Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff

Episode: The Rational and Irrational in Anti-Vaxxers

Date: September 9, 2021
Host: Richard D. Wolff

Overview

In this episode, Richard D. Wolff tackles the multifaceted issue of vaccine hesitancy in the United States, specifically exploring the rational and irrational aspects behind anti-vaxxer attitudes. He connects these themes to broader patterns of mistrust toward government and private corporations. Further, Wolff analyzes statistical declines in church and labor union membership, and what that means for American society. Additional segments discuss economic changes, including the evolution of family entertainment and the harsh realities of deindustrialization and manufacturing offshoring. The episode concludes with a critical look at the legacy of labor leader Richard Trumka, the state of American unions, and the real drivers of the manufacturing decline.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Understanding Anti-Vax Sentiments

• Limits to Individual Freedom
  Wolff opens by drawing comparisons between vaccine mandates and widely accepted restrictions like traffic laws, smoking bans, and licensing requirements.
  • Quote: “Many opposing vaccination…are perfectly comfortable with a traffic light. Let me remind you, a traffic light is when the government says to you, if you go through this traffic intersection when there’s a red light, we’re going to ticket you or arrest you because that endangers all of us.” (01:12)
• Rationality of Suspicion
  He acknowledges that much anti-vaccine skepticism is rooted in rational distrust, given the long history of corporations manipulating government policy for profit, including pharmaceutical companies:
  • Quote: “Distrusting mandates from the government, drug company pushes and campaigns…is perfectly reasonable.” (03:45)
  • Examples: FDA’s existence as result of pharma scandals; car companies evading emissions compliance; false safety assurances after 9/11.
• Irrational Response
  Wolff argues that justified suspicion turns irrational when it leads people to avoid life-saving vaccines, ultimately harming both themselves and their communities.
  • Quote: “Much of the opposition to vaccination is rational. But…the response to those suspicions…is irrational. The way to react to this problem is not to forego the vaccination that can save your life.” (05:09)
• Critique of Politicians and Systemic Failures
  He notes that politicians exploit these fears for their own gain and that public anger about mandates is compounded by exclusion from decision-making in both government and workplace settings.
  • Quote: “Let’s stop this mandating. It makes people angry and it makes people avoid things.” (04:36)
  • Advocates for more democratic, collective engagement at the workplace (i.e., collective bargaining) and in public policy.

2. Decline of Social Institutions: Churches and Unions

• Church and Religious Institution Construction
  Religious building construction fell from $9 billion (2003–04) to $3 billion (2021), reflecting a major decline in religious engagement.
  • Quote: “The construction of religious buildings…came to $9 billion…in 2021…$3 billion…a collapse of the building of churches.” (13:27)
• Church Membership Trends
  Church membership has dropped from 76% (late 1940s) to 47% (2021), dipping below half the US population for the first time on record.
  • Quote: “A profound change in the American population…The number of people going to church has shrunk. The number of people membership, as you can see, has shrunk. Church finances are in serious difficulty across the board.” (14:12)
• Parallel Decline: Labor Unions
  Private sector union membership plummeted from ~33% to under 7%, paralleling the decline seen in churches.
  • Quote: “The churches are in decline. The labor unions are in decline over the same period with similar numbers. Wow.” (15:33)
• Societal Consequences
  Wolff draws a connection between this decline in collective institutions and growing social isolation and economic insecurity in America.

3. Inequality and the Changing Nature of Consumption

• Case Study: Disney’s 'Star Wars Hotel'
  The new Disney attraction caters to only the top 5% (or less) of income earners, underscoring widening inequality:
  • Quote: “Two nights in a cabin for two at the Disney Star Wars Hotel cost $4,809…not for you and me. That’s how America’s economy is changing.” (17:29)
• Broader Implication
  Family entertainment, once accessible to the masses, becomes the preserve of the economic elite.

