#neoliberal thought

[whereserpentswalk]

Made this political cartoon. Feel free to share it around just don't remove the watermark.

[theleftycanadianradical]

There's No Such Thing As Apolitical

From having 6 empty homes per homeless person in your country, to the free publicity the mainstream news gave to people like Donald Trump and helped him win, because he was good for ratings... to the snail pace society progresses, from civil rights for minorities to accepting people in the LGBTQ community, to selling arms to oppressive regimes overseas we know are used against innocent people... Neoliberalism chases what is profitable, before it chases what is right. Once you understand that, it is easy to see why things are broken. Especially if there is a profit motive to keep them as they are. We live in a neoliberal society and it's enmeshed in everything. It's hard not to see it sometimes, like a fish doesn't notice the water it is swimming in. That brings me to so-called nonpartisan or apolitical people. People who think they are apolitical are doing a politics. They're embracing the status quo. The status quo is not without an ideology. The status quo is neoliberalism, the predominant ideology we are all living under. These so-called apolitical people are just people who have fully bought into the politics that dominate our society and just don't notice it. Like how you don't notice a smell after sitting with it for a while. Have you ever gone away for a while and smelled your house upon return? It's like that. People who reject the status quo - we bring attention to the thing that was always there. Hearing objections to the status quo we have all been indoctrinated under is like going away for a while and noticing how your house smells when you first get in the door. The ones that these apolitical people and centrist types think are somehow more ideological than they are. We are not, we have just adopted a different set of politics that challenges the hegemony we are all living under.

[feministdragon]

Why the driverless car/trolley problem is neoliberal bullshit

The driverless car problem gives you the choice: “kill these people gruesomely, or kill these other people gruesomely”

It says, "this choice is happening, you have no say in what brought us to this position, and now you are complicit in the murder"

it says "let us debate the gruesome details of who is more important to save"  which turns people into eugenicists who have to determine the value of individual categories of people, an immoral stance

it says "let us not look at why we have this terrible choice to begin with, let us not consider that maybe driverless cars are not a rational choice for society, this is not the point, you must choose which people to murder"

it says, "we are going ahead with this project because it will make us money, and we will protect ourselves and our profit margin at the expense of all others, and at the expense of society"

it says, "our right/power to make terrible things and profit from them is greater than your right/power to live in a just and equitable society built to accomodate all life"

[punkofsunshine]

Neoliberalism, conformity, and the monetization of individuality

Hey guys, I’m back! Ready to get into some more heavy topics, this week it is the topic of neoliberalism, also known as the modern capitalist system.

First. What is neoliberalism? 

Essentially, it is what was initiated under the Reagan/Thatcher administrations which “freed the market” and allowed corporations to globalize more than they were already. As some may know, capitalism subverts democracy by placing power into the hands of people with money, not those who are supposed to have control over legislation (the government). In that way, capital has more say in our political system than anyone/anything else making America a modern day oligarchy which is an extension of a traditionalist system of governance; monarchy. The (western) heads of the neoliberal governance are sometimes called “new world kings” due to their vast swathes of wealth and influence in governmental affairs, but it also became the reigning ideology among the people as well, however “unleashing the market” turned out to have disastrous consequences even until today. A research article by Vicente Navarro states  “. . .[pharmaceutical] companies that systematically prioritize their objective of maximizing profits over any other ends, such as preventing and/or curing illnesses (which, by spreading, may turn into pandemics – as we are witnessing in the current crisis). Many other sectors of medical care show similar behavior. And it is this commercialization of medicine and prioritization of private interests over public ones that have affected very negatively the health and quality of life of millions and millions of people (see my book Medicine Under Capitalism, 1976). These behaviors have been accentuated in the neoliberal period, which started in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the Western world.” This specifically discusses the neoliberal economic system and how it effects us here and now during the COVID-19 pandemic (which at time of writing *15/02/2021* is still going on in the US and various other places).

Due to the rise of the neoliberal mindset, punk and Gothic styles gained quick popularity among the outsiders of modernized society, as did a sub-genre of punk (specifically in the 80′s-90′s), cyberpunk. Cyberpunk imagines a world controlled by corporations, climate change, rampant crime, and no heroes to save the day. Real life cyberpunks didn’t adhere to the aesthetic we think of now, during the rise of the internet they were/are the code monkeys, the people who knew how to navigate commonly uncharted space by the rest of the people online at the time. As good as it all sounds, that’s where the problem begins however. As technology progresses so do the ways to exploit the people using that technology, same thing goes with everything we use now. Just as the outsiders created their own thing, a capitalist will find ways to sell that to you packaged as individuality, the good thing is that punks accounted for this already and are big users and advocates for DIY. However the Goths got the short end of the stick when their style got repackaged and put into malls, thus mall goths were born. I say all of this because now, when in pursuit of individuality one must be aware of whether it’s truly fringe and custom or just another re-branded aesthetic like mall goth. In other words, true individuality doesn’t come from what you buy or how you look, it comes from who you are. Conformity doesn’t come from how you look, but how you act.

Now why did I talk about mall goths and punks? Have you seen how much Gothic and punk style clothing costs? That’s the monetization of individuality, at least physically speaking. This also is applicable to Cottagecore, maximalism, plant parenthood, and other aesthetics/movements that cost money. To hear more about that click here to read about Marxian alienation, capitalism, and the commodification of the individual. And no, this is not me saying that if you have that style you’re a conformist, it’s just marketed heavily towards those who want to oppose capitalism and our blatantly imperialistic government, which is incredibly ironic. I personally know punks who made their clothes by themselves instead of buying clothes from fast fashion companies. If you don’t, don’t sweat it, although it’s really useful to learn those skills, sewing specifically. Just keep in mind that they’re trying to sell you rebellion. Anything that can be sold, will be sold.

Sorry for rambling so much this time, I try to not make it a habit. I hope you learned something though.

This has been punkofsunshine, have a good one and stay safe.

[bababogwitch]

Damn, match girl. Yas please burn the neoliberal patriarchy 👏

[protoslacker]

Indeed, the issues nearest and dearest to the four female lawmakers have been at the center of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. Single-payer health care, student debt forgiveness, and comprehensive immigration reform remain in the policy spotlight.

Kara Voght at Mother Jones. “It’s a Slap in the Face”: Liberal Organizers Are Not Happy with Pelosi Dissing AOC

Groups who helped recruit and elect the New York congresswoman say the Speaker’s behavior is a real bad look.

[workersolidarity]

Can Howard Shultz please just go away? 😣

The last thing we need in this country is another super rich Neoliberal Corporate shill running the country. One that doesn't even try pretending to be anything different. 😒

[left-reminders]

Slavery, genocide, and imperialism were part of capitalism’s primitive accumulation process