There's no fucking way you don't see any of this bullshit???
![Understanding Marxism: Q&A with Richard D. Wolff [June 2019]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eU-AkeOyiOQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![Understanding Marxism: Q&A with Richard D. Wolff [June 2019]](/img/tr.png)
There are very few humans alive today that can explain Marxist ideas in such an easy to understand way. Absolutely love Wolff!
True. He doesn't go beyond theory, the only way Marxism makes sense.
Yes!! This is one of the best explanations of Marxism I’ve seen
I also find vivek chibber to be incredibly insightful on the topic, but I do agree
@@mindlander He went beyond theory when he mentioned workers cooperatives and other similar things
@@mindlander he's not into revolutionary politics. His works aren't analysing american material conditions to do a revolution like lenin or mao.
That's why your smug comment is stupid. Cause he'll teach others who will be able to analyse america and do revolution after achieving critical conditions
This is one of the best, most convincing, most thorough, yet simple explanations of Marxism I’ve seen.
I like how he said the US is fighting a war in Ukraine
When you thought Sisyphus couldn't possibly get any more based
Opposite of based
@@dirtydeeds4free553 L
@@dirtydeeds4free553 awww you wanna defend the headless monsters of capitalism after we bring the guillotine 🔪
@@dirtydeeds4free553 ya muva
@@dirtydeeds4free553 ratio
Noticing in this how funny Wolff can be - the delivery of "you are, to use a technical term, screwed" utterly creased me 🤣
Professor Wolff communicates so clearly. Love his talks
hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaa
@@deenzmartin6695That's it? Nothing else to add? 'K, thanks for participating.
When I saw this pop up in my feed I went insane. I was so excited to watch this podcast! Richard Wolff is such a brilliant Marxist educator.
This was a great listen. I had no idea how Marxism philosophy actually worked, and I learned a lot.
There's really good short materials. If you need help. Manifesto is very easy and tells you the basic terms and such.
Reform or revolution is good too.
Then there's family private property and the working class if u wanna learn about how property rights and patriarchy was created.
I would also like to recommend "Why Socialism?" by Einstein, "the Principles of Communism" by Engels, and "Blackshirts and Reds" by Parenti. The former two are short and easy reads and great introductions, the latter is a longer work that goes into dispelling some of the historical myths about the former Socialist experiments.
Some more good listens w/ Richard Wolff as a guest (note: this first Chapo episode listed is a great intro to Wolff as a whole):
- Chapo Trap House #186 2/18/18
- The End of the Myth #16 2/20/22
- Homebrewed Christianity “Why Marx? Why now?” 2022
- Chapo Trap House #713
3/9/23
A philosophy of any description doesn’t “work”. Philosophy doesn’t answer any questions, it just makes sure you’re asking the right questions
@@buddhull I would say his interview with Lex Fridman is the best: th-cam.com/video/o0Bi-q89j5Y/w-d-xo.html&
I think that video title should be "Marxism (by Richard Wolff)". Because this was more like a lecture than a dialogue or interview.
Well it was a podcast so...
Yeah, as someone who likes Wolff and credits him as my intro to Marxism back in 2016, I was sort of hoping this wouldn't be as polemical as his own show. I think Sisyphus55 can ask really good questions and would've loved to hear more dialogue between the two of them.
@@carterwelker7782 where would you suggest going to after hearing proff tell the same intro lectures over and over (and loving every minute)?
I once again urge y'all to familiarize with Dr. Wolff work if you're still interested in Marx's ideas and want to know more. He is knowledgeable and has this gift to explain topics of his expertise with awesome ease and humor. Me personally started studying Marx with him and never found anyone else who explains these ideas to newbies, and people who didn't (somehow) heard about Marx, better. Stuff what Dr. Wolff is talking about is very eye-opening, especially in broad daylight of propaganda and simple naivness of people in our very interesting times.
Would you recommend his written works, or some videos on TH-cam specifically?
