It’s May Day! Understanding How Every Worker Is Exploited by Their Boss
The Socialist Program with Brian Becker
The Socialist Program
4.7 • 587 Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2024
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today's episode Walter Smolarek and Prof. Richard Wolff explain why and how workers actually do make all of our goods, including what capitalists claim is what they bring to the table—the production equipment, buildings, desks, work tables, machines to harvest raw materials, and more.
Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today is May Day, International Workers' Day, and millions are in the streets worldwide to celebrate labor and fight against the exploitation inherent in the capitalist system. |
| 0:12.2 | What makes the working class uniquely capable of solving the deep injustices that define our society? |
| 0:19.4 | We need a new system. We need a new society. |
| 0:22.6 | We need to demand that which may have sounded impossible |
| 0:25.6 | even a few weeks ago, |
| 0:27.6 | but is not only realizable, but an imperative necessity. We are very excited to have Professor Richard Wolfe join us for a regular weekly segment |
| 0:59.0 | where we discuss the biggest stories relating to the economy, the state of the working class, |
| 1:03.5 | and the crimes of big business. I'm Walter Smolerick, filling in for Brian Beck. |
| 1:07.6 | The Socialist Program brings you content several days a week thanks to the support of our patrons at patreon.com slash the Socialist Program. |
| 1:14.4 | We appreciate all of your support and encourage you to become a patron today if you enjoy listening to the show. |
| 1:20.3 | Richard Wolfe is the co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work and the author of many books, the latest being The Sickness is the System, |
| 1:27.5 | when capitalism fails to save us from pandemics or itself, |
| 1:31.2 | you can check out all of his work at R.D.Wolf.com. |
| 1:36.5 | So Professor Wolf, since today is May Day Day, |
| 1:40.2 | we wanted to have a bit of a more big-picture conversation today about the working class. |
| 1:46.1 | What makes the working class special? |
| 1:48.0 | Why do people who desire a better, more just world look to the working class as the force in society that can bring about that transformation? |
| 1:57.4 | Let me start by asking you a question. |
| 2:00.2 | What does it mean when Marxists say that labor creates all value? |
| 2:05.4 | Very essential fundamental concept. |
| 2:07.3 | Labor creates all value. |
| 2:09.0 | What does that mean? |
... |
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