Wolff Responds: Elon Musk's Billionaire BS

Рет қаралды 49,539

Күн бұрын

In this Wolff Responds, Prof. Wolff responds to Elon Musk's opposition to the proposed billionaire's tax. Wolff highlights the ways in which billionaires have consistently utilized their wealth to manipulate the political system and shift the burden of tax onto the people.
Wolff Responds is a‪@democracyatwrk‬ production. We provide these videos free of ads. Please consider supporting our work. Visit our website democracyatwork.info/donate or join our growing Patreon community and support Global Capitalism Live Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff at / gcleu .
____________________________________________________________________________
Check out the NEW 2021 Hardcover edition of “Understanding Marxism,” with a new, lengthy introduction by Richard Wolff! Go to: www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/richa...
“Marxism always was the critical shadow of capitalism. Their interactions changed them both. Now Marxism is once again stepping into the light as capitalism shakes from its own excesses and confronts decline.”
Check out all of d@w’s books: "The Sickness is the System," "Understanding Socialism," by Richard D. Wolff, and “Stuck Nation” by Bob Hennelly at www.lulu.com/spotlight/democra...
____________________________________________________________________________
Follow Wolff ONLINE:
Patreon: / gcleu
Web: www.rdwolff.com
Twitter: / profwolff
Facebook: / economicupdate
/ richarddwolff
/ democracyatwrk
Subscribe to the EU podcast: economicupdate.libsyn.com
Shop for EU merchandise: democracy-at-work-shop.myshop...

Пікірлер: 871

@nicolasm400 2 жыл бұрын

Billionaires are made from hard work... other people's hard work.

@JohnT.4321 2 жыл бұрын

@Buzzard Not only trickery but well thought out exploitation of workers and political lobbying.

@JohnT.4321 2 жыл бұрын

@Buzzard Glad to meet you. You spoke the truth but greed was already there within capitalism from the beginning. In regards to the prosperity gospel there was a time, before Billy Graham, that a social gospel was taught. But even that was not enough considering the Bible also justified a ruling class and to exploit workers and having humans as property for the rich. Today, under capitalism, a worker has to sell his commodity of labor power to an employer. This is a step up from chattel slavery which is rightly called wage slavery. The employer has the worker to sign a contract that benefits the employer. But not so much for the employee. But you already knew that and of course they use Christianity to justify the exploitation.

@kayakMike1000 2 жыл бұрын

So don't be so easy to trick.

@icemike1 2 жыл бұрын

I'm serious what does hardwork mean because it doesn't equat to wealth or is synonymous

@cybertrk 2 жыл бұрын

It’s the coordination of hard work leading to greater quality of living for all… but you’re too selfish to understand gratitude for your current quality of living

@Ashdad99 2 жыл бұрын

It always amazes me that so many Americans see these billionaires as superstars or even gods. We blame our neighbors and countrymen for our problems. People need to wake up and march into the streets in the millions to say thats enough. We have the power but are unaware that we possess it.

@_____capt.out-there___4287 2 жыл бұрын

the foes are not in the streets, so occupying them is target practice for the rent a police like Kent State University murdering children whose perps never saw a frown from the governors of power there.

@luvzfrance24 2 жыл бұрын

I don't understand the appeal to go to Mars. It takes over a year to get there and the planet is extremely radioactive. If people are complaining about UV exposure on Earth then no human has any business going to Mars.

@rcmrcm3370 2 жыл бұрын

He's a sick man, people don't want facts that make their life style wrong.

@inhisservice8862 2 жыл бұрын

It's not about Mars. Or the moon, for that matter. It's about getting off the planet. Bill Gates has bought up 100,000s of thousands of acres of farmland, also. These two things are connected. These jerks know something the rest of us don't: that there is major disaster ahead. They have the money to prepare. The rest of us are S.O.L. That is what their bullshit is about.

@kevichiking3563 2 жыл бұрын

It's so dumb and won't happen any time soon.

@tevbuff 2 жыл бұрын

I agree too many problems on Earth to be thinking about going to Mars.

@phoenix. 2 жыл бұрын

Me either. I think person needs to be delusional and/or deranged, unable to find meanjng and happines in their life.

@Newton14alan 2 жыл бұрын

Imagine that, during your Thanksgiving Dinner (if you're lucky enough to HAVE one), Elon was invited to sit at your table. The food is passed around, and Musk takes the whole turkey, and puts it on his plate. He, then, does the same thing with all the other dishes, leaving half a teaspoon of mashed potatoes to be divided up amongst everyone ELSE. There ya go! Enjoy your meal! Thank you, Professor, for all you do to spread The Truth. You are much loved.

@ReparationsForImperialism 2 жыл бұрын

In this analogy, the amerikan workers get some mashed potatoes, whereas the people who made the mashed potatoes are the global victims of amerikan imperialism, and they are the turkey in this analogy.

@Newton14alan 2 жыл бұрын

@@ReparationsForImperialism -- Well said!

@yt.damian 2 жыл бұрын

Imagine that, during your Thanksgiving Dinner you all sat around and instead of working for your income, spending that income on food, cooking that food you decided to make up fairy tales about someone who has more than you. Maybe thats why you only have a half a teaspoon of mashed potatoes to divide up amongst yourselves. Some people will always be attracted by the politics of envy.