@@ThePathOfEudaimonia Personally I never gave his "Democracy at Work" a shot cause lack of time and motivation, but i got interested especially in his videos - debates and lectures. For start i would recommend his lecture at ACLU of Southern California. Lex Fridman invited him on his podcast too and i liked it very much.
@@martinez8826 Thanks! I'll check it out. I also watched his conversation with Lex, and liked it a lot.
I finally found my hero, I love you Dr. Richard D. Wolff
I remember him speaking at my community college a few years ago. Such an outstanding brilliant speaking, but too many people asking basic cookie cutter questions, I wish I didn’t have terrible anxiety back then to meet and talk with him.
Wolff does a good job explaining marxism. I do wish he actually engaged with the idea of capitalist realism and the commercialization of anti-capitalism rather than dismissing them as just contradictions that will eventually go away.
I’m not sure you got the main point then: contradictions always happen, no matter whether you define your starting part as ‘good’, and your desired change as ‘bad’. Hopefully, those contradictions become the choice of ice cream, and not whether you live or die.
but it is a contradiction, for in trying to commercialize it and profit off of it, it is spreading the very ideas amongst the populace that undermine it. It chips away at it's own foundation in it's relentless pursuit of profit.
I have at this point listened to 3 talks of proffesor Wolff and I struggle to understand what does he propose for the ideal transition from capitalism to socialism without the intervention of institutional power, which I belive he doesn't advocate for, and neither am I as, in my opinion, involment of goverment leads to stalinism, maoism ect.
@@psychoboo955 It will require institutional power, or at least that institutions do not intervene in the transition. The causes for intense authoritarianism is complex and multi-faceted, and one aspect that cannot be overlooked is societal history, which applies for both russia and china. No country is innately resistant to authoritarianism but the exact shape of that beast will differ in accordance with a whole host a variables. A strong government that is not authoritarian in the manner of stalin/mao is absolutely possible as a base attribute is about the extreme consolidation of power into a single office, it is only this that causes President to equal King, where pre-existing laws do not matter, only the will of the king does.
But they are just contradictions that will go away according to the Marxist theory. Capitalist realism is fundamentally opposed to human nature, because as humans we are always changing and reorganizing ourselves to best suit our needs and interests. Commercialization of anti-capitalist thinking works the same way, ultimately the producers and consumers of this market rely on the same system of commerce that they are purporting to criticize. These contradictions will eventually go away when the workers become conscious of them, causing the workers to organize to overthrow the old system and replace it with one that doesn’t allow for them to happen in the first place.
gotta love the concise introduction of contradictions in systems by Dr. Wolff
I can’t believe I was actually able to understand the conversation this time! I feel like one of the grown-ups today! Sisyphus and Dr Wolff, thank you so much for this one!
I felt the red coming up in you for a while ahahah
Keep up the good work, Wolff is such a great guest
I enjoy Dr. Wolff. Every time I listen to him or read his content he teaches me new and useful things. I lump Dr. Wolff together with Noam Chomsky, and Michael Parenti as intellectuals who are incredibly useful for critiquing the USA's sociological, political, and economic hegemony. I must read and listen to much more of their content, but the three combined offer lifetimes worth of very useful content.
Parenti in particular was important to me. His 1986 lecture on imperialism could change a liberal to a revolutionary in an hour.
@@alpacario336 going to listen to that rn. Thank you for putting me on.
Noam Chomsky is iffy and oversteps his expertise, but he's still got some good points.
Chomsky says the NATO bombing in Yugoslavia “for 76 days and nights” was justified. He is wrong on many topics and I wouldn’t lump him together with Parenti. The rest of this I agree with 🙏
@@gtasaintsI’m sure they have issues with things that both Chomsky and Parenti have said but they’re talking purely about criticising the US, something that both Chomsky and Parenti (according to the original commenter) both have very good takes (and some not so good ones) on. Of course both thinkers have their benefits and their flaws outside of criticising the US but I wouldn’t really object to grouping them together in this specific context.
