Neoliberalism Goes to Work

Your weekly excerpt from one of my books. This week: "The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness"

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Neoliberalism Goes to Work

The nation is, at this time, so strong and united in its sentiments, that it cannot be shaken at this moment. But suppose a series of untoward events should occur, sufficient to bring into doubt the competency of a republican government to meet a crisis of great danger, or to unhinge the confidence of the people in the public functionaries; an institution like this, penetrating by its branches every part of the Union, acting by command and in phalanx, may, in a critical moment, upset the government. – President Thomas Jefferson[lii]

Neoliberalism has a few primary tenets that are easily identified and make it unique from libertarianism, objectivism and the “conservative” economic policies of the United States in the years prior to the neoliberal Reagan Revolution of 1981. They include beliefs that:

· Controlling inflation is the most important job of federal economic regulation and austerity (a lack of government participation in the lives of its people, particularly in any supportive way) is the best way to get there

· National economies must be deregulated because the market is smarter than government agencies or bureaucrats

· State-owned enterprises, from natural monopolies like city-run utilities and air-traffic control to schools and programs like Social Security and Medicare, must all be privatized; all “welfare” programs must end

· Governments must be shrunk radically, both to decrease their power and to “liberate” corporations and individuals of great wealth to work their “market magic”

· Taxes should be cut to the bone; if the “beast of government” can’t be shrunk, it must be starved

· Markets shouldn’t be centered in or favor any particular nation: the entire world is the “free market” stage on which corporations and morbidly rich capitalists must be free to work their magic

· Property rights are more important than human rights, and racial, religious or gender discrimination or their attendant economic inequalities are not problems to be solved by governments but by “free markets” and the people who dominate those marketplaces

Out of these core tenets come a group of corollaries which, while not often articulated publicly, are the plainly visible outcome of the rapid imposition of neoliberalism. We see these behavior patterns repeated whenever neoliberalism seizes a country, whether it be modest neoliberalism like in the US and UK or “shock neoliberalism” as was imposed in Chile, Iraq and Russia:

· Markets (capitalism) are superior to votes (democracy) so “all necessary steps” are justified to impose neoliberalism on “welfare state” democracies even when the majority of citizens oppose it

· While there can be barriers to the free movement of people between nations, there should be no barriers to the corporate “free trade” movement of goods or money

· Any involvement of government in the lives of its citizens outside of law enforcement and a defensive military inevitably leads to a loss of “freedom” for corporations and the very wealthy and therefore should be ended or privatized

· The family is the best metaphor for governance, with a strong male leader who can overcome the inevitable resistance of what Ayn Rand (who attended a later Mont Pelerin meeting) called “the moochers,” using clear lines of authority and long-established gender roles

· The “welfare state” must be ended; it’s inherently violent and coercive because it’s paid for by taxes taken by the threat of government violence (guns, jails) from well-off people and it also destroys “incentive to work” by providing for low-income people’s basic needs

· Even government functions as widely accepted as licensing physicians are inappropriate interventions in a “free market” (which is why Rand Paul created his very own ophthalmologic “board” to certify his unused medical license)

· Even fascism and oligarchy (as practiced in Chile and Russia on the advice of Milton Friedman’s “Chicago Boys” neoliberals who helped reorganize the economies of both countries) are acceptable alternatives to “welfare state democracy”

· Competition, not cooperation, is the defining characteristic of all truly important human interactions; winners should be celebrated and losers ignored

· Inequality is a sign that society is working as it should because the market rewards the most competent and punishes or leaves behind those not able or willing to carry their own weight

· “Citizenship” is secondary; the citizens of a country should instead be seen and treated as “consumers” because the economy is more critical than the state

· Monopolies are indicators of great efficiency in meeting the needs of the market and shouldn’t be feared or regulated

· Labor unions impede corporate management’s ability to make unilateral decisions and thus are antithetical to a freely functioning economy and a “free” nation

· Controlling inflation is more important than preventing unemployment

· Tax havens and other ways for wealthy people and corporations to avoid “paying their fair share” are an economic and social good because they simply reward hard work and innovation while denying resources to “the beast” of government