@yt.damian 2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnSmith-mc2zz Imagine that, during your Thanksgiving Dinner you all sat around and counted up all the food collected from the farm. You wrote it down in your little notebook as you have done every year since your grandfather started the practice. You notice that you always have enough food, There is always Turkey and mash and other vegetables. Some years you have a little more and other years a little less. You have also been keeping track of the production from the whole valley. You notice that one farm has increased his output so much that he is producing more than all the other farm put together. It seems they stopped growing some types pf food and started growing many other types of things and they are using many new methods that the other farms are not. They didnt steal your turkey or your other foods. They increased the output of the whole area. You have options here. Keep going as you are. Adopt some new practices and increase output. Take the produce from the highly successful farm and share it around so no one else has to work their farms. Be careful - not all options are equal.

@yoguimasterof69 2 жыл бұрын

your analogy is really stupid

@kevchard5214 2 жыл бұрын

What Elon doesn't say is when he said humanity he means the rich and if you are one of the kiss asses you can become a slave on mars for these people.

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

Funny he seems to despise most other billionaires.

@magz875 2 жыл бұрын

Even if you kiss their ass they will surely dump you, albeit, with a small sum of money for you kissing efforts as they rocket upwards.

@johnburns8660 2 жыл бұрын

Mars would be a great place for Libertopia. Amazon could deliver all the shit they need. Eventually they could subcontract to some enterprising side hustlers who sold one of their kidneys to get their own little rocket ships.

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

You literally just described Earth 😂

@kevchard5214 2 жыл бұрын

@@magz875 Very true!

@gertrudewest4535 2 жыл бұрын

Good for you, finally calling these psychopaths out - rip off artist! Haven’t heard that in years.

@youngdrosenumbaone8371 2 жыл бұрын

WOW. It is refreshing to hear this out loud. I thought I was going crazy. I am surrounded by debate lords who proceed to defend Musk and his BS. Worshipping the richest man in the world... nothing can go wrong with that

@DonDeering 2 жыл бұрын

Tune in to Black Power Media, Caleb Maupin, Richard Medhurst, and Grayzone for more truth (those are KZfaq channels). Those are a few of my favorite current events channels. They're pretty different from each other, covering different topics, but they all appear to be honest (I first thought, "they are all honest," but that can't be proven).

@blue46gt 2 жыл бұрын

The government is richer than Elon, so maybe you should put the government at the top of your "do not worship" list, and stop calling for more taxes to be paid to it. The government is going to spend it on drone strikes against innocent people anyway.

@mario9318 2 жыл бұрын

@@blue46gt Dude, the same billionaires are the ones who lobby and highjack the electoral system and that prevent us form being able to elect another kind of government that would expend budget in a wiser manner. Grow up.

@mario9318 2 жыл бұрын

@@digdugdigdugThere are many things to save us from, ecological disasters resource scarcity, technological submission, alienation from reality metaverses and so on, i'm not sure which are we talking about now. Anyway i don't see how a democratic society can be single minded, a dictatorship can.

@DonDeering 2 жыл бұрын

@@blue46gt They are going to use most of it on weapons, a horrific plan. Most of the people of the world (and most of the other countries) want peace; it's only a faction within the U.S. ruling class that wants the 800+ military bases and endless wars. But the government is a committee that was established by property-owning white men to manage the affairs of society on their behalf. That's what the government does, oversees society to benefit the oligarchy. A child owning a toy or an adult owning a home and a car and all the stuff that goes with working for a living (if you're lucky) isn't the kind of "property owning" the government represents. It represents the uber-rich and powerful people; they make sure of that. They buy whatever they need, including good press. I can't stand all the poverty, hunger, homelessness, war and brutal racial oppression that I see. It's not necessary, the U.S. is being dragged down by the runaway oligarchs. If the multiracial working class and all the people who support ending the wars (and the war budget), Medicare 4 All, high-quality public education to the highest levels, can pull ourselves together we might change the course the U.S. is on. The constant wars, sanctions, coups, rigged elections that people in the U.S. government orchestrate to enrich powerful private interests is one of the greatest problems facing humanity. Was it Elon Musk who said, "We can coup anyone we want to."? He didn't have a private army. He was referring to the U.S. military.

@henriettealkhouri7432 2 жыл бұрын

If only America had many wolff to defend the world against its excesses, and help the natives to stand up for them selves against the likes of V.Nuland, H.Clinton, Sinema and war mongers where they Democrats or Republicans.

@RKZX2 2 жыл бұрын

check out Michael Hudson. he's another economist just like Wolff.

@TaiFerret 2 жыл бұрын

@RicharDWolff▫️ What are you trying to do, impostor?

@JohnT.4321 2 жыл бұрын

@@RKZX2 Also check out Professor Paul Cockshott's YT channel. He is also a Marxist economist like Wolff and a computer scientist.

@KleineJoop 2 жыл бұрын

We (the people) used to protest, revolt, revolution. Wolff is just the teacher, the people have to act, that's the only thing that historically has worked. That's what people in the US need to do, but to be honest; everywhere.

