Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: "Collective Action for Change" – August 7, 2017

Episode Overview

In this episode, Richard D. Wolff focuses on the power of collective action in challenging systemic economic injustices and achieving meaningful change. Through a critical examination of current events in airline regulation, media ownership, job creation, and the psychological barriers to collective organizing, Wolff—joined in the second half by Dr. Harriet Fraad—explores the intersections of economics, politics, psychology, and history that define both individual and mass movements for social progress.

Key Topics and Insights

The Shrinking Airline Seats and Deregulation

[03:10 – 09:00]

• Issue: Airlines in the US have reduced seat size and space, compromising passenger comfort and emergency safety for higher profits.
• Consumer Pushback: Flyers Rights, a consumer group, petitioned the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to impose regulations for safer seating. The FAA rejected the appeal.
• Legal Intervention: The appeals court ruled in favor of the consumer group, recognizing the health and safety risks.
• Wider Problem: Deregulation empowers airlines to prioritize profits over customer welfare, with added charges and reduced services benefiting only a small group of shareholders.

Quote:
"Airline profits are driving a process in which our seats are becoming more uncomfortable and now dangerous as well."
— Richard Wolff [06:09]

Media Ownership and the Illusion of a Free Press

[09:01 – 17:33]

• Chicago Sun Times Ownership Change: Acquired by a partnership between a local politician and trade unions aiming to return the paper to its working-class roots.
• Critique of the "Free Press": While protected from government control, modern media in the US is largely owned by huge corporations—limiting genuine plurality and reflecting business, not people’s, interests.
• Alternative Models: Possibility of media governance by workers and consumers, but current economic structures discourage this.
• Takeaway: Democratic society needs a genuinely free and pluralistic press to represent all segments—not just big business.

Quote:
"If newspapers and radio and TV are more and more under the control and ownership of big business, well, then we have violated the freedom of the press, in that second sense.”
— Richard Wolff [15:14]

Foxconn Deal and the Real Economics of Job Creation

[17:34 – 28:15]

• Backdrop: Foxconn, a Chinese company, promises to create 3,000 jobs by opening a factory in Wisconsin—presented triumphantly by President Trump, Governor Walker, and Representative Paul Ryan.
• State Subsidies: Wisconsin offered $3 billion in subsidies—equal to $1 million per job.
• Economic Analysis: Wolff highlights that the state could outright hire 60,000 people at $50k/year for the same sum, vastly exceeding Foxconn’s 3,000 jobs.
• Political Theater: Such deals primarily subsidize corporate profits and create PR-friendly political optics, rather than practical mass employment or sustainable development.
• Funding Sources: The subsidy could only be financed by raising taxes, cutting public services, or borrowing (with taxpayers ultimately footing the bill).

Quote:
"Don't be fooled. What this is, is a program to subsidize the profits of Foxconn. That's why they're interested.”
— Richard Wolff [24:48]

The Museum of Capitalism & Arts in Critique

[28:16 – 30:20]

• Cultural Shift: The arts community in Oakland, CA, has inaugurated a Museum of Capitalism, reflecting a revived public willingness to question basic economic structures.
• Role of Arts: Artists join economists and activists in critically examining capitalism and presenting systemic critique to the public—a development Wolff celebrates as overdue.

Quote:
"The arts community is joining the conversation about the system and I want you all to know about it."
— Richard Wolff [29:47]

In-Depth Interview: Dr. Harriet Fraad – Collective Action and Resistance

[30:21 – 57:13]

Why Don’t People Organize More Often?

[30:24 – 38:43]

• Cultural Contradiction: While American culture extolls “teamwork” and “united we stand,” it simultaneously promotes rugged individualism.
• Childhood Socialization: Working-class and poor children, more than those from affluent backgrounds, are taught to obey rather than question or assert themselves.
• Internalized Submission: Authority is instilled not just by external discipline but through internalized beliefs—making people “discipline themselves” to obey.