There is no way my favorite economist and TH-camr collaborated
That’s what I’m saying 😍
I like Wolff, but for anyone interested in a stronger, updated, account of the transition to capitalism (also Marxian) these have been really helpful for me!
The Origins of Capitalism: Ellen Meiksins Wood
Case Studies in the Origins of Capitalism: Post, Lafrance et.al
And some further complications on Capitalism's relation to slavery, A Theory of Capitalist Slavery: John Clegg
If anyone wants help finding a link to any of the texts I can help :)
This Richard Wolff guy has really been getting a lot of notice recently. I bet his channel will blow up soon. One of my favorite content creators...
Lol
Never knew I'd see these two together. This is awesome.
This was very enlightening! He's explained contradiction better than anyone I've seen cover it!
Lovely podcast.
Don’t really agree w/ Wolff about China and Ukraine, but stil learned a ton from him.
You can tell he’s an amazing speaker because he explains extremely complicated things in such a clear and comprehensive way.
why do you not agree with him on those subjects in specific?
@@keenban Can't speak for the commentator obviously, but the idea of a unipolar world with a hegemonic empire is historically simplistic at best and not convincing with specific regard to China's RL development and global strategy.
And with regard to Ukraine, Wolff simplifies the war in a way that fits in the declining empire narrative, besides not crediting the fact that it is also part of another (USSR/Russia) declining empire's narrative, it is obviously a corollary of other contingent developments, which aren't intentionally lead by US politics and its hegemonic ambitions. The fact that the Ukraine case is now exploited to some extent to weaken a geo-strategic enemy doesn't mean it's causally a necessary result of that interest, which is however what Wolff and other big talkers of geopolitics claim.
@@domsjuk The USSR doesn t exist brother, and Ukraine was an SSR. The war in Ukraine is a product of capitalism fighting, it always ends this way. Putin wants the gas in Ukraine and to ensure that only Russia can supply Europe with gas, USA wants to kick Russia and take over the market. This is the truth. Always follow the money.
NO WAY! Great collab!
Amazing podcast, Dr. Wolff is great, it's the first time I hear of him and I will seek more information. Thank you for bringing it.
I love anytime I can hear Dr. Wolff speak, thank you both. When you thought Sisyphus couldn't possibly get any more based.
YOOOO the collab I never knew I needed
I love anytime I can hear Dr. Wolff speak, thank you both
It's so funny how long Prof Wolff can go on about the evolution of economic systems and the characteristics of them. I was happily surprised to see him pop up on your podcast, even if he was long-winded.
I feel better when sisyphus posts. And the more he posts the better I feel. And if he posts a lot of videos then that's a cozy binge session.
Prof Wolff always a great guest!
I love his opening statement: "Stop listening when someone says that >>this
Richard's way of speaking reminds me of Ben Lewis, the professor from the movie Accepted. The information was great and made me wonder whats next for western ideology after capitalism.
I think that Prof. missed a crucial moment. Past socioeconomical systems fell not just because exploited masses had enough of it, but because each system inevitably gave birth to a revolutionary economic force inside that built a new more progressive system. E.g. for a long time in history traders remained traders, until they amassed enough wealth and power to realise as a capitalist class. And feudal system of course were suppressing and restricting the emerging capitalist class. But the fall was inevitable because capitalism was economically superior. Same thing with a system to supplant capitalism: it must emerge from within and be economically superior for the masses to support it through a revolution.
Lol. No.
You just turn the masses into slaves so they "work for each other".
It’s a good reflexion to see that the change dynamic comes from the inside of the system ( it’s pretty logical), but from what you said in your comment, it seems to me that « the people being fed up » and « a revolutionary system » are not mutually exclusive: it’s because the people are fed up that they give birth to a new system with time trough out a/multiples revolutions. :)
@@ymoonysun9130 Yeah, not mutually exclusive, but two factors being combined leading to the systemic change.
So people with wealth, traders, wanted more wealth and thus, became capitalists.
