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- [00:10]
A
Welcome, friends, to another edition of Economic Update, a weekly program devoted to the economic dimensions of our lives, jobs, incomes, debts, our own and those of our children. I'm your host, Richard Wolff. I want to begin today's program by talking to you briefly about Buffalo, New York. It's the second largest city in the state of New York with a population of 256,000 people. It's a sizable American city and it did something a few weeks ago that really merits our closer look in the Democratic primary. And it is a Democratic city in the sense that the winner of the Democratic primary election is usually a shoo in to win the general election the following November. And that is the case as well with the winner of the Democratic primary in 2021 for mayor of this second largest city with a quarter of a million people. Her name is India Walton and she is endorsed. Was endorsed in this race and accepted the endorsements proudly of both the Working Families Party, which is a progressive third party in the state of New York, and of the Democratic Socialists of America organization. In other words, Buffalo, come November, after the general election, which she is expected to win, will then move into an era of a socialist mayor. She defeated a four term incumbent who never expected that he had to campaign very hard, but found out that he and the party he leads were wrong about that in the most dramatic way possible. The victory of India Walton replicates in a number of ways the path first opened up by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez in Queens, New York. She is proud of being a socialist. She ran as a socialist and she won as a socialist. And I think her ability to defeat a Democratic politician who tried to use that against her speaks volumes about how political life and, and political consciousness in the United States is in fact changing, which is one of the reasons I want to talk to you about it. In her election, she was supported by Martin Gugino, and I apologize if I have mispronounced his name. He spent a month in the hospital in Buffalo because he had been brutalized by the police. And the irony here is indeed rich. Brutalized by the police. In a George Floyd protest demonstration, India Walton called for a defunding of the police in response to that experience of Martin Gugino, among others. Of course, she was also critical of the incumbent for having taken very wealthy donors money and for having done a very bad job, she said, dealing with the COVID crisis for the people of Buffalo. One of the questions that emerged immediately after her victory in the primary was whether the county Democratic party would support her since they had been supporting the incumbent and had been working with and under him for many years. Interestingly, the county Democratic Party, reading the tea leaves as I am trying to render them to you now, has decided that they will support her in the general election, and if that continues to be their position, she will be Buffalo's socialist mayor. It is important to underscore, as I have tried to do in other programs, that the expectation celebrated over the last 75 years of cold War, anti leftism, antisocialism, anti communism, and so on, the notion that became popular that there was an American exceptionalism that made Americans, because of their uniqueness, because of their individuality, because of their traditions, uniquely uninterested in and unsympathetic towards socialism, is now exposed for the inaccuracy it always represented. I will continue to talk about the remarkable showing of socialists, not just those that get attention because they won, but the many who came remarkably close, who didn't get 2 or 3% of the vote, but got much, much larger shares, thereby proving again that the depth of interest in socialism is far greater than our mass media, our political leaders, and our academicians are willing to admit. My next update has to do with unemployment insurance. And here it's just a matter of. Of correcting widely held misperceptions. The average unemployment insurance that workers are entitled to when they lose their job through no fault of their own. That's the law. You'd only become eligible for unemployment insurance if you can demonstrate that you lost your job through no fault of your own. The average payout to an unemployed insured worker who's lost his or her job is 40% of what their pay was before they lost the job. So the notion that unemployment is like continuing your economic situation is nonsense. For the vast majority, it marks a major decline in your income and, and your standard of living. The average number of weeks that unemployment insurance covers in the United States right now is 26. That's one half of one year. There are some states, because it varies from state to state, that give you unemployment for as little as 12 weeks. That's not, by the way, according to how long you're jobless. You can be jobless for much longer. You just won't get the money beyond 26 weeks on average, 12 weeks in those states that go the least. The money to pay unemployment is based on a small tax levied on all employers. This, of course, creates an incentive for the employers and the government to limit how much they pay out to people in terms of the number of weeks in terms of the amount of money, in terms of the special rules, all of which they can impose on unemployed workers, they have an incentive to not give them much because then they don't have to tax the businesses as much to make up the funds. That's a perverse incentive because it's bad for unemployed people since the government and the businesses have a way to cut back on on their costs by denying the unemployed. It's also very important to understand that workers have no say if and when a state government doesn't do what the law requires it to do. And this by the way, is very common, the states have trouble administering. The states take time, the office isn't equipped, there's a holiday, the workers are out. The number of excuses that can be made any unemployed worker who's been through the system can tell you about. But here's an interesting part of the law. The workers can't do anything about it. It's only the Department of Justice in Washington, the federal Department of Justice, that can intervene to investigate and force a state to behave differently. Which means if you have a right wing government in Washington, say like Mr. Trump's, they don't do anything and the states know they can do whatever they want, there will be no consequences for them. Lastly, gig workers, workers who are no longer on a payroll but are instead converted into contract workers. They're not covered by unemployment. Their employers don't have to pay into the tax for those workers. There's another incentive to convert a payroll worker into a gig worker because you save on the taxes you would have had to pay for for unemployment. Screws the worker out of a benefit, but it advantages the employer should sound familiar. My next update has to do with the decision of the Teamsters union in the United States to target Amazon as they're going to organize the workers there and they made the announcement on Amazon Prime Day. That was an interesting touch and I want to read to you very briefly the statement made by the Teamsters of about why they've targeted Amazon. The International Brotherhood. I'm quoting now. