Why Unions and Worker Coops Should Ally Posted on 2020-07-18 by Richard Wolff, Democracy at Work This question comes from Daniel Rhoades and he asks a wonderful question framed as I like them: historically. He asks: wouldn’t it be a good idea for labor unions here, in the United States, to follow the example of what Read more…
Canada’s gross inequality Published 2020-06-18 Dan Healing, The Canadian Press The concentration of wealth among Canada’s richest one per cent is deeper than previously believed, according to a federal government report based on a new modelling approach. The top one per cent of Canada’s families hold about 25.6 per cent of the wealth — roughly Read more…
Contributions of Karl Marx (IV) Posted on 2020-06-05, Richard D. Wolff, Democracy at Work Welcome to part 4 of this four-part series on the work and contribution of Karl Marx. I won’t repeat what we have said at the beginning of the other segments, because you’ve heard it already, and you know it anyway, we Read more…
Contributions of Karl Marx (III) Posted on 2020-06-05, Richard D. Wolff, Democracy at Work Welcome to part three of this four-part series on the work and contributions of Karl Marx. Once again, let me remind you that the point in purpose here is not to have you agree or disagree with what Marx wrote, but Read more…
Contributions of Karl Marx (II) Posted on 2020-06-05, Richard D. Wolff, Democracy at Work Once again, I just want to say that the reason, we look at Marx’s contribution is that he was the leading, and remains the leading critic of the economic system we live under, and therefore to understand his critical perspective is Read more…
Contributions of Karl Marx (I) Posted on 2020-06-05, Richard D. Wolff, Democracy at Work Welcome to part one of a four-part series on the work and the contribution made by Karl Marx. We do this now because it’s the 200th anniversary of Karl Marx’s birth, but, of course, the real reason we do it, is Read more…
I want to talk about one aspect of capitalism. How people are managed who are stressed out by capitalism. Stressed out or threatened by the damage to our environment that capitalism has so deeply imprinted on us and the way capitalism seems to make consumption the goal, the antidote if you like for the stress of everyday life and that’s the part I want to get to.
Everybody is against smoking, even the smokers themselves. But who already is hooked up, he or she can not quit. The key to quit a nation of smoking is to stop the supply of new people who gets hooked on to smoke. The youngsters. Right now, nothing works. Not the astronomical prices of cigarettes, nor the age limit. All our antismoking policies are like washing our feet in socks. You can do that, but it is not too effective. We need real change. Let us stop the supply of people who can get hooked on to cigarettes.
There are two main forces at play in the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the economy. On the one side, many people are withdrawing from the work force due to the illness. So, there is a blow to the production of goods and services country wide, worldwide. On the other side, businesses cannot function without workforce. Tools, equipment and raw materials do not produce profits by themselves. Labour does. No labour, no profits.
The article is talking about the US capitalism and situation. I’d like to quickly repeat what I have said before is that the Canadian capitalism is different from the US but not at its core. The Canadian government’s response to the crises was very different to that of the US government’s and deserves some credit for it.