Dangerous Thoughts: There IS a Tipping Point For Revolution in America ~ Dr. Richard Wolff

[marmar]

[Newest Reality]

1. Dr. Wolff

has some useful and relevant information and ideas to contribute to the crises we face and the cause we may have to take-up in order to find a direction that is better than corporate rule.

Anyone who enjoys informed, inspiring, provocative and cogent lectures might want to look him up.

Thanks for for this one!

[antigop]

2. Thanks, marmar, but Morris Berman would disagree. He thinks Americans are basically too stupid and

we need to get the hell out of the US while we can.

[Katashi_itto]

3. Yup, I am taking steps to get out of the country in the next few years.

[Cheviteau]

8. Go Ahead

Just how safe do you think you'd be in another country if this U.S. went into a full-fledged revolution? Another Mussolini in Italy, a Stalin in Russia,
a Hitler in Germany, a Pol Pot in SE Asia would arise before you could kiss your ass good-bye. An "American abroad" would have a target on his back. For all our faults and failures and wrong doings, we still keep some semblance of peace in the world. There would be no safe haven anywhere on Earth if armed revolution took hold here. You'd best think this through.

[ProgressiveJarhead]

13. Very Safe

We have somewhere to go and are seriously thinking about it. There is no hope for the US.

[DeSwiss]

19. As long as the US isn't there?, very safe. :-| n/t

[Katashi_itto]

22. Much safer. Yeah, Sweden, Japan, New Zealand. Anyone of those and others would be fine.

[KansDem]

27. I've spoken with American ex-pats...

Regarding Switzerland, Belize, Costa Rica, and Mexico, to name a few, and I've heard good things about all these places.

A DUer told me about this source:
http://internationalliving.com/

In many places, you can retire on Social Security alone!

So as long as the U.S. stays out of these countries, there are feasible options...

[ProgressiveJarhead]

14. Six more to go

and then gone for a much more simple life without constant war.

[Newest Reality]

4. Do you have any

specific link to Morris Berman about that? I'm not familiar with him and contrast is useful.

Getting out may not be possible for those of us who are informed and thoughtful. I prefer not to use "stupid" as a measure because the word is a bit vague and might miss some salient points about the state of the American populace.

Stupid implies, to me, implies an innate mental discrepancy and I don't know if that's the real problem, having met many intelligent people who were poorly educated and deliberately, and systematically misinformed.

Now if mass media induces stupidity, that is another matter and I might agree. I know it induces a trance-like state.

[antigop]

5. Several people have posted his stuff on DU...

Here is one.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002477309

You can find others by doing a search on DU for "Morris Berman".

[Newest Reality]

9. Thank you!

I always appreciate material like this and I can see he has an interesting perspective.

The thing is, for over a decade now, the journey is like slowly peeling off a very elaborate and rather pretty mask to see a very unsettling and horrific, totally disgusting, hungry, seething face with sharp and pointy teeth, etc.

I would posit that this may also contribute to what people might be broad-brushing as "stupidity" in the sense that you really have to brace yourself and be able to stomach some unpleasant and inconvenient revelations which you can get used to, but like the death of a loved one, you never forget or get over entirely.

Well, keep on delving and keep it in perspective as the choice between living in a bubble of denial that will eventually be burst, perhaps suddenly and rudely, and knowing things that may help you and influence your decisions.

[antigop]

6. for those of you that "getting out may not be possible"... Berman says you are going to have to find

your own little pocket of community to keep yourself sane.

[lrellok]

20. Berman is a hack.

I have listened to a half dozen of his talks and have no reason to read anything he has written. He makes huge logical leaps, unsupported by any statistics or data, makes multiple logical fallacies, and frankly serves as yet another counter productive voice repeating the Imperialist mantra "Nothing can be done. There is not other way. Nothing can be done. There is no other way."

I have exactly zero respect for anyone who having examined the current social economic system thinks the problem is insurmountable. Our ancestors faced beating, shootings, starvation, private armies, script wages, near universal day labor, firings for union organizing, and that was just for the privileged white males. Don't get me started on what women an minorities faced. If people back then had this idiots attitude, we would never have had any suffrage for non land owners, much less suffrage for women and non whites. We must begin all discussion with the assumption that these problems are entirely surmountable, and any voices arguing they are not are counter revolutionaries seeking to undermine real change.

[DeSwiss]

21. Of course they're surmountable.....

...we created them!

The problem is in believing that the same system and the ideas and the people who have created and/or sustained the problems we face, can also be expected to undo them.

That's the true illogic and insanity.

[fasttense]

23. You took the words out of my mouth Irellok

or off my keyboard.

Anyway, Berman has some serious inconsistencies in his arguments. I listened to a couple of his videos and found him to be illogical and contradictory. I get the feeling that he really doesn't believe what he is saying. He is just trying to goad Americans into action. His argument that the US can NOT be saved does not ring true.

Richard Wolff on the other hand is full of logic and consistent arguments. I've been listening to his on-line classes and am amazed how plain and simple his logic is. I have to ask myself why I hadn't seen what he was talking about before now. His ideas hit a cord in me. It's as if I have been in the dark and suddenly someone turned on the light. Richard Wolff is brilliant.

[Warpy]

7. Yes, there is, and what finally tips things will likely be inconsequential

when compared to outrage after outrage over the last 40 years.

Congress only acts in our interest when we're outside with pitchforks and axe handles.

[daleanime]

11. I'm afraid so...

and it's getting close now. The next 6 to 12 years are going to be a little more exciting then we would like.

[bvar22]

10. ...."but they all agree that....

...this is the worst economic crisis in our lifetime,
and it is being handled in a way that is despicable, unsupportable, and tragic in where it leads."

[blackspade]

12. Another great interview with Wolff

[kitt6]

15. Differentiate what you mean by

the government! There's a lot of loose talk going on. Get bold; name some names. The worse act a person can do is to make accusations and not name names! Who are the Culprits?

[heaven05]

24. differentiation

1% percents with 64 trillions hid in offshore accounts. Any politician that thinks of the lobbyists dollars before his/her constituency. Recently, proven to be evil, Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, PNAC.Bold enough, names enough? Where is your head? extract and smell the corruption.

[limpyhobbler]

16. Let's go ahead and seize the means of production already. nt

[DeSwiss]

17. Why do we have to pay to live on the planet we were born on?

Why must we pay to live on our own planet?

The question may seem childish to some, but I want you all to really think about this. Why must we pay to live on our own planet?

Why did we make an economic system that is completely decoupled from the laws of nature, when we know that we live on a finite planet?

Why do we work for money that we then have to use to get access to resources we need, when the resources is already here?

And why do some people inherit land and claim it their private property, making other people pay or work for having access to their property, even when everybody is born on the same planet and there is more than enough room for everybody?

Again, why must we pay to live on our own planet?

TED Conversation- Mats Kaarbo ~ Bergen, Norway

- People everywhere are starting to ask this question. They're beginning to realize, we don't have to pay. The Earth doesn't belong to us, we belong to the Earth......

K&R

[center][/center]

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

18. K&R.

[Fuddnik]

25. For those who have Link TV, Wolff will be on at 3:00pm today.

"The Cure for Capitalism".
Check your listings.

[marmar]

26. Thx for the heads-up.....

[ctsnowman]

28. This isn't news.

There is not one mention of Kim Kardashian. +1