Neoliberals tend to act a lot like neoconservatives; they both say one thing and do the other.
“There is no such thing as society, there are only individuals” — Margaret Thatcher.
Neoliberal policies gave us cartels and monopolies in communication and transportation. They gave us coups overthrowing democratically elected governments and replaced them with far right ones, you know, for freedom. They pass corrosive trade deals which export jobs because free-markets. I remember Bill Clinton getting behind privatizing the utilities because free-markets and lower prices. The exact opposite happened with local monopolies and ever increasing utility bills. EPCOR, a Canadian utility company, is the major water utility here. Plus, let us not forget “endless war.”
Our era is the individualistic one, and the myth of the happy single obscures our longing for the other in combination with our distrust of this other.
This is strange. We live in one of the safest regions of the world and we have never been so afraid of one another! Why do we view the other as a possible threat? In my opinion, the explanation is to be found in the dominant nature of neoliberal ideology, setting the tone of the past thirty years or so. When it started, Margaret Thatcher produced a very prophetic formulation: ‘There is no such thing as society, there are only individuals’. In the meantime, neoliberalism has installed a society with isolated and ever competing individuals. An unexpected side effect was the growing need for top down control of everything and everyone. We have been turned into lonely hedgehogs filling in forms for every step we take. And we have to take it, that’s for sure. The golden goose is called success. — http://www.gcgi.info/index.php/kamran-s-blog/627-people-s-tragedy-neoliberal-legacy-of-thatcher-and-reagan
Being socially progressive and fiscally conservative has to be one of the most contradictory and privileged positions on policy one can take. For one, and this is not so obvious for doctrinaires and followers of the dogma, what good are social reforms to people with little to no economic power? What good is it for a gay couple to get married if they are poor and cannot afford a house? What about single mothers? Without economic security, a social safety net, and power equity, communities eventually become torn and the family in danger. But strife and anxiety in society is a part of a perfect formulation to turn people into selfish “self-maximizers,” which just so happens to be absolutely perfect for creating competitive free-markets. Unfortunately, it increases crime, corruption, mental illness, anti-social behaviour, disease, and in general makes the population miserable, but hey, we have free-markets at least. Paltry social and economic reforms, half-measures, meager tax-credits, and monetary crumbs are not going to help. So sorry, you cannot have your cake and eat it, too, unless you want to risk sounding like a hypocrite.
The Clintons cut back welfare which helped 70 million children. The program was working, and they cut it. Plus, there was the horrible racial bias the Clintons helped create towards welfare, and their “tough on crime” stance which also created more racial bias. The Clinton administration would have also privatized social security had Clinton not been impeached beforehand. But if Hillary becomes president, you can bet your bottom dollar she will finish what her husband started.
We also have endless austerity and war to look forward to.
Neoliberals in favour of social democracy? Maybe in your heart of hearts you do, but Hillary was recently caught on tape with reservations about the democratic election in Palestine, and said, “I do not think we should have pushed for an election. I think that was a big mistake. If we push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was gonna win.” Let us not forget the Honduran coup she supported as Secretary of State or the US involvement in overthrowing other democracies like Iran. I seemed to also recall the markets panicking over the democratic referendum in Greece. Democracy is dead in Greece, long live democracy!
Let us also not forget those anti-democratic stints with Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Because of neoliberal policies in Europe, fascism and right-wing nationalism are on the rise. Congratulations are in order!
Neoliberal policies have been a colossal failure. It is time to own up to that fact.
So yeah, I am not sold on neoliberalism, “Third Way” nonsense. It is snake-oil and nothing more. Calling yourself a neoliberal is nothing to be proud of.
I highly recommend anyone to read about the fall of Venice and about the Chicago Boys to learn more about what might befall us and, quite possibly, the world.
