Socialism Explained by Prof Richard Wolff

But to stop homeopathy from proliferating, you DO have to stop buying it. Knowing stuff isn't the same as doing stuff.

 

And that 'understanding' achieves what, exactly?

Action must accompany it or it's worse than useless.

 

And what fake socialists (anyone living on the fat of capitalism but who calls themselves socialist) have also created in defence of socialism.

 

Thats great. But people can do that now. That business model is practiced on a voluntary basis right here in America today.

 

If co-ops are socialism, why aren't you out starting lots of co-ops? Why must you force everyone to conform to your moral framework in order to prove it's efficacy?

 

Yes but in an capitalist market under a ruling class. They have to go. Defend their existence if you must.

 

I'll answer on behalf of the Cafe Socialists. They're not out doing that, because they don't actually want it.

They will always lobby for a system which (in their fantasy world) allows them to live like capitalists, without having to do anything personally to help. And they want it without having to feel guilt about it. In other words they want govt to take up their slack, so they can enjoy the boons of capitalism guilt free.

 

First year university, accounting and economics. Different types of costs are set against revenue and the ability to borrow or raise capital. I thought the slogan was missing the reality that businesses have to cover the cost of capital.

P.S. "Non-productive employees" are as much the fault of the business, government regulations, and manipulated markets (the auto industry...) as it is the workers.

 

Which nation has or is currently practicing socialism without a ruling class?

Im with you that it needs to go. I just don't see socialism as the vehicle to get it done.

 

Here's the problem with the Left. They think the private sector exists to provide jobs and bennies. No, the private sector exists for one thing and one thing only, profit!

 

You're stuck on the word 'socialism'. It's just expanding democracy into the workplace.

 

If it's "just" expanding democracy into the workplace, why does it need to be done by force? Why don't workers band together and form businesses run by democratic means? Healthier, happier, better paid workers would be the result, right? Or can they not compete in the marketplace against other structures? Or, perhaps, democracy is just a bad idea for running anything. Ever learn what happens to the world's first democracy?

 

More importantly, they only exist because We The People demand that they exist. They cannot exist in a vacuum, so all the Left has to do is stop trading with the private sector. 50% of the population giving up their capitalist ways overnight would absolutely put an end to 'billionaires' and 'corporatism'. It's just sooo odd that the Left isn't doing that though ..... it's almost as though they're not serious.

 

Good work ... hold those phony little feet to the fire

 

Ahh...another Richard Wolff acolyte attempting to redefine the classic Marxist use of the word "socialism" by attempting to expand LTV under the guise of "democracy" and "public ownership".

First, solve the economic calculation problem and get back to me (yes, your brand of socialism still applies) I've posted this to hundreds of you, and no one has presented a suitable resolution.

Second, the Marxist Theory of LTV (as applied to your brand of "socialism") still makes it a Marxist Theory which I'm turn makes it incompatible with free market trade.

 

You might try a rational question or discussion.

 

"Non-productive employees" are those who do not produce anything that can be sold for business income. Think of people like payroll and HR personnel, accountants, janitors, finance workers, security.

 

Who's doing it by force?

 

Marx never proposed any theory that he called "the labor theory of value". That concoction is an invention of capitalist ideologues who think they have a "gotchya" on Marx. But Marx was far more detailed than you would like to believe. He analyzed and detailed-out several different types of value and how they interplay and inter-relate, including Individual Value, Social Value, Use Value, Exchange Value, and Intrinsic Value.

Regarding democracy, capitalist "democracy" consists of voting every few years. Meanwhile the biggest portion of your life other than sleeping is spent working, and on the job there is NO democracy.... --you do what you're told to do. But in a socialist business (co-op) every worker-member has one vote and they vote on who the CEO shall be, who Board members shall be, what to do with the profits, and everything else about the business. So clearly there is FAR MORE democracy in the life of a person living within a socialist setting than there is for a person in a capitalist setting.

There is no "economic calculation problem in socialism. No socialist arrangement or even the economies of those countries that have attempted to create socialist economies have ever found any "economic calculation" was an insuperable difficulty of their economies. In fact, Mises admitted that his theories including those associated with "the economic calculation problem" were not derived from any actual experience but rather he essentially made them up.

 

The basis for effective action that does not have unintended consequences worse than the initial problem.

Action without understanding is far more likely to be worse than useless, not to mention self-defeating.

 

Even better than merely not buying it myself is persuading others to stop buying it, too.

 

The very best way you can do that is to lead by example. No one will believe you if you're not walking the talk.

 

Oh, I'm definitely walking the walk.

 

Yes, against great obstacles that capitalist startups don't face, like a favorable legalized form of business (co-ops mostly have to adapt to LLC configurations), lack of ready access to capital markets and business loans, absence of subsidies, national organizations like the SBA to assist them, etc.

 

That's not a factual analysis. It's just a partisan smear based on hateful intolerance that is more of a reflection on you than on socialists or co-ops.