by Jerry Alatalo
“Settle the economics question and you settle all other questions. It is the Aaron’s rod which swallows up the rest.”
– WILLIAM MORRIS (1834-1896) English writer, artist
Retired economics Professor Richard Wolff’s monthly meetings in a church in New York City have become attended by larger numbers of men and women since their start, as well as increasing numbers of people around the Earth over the internet as the talks are found at “RichardDWolff” on YouTube. His July meeting has received over 5,200 YouTube views in a little over a day after posting. Besides the increasing popularity of these monthly “Economic Update” productions, Mr. Wolff is a popular guest on radio and television talk/news programs and hosts a weekly radio program “Economic Update” on the Progressive Radio Network.
The men and women who attend his monthly meetings to hear him in person pay $10 each, and at the beginning of the July meeting he asks the thousands of people from around the world who will watch for free on YouTube to consider donating $10 at his website:
What stood out for this writer while listening to Mr. Wolff’s July update/meeting was his description of the 1976 military coup in Argentina, how government officials after the end of the military dictatorship (1983) said “no” to repayment of debts incurred by the military dictatorship from 1976-1983, and particularly how it lined up with and confirmed the corruption and dangerous nature of geopolitical financial machinations described by John Perkins in Perkins’ bestselling book “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”. Here we are talking about war by means other than with the use of military force, but financial force through bringing about the impossible-to-repay indebtedness of entire nations.
The most recent example of what economist Michael Hudson calls “war by finance” is Greece, where the government of Alexis Tsipras became forced – after unfortunately thinking that negotiations with the Eurogroup would be successful, mutually reasonable and lead to better conditions for the Greek people – to capitulate and accept further austerity measures, after financial terrorism in the form of euro/cash cutoff threatened economic destruction of the nation. Richard Wolff, after decades of economics study and university teaching, gives a brilliant lecture that paints historic and current economics events in a manner few teachers of economics are able to match.
His analysis of the economic conditions facing Americans is brutally honest, suggesting in the strongest terms the necessity for bringing about massive, effective change. That Richard Wolff’s talks are generating increasing interest not only from Americans but listeners and viewers around the Earth reinforces the validity and commonality of experience of what he shares.
The only slight disappointment in the talk is not incorporating the public banking solution into what is otherwise a stunning and revealing exposition of the fundamental realities of economics in the world. Richard Wolff deserves high praise and much appreciation for his truthful and passionate efforts at passing along his clearly immense knowledge of the subject. His teaching style has evolved to the point where what listeners likely have thought a very abstract, almost mystical field of study – “only understood by scholars” – becomes easily grasped because of Mr. Wolff’s decades-of-study and expertise on economics. This talk is extremely informative, relevant, and highly recommended. One can add to that assessment the word important. Very impressive… Rating: five stars.
(Thank you to RichardDWolff at YouTube)
THE ONENESS of HUMANITY 
Thanks for sharing the video link, Jerry.
I’m currently reading Naomi Klein’s 2007 publication, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,” in which she covers America’s economic shock treatment in bringing South American nations in line with capitalist doctrine. It’s painful to read, but helps me to understand what we in the developing world went through in the sixties and seventies and what is now happening in Europe and at home here in the US.
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Rosaliene,
You’ll probably agree that bloggers sometimes become fatigued from reading many articles, books etc. If you haven’t read John Perkins’ “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”, it’s perhaps the most important, revealing and astonishing book to date on the historic and current economic/geopolitical realities. If you have already read Mr. Perkins’ book, you’ll agree that passing the following link to a FREE 9-hour audio version of “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” on YouTube to as many people as possible is absolutely the right thing to do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk09oQUlgno
Thanks,
Jerry
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Pingback: Richard D. Wolff: I’m Becoming a Fan of Pope Francis: Capitalism Runs Counter to the Plan of Jesus + What is Community Wealth Building? | Dandelion Salad
I share you disappointment that Wolff never mentions public banking as part of the solution to the current crisis of capitalism.
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Stuart,
The man has participated in conferences focused on public banking. Your comment led to the thought that it’s surprising Richard Wolff, Ellen Brown, Gary Null and all the other radio hosts over at Progressive Radio Network haven’t produced many documentaries together already, especially since Gary Null’s success at making documentary films is self-evident. Plus, documentary films may be the most powerful communicative tool available for social change activists. In fairness to Mr. Wolff this talk was excellent, and it’s sometimes difficult to cover every important topic every time. For example, committed activists often don’t mention, in talks, articles, etc., what seems to represent the greatest environmental disaster in world history – Fukushima. Kind of reminds one of the story of the boy and his fingers in the dike struggle.
Thanks,
Jerry
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