@paulespinosa5195 2 жыл бұрын

@@TaiFerret I feel it's create conversation to help bring on change,,,free energy now

@alphacause 2 жыл бұрын

Elon Musk wants to get to Mars as quickly as possible because he is afraid of all the pitchforked hordes which will be coming after him, and his billionaire ilk, in the coming decades.

@Bovice..YT-handles-are-fn-dumb 2 жыл бұрын

They tell us they wana make Mars awesome to live on.. The reality is probably something more like, a dystopian prison planet, cultivated by slave labor, for it's first few hundred years.

@justinmcneil659 2 жыл бұрын

Hopefully it's a lot sooner than decades

@Monkeybongoes 2 жыл бұрын

If he gets to Mars he'll wish he stayed here. Pitchforked hordes would be better than the hellish life Mars would provide.

@bobbalmer177 2 жыл бұрын

Years*

@petestanton1945 2 жыл бұрын

BLM had portable guillotines & a rap song 2 go w 'em : D

@zac9399 2 жыл бұрын

Musk wants to send us to Mars to do to us what his daddy did to the folks mining emeralds for him, but on a planetary scale

@barquerojuancarlos7253 2 жыл бұрын

It's not necessary even to go back into the slavers his family history : "Elon Musk : Slave Driver Supreme" Isles of the Left (April 23, 2018)

@SofaKingShit 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah wierd how a guy who spent his formative years as a wealthy and priveleged minority under apartheid now treats his workers and the world they live in as mere commodities to be exploited. Must be some sort whacky coincidence.

@JohnT.4321 2 жыл бұрын

@@SofaKingShit Labor power is a commodity its just that workers need to realize that. Once that is realized then they would organize for a system change to stop the exploitation. It takes labor to put together materials to create a product or machinery. The materials won't make themselves. That is why Marx wrote that labor creates a surplus value which is realized as profits. Anyone can go to the Marxist Internet Archive and look up Marx's "Capital" with the chapter on the Commodity.

@cosmicdiasporapoems2916 2 жыл бұрын

Very good observation.

@ecoandrei328 2 жыл бұрын

Dude, the mining operations his family owned are pure fairy tale! Look it up.

@outlawbillionairez9780 2 жыл бұрын

3 and 4 year olds understand when one kid hoards the toys, other kids do without. American workers can't process this simple equation as adults. It takes a village (of poor) to make a wealthy person.

@geraldmeehan8942 2 жыл бұрын

Take Musks wealth and divide by the median accumulated wealth worldwide and see exactly how many it takes

@outlawbillionairez9780 2 жыл бұрын

@@geraldmeehan8942 well, it starts with the 118,000 employees, the very first victims, and goes from there.

@KleineJoop 2 жыл бұрын

To be honest it's the same everywhere, if i didn't know Mr Wolff and similar people and their knowledge i wouldn't know either. Gut feeling that something is wrong yes, but most people don't have the time to learn about all this, let alone find videos like this.

@clup3136 2 жыл бұрын

Read "Modern principles of Economics" by Tyler cowen & alex tabarrok

@henriettealkhouri7432 2 жыл бұрын

It is not only billionaire's money ,it is the huge sums that are being spent on the MIC(military industrial complex) that is breaking America's back, but there is no one with a back bone to tackle both issues.

@VultCult 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, and I would add multi-national corporations in every other business sector - IT, Insurance, Media, Food Production, Drugs, etc., along with weapons (MIC) corporations.

@ReparationsForImperialism 2 жыл бұрын

Amerika is only able to loot the world because of its economic terrorism backed by its military terrorism. If amerika divested in its military, there'd be socialist revolutions all throughout LatAm, Africa, SE Asia, and thus the plug that produces the wealth of the amerikan empire would be pulled.

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

I said the same thing and got pilloried bc people just want to hate billionaires without actually seeking a solution. The left is a cult just like the right and they're too brainwashed to see it.

@sivi9741 2 жыл бұрын

Eisenhower predict this and warn American 70 years ago ! Americans are to dumb to care and now they suffer from it . But of course , Instead blaming themselves they always try to find a new enemy to explain their debacle …

@marygard4608 2 жыл бұрын

I think it's the US' unfair tax policies that allow people to do business here but send profits upstairs. American business is getting a dose of cold reality . Americans are not going to work at these s--tty jobs for next to nothing anymore, and their own anti-immigrant policies have left them unable to find workers.

@degraz7396 2 жыл бұрын

I wish more people fully comprehend these words 'We are suckers to allow these hustlers to get away with what they are doing'

@blue46gt 2 жыл бұрын

We are suckers to allow the government and the politicians to get away with what they are doing.

@BarefootBard 2 жыл бұрын

Musk (and Bezos and the rest) don't "own" that money. It is not their money. You can't make billions unless you appropriate common resources for yourself, use strong-arm tactics to advantage yourself in every exchange, suck up the life force -- the time, energy and talent -- of others to create profits for you. Musk is not brilliant; he's weirdly sociopathic. Bezos isn't a marketing genius; he's the entirely enabled epitome of greed. "Wealth' is a commons, and whenever an elite group take over the commons for themselves they are stealing it from everyone else. We've been sold a bill of goods by rich people. Continuing to buy into it impoverishes almost everyone and is destroying our world.

