Post by Souriquois on Jan 11, 2019 16:43:22 GMT -4
I admit, this word now annoys me to no end, because it is so overused and on the Internet seems to be "anything I disagree with".
I have heard people call equal rights for women and minorities "neoliberal", seriously, and no, they were not right-wingers, these were people claiming to be on the left.
What it is: Neoliberalism believes in a strong state in order to enforce markets and further the economic prospects of those who have capital.
What it is not: Liberalism. Despite the name, it is not liberalism at all. It was a reaction to liberalism and is very conservative, anti-liberal, anti-democratic, anti-individual rights, and even anti-free-market.
People get confused about "liberalism" itself, though, as there are many different types of it. There is classical liberalism (right liberalism), which is all about free markets, no state intervention in the direction of labour or capital, and is understood as liberalism in Europe and Latin America, and social liberalism (left liberalism) which believes the state must intervene to protect the rights of people who don't have capital via the welfare state, labour laws, and regulations (environmental, safety, etc.), and is understood as liberalism in North America. What Europeans consider "liberalism" would be read as "conservatism" in North America (especially in the United States), while what North Americans consider "liberalism" would be read as "democratic socialism" in Europe (especially the Canadian understanding).
I hear claims that Donald Trump is a reaction to neoliberalism, since Bill Clinton pulled the Democrats in that direction and away from their social liberal roots from FDR, while the Republicans have always been neoliberal. Well, the voters, maybe, but Donald Trump is probably the most neoliberal politician on the world stage today. Others would be Jair Bolsonaro, Viktor Orban, and Nahendra Modi.
Other leaders may do "neoliberal" things at times, but they are not neoliberals, and may not even be motivated by furthering capital. Such policies do have the potential to create jobs, or get critical infrastructure built, or save governments money, so while it is a win for those with capital it could be a win for labour and regular people as well.
What do I think of neoliberalism?
As someone who works on Canada's equivalent of Wall St., you would think I would be all about neoliberalism. However, you'd be wrong. Quite frankly, I think it's shit. The record speaks for itself: Every country that has experimented with neoliberalism crashed and burned. The US under Reagan and Bush. The UK under Thatcher. Canada under Harper. Didn't just screw over the regular people in those countries either, ironically, it also caused great losses for the people who have capital. I am, largely, a social liberal, which yeah, is probably well to the left of the average Bay St thug, but my position comes from financial knowledge as well other concepts like support for freedom, and well, general morality. Though I am certainly not against the odd "neoliberal" policy here and there if it benefits regular people. Hell, I would neoliberal my ass off to have a private company or some rich mfer build commuter rail right now. Public transit in this city is awful.