This is Richard Wolff from democracy at work responding to another ask prof wolf question from
our patreon community and this question comes from mary ann frazier and like other questions that we
choose we try to pick questions that are similar to what others have asked us as
well to be as responsive as we can and marianne frazier's question is one of those
she says that the word socialism has been associated with so many negative uh
horrible in some cases realities and even more imaginary disasters that it is no longer
workable she asked don't we need a different word a different concept might something like
progressive or democratically progressive or constitutionally democratic or other such phrases
be a better substitute that avoids the negative associations that have come to be attached to
socialism and she wants to know whether that isn't perhaps an urgent requirement now that there is
openness to critiques of capitalism to the notion that we can go better and do better
so let me begin by acknowledging that marianne frazier has her finger on an important issue
no question i've asked myself and i've been with others who've asked themselves that question over
time often it's real it's genuine so my answer to her is the answer i foundly found for myself
and my answer is i think not that it isn't an issue but that the in the end
result we should hold on to the term socialism and i want to explain why first of all
there is a matter of historical honesty we are not the first people to figure out in our lives
that this is a system that the human race can do better than the yearning to do better than the
world you are born into the world you go up into is not new millions of slaves
felt that way about slavery millions of serfs felt that way about feudalism and millions of working
people the employees that are the vast majority of the world's people today they feel that way too
and the word that they use and have used for nearly 200 years now is the word socialism
socialism is as i've tried to write in my books above all a yearning to do better than what we
have i don't want to lose that and i'll admit that i'm also affected on a personal level
by knowing how many people in how many countries every country on earth by now
have struggled to formulate criticisms of the way the world is now a capitalist world and to push
in the direction of a better world that isn't capitalist that replaces the capitalism we're
familiar with with something that we can feel our way will be better you know when
slaves use the word freedom does it have some vagueness to it yeah what exactly does freedom
mean well the clearest thing it means is no more slavery but what exactly it will entail
how free will we be if we're not slaves that was a fuzzy open-ended issue that had to be worked out
once slavery was done and the same applies to serfs who wanted no longer to be subordinated to
some lord to be their subject of some king when we got rid of monarchy and feudalism we did get rid
of a subordination but what exactly the slogans of the french and american revolution would mean
liberty equality fraternity democracy we weren't so clear and the folks back then they weren't so
clear either so yes socialism isn't all that clear or to say the same thing another way socialism has
been defined differently and used differently by different people we have to own that i accept
that we have to be able to say this is the part of socialism we want and these are the aspects
of what some socialisms have been that we do not want we can do that i don't think that's all that
complicated and i don't think that's something that the mass of people won't understand we're all
smart enough and the world has been around long enough and history has taught us enough to know
that all kinds of definitions exist for all of these systems all kinds of uses are made
of the impulse to create these systems they're not all wonderful they're not all successful
and we don't endorse all of them by saying we're for freedom not slavery
we're for non-monarchy we prefer democracy and likewise we can say we prefer a socialism
over a capitalism that doesn't mean we have to accept everything that socialists have done indeed
we should we can and we are making distinctions look here in the united states
in a sense there's a certain amount of proof or evidence for what i'm trying to argue
yes socialism and communism were equated and demonized for most of the 70 years
since the end of world war ii no question and yet starting in 2016 and now again in 2018 and again
in 2020 politicians have accepted the name socialist they haven't run away from it
as they did in the previous 70 years it isn't political suicide anymore to say yes i have some
affiliation too some sympathy for some kinds of socialism bernie sanders opened the space
we're in his debt for that no question and he put that adjective out there didn't he democratic
socialism to underscore that there are different kinds of socialism with different adjectives to
distinguish one from the other and alexandria ocasio-cortez she did it too and they have been
wildly successful far beyond what the established democratic party leadership imagined or wanted and
it's growing more ocasio-cortez type young people have been running and winning seats in the united
states congress it is remarkable when you put all that together i think we have more to gain than to
lose by holding on to that socialism by saying there's much in the way of heroes and heroines
much in the way of social progress that was won by socialists often leading the effort
often part of the effort we don't renounce any of that and we're a little bit a lot
admitted personally little suspicious when it is urged on us not by people like marianne frazier
she's clearly trying to figure out the best way for us to move forward from her
the advice is to be taken seriously the question is a good one but there are others
who want to do much more than bury the name they want to bury the impulse they want to
bury the yearning to do better at a time when capitalism particularly in the united states
has failed so spectacularly around the economic crash we're living through the public health
disaster of covet 19 we're living through but even the little moments the one this last week in which
a government of the united states after giving trillions of new dollars to corporations and banks
year decided it couldn't raise the minimum wage from seven dollars and a quarter to fifteen
it decided to reduce the help we give to the unemployed some of which have been unemployed
for the entire year the extra we give them to reduce it from 400 to 300 dollars a week
i mean the insult to the vast majority of us side by side with the endless
generosity to the richest amongst us who need it least if you're not a socialist watching this
i don't know what's left for you to think and do for all these reasons
with all due respect and i mean it to mary ann frazier i say we do need to hold on to socialism
in one way or another this is richard wolff for democracy at work you