4. Labor Unions and the Legacy of Richard Trumka

(Second Half – starts at around 21:24)

• Trumka’s Background & Context
  Richard Trumka, late head of the AFL-CIO, rose from the United Mine Workers, mirroring John L. Lewis, who famously led a great union organizing drive after the Great Depression.
  • Quote: “He had come up in the United Mine Workers as a young, dynamic reformer, a person who was unwilling to go along with the old ways, demanded a more militant union.” (23:25)
• Achievements and Limits
  Trumka’s leadership included successes (Pittston Coal strike) and innovation (Jobs with Justice).
  However, his strategy prioritized partnership with the Democratic Party and coalition-building at the expense of direct organizing, during a period of further decline in union membership and influence.
  • Quote: “His hopes, his dreams, his promises to revive the labor movement…were not successful. The labor movement under his watch continued its long, sad decline.” (25:21)
• Strategic Error: Relations with Political Parties
  Wolff argues the US labor movement’s unique decline (relative to Europe) is because it allied with mainstream parties rather than building coalitions with social/radical political forces (socialist, communist, green), missing out on major social gains.
  • Quote: “What the labor movement needs is an alliance…with the social movements. Maybe you could get something similar. And that would have been a different strategy than the one Mr. Trumka pursued. And that’s a lesson we must learn from his life…” (28:23)

5. The Reality Behind Declining US Manufacturing

• Long-Term Decline
  Manufacturing’s share fell from 30–40% (1940s) to 9% today. Politicians have promised—but failed—to reverse this loss for generations.
  • Quote: “Every president from the 1940s to the current one has said he promises to bring manufacturing jobs back…Not a single one of them delivered it.” (30:33)
• Misplaced Blame and Excuses
  • Politicians: Blame foreign countries (“bad Chinese are stealing our manufacturing jobs”) instead of addressing root causes.
  • Corporations: Blame high wages and taxes, ignoring the real profit-driven motives for offshoring.
  • Democrats: Promise high-tech job replacements, which only benefitted a "tiny number," with most jobs becoming lower-wage service positions.
  • Quote: “We got a working class that’s now precarious, unsure, insecure. We all know what we got. The promises of the Democrats were no better than the promises of the Republicans.” (33:15)
• Supply Chains and Capitalist Decisions
  The globalization of supply chains and production locations was driven by profit motives, not inevitability, leading to today's supply chain vulnerabilities:
  • Quote: “That’s a product of profit seeking capitalist investment patterns…so it is with our supply chains. This is an economy run by and for large capitalist corporations and the problems we face are the result of their control.” (35:28)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Rational Suspicion:
  “We should be very suspicious of the politicians who get up on the high oars and pander to this kind of craziness. That's sort of like the QANON folks telling us it's a great conspiracy from outer space.” (06:38)
• On Declining Institutions:
  “Leaving people without the kinds of organizations that were once extremely meaningful in their lives, leaving them lonely and isolated in ways that are shaping everything about both our present and our future, economically speaking.” (16:02)
• On Manufacturing and Blame:
  “Many presidents, including the present one, blame China. Yeah, they find a foreign country. It's not always China, but China's a big popular one. Especially now…How convenient. You can't change something so you blame somebody else.” (31:55)
• On Systemic Issues:
  “This is an economy run by and for large capitalist corporations and the problems we face are the result of their control.” (35:36)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:12 – Government restrictions vs. individual freedoms: traffic lights, smoking bans, licensing
• 03:45 – Rational roots of anti-vaccine skepticism; corporate and governmental failures
• 05:09 – When rational suspicion becomes irrational action on vaccines
• 13:27 – Collapse in religious construction spending
• 14:12–16:02 – Church membership decline, parallels with unions, consequences
• 17:29 – Disney’s 'Star Wars Hotel' and the exclusion of the majority
• 21:24 – Remembering Richard Trumka: rise from unions, parallels to John L. Lewis
• 23:25 – Trumka’s union reform and activism
• 25:21 – Limits of Trumka’s leadership, failure to reverse union decline
• 28:23 – Lessons from Trumka’s strategy; need for new alliances
• 30:33 – Decline of US manufacturing, broken promises from politicians
• 31:55 – Blaming China and other scapegoats for deindustrialization
• 35:28 – Profits and supply chains: root cause analysis

Conclusion

This episode of Economic Update positions anti-vaccine sentiment within a broader, economically-rooted mistrust of social and corporate institutions. Wolff connects the dots between American suspicion of authority, the systematic weakening of community organizations, and the failures of both government and business to serve public needs. He calls for collective engagement and systemic change to combat alienation, economic inequality, deindustrialization, and the decline of organized labor, cautioning against misplaced blame and superficial reforms.