After years of organizing, after years of struggle led by low-wage workers, a $15 in our minimum

wage appears within reach, but it is still far from certain.

We need a new system.

We need a new society.

We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible

even a few weeks ago, but is not widening inequality, there's no denying it.

Capitalism is in crisis and capitalism is the crisis.

We are joined by Professor Richard Wolfe, who talks to us every week in this segment where we talk about the biggest stories related to the

economy, the state of the working class, and the crimes of big business. We'll talk about how

the economy can be reconstituted on a new basis so that the needs of people in the planet come

before profit. The Socialist Program brings you content three days a week, thanks to the

support of our patrons at patreon.com forward slash the socialist program. We appreciate all of your

support and encourage you to become a patron today if you enjoy listening to this show.

Richard Wolf is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work.

He's the author of many books, the latest being the system is the sickness

when capitalism fails to save us from the pandemic or itself.

You can check out his work at rd.wulf.com and R.D. Wolf is spelled R.D.W.L.F.com. Professor Wolf, welcome back.

Thank you. Glad to be here. Well, again, we are talking on a Wednesday. Yesterday, the impeachment trial in the Senate for Donald Trump began. Perhaps for most

people in America, certainly most working families, certainly for poor people. And that's a growing

number of the American people. Their mind is probably a lot less on impeachment and more on whether or not they can pay the

rent, whether they can feed their family. Fifty million people, according to current statistics,

are now food insecure, a modern euphemism for being hungry. And at the same time, the debate raging in Congress has to do with whether or not

...