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The normalisation of the far-right continues


Guest Bob Mahelp

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1 hour ago, G_&_T said:

That depends on one's definition of 'neo-liberal'.

No it fucking doesn't, unless of course you're suggesting it's also sound to call a cat a dug.

"Well my definition of a dog is any animal with four legs and a face" :lol:

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3 hours ago, JamieThomas said:

No it fucking doesn't, unless of course you're suggesting it's also sound to call a cat a dug.

"Well my definition of a dog is any animal with four legs and a face" :lol:

Neo-liberalism is essentially a term made up by people who didn't understand what liberalism was. In the 1800s liberals espoused laissez faire economics. Classical liberalism wanted small government, that's my point. What you and many uneducated dimwits have been calling neo-liberals are in fact classical liberals. The term got hijacked by people who didn't understand it, that's my point. 

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Neo-liberalism is essentially a term made up by people who didn't understand what liberalism was. In the 1800s liberals espoused laissez faire economics. Classical liberalism wanted small government, that's my point. What you and many uneducated dimwits have been calling neo-liberals are in fact classical liberals. The term got hijacked by people who didn't understand it, that's my point. 


Well clearly the neo-aspect is about folk like Hayek, Friedman, Thatcher and Pinochet attempting to rebrand and reintroduce classical liberal economics in a post-Keynesian social democratic world. You can be needlessly pedantic about what you should call it but it doesn’t detract from the fact that equating people who believe in the fundamental supremacy of the free market with “marxists” is spectacularly stupid. Like galaxy brain stuff. The sort of thing Jordan B Peterson might say despite him clearly being a Hayek enthusiast.
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1 hour ago, NotThePars said:

 


Well clearly the neo-aspect is about folk like Hayek, Friedman, Thatcher and Pinochet attempting to rebrand and reintroduce classical liberal economics in a post-Keynesian social democratic world. You can be needlessly pedantic about what you should call it but it doesn’t detract from the fact that equating people who believe in the fundamental supremacy of the free market with “marxists” is spectacularly stupid. Like galaxy brain stuff. The sort of thing Jordan B Peterson might say despite him clearly being a Hayek enthusiast.

 

Yes, I agree that classical liberalism is essentially the opposite of statism. However I have met a lot of self-proclaimed 'liberals' who are in fact neo-Marxists. I can see why someone would perhaps mistakenly classify them as neo-liberal. 

This is the problem with defining abstract terminology, as opposed to something tangible like a cat or a dog. 

Edit: I will add that Thatcher considered herself a conservative. Conservatives have always backed small government, that's nothing new.

Edited by G_&_T
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I’m not going to pretend that I have a comprehensive understanding of neoliberal economics (partially because I find the doctrine of the Austrian School to be insane) but I am baffled someone would look at neoliberalism and marxism and think anyone could get confused between the two. They’re fairly distinct and fundamentally opposed economic doctrines. I mean Hayek detested even mild social democratic reform so f**k knows how someone who agrees with him would be subconsciously supporting seizing the means of production.

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1 hour ago, NotThePars said:

I’m not going to pretend that I have a comprehensive understanding of neoliberal economics (partially because I find the doctrine of the Austrian School to be insane) but I am baffled someone would look at neoliberalism and marxism and think anyone could get confused between the two. They’re fairly distinct and fundamentally opposed economic doctrines. I mean Hayek detested even mild social democratic reform so f**k knows how someone who agrees with him would be subconsciously supporting seizing the means of production.

True, but I have met plenty of self-proclaimed 'liberals' who essentially believe in a huge nanny state that interferes in all aspects of people's lives, and would bang people up for telling un-PC jokes, etc. That's where the problem lies, these people don't understand the concept of liberslism. 

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2 minutes ago, G_&_T said:

True, but I have met plenty of self-proclaimed 'liberals' who essentially believe in a huge nanny state that interferes in all aspects of people's lives, and would bang people up for telling un-PC jokes, etc. That's where the problem lies, these people don't understand the concept of liberslism

Maybe you could explain it...

