Neo-liberalism should have been dead and buried by now. Everyone is against neo-liberalism. The right-wing populists inveigh against neo-liberalism and so do the Left wing liberals. Think about it.
Neo-liberalism thrives all over the world. Its influence has touched every corner of the globe except perhaps a few very isolated countries. People are heartily sick of the effects of neo-liberal excess. In most nations where the effects of rampant neo-liberalism are strongest, the rich have got richer, and the poor have got poorer, and it is not cliché but a hard fact.
But neo-liberalism cannot it seems be shaken off, because it is now part of the global system of trade, and of international relations. It is part of the global body politic, and such an integral part, that neo-liberal modus operandi is seen to have melded into systems of governance in most countries. However, under the sway of this economic paradigm, middle classes see shrinking opportunities every day, while the wealthy seem to double and quadruple their wealth.
Perspective
So, from a global perspective, it is natural that people are seeking ways out of this ubiquitous morass. They seek release from it through Left-leaning politics, such as through the election of left-leaning liberals from time to time, such as say Kier Starmer and Joe Biden. Don’t forget that Kier Starmer was preceded as Labour leader in the UK by Jeremy Corbyn, and that Joe Biden had to overcome a stunningly effective effort by maverick Bernie Sanders, before they succeeded as Left-wing flag bearers in their countries.
Both Corbyn and Sanders were radical leftists who had almost cult like following because of the vast numbers of young people who were disaffected with neo-liberal excess, and what they discerned as plunder and roughshod dominance by the wealthy capitalist overlords, who seem to run Government from within Governments in their countries.
But then there is right-wing populism. Now, we have the Trump variety of tariffs, and then, of course, there is the ongoing surge of right-wing populism in Europe, which is being barely staved off. These right-wingers have enormous numbers of followers who also feel oppressed by neo-liberal excess, and want to find a way out by throwing in their lot with right-wing populist standard bearers.
So, if everyone from both ends of the spectrum is hell-bent on demolishing neo-liberalism and demonic neo-liberal excess, why is neo-liberalism still the default ideology that seems to rule the world in this day and age?
It is as if the Left and Right are being thrown apart deliberately by some sinister force, while neo-liberal hegemony thrives. This situation seems to inform the discourse in most countries, even those that do not have clear delineations such as left-wing or right-leaning, or far-Left and extreme-Right.
But while the world is engrossed in this battle between far-left and far-right — both extremes being organic responses to neo-liberal excess — the effects of this confrontation are being felt far and wide. It is being reported at least by what seems to be the majority of media that the recent Trump tariffs would pose a threat to economies in countries that have no dog in the fight between the Left-wing radicals, and the Trumpist right-wing in the United States of America, for instance.
If so, who must be having the last laugh? It must be the neo-liberal capitalists who run the world and who seemingly won’t let go of their hold of banking systems, and the seemingly unwritten rules of how economies function in our day and age. The neo-liberals must be seeing the left-wing battle out the right-wing in so many countries to the extent that divisions are so rife, that people all over the world basically hate each other with a passion.
But while all these absurd polarisations play out, nations are in thrall to a type of extreme-end capitalism that is commonly called neo-liberalism, a catch all term for an economic system that respects no worker, skilled professional or other useful member of society, but respects money and the stashing away of stupendous quantities of wealth. Someone may say this type of capitalism is as old as the hills, but the rather recent scourge of neo-liberalism has that extra sting. Common people feel money is being extracted from them as if they were mere lab specimens used entirely for that purpose.
The consequences are far reaching. Our economic meltdown not too long ago can also be traced back to neo-liberalism in operation, at least if the proximate economic causes of this collapse are looked into.
Fate
Many countries suffered the same fate that we did. If on the Left they fight neo-liberalism and on the right they do too, why doesn’t the Left and the Right unite and advance the cause of the people they claim to represent? At present, the right-wing populists blame left-wing liberals — at least in most parts of the world — for being the driving forces of neo-liberal excess.
That’s rather baffling, because right-wing populists also represent people’s causes, which is the simple reason they are called populists in the first place. Populists are those who appeal to people because they make common cause with those who feel alienated and ignored due to the power of social elites. The common cause against being oppressed by elites? That’s the very definition of taking the fight to neo-liberals that have no mercy for ordinary people and consider them mere vassals in the larger cause of extracting wealth, unfairly, and through the most ruthless of means.
There isn’t even the remotest chance of right-wing populists and left-wing champions of people’s causes uniting on behalf of suffering humanity they all claim to represent. Nothing seems to be further from today’s everyday reality than such a sanguine outcome. But yet, both Trump and Bernie Sanders are championed by the ordinary people who they both claim have been neglected. Sometime back when both were running for office, someone had compared both their political platforms, and discovered that most of the measures they advocated were almost identical.
That’s just one example. Be it in the Americas, Europe or Asia, a version of this narrative seems to play out every day with clockwork regularity. Those who claim to represent the people are bitterly divided, but the elite in all of these societies seem to walk away with the spoils. The prevailing elite are, of course, the neo-liberals.
When and how will this chapter in the contemporary human narrative come to an end? There is no end in sight. But people all over the world, be they under the sway of Left-leaning leaderships or right-wing populist regimes, feel they have no dependable saviours.
This writer is focusing on societies in general and not any particular country or economy, of course. What was pointed out above seems to be the rule, and no doubt there may be exceptions, but it strains people’s credulity, this mere suggestion that some nations may be exceptions to the current norm of being swamped by neo-liberal excess.
Will there be a paradigm shift, some sudden desire for all forces to unite to vanquish a common enemy? That doesn’t appear to be so much as a remote possibility because neo-liberals are heavily camouflaged and nobody recognises them in the midst of the fierce battle that’s taking place between extreme-Left and extreme-Right. The more extreme the antagonists are in this game, the happier it seems the neo-liberals are; they must be smacking their lips each time there is a societal breakdown in the offing because of confrontation between populists of all kinds, be they to the Left or Right of the political spectrum. They always benefit from the fallout, and the chaos that results from societal collapse.
If individual leaders are unable to overcome this reality, it is hoped that they would at least be cognizant of the fact that they may be battling not necessarily the visible political opponent — left-winger or right-winger as the case may be — but a more sinister, untamed force they barely recognise that lurks beneath the surface.
