Category Archives: neoliberalism
Schizophrenia
Liberal pundits wonder whether the appeal of conspiracy theories is due to the fact that the “real” stuff is constantly evolving and complicated. “As with religion, belief can be a huge comfort in the face of fear and confusion.” Nevertheless, … Continue reading
Oncoming
What we thought was the light at the end of the tunnel has turned out to be an oncoming locomotive. The new Omicron coronavirus variant has the potential to take us right back to the beginning by virtue of being … Continue reading
Help Wanted
I have never seen anything like the employment situation now. There are help wanted signs prominently displayed at every business in America, yet hardly any takers. What’s going on? Perhaps giving America workers a year off to contemplate their employment … Continue reading
Can’t make it here anymore
The Democratic Party is poised to deliver a Build Back Better betrayal to the American people. Indeed, the ways in which President Biden’s social and infrastructure spending proposals have been hollowed out are a good microcosm of the Democratic Party’s … Continue reading
This is why we can’t have nice things
The New York Times, with its insufferable class and elite bias, recently pondered economic policy–“How House Dems Plan to Raise $2.9 T” Gee, I wonder how they will get the money? Maybe they can find some spare change under the … Continue reading
Ism’s
I’m trying to quit ism’s but it’s proving more difficult than I imagined. The problem is that ism’s like socialism, capitalism, liberalism and Marxism have become so charged that one has to spend an inordinate amount of time unpacking the … Continue reading
Predatory Value Extraction
I’ve finally found the perfect description for our late-capitalist, neoliberal milieu–predatory value extraction. At Naked Capitalism, Hubert Horan examines the business model of Uber and finds that it represents the larger US political economy, where everything has been subjugated by … Continue reading
Advanced Accumulation
I’ve come to believe that the offshoring of American manufacturing jobs to China has a lot of similarities to the enclosure movement in Great Britain. The enclosure movement occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries when the aristocracy threw the … Continue reading
Pattern Recognition
The American empire has not become kinder and gentler just because they are flying the rainbow or BLM flags at our embassy’s. Or because there is now a lesbian at the helm of the CIA directing drone strikes. Or because … Continue reading
Double Truth
Neoliberalism, as a political ideology focused intently on maximizing the power of “capital,” deploys a double truth to cover its inherent contradictions: 1) that an ideology dedicated to liberal values has to continuously resort to illiberal practices; 2) that an … Continue reading