@clup3136 2 жыл бұрын

Read "Modern principles of Economics" by Tyler cowen & alex tabarrok

@leftistgamer909 2 жыл бұрын

Elon Musk is rich because Americans keep allowing themselves to think he is a real-life Tony Stark.

@petestanton1945 2 жыл бұрын

Ya then it turns out jetpack man over LAX was a balloon drone : D

@collybeans586 2 жыл бұрын

True

@pedroual 2 жыл бұрын

True and we all know that Tony Stark is a jerk at best.

@randybest9187 2 жыл бұрын

Everything is fake, phony and false these days. There is no financial or moral grounding.

@BobDorn 2 жыл бұрын

sort of

@rcmrcm3370 2 жыл бұрын

I was so happy to see "The Squad" go full kayfabe when they voted en masse to reject the “Elon Musk Trillionaire Act.” A nice bit of theater. l loved how "Nancy Moma Bear Pelosi" gave them the signal to vote No after she confirmed she had 15 GOP votes up her sleeve, and they were waiting for her signal before they committed. God, will the showboating never end?

@biscuit2075 2 жыл бұрын

Until moneys out of politics no meaning never

@geraldmeehan8942 2 жыл бұрын

The social infrastructure bill in grave danger at this point

@oldfan1963 2 жыл бұрын

Showboating won't end until Americans can vote for an alternative to the Rep/Dem single-party option.

@JohnT.4321 2 жыл бұрын

@@oldfan1963 I agree 100 percent.

@Monkeybongoes 2 жыл бұрын

@@oldfan1963 Correct. Problem is, how do we get a viable alternative without rank choice voting, which Rep & Dems will never allow. Then there is the problem of media bias against alternatives.

@aintdatsnipes177 2 жыл бұрын

Half of the $1.2 Tril infrastructure bill (after DC takes there cut off the top) will go to pay for massively marked up "Charging Stations" for $76k Tesla's. EM rakes in a $100 billion a year (thanks to the Fed), Tesla is a (LOL) trillion dollar company, but some how they have to have taxpayers pay for there overpriced "Charging Station", and what's EM's cut?

@-LightningRod- 2 жыл бұрын

bullshit dude plenty of ways to attack Elon Musk without making shit up dude.

@kevinmackfurniture 2 жыл бұрын

@@-LightningRod- where's YOUR facts !?.. calling 🐂💩 is easy without facts.

@-LightningRod- 2 жыл бұрын

@@kevinmackfurniture Excuse Me? 500 BILLION Dollars for charging stations dude? just Shut The Fuck Up

@kevinmackfurniture 2 жыл бұрын

@@-LightningRod- If you don't believe it, prove it is incorrect. You cannot, so Also speculation. If charging stations are expected to be in every town and city in all 50 States...$500 billion seems low. An average gas station, built from scratch is well into the 3 million dollar range. A level 2 home electric charging station runs about $10,000-$13,000 dollars per. One Outlet in your garage. Now multiple that by say 16 plugs, the land, buildings, construction and electrical cost, taxes, licensing, and regulatory fees... Easily in the multi million dollar range. Now multiple that by say...5000 stations per state. More in major metropolitan areas. Your "I don't believe it, get fucked" answer, seems pretty naive and ignorant right about now....but have at it Hoss. Wallow in your righteous indignation and false sense of superiority.

@-LightningRod- 2 жыл бұрын

@@kevinmackfurniture Well, ...i am an Industrial Construction Electrician 309A Red Seal, so be careful what nonsense you spew at Me in My particular field of Expertise buddy, secondly "Prove me incorrect"? Prove you are even alive buddy, dont prole to Me stupid or Foolish arguments

@oldfan1963 2 жыл бұрын

6:05 - The "hustlers" are also in congress.

@user-ru7ex3mi3o 2 жыл бұрын

@RicharDWolff▫️ lo

@itzenormous 2 жыл бұрын

The American People (and the People of the World) are going to be left with a profound decision: Do we want to build a world of prosperity, and a better future for our children? OR Do we wish to keep working, and keep our children working themselves to the bone, in order to enrich Capital? It really does boil down to that!!

@AxiomBlurr 2 жыл бұрын

@bobmarshall3700 2 жыл бұрын

Mr Musk is increasingly becoming a pain in the backside day by day. I hope he does get to Mars and stays there!

@michaellange6598 2 жыл бұрын

Play cattle call ackwards

@anneliu3816 2 жыл бұрын

Truly love your knowledge, courage and humanity, Prof. Richard Wolff. Hopefully, more and more people will see the world clearly.

@abolishnato 2 жыл бұрын

Wolff is undefeated

@bobbalmer177 2 жыл бұрын

Saw your Q&A from while back. Watching old videos, incredible. Good work 🇺🇸⚖️

@DearProfessorRF 2 жыл бұрын

Gandhi called this kind of economic/business approach that benefits a few at the expense of most “economic violence.”

