Podcast Summary: Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff — "Cornel West on Pandemic Capitalism" (May 28, 2020)

Overview

In this powerful episode, host Richard D. Wolff explores the intersections of the COVID-19 pandemic and capitalism in America. He critically examines the system's failures, its exacerbation of inequality, and introduces Dr. Cornel West—a renowned intellectual, activist, and friend—to further discuss the crisis's deeper social, economic, and moral implications. Together, Wolff and West dissect how the pandemic exposes underlying systemic failures and consider possibilities for transformative change in the United States.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Unequal Impact of the Pandemic

• Disproportionate Economic Harm: Wolff details how capitalism has made the pandemic’s effects especially harsh for working-class people, women, Black, and Brown Americans.
  • "Of Americans making under $40,000 a year, 40% lost their jobs in the last six weeks… At the top, CEOs get a lot of public relations benefit out of taking graciously pay cuts. They didn’t lose their jobs, they took a pay cut." (00:55)
• Stock Market Disparity: The rich have grown richer as the majority suffer. "10% of shareholders own 80% of the shares. They're doing reasonably well. They are getting richer. The rest of us are getting poorer." (02:10)
• Systemic Failures in Government Response: The U.S. response has been chaotic and uncoordinated, with cities, states, and the federal government at odds.
  • "They can't seem to get together... It’s the beginning of the end of a system. These are all symptoms and signs of a system disintegrating." (04:10)

Racism, Essential Labor, and Exploitation

• Highlight on Essential Workers: The story of New Orleans firing garbage collectors for demanding hazard pay, replacing them with prison labor:
  • "New Orleans replaced the workers it fired by arranging contracting for labor instead from the prison inmates. Inmates paid $1.33 an hour instead of the $10.25 they had paid the garbage collectors... Those inmates... had to work without protective equipment and... without any hazard pay. So much for our unity, solidarity, and compassion." (06:50)
• Structural Racism: Wolff emphasizes that prisoners, disproportionately Black, are being used as near-slave labor in essential roles. (08:00)

Dr. Cornel West: "A Full-Blown Neo-Fascist Moment"

Systemic Critique

• The Three Pillars of Failure: West identifies financialization of capitalism, a militarized state (domestic and foreign), and a commodified culture as causes for systemic breakdown.
  • "Financialization of capitalism has led toward... a level of unaccountability of capitalists, of economic elite going hand in hand with a militarized US nation state… and the commodified culture in which everybody's for sale, everything is for sale." (11:00)
• Era of Hopelessness and Possibility: Dr. West expresses sadness at the decline of the "American experiment," but sees opportunity in popular reckoning and movements among youth.
  • "There's new possibilities—that the prices are tied to opportunity… The younger generation, for example, [sees] the acknowledgment of capitalist failure." (13:49)
  • "Every setback is a setup for a comeback." (15:40)

Reckoning with the Political Present

• On Trumpism and Division: West is unsurprised by the "ugly white backlash" and the ruling elite's strategy to divide workers by race.
  • "The ruling class wants to divide black and white workers, black and brown, black and red... We've seen that over and over again." (16:54)
• Neoliberal Black Leadership: He laments the failure of much of Black leadership to challenge the status quo and live up to the radical tradition (King, Du Bois, etc.).
  • "They're willing to become captains on this Titanic rather than transform the ship itself." (19:40)

Prospects for the Left and Socialism

Emerging Movements and Hope

• New Left Possibilities: Both guests discuss signs of hope in multiracial solidarity, DSA, and youth-led movements openly embracing socialism.
  • "The younger generation more and more, I think, is acknowledging the need for multiracial solidarity. I see it in DSA. I see it among even the further left..." (21:00)
• Reframing ‘Socialism’: West urges for focus on substance, not labels.
  • "When people talk about capitalism, they mean so many different things… When you talk about socialism, you're really talking about the empowerment of working people… so that there's a moral and a spiritual dimension…" (22:36)
• Internationalism and Intersectionality: A true left must be global, anti-racist, anti-imperialist, and anti-capitalist. (24:15)

Critique of Scapegoating and Bipartisan Complicity

On U.S.-China Relations & Political Distraction

• Rising Xenophobia: Wolff and West discuss the political establishment’s tendency to blame China for America’s problems, reminiscent of Cold War tactics.
  • "There seems to be a growing effort right at the top... to scapegoat the Chinese... to try to create another kind of Cold War mentality...” (24:30)
• Two Wings of the Ruling Class:
  • "The Trump represents the neo fascist wing of the ruling class, that the Democratic Party establishment represents the neoliberal wing…” (25:15)
• No Illusions about Biden: West argues for strategic voting but insists on honesty about Biden's record (crime bill, Iraq war, Wall Street deregulation).
  • "We have to be honest, don't lie to the people in terms of who Biden is, but recognize... we have to build a mass oppositional counter-hegemonic... movement..." (27:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Wolff on Structural Inequality:
  "The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer." (01:30)
• West on the Urgency of Countervailing Forces: "We're really moving toward a full blown neo fascist moment. But those voices, those figures, those movements, those institutions that are countervailing are very important." (12:20)
• West—Hope and History: "Every setback is a setup for a comeback... So you have to bounce back." (15:35)
• West on the Black Bourgeoisie: "They're willing to become captains on this Titanic rather than transform the ship itself." (19:40)
• West on Progressive Potential: "Antifascist coalition against the neo fascism in the White House, and it's got to be radically left democratic opposition..." (21:15)
• West’s Call for Broad Solidarity: "...There's a moral and a spiritual dimension that needs to be incorporated... whether people call themselves socialists or anarchists or what have you..." (22:55)
• West on Enduring Struggle: "Blues is always about confronting catastrophe unflinchingly and bouncing back with a level of willingness to tell the truth, bearing witness with courage, vision, being willing to live and die for something bigger than you." (27:00)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00 – 09:30: Wolff’s solo deep dive into capitalism’s failures amid pandemic
• 09:31: Dr. Cornel West joins the conversation
• 10:58 – 13:04: Cornel West’s overview of systemic failures
• 13:41 – 16:10: West on possibilities for progressive change vs. his sadness at the decline
• 16:54 – 20:27: Analyzing Trumpism, white backlash, and failures among Black leadership
• 20:55 – 22:28: Prospects for the resurgence of the left and socialist ideas
• 22:36 – 24:30: Importance of language, substance, and movement over labels
• 24:30 – 28:19: Rising U.S. scapegoating of China; bipartisan failures; strategic but critical electoral engagement

Conclusion
This episode offers an unflinching critique of American capitalism’s inability to protect the vulnerable, a discussion of the pandemic as a systemic reckoning, and a rallying cry for renewed leftist, moral, and multiracial solidarity. Dr. Cornel West imbues the discussion with historical depth, moral vision, and characteristic hope amid present adversity, underscoring the urgent need for countervailing voices and transformative coalitions.