@@ymoonysun9130 i never ever saw the people actually performing a successful revolution, rather the people are used by said emerging new system to topple down the old one
It's an interesting pattern that educated people find Marxism/Socialism/Communism eventually.
Yeah, the people that come up with intellectual justifications for imperialism are *super trustworthy* ✅
@@shelbyspeaks3287 That's Liberalism and Social Democrats
@@shelbyspeaks3287these belief systems are antithetical to achieving imperialistic goals. did you even listen?
@@the_travelingbreeze i would extend it to any so called communists who maintain commodity form, property, etc. or claims to find revolutionary aspects in the petty bourgeois.
It's also very interesting that uneducated people defend Capitalism with their teeth, without even knowing what Marxism, Socialism and Communism are.
Until some of them get education about these matters, of course, eventually!!🤗
This duo for an hour?! Holy shit, I love it!
Wolf goes hard. Glory to the proletariat.
Awesome podcast. I’m a huge fan of Richard “Big D” Wolff so this was a great way start my day. Thank you both!
I laughed when the footage cut out lol with the Sisyphus doodles guys eye bags and look of bewilderment really adds a nice touch of absurdism. Actually didn’t mind that there’s no footage just for that chuckle alone
Love Richard Wolff! Great he is featured her to reach a broader and young audience.
damn!! definitely did not expect this. but hell yes.
re: about losing the wars (44 minutes in): the wars aren't meant to be won; the wars are to transfer wealth from the proles to the owners of the for-profit military-industrial complex, via regressive taxation.
That's what they think they are doing anyways, but their posterity could have put that iron ore and fossil fuel to much better use than making potholes in wheat fields in the Ukraine or destroying apartment buildings ( and defenceless citizens) in Palestine..but if you could care less about posterity I guess it doesn't matter, ones own perception of ones own legacy and ones own ego( and political career) takes precedence sadly.
Freudian slip at 4:48
Knowledge is power, never stop seeking
Dr Wolff is so knowledgeable.
I love listening to Professor Wolf
I am kind of sad, that the recording stoppped and I missed the back and forth. I already know a bit of the lectures of Dr. Wolff, so it's still nice to hearm but I wished I had more of a discussion or dialogue.
I can't believe you weren't actually a literal stick man this whole time!!
This is just an AI generated avatar. Don't be fooled!
I've seen this guy before, if I remember his main point: "Socialism is when the government does stuff, and its more Socialism, the more stuff it does, and if it does a whole lotta stuff, it's communism."
Ah yes, Richard "Stuff" Wolff
he was making fun of those who think like that, ofc that's not his point of view
it was a joke 😐
@Temple Hey
I hope those that liked Alek's comment remembered it was a joke. It is a political philosophy meme at this point.
ROCK ROBOT ROCK
Awesome! Thanks, y'all, I really enjoyed the discourse 🤟😁
bro the title led me to believe that you were gonna talk about marxism and Dr. Wolff's take on it all. I didn't realise you got him on the podcast! You should make that more clear, honestly the more people that hear this the better :)
Great pod. Thanks
I could probably listen to Wolff speak for 12 hours straight
the collab i’ve been waiting for all my life
Man, I can feel this. I'm 41 I hate working, and this is what i needed
Communism gonna make u not have to work?
I would recommend that you read further into Marx's theory of worker alienation if you have not already, it provides insight into why we hate working and how we can change this.
I dont pretend to be philosophical. It's interesting to me, because it's always felt wrong. Abuse by boss, constant anxiety over your own mood. There is a better way.
Just give me all your money, guns, property, and autonomy and I promise to create a society that looks fair... To me!
@@jacobjohnson2714 "disarming the working class must be rejected by any means necessary" Karl Marx. I bet you didn t expect that did you?
I liked the podcast, primarily because I enjoy Dr. Wolff a lot, but at times I forgot I wasn‘t listening to a lecture of his haha
I enjoyed that you gave him enough room to explain his position, but I would sometimes have liked for you to interject with some observations of your own
i thought the same honestly. my presumption was he wanted to be respectful & allow him to finish his points, but wolff’s other doctorate is in Yappinese 😂
So many positive comments about Wolff...
