How has neoliberalism affected you?

Neoliberalism has created a divisive atmosphere in which we all are at war with each other vying for the same limited resources. This constant war even between friends has poisoned Western society and created greed and a soulful hunger. The reality is that the Earth has enough resources to provide everyone with their needs but (to paraphrase) not for their greed.

Can you please define neoliberalism?

ne·o-lib·er·al·ism

/ˌnēōˈlib(ə)r(ə)liz(ə)m/

noun: neoliberalism

a modified form of liberalism tending to favor free-market capitalism.

- from Google

Ayn Rand is the saint of the neoliberal church. Her followers were Reagan and are current Republicans.

@Hawaii_Jake I understand the overall political and moral objections many have to neoliberalism, but I am specifically asking how it affects YOU. Specifically.

@Rarebear Thank you. I was just rereading my reply realizing I did not answer your question.

What it did to me was create a world in which I was deemed disposable because I was not able to work and lived only by receiving SSDI. I am fully aware that sounds vague. I ask you to consider the ramifications of living while feeling disposable. It led to deep mental anguish. The anguish was only fully released when I was able to return to full-time employment and not viewed as a pariah.

@Hawaii_Jake So if the US had had more of a protectionist economic policy, you would not have been on SSDI?

@Rarebear No, but if we had a more holistic idea of the worth of each individual regardless of their annual income, I might not have suffered so while I was unable to work.

Honestly, not that much. I have lived in California my whole life. Reagan was president when I was a kid. As far as my adult memory, California hasn’t really adopted that ideology.

I was impacted the most by having to read that cold-hearted, elitist bitch (Rand) in a few of my philosophy classes. What a blow-hard.

@Hawaii_Jake So neoliberalism caused you emotional distress?

@Rarebear I would like you to consider the full extent of the emotional distress. It is not easily dismissed. I was not alone. The lack of government programs directly led to the death of my friends from AIDS related illnesses. Minorities of all types are vilified by neoliberals as lower class, even though their innate worth as breathing humans is equal in the eyes of the universe. These are but 2 examples of the cruel work of neoliberals.

Not dismissing it. Just trying to understand it.

And I wanted to add some flesh to the idea of emotional distress. It can sound trite to some ears.

Thank you.

Okay, anybody else? How has neoliberalism personally affected you?

In the “I got mine, fuck you” economy, I was born with nothing, and had most of that taken away.

So, I didn’t get mine, and I’m regularly fucked because of it.

Most wealthy people are actually very liberal and vote democrat but are free-market capitalists. The entire “midtown” area of Memphis has a lot of old money and liberal —same seems to be true all over the South, Eastern Seaboard, and New England.

When I was shot in a robbery in 2011 I went on disability but didn’t get anything until almost four years later (three years eight months)— I relied on charities such as the Church Health Center—run entirely by several liberal old churches with old money— and Memphis Interfaith Association (MIFA)—run by Christians and Jews..

To me, your definition of “neoliberalism” sounds like a self-contradiction, There are plenty of rich liberals but liberalism by definition would imply that the people by definition are either for leftist political causes and/or very generous with their money if they are free market capitalists.

Virtually everyone is broke now in today’s economy— I can’t fault anyone but I’ve even stooped to petty theft, non-confrontational panhandling, collecting recyclables, and getting money out of fountains to buy a meal every now and then. I am disabled due to violent crime that left me for dead and no one considered me as anything more than a druggie which I’m not—and even I have helped people worse off than me. I have my parents to fall back on and have relied on wealthier people to help me and others occasionally— but liberal by definition means generous with money and/or for leftist political causes.

@Yellowdog I am referring to the wikipedia definition of neoliberalism, which is an economic theory of open markets, low tariffs, promoting multinational cooperation in common markets, and not eschewing multinational corporations. It actually has nothing to do with leftist political causes. In fact, many neoliberals are, in fact, very conservative (but they don’t have to be).

I’ve done alright.

I’ve probably worked way harder than I should have. 50 hour work weeks tend to be minimum, for a while 60 was the norm. People with a good work ethic tend to be taken advantage of.

What line of work are you in and how has a neoliberal economic policy affected that?

I’m an electrical engineer. Most companies have been able to exempt us from collective barganing units, increase working expectations as far as hours and responsibilities. 30 years ago I would have had a small staff to handle things like paperwork, drawing changes and scheduling but that is all handled by me and usually outside of the 40 hour work week. We are treated like commodities now.

Yup. I see. Best answer of the thread, thanks.

I left the country. I bought a one way ticket and left when Reagan won his second term and haven’t been sorry about it a day since, except for missing and feeling sorry for the avoidable hardship some of my family have been in.

The paper mill factory my father and a two of my brothers worked became a non-union shop. They striped my father of his pension when he had a heart attack literally a few months shy of his 20 year mark and wouldn’t take him back to work light duties, but forced him to retire without his pension. My two brothers stayed on because they were ‘Millwrights’ and had been covered under that Union, but they lost their strike and were busted up because the Mill was crying poor. The place shut down in the 90’s anyway, laid EVERYONE off and re-opened under a new corporate banner, hiring back strictly NON union people. One brother found a really good new job with a corporation out of Canada, but the other brother went off the deep end with depression and self pity and never recovered.

The Mill did all this after they had been polluting the local air for decades and had to be sued by the DNR to stop. They stopped, but they made the tiny town I lived in of like 5,000 people, lend them to the money to fix their stacks. Here’s an excerpt from an article: (I changed some of the words to not give the mill’s name or my hometown away)
“Inspectors from the DNR discovered emergency levels of sulphur dioxide downwind from themill’s wood pulp digesters in August 1983. The emissions were the highest ever recorded in the state at the time, and eventually the DNR filed suit against the company. Through a loan from the city of smalltown and an industrial development bond issue, themill raised $14.5 million for new construction. Twelve million dollars went to rebuild its Fourdrinier machine (the paper maker that was NOT polluting the air). The company also installed a new wet scrubber system and a continuous computer monitor to take care of the sulphur dioxide emission problem, at a cost of close to $1 million. (they made the little town pay for that)

Now, they made the TOWN tax papers pay to have clean air, while they raised shitloads of money with a bond issue to fix up one of their two paper making machines WTF? I remember swimming in the river at the beach that was just opposite the pulp plant and having to take a wet towel or tshirt and put it over my nose and mouth so it wouldn’t sting to breath when the air pressure and wind sent the sulphur dioxide right to where we are learning how to swim.

Another good answer, thank you.

I was so confused when I first heard about neoliberalism. I had no idea what it meant or who followed it. There are so many -isms in politics.

So I would say – it confused me.

It’s now the domain for the wing nuts who believe the country somehow functions best without a public infrastructure. Who needs a police department once you arm YOURSELF to the teeth? Public schools are merely places where kids pickup diseases and dangerous ideas like global warming and same sex marriage.

If you want to check out an example of pure neo liberalism and its dubious effects on overall society, google Georgia/neoliberalism.

@stanleybmanly No, that is an incorrect characterization of neoliberalism.

I’m having trouble posting the link

I give up