Comments by "Michael Mappin" (@michaelmappin1830) on "Capitalism vs. Socialism Town Hall | Part 1" video.

Yeah, that's why 97% of people with less wealth than they started off with. Social mobility in the United States is almost zero! Real wages have an increased since 1970! For 93% of Americans, 1 hour of Labor is worth less today than it was in 1970!
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Well if you're referring to State socialism, then there is Norway, Denmark, Sweden, France, except. But that's not the type of socialism that Richard Wolff is arguing for. He's arguing for a non-state socialism
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Yeah, State capitalism. LOL
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@ggt8194 , Richard Wolff is a traditional socialist, not a state socialist. Traditional socialists don't believe in hierarchical forms of social organization. They don't believe in swapping one hierarchy for another. They believe in non-hierarchical, bottom-up systems. Both state socialism and capitalism are top-down hierarchical systems.
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@JNM578 , no, there's no such thing as bottom up capitalism. Capitalism is a hierarchical, top-down undemocratic system of organization. You have owners at the top of the Apex, you have managers in the middle. And you have workers at the bottom. The owners get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, how much workers get paid, Etc. At a socially owned company, the workers have sovereignty. Sovereignty absolute Authority. At a capitalist Enterprise employees do not have sovereignty
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@JNM578 , but you see workers have virtually no bargaining power at all. With every passing day we can produce more and more with less and less labour. Decent paying jobs are becoming fewer and fewer. However, workers are becoming more and more desperate. It wasn't too long ago that a new McDonald's opened up, offering about 400 jobs. the number of applicants within the first hour were well into the thousands. and a lot of those applicants actually had degrees and trade skills! Workers are constantly being replaced with labor-saving technology. They end up on the unemployment line where they have to compete with other unemployed people. That extreme competition Drive the value of Labor down. Whoever is willing to do the most work for the least amount of money, Whoever has the most education, that is the person who's going to get the job. Bargaining power for the vast majority of the people in Canada in the United States is almost zero. Unless you have some highly specialized training. At a worker Cooperative the workers have sovereignty. They get to decide who the managers are. You see, it's like a symphony orchestra. the orchestra can choose the director. the director helps guide the orchestra. But he's not a dictator. The symphony / workers can remove him at any point in time. the workers are the ones that ultimately get to decide what is produced, how things are produced, where things are produced, Etc. They don't have to worry about being forced to poison their own water supply like those workers in Flint Michigan. You don't have to worry about being threatened with production being moved offshore. Etc. workers all across the United States are constantly agreeing willingly to reduce wages under threat of production being moved offshore. if workers do decide to unionize, then capitalist can shut down a factory in one area well getting supplies somewhere else
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Well aren't we demanding! ❤
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True capitalism leads to crony capitalism. Technically speaking, all forms of capitalism are crony. An economic system which allows the richest members of society to own the capital and then workers have to compete in order to obtain jobs and gain access to the very goods and services that they create in the first place. That's just absolutely crazy.
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What does Cuba have to do with socialism?
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No. What he said about China is accurate. Their economy is expanding hell of a lot faster than the US economy. It has been for years. Keep in mind that he's not saying that we should adopt their system, he's just pointing out that other systems are capable of creating greater growth then capitalism
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Actually it's the other way around. Under socialism workers get paid the full value of their labour. When workers have more money in their pocket, they can buy more goods and services produced by other fellow workers. That way, the economy expands. But under capitalist Enterprises workers still get paid the full value of their labour. Thanks to labor-saving technology we can produce more than we're capable of consuming, and that basically means there's more unemployed people than available jobs. Unemployed people compete with one another which lowers the value of Labor even further, and that compounds the problem by reducing purchasing power. We are literally producing more Goods than people can afford to buy. That's why fractional Reserve Banking and credit cards become so popular, they maintain purchasing power
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@tkash3856 , I'm well aware of how fractional Reserve banking works. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people getting paid for the full value of their labour which they can't do under capitalism. Yes, capitalism is the problem. Also you should know that fractional Reserve banking is actually required under capitalism because workers do not get paid the full value of their labour. So the only way purchasing power can be maintained is through debt.
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@tkash3856 , why are you talkin about fractional Reserve banking? That has nothing to do with the debate. What we're discussing here is weather democratic, worker organized, bottom-up systems the organization are superior to non-democratic, top-down hierarchical capitalist systems. Yes, printing money into existence will cause inflation. But that has no relevance to this discussion or the debate in the video
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@tkash3856 , the main reason people want socialism is because they want to be in control of their own lives and labour. It doesn't matter if you get rid of fractional Reserve banking tomorrow. It doesn't matter if you get rid of the government tomorrow. That doesn't change anything that I've said or address anything to do with the argument. I don't know why I have to keep repeating myself. Under socialism workers are in control of their own labour and they get paid the full value of their labour. Under capitalism they do not. That is the point.