The notion of hegelian dialectics is not about finding contradiction in one being (in einem Sein/ perceived objekt) or one state of being. It is about either negation in said thing through the perception of a broader field of attributes or finding contradiction and developement in dynamics and historical movement. (this obviously is a narrowed down recollection of dialectics and especially the phenomenology)
These Metaphysics were being made materialist through dialectic materialism by marx. What Dr. Wolf describes rather seems to be some form of Derridas Binaries.
Thank you for this
I hope Sisyphus 55 will collaborate with other Marxists in the near future like Second Thought, Hakim, Yugopnik, Marxism Today, Midwestern Marx, etc. Leftist thought is refreshingly rigorous and deep.
Hakim is a fucking dibshit, yugopnik is the only based one and that's because he's balkan and not some leftiod austrian with colored hair.
I don't agree with Dr. Wolff, but can appreciate hearing passionate and intelligent people make a case for something they are dedicated to.
Right On! Great Interview!
Idk if this is exactly what he said but sport players themselves aren’t bought and sold it’s one team buying out the contract of a player of another team in order to offer them a contract for their own team. The player is not obligated to play for the team “buying” them. If a players contract runs out they are considered a “free agent” because it no longer costs any money to buy out their contract since it has run out. They are not however slaves which are owned as property and obligated by force to work for someone.
I love listening to Dr Wolff... he is right. capitalism is failing humanity.. we need to change/evolve it. socialism FTW!
Bruh it's LIBERALISM that's failing not capitalism, wtf are you gonna do without capitalism???
@@shelbyspeaks3287Legislate workplace democracy.
have fun starving under your dictatorship!!!
This is a great introduction to Marxism, though I would encourage intellectually curious people to also explore the ideas of Austrian Economics and Keynesian Economics. If you want to hear more from brilliant Dr. Richard Wolff, I'd recommend his appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast.
Austrian Economics is batshit insane but I agree, read about it
Excited for this talk! Wolff is often hit or miss, both as a guest and in his explanations - but definitely interesting and worthwhile!
true i was a bit nervous, his debate with destiny was embarrassing but this was pretty good
Strange imo that you say he is a "hit or miss," because I don't recall a single time he did not express his point eloquently and with clarity. His analysis does often stay on a 101 level for ease of understanding though, so actually reading Marx is recommended instead of just listening to him.
@@ski6035yeah because destiny made an infantile fool out of himself
@@寂び侘び-b6s he does loves to ramble a bit and previously in his dabate with destiny he was giving different definitions of what it is being a marxist - conveniently changing it a bit every time to suit his arguments. it was also frustrating to listen to him giving a unrelated prologue before answering any questions destiny was asking him. also, he was unable to give any convincing explanations about how marxist economic policies are actually going to function in real life. I haven't seen this podcast yet though, so I'm going into this with an open mind, but I don't have much expectations.
@@ski6035 fr that one PS5 question at the end 😭
the definitive source for this explanation.
This is a great podcast, thanks
Awesome glad I watched it 😊
awesome thanks you two
He makes a great point about accumulation of power in the hands of the few and the contradictions it brings. But cooperatives won't save us. As much as I am a rabid leftist myself who is looking for ways to start or become a part of a cooperative, those companies aren't inherently beyond capitalism nor do they necessarily lead to a fairer society. Cooperatives are not immune to being profit-driven, and aren't the answer to monopolies and price-fixing.
Small portion of people are very motivated. An even smaller part of them are smart enough and in the right position to create something substantial. No matter the system, it will just pick winners and losers.
This channel has brought me peace. I love it so much.
I agree with Marx mostly in his assessment of capitalism but I have my criticisms of his simple linear view of history from slave society to feudalism to capitalism to socialism as a bit eurocentric. The bronze age kingdoms of the middle east actually had top down economies similar to the USSR, China seems to have been more or less feudal from the beginning, slave society re-emerged in the American south, the Caribbean and Brazil. My point is history doesn't follow a set pattern like this necessarily.
he was actually only talking about europe with that line of history, he’s more-so eurocentric in that he didn’t extend his analysis beyond europe very often
Marx is 100% eurocentric because of his assumption that the revolution starts from the industrially developed, which was wrong.
