Today’s post is Part 2 of the podcast. In Part 1 we discussed what has gone wrong with modern capitalism, and in Part 2 we seek answers as to what it will take to make it right.
Some say, “We need to get rid of capitalism entirely!” Some say, “We need conscious capitalism!” Some say, “We need socialism!” Some - myself among them - say genuine transformation will have less to do with the words we use and more to do with conceptualizing what a fair economy looks like. Transformation is more an evolutionary process than an on-off switch that applies more to theory than to practice.
All of our guests on today’s podcast - Sarah Jaffe, Nina Turner, Richard Wolff, Peter Joseph, Stephanie Kelton, Dan Price, Robert Kuttner, and Marshall Steinbaum - have important views on how to make such transformation occur.
In the words of economist Richard Wolff,
“I think we can save capitalism, if you like, although I'd prefer a different language. Go beyond capitalism. Thank you, capitalism, for what you achieved. You've had your chance. You've done your stuff. You've done a good job in some areas.
But it's time to take yourself seriously so that when you endorsed democracy rhetorically, we now have to bring it home and put it right inside your enterprise. And I believe and I think I can show you that if we really believe in democracy, if we're going to be honestly willing to
do that, I think the decisions our businesses will make will be radically different from what we have seen. And that is, I think, our best hope to get beyond the failures of this system, holding on to its achievements, but saying goodbye to the things that have demonstrated now for quite some time, are obstacles to what we know the people as a whole need.”
Transforming Capitalism, Part 2