So What's Neoliberalism?

[Anna B 1,414]

I've used the term Neoliberalism a few times in posts, but an awful lot of people are still unfamiliar with the term, and they need to know what it is. 

 

People should know that we are now living in a in a Neoliberal society. They didn't vote for it, and probably don't even know what it is, but they are feeling the effects of it, or soon will be as its affects creep up the socio economic scale. This isn't a conspiracy theory and isn't just my opinion, it's a verifiable fact. It's important that you know what it is because geopolitical globalization means it is spreading rapidly all over the world. It explains perfectly why we are in the pickle we are in, why there is political dissatisfaction and unrest everywhere, and why you will rarely hear the word in the mainstream media. It's never been properly explained to the general population as it fails the man in the street in favour of the big business and Corporations, and demeans democracy. It's a game that only the big players can win.

 

It's not a new idea and was partly responsible for the Wall Street crash and the rise of Naziism and Hitler, but began again in earnest back in the 80's with Thatcher and Regan (Neoliberalism) who embraced it starting with deregulation and privatization. It is now the dominant political ideology permeating the public policies of many governments in developed (and developing) countries, and of international agencies such as the World bank, International monetary fund, World Trade Organization, the UN, and the World Health Organization.

 

It's a political approach that favours free market capitalism (a free-for-all instead of responsible capitalism,) deregulation (can make up their own rules) and privatization (sell off things that don't belong to them and pocket the profit) and a reduction in government spending such as the shift away from state welfare provision, (Austerity.)

Reforms lead to deep changes in things like healthcare provision on account of their emphasis on the free market rather than the right to health.

 

Money is all that matters. It also means that it is now an almost unstoppable force no matter what political party is in charge as all the main parties now have to adhere to the ideology to stay a player in the game. This makes a nonsense of 'democracy.' Elections are more public theatre than a chance for the electorate to make a meaningful choice, just one party masquerading as two,  and this impotence and unfairness is leading to the discontent and ferment we see gathering around us which is either going to be quelled with draconian force, or could lead to violent uprisings. 

 

We can see the effects of Neoliberal policies in the financial crash of 2008, in the severe environmental degradation in the pursuit of profits, in rising prices, rising unemployment and falling wages, and general all encompassing insecurity. This insecurity and worry (of financial hardship or being on the losing team) is changing our nature into a more selfish and intolerant society. Trust me, it matters, this is MASSIVE.

We can see it mirrored in popular culture; films like Wall Street ('Greed is good) The Hunger Games, The Big Short, and Wolf of Wall Street.

 

But please please don't take my word for it, educate yourselves, just put 'Neoliberalism' into a search engine. It explains it a lot better than I can.   

I'd be interested to hear what the forum's economists have to say.

 

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Anna B

[Cyclecar 24]

Nice to get a balanced opinion...

[carosio 186]

 

Quote   "It is now the dominant political ideology permeating the public policies of many governments in developed (and developing) countries"

 

Anna, in your opinion, are there any countries which are not neoliberalistic?

[Janus 28]

@Anna B

Has there been programmes on TV from Panorama for example?

[Anna B 1,414]

4 hours ago, carosio said:

 

Quote   "It is now the dominant political ideology permeating the public policies of many governments in developed (and developing) countries"

 

Anna, in your opinion, are there any countries which are not neoliberalistic?

Can't speak catagorically or personally for every country obviously. Scandinavian countries still maintain a welfare state and seem to appear more neutral. 

 But IMO, of the big players possibly not China. They are a more closed society so it's hard to get reliable information. However there is no doubt they have moved from communism to a much more central position to say the least, and now have a wealthy middle-class and millionaires, (also poverty -  a wealth gap is a common trait of neoliberalism.) They also have a lot of neoliberal traits, such as an (official) centralised one party system, and there's no doubt they are players in the world game.

 

But are they playing the same game, or have they plans of their own? The pandemic is an interesting point, (and here we start straying into conspiracy territory) Did it start in wet market bats, or in a Chinese lab? Now ask yourself the question, do you believe one country is capable of germ warfare? Because if one is, they all are. They have to be. If so the real question is, could the pandemic be the result of a lab accident or a deliberate act of malice? Trump thought so and was ridiculed for it, but I see that US central intelligence are now attempting to investigate a possible cover up. Australia also is demanding an enquiry and has put in place sanctions against China until they comply.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Cyclecar said:

Nice to get a balanced opinion...