And of course there's never any mentions of stuff like the Mit'a system or Kula ring which exist outside of this eurocentric dichotomy of master/slave
@@blake1935Isn't the end of history also a very Hegelian idea that Marx pulls into the dialectic? Wasn't the Hegelian idea that geist would be realized without contradiction, much like communism is supposed to be cohesive and make economic antagonisms irrelevant (except people start to jump on status and other forms of hierarchical tension)?
His work has flaws that can be difficult to point out to those who have idolized him or his theories.
Disclaimer so people don't come for my throat: not saying he's all wrong, just that he didn't achieve complete perfection
Great listen
27:05 actually feudalism lasted in Europe until 2008 on the island of Sark, and also quite recently in Scotland.
On an unrelated note, in 1990 a random French nuclear physicist attempted to take over Sark island with a semi-automatic rifle.
Nuclear physicist here, it was me
Wonderful
Bruh you got Dr. Wolff?! Nice
i think the problem with this is that no one wants to make big picture decisions about their workplace. if you wait tables at a restraunt, im sure the last thing you want to be doing is coming in early to talk about how to spend the business marketing budget and franchise oppurtunities. not to mention what if we hire someone new? then we have to split the revenue even further than what it already was, and what if not everyone agrees with who to hire
that is another contradiction that is grounded on the basis that money is absolutely central towards economic systems
No. You come in and demand for the same work that budget is paid to you.
I appreciate that the podcast pretty much just platforms the man
You have an amazing voice and such a kind face. A kindness that has seen much sorrow yet perseveres.
Thank you for being here, friend.
Interestingly enough, Dr. wolff is talking about all of this from a European/western point of view, some of the indigenous tribes of America didn't really have even a concept of ownership, and that is one of the ways they were oppressed by America.
Just another point to think about
Wow! Even I a novice in leftist ideas know Wolf has a great reputation as a scholar in Marxism! Nice get for your podcast sisyphus!
read wage labour and capital please, it s very short and very eye opening.
Brilliantly based.
Needs are not only materialistic but also spiritual. One must never deny the soul as being a dynamo for becoming a whole in the summation of the individual. The path to this realm is beyond the everyday reality. Follow this path to enlightenment. Find many different sources.
Really enjoyed this interview. Keep it up sad happy face! Or happy sad face Sisyphus! Great mind either way
6:21 as someone who is already entirely open to Marx, I’m tempted to say this is where the video actually starts.
I was turned off by Wolff before hearing a compelling case for Marx. And I’m still rather put off by him.
Even with the reputation Marx has in the west, I can’t get onboard with the approach of starting off by playing defense before actually speaking to what you’re defending.
There’s something (as far as I’m concerned) inherently off about that.
If you’re starting off by putting up walls, your listener will match you there.
Putting up the walls first before speaking about what you're defending makes more sense than attacking the ideas before you know what you're attacking. The former is a response to the latter.
I don't see what's off about it. It's normal to have a disclaimer if you're saying something that you think might be unpopular, or that people have strong feelings about.
Maybe it won't work on everyone, but that primer could be what gets some people to listen instead of closing the video immediately.
This is a top tier video.
I know this is random AF, but may you please do a video on Critical Thinking?
Marxism is not an ideology as it is a critique and analysis of capitalism
More broadly, it is a lens of viewing social hierarchy.
He does not ever claim it is an ideology throughout the talk
@@vin2620 its a general statement that I just like saying because literally everybody has that misconception, including some commenters here
@@keenban "social hierarchy" is a very broad term, so broad that yeah I guess I agree? You could reduce all of marx's analysis to that, but it is such an uninformatice statement there is no reason to even mention it
lmao wut
have zizek on next
*Sniiiifff
And so on and so on...😅
I can't recall how many times Dr Wolff used the term "contradiction" in this talk. There is merit in exploring Yrjö Engeströms work that makes contradictions a principal driver in learning about and improving problematic situations though Change Laboratories.
