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Neoliberalism - the ideology at the root of all our problems.
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wolfbat359
Apr 17, 2016, 4:36:57 PM4/17/16
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http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot
Financial meltdown, environmental disaster and even the rise of Donald Trump - neoliberalism has played its part in them all. Why has the left failed to come up with an alternative? ...
So pervasive has neoliberalism become that we seldom even recognise it as an ideology. We appear to accept the proposition that this utopian, millenarian faith describes a neutral force; a kind of biological law, like Darwin's theory of evolution. But the philosophy arose as a conscious attempt to reshape human life and shift the locus of power.
Neoliberalism sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying and selling, a process that rewards merit and punishes inefficiency. It maintains that "the market" delivers benefits that could never be achieved by planning.
Attempts to limit competition are treated as inimical to liberty. Tax and regulation should be minimised, public services should be privatised. The organisation of labour and collective bargaining by trade unions are portrayed as market distortions that impede the formation of a natural hierarchy of winners and losers. Inequality is recast as virtuous: a reward for utility and a generator of wealth, which trickles down to enrich everyone. Efforts to create a more equal society are both counterproductive and morally corrosive. The market ensures that everyone gets what they deserve.
We internalise and reproduce its creeds. The rich persuade themselves that they acquired their wealth through merit, ignoring the advantages - such as education, inheritance and class - that may have helped to secure it. The poor begin to blame themselves for their failures, even when they can do little to change their circumstances.
Never mind structural unemployment: if you don't have a job it's because you are unenterprising. Never mind the impossible costs of housing: if your credit card is maxed out, you're feckless and improvident. Never mind that your children no longer have a school playing field: if they get fat, it's your fault. In a world governed by competition, those who fall behind become defined and self-defined as losers. .....
Financial meltdown, environmental disaster and even the rise of Donald Trump - neoliberalism has played its part in them all. Why has the left failed to come up with an alternative? ...
So pervasive has neoliberalism become that we seldom even recognise it as an ideology. We appear to accept the proposition that this utopian, millenarian faith describes a neutral force; a kind of biological law, like Darwin's theory of evolution. But the philosophy arose as a conscious attempt to reshape human life and shift the locus of power.
Neoliberalism sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying and selling, a process that rewards merit and punishes inefficiency. It maintains that "the market" delivers benefits that could never be achieved by planning.
Attempts to limit competition are treated as inimical to liberty. Tax and regulation should be minimised, public services should be privatised. The organisation of labour and collective bargaining by trade unions are portrayed as market distortions that impede the formation of a natural hierarchy of winners and losers. Inequality is recast as virtuous: a reward for utility and a generator of wealth, which trickles down to enrich everyone. Efforts to create a more equal society are both counterproductive and morally corrosive. The market ensures that everyone gets what they deserve.
We internalise and reproduce its creeds. The rich persuade themselves that they acquired their wealth through merit, ignoring the advantages - such as education, inheritance and class - that may have helped to secure it. The poor begin to blame themselves for their failures, even when they can do little to change their circumstances.
Never mind structural unemployment: if you don't have a job it's because you are unenterprising. Never mind the impossible costs of housing: if your credit card is maxed out, you're feckless and improvident. Never mind that your children no longer have a school playing field: if they get fat, it's your fault. In a world governed by competition, those who fall behind become defined and self-defined as losers. .....
islander
Apr 17, 2016, 5:33:43 PM4/17/16
to
simply the belief that government should not interfere with the free
market. It is Libertarianism by another name.
rumpelstiltskin
Apr 17, 2016, 9:58:30 PM4/17/16
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modern socialists are like Nazis because Nazis called themselves
"national socialists". "Unhinged tendrils of fantasy" again.
The difference between the right word and the almost-right
word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.
-- Mark Twain (approximately, from memory)
me
Apr 18, 2016, 5:41:24 AM4/18/16
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The left caused neoliberalism. The latter is a reaction to the former. BigGovernment increased costs which threatened businesses with bankruptcy from competition from overseas. Businesses, talent, and capital voted with their feet to friendlier business climates to avoid bankruptcy. This is nothing new. It happened before. Examples include moves from the East to the South and West. Before that capital and talent moved to the US from Europe for similar reasons.
El Castor
Apr 18, 2016, 9:59:34 PM4/18/16
to
Neoliberalism is a policy model of social studies and economics that
transfers control of economic factors to the private sector from the
public sector. It takes from the basic principles of neoclassical
economics, suggesting that governments must limit subsidies, make
reforms to tax law in order to expand the tax base, reduce deficit
spending, limit protectionism, and open markets up to trade. It also
seeks to abolish fixed exchange rates, back deregulation, permit
private property, and privatize businesses run by the state."
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/neoliberalism.asp
Hallelujah! Where do I sign up?
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