Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: "Economics, Psychology and Mass Murders"

Date: October 5, 2017
Host: Richard D. Wolff (RW)
Guest: Dr. Harriet Fraad (HF), Mental Health Counselor

Overview

In this episode, Richard D. Wolff analyzes the economic dimensions behind the tragic Las Vegas mass shooting and connects economic systems with deep psychological and social consequences. In the second half, Dr. Harriet Fraad joins to discuss the unique convergence of economic stress, gender roles, and gun culture that make mass shootings particularly American. Wolff further provides a sweeping critique of tax policy, healthcare failures, and the state of inequality in both the U.S. and post-Soviet societies, offering data-driven insights and passionate calls for systemic change.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Economic Aftermath of the Las Vegas Shooting

(00:10 – 06:20)

• Healthcare Burden: The mass shooting left hundreds in hospitals, with many survivors contending not only with physical and psychological trauma but also significant financial hardship due to the lack of universal health care in the U.S.
• Charity Reliance: Clark County set up a GoFundMe (cited by RW) to cover victims’ medical bills, highlighting the “unique American addition” of economic anxiety atop tragedy.
  • Quote (RW, 01:40): “In addition to the trauma, in addition to the wound, they have that peculiar American addition, which is economic anxiety on top of everything else.”

2. “Bringing the Profits Home”: Corporate Tax Evasion

(06:21 – 14:24)

• Tax Dodging Tactics: U.S. corporations exploit legal loopholes to avoid paying taxes, shifting billions in profits overseas.
• Political Rewards for Evasion: The Trump administration’s proposed tax reform would let corporations repatriate overseas profits at a reduced 10% tax rate—a move RW frames as rewarding bad corporate citizenship.
  • Quote (RW, 10:02): “This is a reward offered by the United States government to the corporations that have successfully evaded their share of taxes for years.”
• Historical Precedent: Similar tax holidays in 2004 failed to spark domestic job growth or economic benefits.

3. Economic Hardship & Inequality in the U.S. and Russia

(14:25 – 21:27)

• U.S. Economic Strain: According to the Consumer Financial Protection Board, 50% of U.S. citizens have trouble paying their bills.
• Post-Soviet Inequality: Citing research by Piketty & Saez, RW notes that after the dissolution of the USSR, Russia returned to “gross inequality,” now comparable to the U.S., and more unequal than China.
  • Quote (RW, 17:32): "The new capitalist Russia has caught up with the United States and has a distribution of wealth and income rather like that here in the United States."

4. Eastern Europe: Broken Promises and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism

(21:28 – 25:58)

• Economic Disappointment: Eastern Europe, after the fall of communism, did not achieve Western European living standards but rather joined the continent’s economic periphery.
• Colonial Dynamics: Western banks and corporations dominate local economies, keeping wages low and stifling prosperity.
• Political Outcome: Economic disenchantment feeds right-wing populism and anti-immigrant sentiments as people seek explanations for their stagnant conditions.

5. Alternative Political Winds in Europe

(25:59 – 27:39)

• Portugal: A left-wing, anti-austerity coalition government has found electoral success by prioritizing the needs of the majority over financial elites.
• United Kingdom: Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party are rising as the Conservative government flounders in Brexit negotiations.
  • Quote (RW, 27:21): "Very interesting that the winds of Europe are shifting."

6. The Real Reason Banks Aren't Creating Jobs

(27:40 – 28:55)

• Systemic Failure: Banks are criticized for not lending to job-creating businesses, but RW argues the structure of capitalism incentivizes cost-cutting, globalization, and automation, not job growth.

7. Rural Hospital Closures: Economic and Social Impact

(28:56 – 31:40)

• Healthcare Crisis: Since 2010, 82 rural U.S. hospitals have shut down, with hundreds more at risk, particularly in states like Georgia. The lack of access in places like Wheeler County (8,000 residents, no hospitals) is framed as a social failure.
  • Quote (RW, 30:36): "An equal devastation not associated with nature at all... is happening across the United States as we let down our fellow citizens."

8. Puerto Rico: Colonial Exploitation and Disaster Response

(31:41 – 33:50)

• Colonial Status: Puerto Rico is called the “poorest part of the United States,” enduring high taxes, federal neglect, and a lack of self-determination.
• Disaster Aftermath: The government’s inadequate response to Hurricane Maria is used as a lens for larger social and policy failures.
  • Quote (RW, 33:03): "You can tell the moral and economic fiber of a society by how it treats those who suffer the most and who have the least..."

FEATURE SEGMENT: Economics, Psychology, and Mass Murders with Dr. Harriet Fraad

(29:13 – 56:39)

9. American Mass Shootings: An International Outlier

(31:37 – 34:41)

• Stark Statistics: The U.S. has more mass shootings than all other advanced countries combined, with uniquely high rates of gun ownership and death; 43% of privately owned guns are in the U.S. despite holding only 4% of the world’s population.
• Depoliticized Violence: Unlike rare political mass shootings elsewhere, U.S. mass shooters act privately and randomly, venting personal rage.