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True, but I have met plenty of self-proclaimed 'liberals' who essentially believe in a huge nanny state that interferes in all aspects of people's lives, and would bang people up for telling un-PC jokes, etc. That's where the problem lies, these people don't understand the concept of liberslism. 


What’s that got to do with neoliberalism though? As far as I can see, neoliberalism is an economic doctrine whereas you’re describing cultural or social liberalism which isn’t tied to any specific view on economics. There’s plenty of socially liberal fiscal conservatives and liberal marxists.
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1 hour ago, NotThePars said:

What’s that got to do with neoliberalism though? As far as I can see, neoliberalism is an economic doctrine whereas you’re describing cultural or social liberalism which isn’t tied to any specific view on economics. There’s plenty of socially liberal fiscal conservatives and liberal marxists.

 

I'm not particularly knowledgable on the finer points of differing schools of economic thought but I was under the (misguided?) impression that there's no real "neoliberal" economics, rather it's basically "Chicago" economics but delivered by Conservative political ideology: small state, efficient markets, blah blah blah.  

 

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I'm not particularly knowledgable on the finer points of differing schools of economic thought but I was under the (misguided?) impression that there's no real "neoliberal" economics, rather it's basically "Chicago" economics but delivered by Conservative political ideology: small state, efficient markets, blah blah blah.  
 
Basically a rebranded ideology that continues to trick people into thinking trickle down is a thing when it's actually hoover up.
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39 minutes ago, Jeff Venom said:

Basically a rebranded ideology that continues to trick people into thinking trickle down is a thing when it's actually hoover up.

Aye, I know what it's main idea is but - and I think I quoted the wrong post of NotThePars - I'm not sure what the actual school of thought is behind it.

As a side note, Dani Rodrik's article is always worth a read: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/14/the-fatal-flaw-of-neoliberalism-its-bad-economics

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I’m not going to pretend that I have a comprehensive understanding of neoliberal economics (partially because I find the doctrine of the Austrian School to be insane) but I am baffled someone would look at neoliberalism and marxism and think anyone could get confused between the two. They’re fairly distinct and fundamentally opposed economic doctrines. I mean Hayek detested even mild social democratic reform so f**k knows how someone who agrees with him would be subconsciously supporting seizing the means of production.
The Austrian School is not that insane - some of their key concepts such as Opportunity Cost are now part of mainstream economics.

The biggest criticism of the Austrian School is their aversion to aggregate statistics focussing instead on the microeconomics rather than the macroeconomics.

The two are not necessarily incompatible particularly in light of the split in the Austrian School between those who back Mises and those who support Hayek.
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I found this on what appears, from a cursory glance, to be an objective, reputable site:

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/classical_liberalism.htm

Quote

Classical liberalism

Classical liberalism is a political philosophy and ideology belonging to liberalism in which primary emphasis is placed on securing the freedom of the individual by limiting the power of the government.

The philosophy emerged as a response to the Industrial Revolution and urbanization in the 19th century in Europe and the United States.

It advocates civil liberties with a limited government under the rule of law, private property, and belief in laissez-faire economic policy.

Classical liberalism is built on ideas that had already arisen by the end of the 18th century, such as selected ideas of Adam Smith, John Locke, Jean-Baptiste Say, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo.

The salient paragraph, which summarises the essence of liberalism is:

'It advocates civil liberties with a limited government under the rule of law, private property, and belief in laissez-faire economic policy.'

 

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8 hours ago, G_&_T said:

Neo-liberalism is essentially a term made up by people who didn't understand what liberalism was. In the 1800s liberals espoused laissez faire economics. Classical liberalism wanted small government, that's my point. What you and many uneducated dimwits have been calling neo-liberals are in fact classical liberals. The term got hijacked by people who didn't understand it, that's my point. 

This is a long way to say "Marxists don't believe in capitalism"

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