Quote:
"The way you really discipline people to obey and shut up and... subordinate... authorities is through a series of things that discipline them from the inside, not the cops or the army from the outside, but make you feel like you're nothing."
— Dr. Harriet Fraad [35:08]

The Cycle of Acceptance and Breaking Free

[38:44 – 46:01]

• Effects of Submission: Lifelong acceptance of authority causes quiet obedience but leads to compensatory behaviors—addiction to drugs, alcohol, food—as outlets for internalized oppression.
• Historical Change: Periods of long acceptance are sometimes broken by sudden mass movements—rare, but triggered by accumulated grievances and organizing groundwork.
• Examples: The Civil Rights movement, South African anti-apartheid struggle, and labor union organizing often involved decades of groundwork before mass action erupted.

Quote:
"At certain points, people have had enough. So some people stand up and say no and organize other people, and suddenly it's acceptable. Suddenly those barriers are broken…" — Dr. Harriet Fraad [44:00]

What Sparks Mass Movements?

[46:02 – 54:34]

• Collective Evolution: Often, organizing bodies and activists lay the foundation, but the precise moment when conditions ripen for collective action is unpredictable.
• Role of Alternative Voices: Counter-media, independent journalism, and public figures (e.g., Bernie Sanders, activists) embolden people by showing them they are not alone.
• Chain Reaction: Mass participation creates a sense of belonging; when people see others acting, they feel empowered to join.

Quote:
"The more people go, the more they see others go, and the more emboldened they are, and it becomes a chain reaction. And people flood into the streets and they demonstrate."
— Dr. Harriet Fraad [50:44]

Modern Signs of Change

[54:35 – 57:13]

• Contemporary Movements: Recent years have seen mass awakenings: Occupy Wall Street, the Bernie Sanders campaign, marches for women’s rights—all centered on shared grievances and desires for change.
• Community and Voice: The crucial impact of these movements lies in offering disaffected individuals community and a public voice, transitioning them from isolation and resignation to collective action.
• Importance of Activism: Persistent activists play a key role in keeping the consciousness of injustice alive until conditions ripen for mass participation.

Quote:
"That's why it's... to not be alone. To not be alone in her conviction, to be supported and to have a voice."
— Dr. Harriet Fraad [56:48]

Notable Quotes and Moments

• On Airline Deregulation:
  "Many of these efforts [to increase airline profits] are at the expense of the airline customer. That's how this system works. It's kind of an endless cat and mouse game."
  — Richard Wolff [07:46]

• On the Economics of Job Creation:
  "Wisconsin could hire 60,000 people, pay them $50,000 a year, and it works out to 3 billion. Or... give $3 billion to the Foxconn corporations and see, not 60,000, 3,000."
  — Richard Wolff [23:38]

• On Mass Organizing:
  "Usually what happens is there are people... organizing for decades... and at some point, people are ready and they move."
  — Dr. Harriet Fraad [47:00]

• The Lesson from Social Movements:
  "There probably is no more important political question than what happens in a society when it is accumulating these feelings, and they are on the verge of, as we shall see, becoming very different."
  — Richard Wolff [57:12]

Major Timestamps

• [03:10]: Airline seat size, deregulation, and consumer fightback
• [09:01]: Chicago Sun Times sale as a case study in media control
• [17:34]: Foxconn deal in Wisconsin, real and fake job creation
• [28:16]: The arts community questions capitalism
• [30:24]: Dr. Harriet Fraad joins to discuss barriers to collective action
• [35:08]: The internalization of obedience from childhood
• [44:00]: The moment when people "have had enough"
• [50:44]: Mass movements as chain reactions
• [56:48]: The importance of having a collective voice

Episode Tone

Richard Wolff maintains a critical, passionate, and accessible tone throughout, blending rigorous economic analysis with clear language and real-world examples. The discussion with Dr. Fraad adds depth and psychological nuance, making complex economic and social dynamics relatable for a broad audience.

Summary Takeaway

"Collective Action for Change" provides both a diagnosis of systemic economic problems—from shrinking consumer rights to the compromised media and misleading job creation schemes—and a deeper look at the personal and psychological obstacles to, and mechanisms of, societal transformation. The episode argues that despite a culture of resignation and submission, history shows that groundwork by activists and collective grievances can lead to rapid, transformative change, especially when people come together to realize they are not alone in their struggles and aspirations.