@nealtauss1715 2 жыл бұрын

... you confuse Elon with Exxon.... some of Elon's line workers are Tesla stock millionaires.... who will pay taxes on their liquidated stock fortunes at time of execution.... like them Elon only realizes wealth with stock he SELLS.... from self-owned companies that ARE tracking to HEAL this Planet and PERHAPS.... others.... he pays his taxes at +50%.... to a Gov't that deflects +50% to 'Defense' initiatives such as 'gain of function' experimentations resulting in misplannedemics which YOU think can be remediated through FURTHER Financing.... when in MOST likelihood ALL that is sure to occur in THAT literally SICK strategem is Perpetual Plannedemic @ Perpetual Profit AND.... @ Financial FASCISM.... how that works as Socialism or Communism or Democracy is beyond my capacity for comprehension.... your work generally informs understanding.... but in this case you have stepped into a hole.... requiring FURTHER research and rethinking.... Elon is building ECOnomically DISTRIBUTVE Earth Systems TOWARD.... Mars Systems.... seek further and SEE.... the money that is needed to educate the PovertyProne is on Wall Street.... requiring ONLY a Transaction Tax of 25cents per trade to unleash more than enough funding flow.... they WON'T miss it.... while IF we could confiscate Elon's executive funding capability we would STILL fall short of need.... THAT money's on Wall Street @ TRILLIONS of Trades per Day.... Tax THAT.

@Tom-Travels 2 жыл бұрын

I can't wait to work in a Mars colony mining water.

@ladymorwendaebrethil-feani4031 2 жыл бұрын

It's going to be Blade Runner in real life. But I still have hope that he decides to go there and ends up fried in space by solar radiation.

@JohnT.4321 2 жыл бұрын

@@ladymorwendaebrethil-feani4031 I seen a documentary on the effects radiation in space has on the human body. Within six months beyond the Van Allen Belt, the radiation would cause brain damage. That is why the ISS operates on this side of the Van Allen belt because it offers much more protection from radiation. On Earth we are much more protected not only with the Van Allen belt but with the Earth's magnetic field and the ozone layer. Mars offers no protection. By the time astronauts arrive after a year in space, they all would be unable to think rationally to land on Mars.

@SofaKingShit 2 жыл бұрын

Someone will probably eventually start cooking meth.

@davidpretiz4439 2 жыл бұрын

I love your attitude

@pietroaretino6390 2 жыл бұрын

We can't even successfully manage to live on a planet that literally hosts us, with our own native environment and eco-system. I'm sure Mars will work out much better.

@argtv1007 2 жыл бұрын

Came across this Poem, I thought I should share. "The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left Alone. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love. They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over. The moment the Men who wanted to be left alone are forced to fight back, it is a form of suicide. They are literally killing off who they used to be. Which is why, when forced to take up violence, these Men who wanted to be left alone, fight with unholy vengeance against those who murdered their former lives. They fight with raw hate, and a drive that cannot be fathomed by those who are merely play-acting at politics and terror. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people's door, and they will cry, scream, and beg for mercy... but it will fall upon the deaf ears of the Men who just wanted to be left alone."

@araucaria5173 2 жыл бұрын

Thankyou Prof Wolff for your very wise words .

@jessicamai7783 2 жыл бұрын

How do we even fight them? People have been protesting for decades. I was listening to an activist in the 70’s fighting for the same issues.The corruption & wealth gap only got worse. I don’t think anything will change even if they pay it. The politicians will give it to the monopolies & military.

@marygard4608 2 жыл бұрын

I would happily forgo Mr. Musk's tax dollars if uses the money to take him and his ilk to Mars, and if he and his ilk never return.

@jessmore9870 2 жыл бұрын

You starry-eyed optimist, you!😊

@Nothing-ns7tf 2 жыл бұрын

Anyone that is lucky enough to survive the journey to will surely not make it back !!!

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

We spend triple his wealth every year on the military. Maybe we should stop doing that.

@americanoligarchy8825 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe we should stop allowing billionaires to exist and stop obscene military spending?

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

If you take away billionaires stock holdings (which most often is their wealth) what should happen to the company? Nationalize everything? How deeply have you actually thought about this?

@americanoligarchy8825 2 жыл бұрын

@@joolzvega7298 apparently deeper than you if you think the only option is nationalizing them lol.

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

@@americanoligarchy8825 yet you have no answer...

@americanoligarchy8825 2 жыл бұрын

@@joolzvega7298 get your own answers buddy! Why get your answers from a random person in comments? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for you to figure it out yourself? Here ill give you a little hint where to start. Pick your favorite search engine and type in "ways to run a business without robbing the majority to make one guy rich" Report back on what you learned!

@zehrajafri9252 2 жыл бұрын

Some kill people for profit others for childlike dreams.

@TheRealBatCave 2 жыл бұрын

Didn't he offer the UN the 38 billion they said they needed, if they showed everyone how and where it was spent....and the UN declined that offer??

@NN-ul4oy 2 жыл бұрын

So??! Now you consider Musk as an philanthropist??! And that Musk has to keep his money since people don't want it??!

@janemokoena636 Жыл бұрын

I love, love the facial expressions of Sir. Wolff when he says " get us all to mars"😂😂 No one is getting to mars, that's bull.. we were born on earth, and definitely gonna die on earth

@chrisbayridge23 2 жыл бұрын

I hope Elon takes all his billionaire friends to Mars right before it gets hit by a 20 mile wide comet

@alicecoppers8980 2 жыл бұрын

is Elon going be on that first flight? send him soon...there is no return flight

@dawna1214 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your commentary 🙏🏿 I really appreciate you Professor Wolf...We really need you!