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters recognizes that there is no clearer example of how America is failing the working class than Amazon. From its start as a book retailer, Amazon has grown to become an e commerce giant and has disrupted industry after industry and displaced hundreds of thousands of jobs. Amazon exploits its employees, contractors and employees of contractors via and then get this. Wage theft, fraudulent classification, intense production quotas, dehumanizing work environments, unsafe workplaces and production standards, low wages, high turnover, no voice on the job, lack of job security and outsourced jobs. Teamsters could have written that about the entire work situation of the United States. That they say it publicly and loudly is an interesting movement in the labor movement. I want to next go to the cost of wars, a cost you may not have thought about. I was struck by this statistic and wanted to share it with you. Since 9 11. So we're talking the last 20 years. Here are the number of Americans who've died in military conflict. 7,057. Okay, 7,057Americans have died in military conflict over the last 20 years. During the same period of time, 30,000. In other words, over four times as many. 30,177 committed suicide who were active duty or veterans of those conflicts. In other words, the cost of the war isn't just measured by those killed or injured in by the conflict, but lasts for decades in the mental and physical costs. 30,000 suicides and you begin to wonder since we're leaving as a nation, Afghanistan in September according to President Biden and the Taliban, according to all news counts that I've read are basically taking over as the Americans withdraw and the coalition so called withdraws with the Americans. That clearly that as a geopolitical war lost. And it doesn't look much better in Iraq either. So the war didn't achieve the foreign objective it sought. It's costing tens of thousands of people continuing via suicide and all the other consequences. It's almost that the only people you can think of who won were the defense contractors. They were able to sell the guns and the bullets and the planes and the missiles and all the rest of it. They made a lot of money, but the rest of us, not so much. Okay, folks, we've come to the end of today's first part, the first part of our show. Before we move on, I want to thank all of you who have and continue to support the work we do to make this show possible each week and especially our Patreon community In this, the 10th year, our anniversary of economic update. If you haven't already, Please go to patreon.com to learn more about how you can get involved in supporting this show. Please be sure to also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And if you're watching this on YouTube, be sure to hit the subscribe button. You'll find just below. Stay with us. We'll be right back with today's special guest, a Chilean activist involved in the remarkable revolution going on in Chile. Right, Rodrigo Roa Fernandez. Welcome back, friends, to the second half of Today's economic update. It is with great pleasure and with a considerable amount of admiration and honor mixed in that I welcome to our microphones and cameras, Rodrigo Roa Fernandez. Rodrigo Roa is a Chilean worker who has long been active fighting for basic change in Chile, culminating in a new constituent assembly that is getting ready to write a new constitution for that very important country in Latin America. He is a member of Convergencia Social, one of the five political parties forming the left coalition that is called Frente Amplio. Frente Amplio advocates decentralizing and democratizing political power, knowledge and economy. It represents a break from 40 years of extreme patriarchal neoliberalism. He is also currently working to include worker co ops, what we call worker self directed enterprises, in the upcoming constituent assembly and in the next progressive Chilean presidential campaign. So thank you very, very much, Rodrigo, for joining us today.
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B
Thank you very much, Professor Walsh, for having me today and Mari. Maribel.
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A
Okay, thank you. Okay, Rodrigo, let me begin by asking you to summarize for us what you think is this enormous political historical change sweeping across Chile, so that my viewers and my listeners have a sense of the importance of paying attention to what's happening in Chile.
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B
The key element in this democratic revolution is the feminism. We Chileans have understood that we need to overcome the patriarchal society. A new era of matriarchal society needs to be established democratically.
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A
And this is what is going on as a core objective of these events. Is that correct?
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B
Is that correct? Because in the first time in the human race, democratic constitution will be written by 50% ladies, 50% men. Never before in any country in the world that gender parity took place democratically.
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So that the new constitution of Chile will not only be the first time in Chile, but literally the first time in the planet that men and women are recognized as equal partners in constructing a constitution and the society that lives under that constitution.
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B
You're right, Professor.
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A
Okay, tell me also what is the relationship of the social forces that are making this revolution to the neoliberalism, to the Chicago economics that was imposed on Chile in the aftermath of the killing of Salvador Allende decades ago?
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B
Well, this is very important for us because the dictatorship of debt was imposed on Chilean workers, privatizing our life to the extreme that the Social Security was devastated. We're trying to rebuild the Social Security for families, for workers. And we believe that with this new view that women are bringing for solidarity, liberty and equality, to exercise it, to truly exercise it, will change and will overcome the new liberalism.
