Episode
Economics 101 - Capitalism
- Podcast
- Proletarian Radio
- Published
- May 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3473
- Processing state
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- https://soundcloud.com/proletarianradio/economics-101-capitalism
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Summary
Capitalism is in crisis. On this point all are agreed. But what is the crisis? How can it be solved? Is capitalism the 'end of history', as Francis Fukuyama famously said after the counter-revolutions in the USSR and Eastern Europe in 1989-91? Will capitalism simply 'sort itself out'? Is it the best of a bad lot, as Churchill and Thatcher maintain? OR is it up to you and me, the working people to lay hold of the means of production - the factories, mines, banks, offices, warehouses, shopping empires, shipping, rail, trucking conglomerates, and run them ourselves; to plan production sustainably to satisfy OUR basic needs and to meet OUR pressing interests. For what will be the cost exacted from the masses of working people of the world in 'blood and treasure' for capitalism's ongoing existence? Can the world bear yet more "belt tightening", poverty, misery, ill health, malnutrition, environmental degradation, unemployment - with all the physical and spiritual degradation that these entail - and deaths from economic and political causes - notably war and famine? And why? All so the few hundred billionaires can carry on amassing obscene amounts of wealth at our expense! In this talk, Ella Rule explains the economics of capitalism, including the basics of Karl Marx's Classic "Das Capital" and Lenin's "Imperialism". Only by understanding the problem, can we find a solution. How is value created? how is it amassed? Of what does exploitation consist (How are workers robbed of the values they create?) Watching this video introduction is a vital step - that takes us closer to the goal of building a movement with the understanding to tackle our parasitic and decadent ruling class; place workers in control; and enable us to build an economy that serves the interests of the vast m…