@mottscottison6943 2 жыл бұрын

He even cited Cao Zhi's Seven Step Verse in Twitter as if somehow taxing billionaires is equal to humanity killing each other. What a joker.

@davecaraballo 2 жыл бұрын

They already take ours to give corporate welfare it's time for that to stop and help the working and poor.

@kiwitrainguy 8 ай бұрын

The USA needs a truly left-wing government.

@supercommie 2 жыл бұрын

He grew up in South Africa, a place of extreme income and wealth inequality. You could see how he would conclude that this situation is good and natural state for human societies to be in.

@marygard4608 2 жыл бұрын

Again, thanks Prof. Wolff, for all your hard work.

@collybeans586 2 жыл бұрын

Its horrible how much of this kind of treatment people will take. No one has a clue it seems.

@VernonNickersonSCHOOLCOACH 2 жыл бұрын

00:05:00 I had no knowledge of the history of taxation in the US. Thank you Dr. Wolff.

@freakalmighty2533 2 жыл бұрын

I've followed many of Professor Wolff's lectures and interviews (on youtube). They are always enriching, insightful, useful and presented succinctly and lucidly. I always have to come back to this channel though, because the sarcasm in these videos makes me laugh like a child.

@HxH2011DRA 2 жыл бұрын

Never forget "We'll coup whoever we want!"

@PhatLvis 2 жыл бұрын

Important to always be clear that wealthy owners & execs are rich because they've siphoned away the revenues generated by workers (Wealth Creators) - who have "agreed" to a wage or contract when the alternative was to starve in the streets. Also, apart from the many fallacies underlying the claim "But everyone has the chance to become wealthy through ingenuity, guts, tenacity, industriousness, etc.," let's remember that this can be translated as: "If you don't want to be exploited, you should Become The Exploiter." We are, in fact, encouraged to hold this heinous notion as a high ideal.

@jazzsocietyofecuador 2 жыл бұрын

"Wealth corrupts and absolute wealth corrupts absolutely." -Jim Gala

@jazzsocietyofecuador 2 жыл бұрын

@RicharDWolff▫️ As far as I can determine, the comment above with the WhatsApp # buried between hearts is not from Prof. Richard D. Wolff, and is a scam to sell crypto currencies.

@SolidAir54321 2 жыл бұрын

No movie theaters on Mars? Forget it then.

@oldsesalt8496 2 жыл бұрын

Musk will get us to Mars? Did anyone call shotgun?

@tuneboyz5634 2 жыл бұрын

by "us" he is referring to rich people

@henriettealkhouri7432 2 жыл бұрын

I think it is a good idea for all the billionaires in the world to packed and bundled into this space ship with one way ticket and while they are there, their respective governments should take over their assets and start building a better world for all of us. I do wonder if God will tolerate all these billionaires living next to him?.

@rcmrcm3370 2 жыл бұрын

"The Marching Morons" but we won't need so many space ships...

@garrethoien6666 2 жыл бұрын

So you would support a government which forcibly exiles a class of its population and then confiscates their wealth? That has been done a few times in the last 100 years, quite infamous events actually. Never turned out well for anyone involved. Maybe take a look at history and then have a long think about who you want to be if your ideas were to become reality.

@lawrenceiley7686 2 жыл бұрын

Billionaires are a policy failure.

@markpeters7466 2 жыл бұрын

Richard Wolff. Great videos. Keep giving us the truth.

@astrahcat1212 2 жыл бұрын

REFRESHING to hear this! This is where top down models reveal corruption, in corporations like Tesla, how the top down model works as a giant funnel to the top.

@btbingo 2 жыл бұрын

Considering the way the stock market works the certainty that he will remain wealthy at this rate is dubious.

@patriciaanndemello4652 2 жыл бұрын

As a single woman who has no tax write offs, I pay 28% in taxes. I've paid that rate in all kinds of jobs I've held. It's ridiculous. I think billionaires can pay the same rate as myself.

@everythingmatters6308 2 жыл бұрын

@@davidh4129 There's always that one jerk in the comments section. If I had raised you I would feel like a failure.

@everythingmatters6308 2 жыл бұрын

@@davidh4129 I am dependent on the government for nothing. You are a small person to kick those who are down. You contaminate rather than contribute. You parents failed miserably.

@plasmagunwh40k91 2 жыл бұрын

people continue to believe that he can send humanity to stars... look at his Las Vegas loop, that shows you everything you need to know

@wmjahn 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, every word is so true! Well said, Prof. Wolff! I like that hat, btw. I guess it might have a hidden meaning, but can't figure it. "Never give a sucker an even break" is the name of an hilarious W.C.Fields movie. 😂 🤣👏

@randybest9187 2 жыл бұрын

Dear Professor: This is one of your best videos!

@javajava8856 2 жыл бұрын

Musk tweeted that rich people are simply 'better at capital allocation' vs the government, which he characterizes at comparatively inept at capital allocation. Therefore, he shouldn't be taxed. Funnily enough, these people love the government when it comes to subsidies and bailouts.