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A
Can you explain briefly for us how do you explain to the rest of the world the enormous increase in the political activity, the political leadership of the women of Chile? How did it come to be that you are a pioneer in this kind of social change?
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B
Domination. They don't want to be dominated anymore by us. So man's explaining. As a man, I feel ashamed to be explaining to you what they think they should be. First of all, next time I will invite women, Chilean women, or a constitutional representative, a lady, to speak with you. But I can say that it's domination. Everything about being dominated by these men who want to continue their version of the society. The reality, what should be done, and I think that this is what we expect to be changed for the well being of the current and future generations.
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A
Okay, let me first say to you, I would love nothing more than to have one of the women that are occupying a leadership position in this revolution to come before our cameras and microphones. So let me ask you to work on that. We will be in touch with you and we will try to have that program as soon as we can arrange it. Let me continue by asking you to tell us what is the role in your Chilean revolution of the question of capitalism, of a capitalist economic system. Do you anticipate that the assembly and the new constitution will take a position about capitalism as the economic system for Chile? Yes.
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B
This private capitalism in the version of neoliberalism needs to be overcome. First of all, we want to democratically establish democratic socialism, a feminist democratic socialism with gender parity in the base and a plural national new constitution. And we want to overcome, as we understand capitalism today, whether it be the pride or state, but the vertical domination of the capitalist needs to be overcome. Again, we believe that your work worker self directed enterprises are key in this whole new reality.
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A
Well, you know, nothing could give me greater pleasure than to imagine that the work we've been doing on this program, democracy at work, is finding a fertile soil in Chile. And obviously, if there's any way that we can be helpful in providing information or research or analysis, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. I have to ask this question, since we are based here in the United States. How does this revolutionary change in Chile look at the United States? Are we an obstacle? Are we as a nation, a potential ally? What. What is the attitude, let me put it that way, towards the United States of those leading this revolutionary change in Chile?
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B
US workers will be always our ally because we celebrate May 1st thanks to the Chicago workers long time ago in Chile and the rest of the world. But let me tell you that it's a great sadness that we have in this relationship with the United States because we have an inter generational trauma after knowing that the CIA revealed information that the ex president of the United States of America, Richard Nixon and his successors were involved in the coup d' etat in 1973. And we are very afraid that something like that may happen again. So it would be of great relief for us who believe in democracy if the President of United States, President Joseph Biden, may make a pledge that never again the United States of America will interfere in the internal affairs of the Republic of Chile. Of course we love all you. It means that freedom, liberty, but also as a worker, we believe that we have to work closely with workers from the United States of America to make the whole change together.
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A
Well, I hope that President Biden hears what you just said, but he does seem to be a bit more interested in protesting other countries interfering here than in even admitting that this is a late response by other countries to something that the United States has been doing for a very, very long time. Let me conclude, because we don't have much time. Do you think that what is happening in Chile, particularly the rejection of patriarchy and the insistence that the new post capitalist, let's call it Chile, will be for focused on not allowing patriarchy to return, et cetera? Can this be a model? Can this be an inspiration for others in Latin America who may feel the way you do, but now see the possibility because you've been able to take it to the next step, the post.
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B
Pandemic era request, as I said, women to be first in line to bring with them this collaborative spirit they have, this gender to transform the whole. Because if we don't collaborate, we don't help each other, we don't overcome the selfishness, the greediness that is in us, many men dominating for our own benefit. We will not make it. We are facing difficulties globally.
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We are.
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We need them to be active. 50% and 50% men and ladies need to rule the world democratically. Participation of the basis of their society, workers. And of course this is what we expect to be a model. And as I said, hopefully a lady will be in your show from Chile saying this to you.
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A
Yeah, I am. Personally, one of the reasons we reached out to you is that I find it extraordinary that the history of the revolutionary movements against capitalism have so often neglected to include the other half of the human race, the female half, in the positions at the bottom, in the middle and the top of this movement. So that Their creativity, their view of what life is, their comprehension of what the future might be plays a role that's been a weakness and a fault of revolutionary movements. And it is extraordinarily important that a revolutionary movement that comes out of that tradition wants to break with the patriarchal component of that tradition. And that makes your experiment there in Chile even more important. Well, we've come to the end of our interview, but Rodrigo, let me thank you. I hope that our audience appreciates supporting what you're doing in Chile, understanding it, sharing it. And once again, please work with us once this program is over, to bring one of your female comrades to our microphones and cameras so that she can explain, as you have, how all of this movement in Chile is transforming her life and the life of women across your country.
- [26:53]
B
Thank you very much for having me today, Professor Wolff.
- [26:56]
A
Thank you, Rodrigo. And I look forward to working with you in the future. And to all my audience, let me remind you this is really important material to process, to follow up on. Thank you for paying attention, and I look forward to speaking with you again next week. Sa. Sa.