10. Guns, Masculinity, and Capitalist Dislocation

(35:58 – 42:51)

• Masculinity and Gun Culture: Mass shooters are virtually all male, overwhelmingly white, and often described as “loners.” Economic change dethroned white men, robbing them of old privileges and jobs.
  • Quote (HF, 39:20): “Now... they don’t want to face that the people who dethroned them from their male throne are not women or minorities or immigrants, but the capitalists. They like to suck up and kick down...”
• Marketing Masculinity: Gun ads (e.g., Bushmaster) exploit anxieties about manhood and economic status, equating gun ownership with regaining lost masculinity.
  • Quote (HF, 40:14): “‘Buy the Bushmaster automatic weapon. Reinstate your manhood.’ So it’s like buying testosterone cream.”

11. Declining Labor Force Participation and Societal Disconnection

(42:52 – 45:27)

• Dropping Out: White men are dropping out of the labor force at high rates, reflecting frustration with poor prospects and loss of status both at work and at home.

12. The Explosion of Mass Shootings: A Timeline

(45:28 – 49:53)

• Historical Shift: Mass shootings began increasing after 1984, correlating with aggressive attacks on unions, diminished working-class security, and rising inequality.
  • Reference: Mark Ames’ Going Postal links the rise in workplace mass killings to Reagan-era economic restructuring.
  • Quote (HF, 48:24): "Reagan was the first to start smashing up the American dream, to start smashing up the unions... It was the beginning of the crunching down of the working class."

13. Psychological Isolation and the Need for Social Bonds

(49:54 – 54:57)

• Isolation as Risk Factor: Mass shooters are often socially isolated, emotionally disconnected, and lack male friendships; their only close tie is often a lost romantic partner.
  • Quote (HF, 51:24): “Men are emotionally disconnected, especially if they're not working… connection is crucial to mental health.”
• Contrast with Women: In times of distress, women tend to connect with others, building support networks that men often lack.
• Toxic Masculinity: The cultural stigma against male vulnerability exacerbates isolation and psychological distress.

14. Calls for Political and Social Action

(54:58 – 56:39)

• The Need for Movements: Both hosts urge building collective alternatives and movements that explain economic hardships and offer paths to reclaiming agency.
  • Quote (HF, 55:00): “People need a movement. What Bernie started has to be built. There has to be an alternative where people can come together and say, this is our land.”
• Policy Suggestions: Redistribute wealth, reinstate progressive taxation, and confront economic structures that breed despair and violence.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Corporate Tax Evasion:

  • RW (12:03): “When they evade taxes on that money, either we have fewer services or we pay higher taxes to make up for what they don’t pay. That’s the economics of it.”

• On Gun Culture & Masculinity:

  • HF (39:20): “They don’t want to face that the people who dethroned them... are not women or minorities or immigrants, but the capitalists. They like to suck up and kick down.”
  • HF (40:14): “Buy the Bushmaster automatic weapon. Reinstate your manhood. So it’s like buying testosterone cream.”

• On Historical Patterns:

  • HF (47:38): “Between 1949 and 1966, there were no mass shootings. Between 1966 and 1984, there were no mass shootings. Starting in 1984, they became more and more frequent.”

• On Social Disconnection:

  • HF (51:24): “Men are emotionally disconnected, especially if they're not working… connection is crucial to mental health.”

• On Policy & Political Action:

  • RW (55:57): “You wonder and you hope whether maybe people will think about it in a new way and understand that political connection might go a long way…”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Economic aftermath of Las Vegas massacre: 00:10 – 06:20
• Tax evasion and "bring profits home" policy: 06:21 – 14:24
• U.S. economic strain, Russia post-communism: 14:25 – 21:27
• Disappointment in Eastern Europe: 21:28 – 25:58
• Portugal, U.K., and shifting political winds: 25:59 – 27:39
• Banks and systemic dysfunction: 27:40 – 28:55
• Rural hospital closures: 28:56 – 31:40
• Puerto Rico as a colony: 31:41 – 33:50
• Dr. Harriet Fraad on mass shootings: 31:37 – 54:57
• Political solutions and collective action: 54:58 – 56:39

Tone and Language

The episode combines Richard Wolff’s incisive, data-rich economic critique with Dr. Fraad’s passionate, psychologically informed analysis. Both employ plain, forceful language; Wolff often deploys pointed rhetorical questions (“Do we have a system that works for us or for somebody else?”), while Fraad uses vivid examples and advertising slogans to emphasize her arguments. The overall tone is urgent, challenging listeners to connect systemic economic forces with individual and societal behavior.

For listeners and non-listeners alike, this episode offers a multifaceted understanding of how economic structure and cultural psychology interweave to produce America’s gun violence epidemic and broader social malaise—and urges both policy reform and rebuilding of collective social movements as pathways forward.