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@tkash3856 , so why are you talkin about unrelated issues on this thread? It doesn't make any sense. 🙂 and besides, under capitalism it is those with the most money that control the banks. It's like everything else. But under socialism the workers control their own money. Consider 125 five thousand workers in Spain that own their own bank, means of production and high-tech Research Laboratories. Again, that's why people are fighting for socialism. They want to be in control of their own money and their own communities and their own labour. You're talking about banking doesn't address the issue.
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@tkash3856 , I know exactly how fractional Reserve banking works. Fractional Reserve banking doesn't have anything to do with work or autonomy. These are separate issues.
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You can't have a mixture of socialism and capitalism. The two cannot co-exist. I think you're referring to State socialism, which is an extension of capitalism.
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No. He's not praising China. He's just pointing out that their planned economy is working a hell of a lot better than the US economy. He doesn't advocate for State socialism. He's an actual socialist. Actual socialists are against State hierarchies.
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He didn't say the Chinese system was wonderful. Why would you say such a thing? And besides, he doesn't advocate for State socialism. He advocates for non-hierarchical forms of worker democracy.
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@micahrodriguez4580 , good luck when most Americans can't even afford to go to the doctor and are one paycheck away from becoming homeless.
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@micahrodriguez4580 , we do know what the cause. When workers own and control their own labour and resources, wealth stays with them and the community. When you work for someone else, most of the wealth goes to your employer, and your employer has most of the control. That's why the workers in Flint Michigan were forced to pollute their water supply. That's why when the corporation decided to move production to China, the workers had no control over that decision. Now you compare that to a socialist form of organization where the workers are in control. Consider 125000 workers in Spain that own their own bank, means of production, University, high-tech Research Laboratories. One worker equals one vote. They get paid the full value of their labour. and because they get paid the full value of their labour, they have more money to spend in to their community so that smaller businesses thrive. there are bread factories in the United States where the lowest paid employee get over $65,000 a year. but that's because the workers own their own labour. Otherwise, those janitors and assembly line workers would be making minimum wage like they do at Amazon or Walmart. when you got billions of dollars going to CEOs and Idol shareholders instead of workers, you end up with a situation where you have more goods and services then people can afford. capitalism erodes the purchasing power of workers, that in turn causes a retraction in the economy. we know what the cause of the problem is. We've known for a very long time. We've also known what we know what the cause of the problem is. we also know what the solution is. wealth should stay with the wealth producers. We need an economic system where workers can actually get paid the full value of their labour, something that is impossible under capitalism. Capitalism is the economic system of parasites. Technically it's not even an economic system. people such as Epstein are paid by the individuals behind the banking and industry. It's his job to confuse the issue. he does a very good job at that. it's like when the tobacco industry used to pay people in order to cause doubt in regards to the connection between cigarettes and lung cancer. who do you think funded and organized the debate? it was the reason Foundation. who funds the reason Foundation? The same people that fund The Institute for privatization.
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@morningstararun6278 , yeah, James Adams loves to avoid questions. A couple of days ago he tried to claim that Richard Wolff wasn't a member of the working class. He stated it as a fact. But then when asked to actually provide some proof, he couldn't do it. Apparently, according to James adams, if a school teacher saves enough money, then once they reach a million dollars or more, they no longer become a worker, even though they continue to work as a school teacher. He's an absolute freaking idiot. I actually think he's so stupid that he doesn't actually know that he's stupid.
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 @ExPwner , well if India is not capitalist then I guess China certainly can't be considering that that their economy is completely controlled by the communist government😂
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 @ExPwner , why do you constantly deflect and then accuse other people of deflecting? why do you like constantly and then accuse other people of lying? You are A congenital liar
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There's no such thing as a left-wing capitalism. Those on the left are anti-capitalist.
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@dinovassilakos6868 , there's no such thing as Democratic capitalism. Capitalism by its very nature is undemocratic. It's a top-down, hierarchical system. Socialism is the opposite. It's non-hierarchical, bottom up. Capitalist democracy is contradictory. Those are contradictory terms. My learning how to read better is not going to change the meaning of words or the history of etymology. 😃
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@dinovassilakos6868 , what we've had capitalism long enough. It needs to be done away with, like feudalism and slavery. We should have had socialism a long time ago.
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@ExPwner , no, you're the pathological liar. You're A congenital liar. Tell me again how you know that Richard Wolff is not a member of the working class even though he's a school teacher? Oh yes, according to you when a school teacher is able to save a certain amount of money, then they're no longer a worker even though they continue to work as a school teacher. Yeah, you're the f**** idiot obviously
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Are you referring to left Socialism or state socialism? Because if you're referring to State socialism there is Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Etc..
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But what you need to take into consideration is that real wages in the United States have an increased since 1970! Half the jobs are part-time and have no benefits. 47% of the population can't afford a trip to the doctor. But anyway, what does your comment have to do with debate?
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Socialism is more conducive to a free market. You don't think you can have a free market under different economic systems other than capitalism? Capitalism is the worst system when it comes to free markets
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Wealth is not created by labour? It's pretty common sense that it is.
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Where did you ever get this idea of socialism from? Give half of your stuff away? Socialism is about getting to keep what you earn, what you work for. Let me guess, you live in the USA?
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