All verifiable. Check it out.

Edited January 17, 2021 by Anna B

[Janus 28]

Here is the Wiki page on the subject.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

 

[Anna B 1,414]

1 hour ago, Janus said:

Here is the Wiki page on the subject.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

 

Thankyou Janus. Indeed, very detailed and concise, but pretty heavy going and complex. 

There are some neat statements such as:

 

Neoliberalism is commonly viewed by scholars as encouraging of globalization,^[321] which is the subject of much criticism.

The emergence of the "precariat", a new class facing acute socio-economic insecurity and alienation, has been attributed to the globalization of neoliberalism.^[282]

Globalization can subvert nations' ability for self-determination.^[322]

 

And:

 

According to Wacquant, this situation follows the implementation of other neoliberal policies, which have allowed for the retrenchment of the social welfare state and the rise of punitive workfare, whilst increasing gentrification of urban areas, privatization of public functions, the shrinking of collective protections for the working class via economic deregulation and the rise of underpaid, precarious wage labor.^{[302]:53–54[303]} By contrast, it is extremely lenient in dealing with those in the upper echelons of society, in particular when it comes to economic crimes of the upper class and corporations such as fraud, embezzlement, insider trading, credit and insurance fraud, money laundering and violation of commerce and labor codes.^[302][304] According to Wacquant, neoliberalism does not shrink government, but instead sets up a "centaur state" with little governmental oversight for those at the top and strict control of those at the bottom.^[302][305]

 

But not exactly an easy read. I'd suggest people refer first to the 'Criticisms' section which shows how neoliberalism affects the general working population in the UK. By all means read the rest as interesting but tricky unless you're a bit of an economist.

 

As a start I'd suggest people refer to the concise question and answer sections given in a google search engine which are much simpler in the first instance, (does everybody get those?) and present the opportunity to explore further. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Anna B

[Janus 28]

I was not aware of the subject, as you are Anna. Hence why I asked the question about whether the subject had received TV coverage,meaning in any capacity-documentary or otherwise.?

 

You know much more than me about this. I did wonder why you have not posted about this long ago. It would appear that the inception of the subject matter/ideology goes back quite some time?

 

What is also a little surprising is the apparent lack of posts from others. It  does seen quite an interesting subject that could potentially affect a great many people in various ways. A breath of fresh air from the long running mega threads.

 

 

 

 

 

[andyofborg 11]

2 minutes ago, Janus said:

 

What is also a little surprising is the apparent lack of posts from others. It  does seen quite an interesting subject that could potentially affect a great many people in various ways. A breath of fresh air from the long running mega threads.

many of the long running mega threads arise as a  result of neoliberalism.... 

 

 

[tinfoilhat 11]

3 hours ago, Anna B said:

Can't speak catagorically or personally for every country obviously. Scandinavian countries still maintain a welfare state and seem to appear more neutral. 

 But IMO, of the big players possibly not China. They are a more closed society so it's hard to get reliable information. However there is no doubt they have moved from communism to a much more central position to say the least, and now have a wealthy middle-class and millionaires, (also poverty -  a wealth gap is a common trait of neoliberalism.) They also have a lot of neoliberal traits, such as an (official) centralised one party system, and there's no doubt they are players in the world game.

 

But are they playing the same game, or have they plans of their own? The pandemic is an interesting point, (and here we start straying into conspiracy territory) Did it start in wet market bats, or in a Chinese lab? Now ask yourself the question, do you believe one country is capable of germ warfare? Because if one is, they all are. They have to be. If so the real question is, could the pandemic be the result of a lab accident or a deliberate act of malice? Trump thought so and was ridiculed for it, but I see that US central intelligence are now attempting to investigate a possible cover up. Australia also is demanding an enquiry and has put in place sanctions against China until they comply.

 

 

 

All verifiable. Check it out.

Thoughts on Chinese camps "re-educating" thousands of Muslims? Does that sound neoliberal?

 

China and Australia have been chucking insults at each other way before 2020. Its mainly about trade.

 

When the next pandemic arrives  - which it will - I bet it will come from Russia. The fast defrosting permafrost will give us something. But thats by the by. At the start of the pandemic I watched a documentary on discovery about the next big pandemic. They said it was going to be flu. It was made, if memory serves in 2014. When you have humans encroaching on habitats, you'll get stuff like this. It wasnt made in a lab.