@MadScientistMikeOfficial 2 жыл бұрын

You're the best Professor Wolff, thanks for all you do

@StaticCollapse 2 жыл бұрын

Elon Musk, the biggest ripoff artist... I mean 😂😂

@geralddavino8221 2 жыл бұрын

It’s time to reduce congressional perks by petition. If petition is ignored, both parties show their colors. The rich can subsidize their minions. THAT movement will energize and unite America.

@harrywoods9784 2 жыл бұрын

just a thought ,Poverty has nothing to do with democracy in that The root cause is a corrupt financial system. If we don’t deal with that poverty will never go away🤔

@ryanchampion9696 2 жыл бұрын

Love the hat. Way to go after that fraud.

@davidhanks9241 2 жыл бұрын

Well until he sales some stock he won't be nor should he be taxed.. confiscating wealth never has worked and the dumbest person on Earth is better at managing their money then the Government

@georgethecurious670 2 жыл бұрын

This one is an excellent topic where it is so clear that we need less government involvement in free enterprise up to curtain size of the enterprise and after that for supper big enterprises society has to take over. That way the growth of grassroots businesses is not burdened, but once it takes off and reaches the size with thousands of employees and has proven to be useful for society, yes society has to have a say. The blessing to society by suppertalanted individuals ,who most of billionairs are, shouldn't be negated by the obsessions or any other negative personal trait of the same talanted entrepreneurs. The question is: what is the healthy balance size of an enterprise after whish society has to have a dominating voice in business decision making? Any ideas about the mechanism, process, algorithm how to set the threshold for this transition?

@petestanton1945 2 жыл бұрын

Nationalize Amazon. U don't really need electric cars if u have a new rail system, so just shut Tesla down

@kingmichaelthelastwarrior 2 жыл бұрын

Why transform this country when one can transform Mars😵‍💫

@leothor7128 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the Spanish subtitles, Doctor. my english is very bad, but still i don't miss his videos.

@outlawbillionairez9780 2 жыл бұрын

Elon.. "no labor laws on Mars? No one claiming to own it? No environmental laws? Let the planetary imperialism begin!!"

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

Elon has stated that direct democracy would be the ideal governance system for Mars.

@JohnT.4321 2 жыл бұрын

Only problem with Mars imperialism is that there are no natives to enslave or kill.

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

Direct democracy is not imperialism. You realize Space X is a direct competitor to the military industrial complex and they refuse to make weapons of war, right?

@outlawbillionairez9780 2 жыл бұрын

@@joolzvega7298 business insider, last month, " Space X keeps winning military contracts! Thrre Pentagon contracts worth hundreds of millions."

@joolzvega7298 2 жыл бұрын

@@outlawbillionairez9780 for rocket launches, not weapons of war. Any rocket company needs government contracts to survive. Did you even read the article?

@jayjames7055 2 жыл бұрын

(5:55)We are suckers -- because capitalism leads (most) people to think they are a temporarily embarrassed millionaire. (G Monbiot)

@kellychartrand5532 2 жыл бұрын

Paying tax is a privilege. It means you are making a decent living and paying for the infrastructure to make your life better.

@nigelpalmer9248 2 жыл бұрын

We all know Elon didn't have to say anything, all he had to do was send a Lobbyist to the officials of the two parties and drop a hundred mil and it's dealt with and it won't stop millions of PPL dancing to the polls to vote for more of the same.

@gr8macaw1 2 жыл бұрын

Yes it’s all the same. We need to admit it. The US is comprised of the rich corporations telling the politicians what to do. This whole voting thing every 4 years is to keep this fantasy of a democracy alive.

@DavidWilliams-DSW558 2 жыл бұрын

I hope he manages to get a certain 30% of the population to the most inhospitable areas of Mars, such as Trump and his supporters, Boris Johnson and his consorts, Jair Bolsonaro et al.

@antifazisbonifaz6964 2 жыл бұрын

🙂👌👍👍👍👏👏👏👏

@antifazisbonifaz6964 2 жыл бұрын

I hope the same also. The earth would be a much better place without them 🙂👌👍👍

@stevej3483 2 жыл бұрын

thank you and amen

@mayarosexxx 2 жыл бұрын

It would be far easier to fix the Earth than to travel to and then terraform Mars. Musks ambition is so infantile it shouldn't be taken seriously. Maybe in like a thousand years it might be possible but by then Musk with all his dumb ideas, all his money would be largely forgotten.

@CherryBlossomHill 2 жыл бұрын

Your ability to feed, cloth and educate yourself is seen by them as a sunk cost with no ROI that can lead to productive use of that capital, a system to transport people to Mars however provides both capital gains and a legacy monument, something to put his name on, that will assure his status and name recognition in our cultural history indefinitely. Why waste money on assisting people to meet their basic needs if it doesn’t lead to more growth? They’ll be fine, there is always food banks, homeless encampments and discarded goods from the wealthy at goodwill, right.! The masses are just viewed as cheap labor to be exploited by these tech giants, they don’t care about the quality of your life, they care about how you’re there to suit their needs.

@martinkirchhoff1084 5 ай бұрын

It is not possible to bring persons to Mars without braindamage from a year of low level radiation in the spaceship....