Contradictions are inherent to Hegelian and Marxist dialectical theories.
Yooooo Ive been getting into Dick Wolf lately, thanks to Tik Tok, so this kinda feels like a crossover episode to me
What is this a crossover episode?
can't believe Sisyphus got stonewalled on a single question by the "socialism is when the government does stuff" guy 😂
Whenever I listen to Wolff I find it hard not to notice that he's selling an experience rather than a coherent set of ideas. The comparison to the romantic tribal society as he put it depends on the size. The comparison to the slavery part does not depend on the slavery part. A majority of people can also own a minority of people. The surplus could be negative. The payment could be positive or negative. Society can decide how to split the costs and rewards but it can't decide if something becomes a surplus or deficit. As he points out earlier, everything has pros and cons. You can't just compare the most romantic aspects of communism and then point at all the worst aspects of capitalism expecting anything other than selling an experience. He talks about slavery and other disgusting imagry for so long that you'd think he majored in creative writing rather than economics. I'm 25 mins in and he spent less than 10% of his talk on content and that content is just basic game theory but biased as fuck? But even that's wrong. It's less of a "contradiction" and more of strategies, genes, memes, etc adapting to the environment aka game theory or in this PARTICULAR case, Systems-Learning. Also, his definition of slavery can and will exist REGARDLESS of economic system because the fundamental economic constraints simply decide to whom or what we are enslaved to, and we all already know mob rule sucks too. It all sucks.
"It blows up when the slaves say we're done" - Does poli-sci agree? Do non-human animals that are also subject to systems-learning agree? Do non-animal organisms agree? NO? Well shit then. He's selling a fucking experience, and a lie. He's pointing at a person who graduated college and is like "your dog, too, can be a nuclear physicist" Get the fuck out of here wtf kind of logic is that?
Holy fuck. Does he listen to the things that come out of his mouth? Yeah, I agree with the pre-amble. Capitalism is shit. I even think that communism can be, and WILL be less shit assuming AI doesn't kill us all. But all he's doing is being a fucking weasel as if every single thing he says doesn't also hit back at communism with a relatively equal, and historically, harder force.
35:00 wtf is wrong with immigrants? What's wrong with economic migration? What's wrong with hiring out of country? There are both pros and cons to this, but the FACT that he's just saying these things because it's politically savvy with his LISTENERS means he knows 100%, he fucking knows, he's not being an economist right now. Holy fuck. I have so many questions about all the things mentioned like comparative pros/cons, issues that each system utterly fails at addressing, misunderstandings of capabilities. All he's talking about is pros for one side cons for the other. One system's failures. Misunderstandings of CURRENT moral psychology?
36:00 the less money your workers will have to spend in their own country?... WTF does he think 'money' is? Also, your own country isn't the only place to sell your shit?? Also, if the money supply drops, he has to make a case regarding how the PRICE cannot also drop otherwise his "you can't sell your output" doesn't fukcing work??? Holy fuck. I have so many questions. Does he answer anything ever? ?????
38:00 "in 2008 it bit us in the rear end." fucking MISalignment of beliefs reality does that! THAT'S ALL IT IS. Holy fuck. He didn't point out an economic problem. He pointed out literally the fact that when you make a mistake, a mistake is made!! God fuck! There's no fucking way you don't see any of this bullshit???
Keep up the good work, Sisyphus 55.
I think I have just been successfully converted to Marxism
Professor Wolff is arguably the most knowledgeable economist alive.
😂 the opposite actually. He is a lying crank with virtually nothing right about economics
Woohoo! Love Wolff!
more of a lecture than a conversation, but i still liked it
Oh wow Richard Wolff! I know him from his marxism capitalism discussion with Destiny, it was fascinating
Where is the video?