 

Anyway, neoliberalism. 2008 wasn't the first global crash, 1929 off the top of my head was the first one. We've been chewing up the environment for, well, since forever. Look at our water and air now, and compare it the 1930s or even 1980s. We've been turning the tide since then. 

 

But I'm not sure what your point is. We all get a vote, which is more than most of the world got in the 1950s and 60s  - not my fault they're all voting for shallow populists. We all live longer, we all have a say, reaching more people than ever - there could be up to 15 people reading this. Poor countries will be less poor, less hungry. Yes, there needs to be more accountability but really, if you're not happy with neoliberalism and globalisation the question is, what do you want?

[Anna B 1,414]

42 minutes ago, Janus said:

I was not aware of the subject, as you are Anna. Hence why I asked the question about whether the subject had received TV coverage,meaning in any capacity-documentary or otherwise.?

 

You know much more than me about this. I did wonder why you have not posted about this long ago. It would appear that the inception of the subject matter/ideology goes back quite some time?

 

What is also a little surprising is the apparent lack of posts from others. It  does seen quite an interesting subject that could potentially affect a great many people in various ways. A breath of fresh air from the long running mega threads.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, but I have! In various guises all the way back to the economic crash of 2008. Investigating the financial institutions revealed all sorts of things I didn't know, and connected to all sorts of other things that all seemed to be wrapped up in something bigger that I couldn't put my finger on. andyofborg (post above) is quite right when he says it's at the core of many of the long running threads. It is huge, and encompasses so many of the current problems. 

 

I wrote about them and was constantly disparaged, accused of being left-wing, a Corbyn lover, (He's the one honest politician they tried to  destroy with smears, who has tried to address it,) and even a conspiracy theorist. The trouble is it does fall into CT territory very easily, especially when it is proclaimed as such in MSM and people rarely read beyond the headlines. For example 'New World Order' fits the bill quite nicely don't you think? But that will immediately turn people off and they will dismiss it as fake news. I hadn't even heard the word 'neoliberalism' until I came across it in an article in an economist magazine. I investigated further, (once you have a word for it you can do that,) and suddenly it all began to fall into place. 

 

But that doesn't help if no one is interested, and by and large they're not. Even though it probably is affecting every area of their lives, and will soon be too late to turn back. Their idea of being 'political' is to vote once every 5 years, without realising that democracy is a sham, and worse than useless. Those that do realise (the 'woke' - awful term, now traduced)  feel themselves disenfranchised and they can sometimes take the law into their own hands. I think that is what has has happened with Trump supporters. I abhor violence, and unfortunately they are not all fighting for the same thing, but it may waken some people up enough to see that you ignore politics at your peril. Take your eye of the ball and they will try to demolish true democracy and get away with murder.   

 

 

[RollingJ 2,040]

26 minutes ago, Anna B said:

Oh, but I have! In various guises all the way back to the economic crash of 2008. Investigating the financial institutions revealed all sorts of things I didn't know, and connected to all sorts of other things that all seemed to be wrapped up in something bigger that I couldn't put my finger on. andyofborg (post above) is quite right when he says it's at the core of many of the long running threads. It is huge, and encompasses so many of the current problems. 

 

I wrote about them and was constantly disparaged, accused of being left-wing, a Corbyn lover, (He's the one honest politician they tried to  destroy with smears, who has tried to address it,) and even a conspiracy theorist. The trouble is it does fall into CT territory very easily, especially when it is proclaimed as such in MSM and people rarely read beyond the headlines. For example 'New World Order' fits the bill quite nicely don't you think? But that will immediately turn people off and they will dismiss it as fake news. I hadn't even heard the word 'neoliberalism' until I came across it in an article in an economist magazine. I investigated further, (once you have a word for it you can do that,) and suddenly it all began to fall into place. 

 

But that doesn't help if no one is interested, and by and large they're not. Even though it probably is affecting every area of their lives, and will soon be too late to turn back. Their idea of being 'political' is to vote once every 5 years, without realising that democracy is a sham, and worse than useless. Those that do realise (the 'woke' - awful term, now traduced)  feel themselves disenfranchised and they can sometimes take the law into their own hands. I think that is what has has happened with Trump supporters. I abhor violence, and unfortunately they are not all fighting for the same thing, but it may waken some people up enough to see that you ignore politics at your peril. Take your eye of the ball and they will try to demolish true democracy and get away with murder.   

 

 

Please define.