@xanbex8324 2 жыл бұрын

John Prine " Some people arn't human. some people arn't kind"

@HillbillyHippyOG 2 жыл бұрын

Mighty big words from 1% of the population…

@tonyhill4235 2 жыл бұрын

Nov 14, 2021: Bernie Sanders: "We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period." Elon Musk: "I keep forgetting that you're still alive." What a facist statement.

@user-xc9ie1fm9f 2 жыл бұрын

the ambition of going to Mars reminds me of the sentences in the Eagles's The Last Resort: you can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina, just like missionaries did so many years ago. Mars will be just another planet for them to loot, litter around and ruin, and then they will leave and go to the next one. But there will be a day when there is no more new frontier, no more new world.

@safirahmed 2 жыл бұрын

It could be said it's socialism and corporate welfare for the rich funded by capitalism and austerity against the poor.

@kiwitrainguy 8 ай бұрын

MLK said that in the 1960s and it's only gotten worse since then.

@brianbegg5013 2 жыл бұрын

Yep the Powell memorandum is full circle

@judymanning2538 2 жыл бұрын

❤❤ for the algorithm ❤❤

@1LaOriental 2 жыл бұрын

Musk, like others of his class has a Messiah complex.

@zzzzzaaaa9999 2 жыл бұрын

If only politicians listened to prof. Wolff :(

@jonmckenney7763 2 жыл бұрын

the lobbyists have more money

@Micya33 2 жыл бұрын

There is a problem in my previous comments that China is so perfect, because China's socialist + capitalist system also has many problems. The United States has more problems. But I think socialism is right

@davidpretiz4439 2 жыл бұрын

Do we have nothing, or do we have something?

@user-wl2xl5hm7k 2 жыл бұрын

Professor Wolff, can you please research & advocate for full intellectual property (IP) abolition? This is the most important activist aim for working class people! A just economy (& most leftist projects) has very little chance without first abolishing IP. IP is the most severe & oppressive tool of the rich & powerful. Please see the work of Stephan Kinsella, Michele Boldrin, & David K. Levine. These are the best experts on intellectual property in the world. Everyone who cares about seriously improving things for humanity needs to know what IP abolition is about.

@user-wl2xl5hm7k 2 жыл бұрын

IP laws make no sense from either left or right politics. The ‘property’ in intellectual property is a false term used for propaganda purposes. Intellectual property is not property in any sense. It’s monopoly. IP actually stifles innovation & creativity. IP also is the main component of cultural control, propaganda, and advertising. And IP seriously screws up our economy & stacks it for the rich & powerful more than any other tool (especially IP with digital tech and the internet). IP abolition is the most important aim to liberate artists, programmers, inventors, etc. and make them all better off financially

@user-wl2xl5hm7k 2 жыл бұрын

All 4 types of IP must be fully abolished ASAP: patents, copyright, trademarks & trade secrets

@user-wl2xl5hm7k 2 жыл бұрын

The 2008 economics book ‘Against Intellectual Monopoly’ and the 2001 essay ‘Against Intellectual Property’ are both as important as Marx’s ‘Capital’! Each has nearly flawless argumentation. All leftists need to read both (free online). If you can’t read them now, then write down both titles so you can tell others so they can read them.

@user-wl2xl5hm7k 2 жыл бұрын

And Uniquenameosaurus has two excellent and entertaining videos from April 2021 about IP abolition.

@user-wl2xl5hm7k 2 жыл бұрын

NOTICE: To the extent I have any copyright in the comments in this thread, I relinquish those rights to the public domain according to the CC0 license-Signed, /s/ PN. ->Before we abolish IP, everyone use the CC0 license for all types of works (including software) when you’re not in need of money or there if there are no buyers for your copyright-monopoly. Also, as the author you can always ask for donations with crowdfunding even if you no longer have the copyright-monopoly.

@stevenr5149 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Richard.

@sammyc7565 2 жыл бұрын

Maybe the rocket ship will flame out in spectacular fashion.

@subutaibaghatur4329 2 жыл бұрын

Consciousness In a billionaire capitalist do not exist, never have and never will. Some of the most generous people I know are the poor, because they know what is like to be down and out. Middle class Americans are precarious. A illness or loss of job in the family is all it takes to be unsettled.

@stevemccormack9948 2 жыл бұрын

As I have already said about Elon - if we don't stop the enslavement here on Earth, we won't do it on Mars.

@jayjames7055 2 жыл бұрын

Extreme inequality breeds corruption. In developing countries for example a relatively very wealthy western traveller on a gap year could pay backsheesh to local cops to get out of jail free because the student / traveller's spare cash was weeks or months of full time income to a local public servant.

@patrickmccormack4318 2 жыл бұрын

Leaving for Mars, terraforming Mars, mining Mars...stupid. Maybe in a hundred years we'll be mining Mars. Until then, there's more than enough work here on Spaceship Earth.

@karlzipp181 2 жыл бұрын

Ingenuity is the mother of invention........ but laziness was the father.

@SnowyOwlPrepper 2 жыл бұрын

Great words.

@larryboysen5911 Жыл бұрын

Perhaps...the Martians are studying the earthlings' mess, and are planning a surprise??!!! That "UR"...ultra rich 1%...have all the "diamond-hard' angles to crush the 99%! Also...we "urchins" put these hucksters on a pedestal!! On the lighter side, great hat, Mr. Wolff!