Richard Wolff, Cornel West, & Norman Finkelstein: America Is in DENIAL | On Mamdani, Tucker, & Trump

Support Democracy at Work: https://www.democracyatwork.info Support the Show:    / @robinsonerhardt   Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and co-founder of Democracy at Work. Cornel West holds the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary. Norman Finkelstein is a political scientist and author who received his PhD in politics from Princeton University. In this episode, Richard, Cornel, Norman, and Robinson discuss the crisis of the American left and whether it can rebuild its political power. More particularly, they discuss Zohran Mamdani’s compromises, Cornel’s warning that he could become another Barack Obama, and their disagreements over working with Tucker Carlson. They also discuss Donald Trump and American decline, Bernie Sanders and class politics, Cornel’s break with Jill Stein and the Green Party, immigration, Gaza, and where to draw moral lines when building political coalitions. Their recent books include Richard’s Understanding Capitalism (Democracy at Work, 2024), Cornel’s Truth Matters, coauthored with Robert P. George (Post Hill Press, 2025), and Norman’s Gaza’s Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High Places (OR Books, 2026). Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com/ Understanding Capitalism: https://www.democracyatwork.info/unde... Cornel’s Website: https://www.cornelwest.com/ Truth Matters: https://www.simonandschuster.com/book... Norman’s Website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com/ Gaza’s Gravediggers: https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/gazas... OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 01:06 What Do Elections Actually Change? 05:47 How Enthusiasm Turned Into Disappointment for Zohran Mamdani 09:36 The Deep Denial in the United States 14:11 Is Another New Deal Still Possible? 17:27 The Repression of American Colonialism 23:49 Is America’s Decline Irreversible? 30:25 Cornel West on Bernie, Mamdani, and Colonialism 42:12 America Fears Socialism—But for How Long? 44:36 Neoliberalism Is a Curse on Socialism 49:06 Jill Stein and Why Cornel West Left the Green Party 52:15 Bernie Sanders and the Holocaust 59:52 Is Tucker Carlson Dangerous for the Left? 1:06:53 Can Immigration Be Fixed? 1:11:04 How Capitalism Destroyed Itself in Germany 1:15:21 Do Blacks Have Legitimate Complaints About Immigrants? 1:19:23 International Relations 1:21:04 Biden, Obama, and Red Lines 1:25:09 What If Our Heroes Were Racist? 1:27:27 Will the Rest of Us Ever Be Prosperous Again? 1:42:29 Who Is Pumping Denial Down America’s Throat? 1:48:55 John Stuart Mill on Truth 1:50:34 Rick’s Biggest Mistake in Life 1:57:00 Cornel’s Biggest Mistake in Life 2:01:49 The Academy Caved to Biden, Trump, and Israel Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.