are we really “stuck with capitalism?”
I know a lot of Elizabeth Warren types; people who are comfortable with capitalism, who say they like it, but say they want it to be regulated and to be more fair. I am not an economist, not even close, but I see capitalism crushing most people and only a very small handful of people are making a lot of money. (I suspect the obscenely wealthy may not be morally or spiritually well off, but they’ve got the money the workers have earned.) I’ve usually said I’m a left libertarian (social anarchist) but I always assumed we’re stuck with capitalism, so I want capitalism that’s very, very regulated so unchecked greed doesn’t rule.
The problem for me is that I can’t even *imagine* any other system than the one we have now. And, it turns out, I’m not alone in this.
I heard a podcast the other day where an economist explained that it’s a lie that we are stuck with capitalism, and that changing the systems entirely is not impossible.
I hope you will consider listening to at least the first 25ish minutes of this recording (linked below). It has framed our economic system in a way that makes it feel much more malleable than I’ve ever felt it was before. (I’m a feelings person, not an economist or logistician or anything linear like that…) There are lots of ways to watch/listen to this. I listened to the whole thing using Apple podcasts.
From the podcast’s description: After briefly walking us through the history of contemporary economic systems from feudalism to capitalism, Marxist Economist Richard Wolff explains why we must move past capitalism before it’s too late, and how to achieve that transition.
Later on in the podcast (it’s more than an hour long, the segment above is about 25 minutes) “he weighs in on the importance of third party candidates, the #forcethevote debate, his former classmate Janet Yellen’s ideology, the efficacy of an “inside/outside” strategy, and how Bernie disappointed him.”