“Neoliberalism or neo-liberalism is the 20th-century resurgence of 19th-century ideas associated with laissez-faire economic liberalism and free market capitalism, and is generally associated with policies of economic liberalization, including privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, austerity, and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society. Neoliberalism constituted a paradigm shift away from the post-war Keynesian consensus that had lasted from 1945 to 1980.”
Note what I highlighted in bold and explain how that isn’t a clear definition of Republicans and their policies, and yes, some Democrats fit that definition, as well. But most Democrats are in favor of regulations to protect the environment, worker safety, fair financial treatment, public schools, clean drinking water, a minimum wage, and the list goes on. They also oppose privatization of governmental services such as the postal service. The US has more people in prison than any other nation in the world and private, for-profit prisons are a prime example of Republican policy.
It’s true that all those things on paper still aren’t fully followed but with Republicans in power they’ll simply be deregulated and no one will ever have to worry about equal rights again. Because those laws will be repealed. But, their promise only has a chance if Democrats, not exactly angels themselves, aren’t around to defend them and attempt to get those rights enforced equitably.
And yes, knowing a little about American history, I do think the crap of a government is the best we’ve gotten to date. Was the government better when only white, male, landowners (were there landowners who weren’t white and male?) could vote and state legislatures chose Congressmen and Senators, when slavery of people of another race was legal (something the author might keep in mind), when women and children were chattel to be bought and sold (although that rarely happened, the husband did own his wife and children and treated the children as laborers their to work as told), when families had as many children as they could in the hopes of a few of them reaching adulthood, when a war split the Union over the ‘right’ to own other human beings, when women didn’t get to vote, when the late 19th century ‘Gilded Age’ was full-on neo-liberal, and the closet this nation has ever gotten to being Libertarian, and a few men (remember- women couldn’t own anything, including money) were made richer at the expense of everyone else (which is happening again, at an increasing rate), when children, young girls, worked in sweat shops and cotton mills- so what if a couple a hundred died in a fire (which happened often in the New England cotton mills), there were always more children to exploit, when men were beaten repeatedly or killed by company owners for trying to form worker’s unions but persevered because they knew their cause was just, or that until 1972 a woman could not have a simple bank account in her name unless the man who owned her, husband, father, or brother went with her and approved it- it had to be a male family member because, you know, it’s a ‘woman’ and women weren’t considered smart enough to handle their own money?
Now, tell me which period of government do you think is better? The one we have now that we at least have a chance of improving or any of those of the past?
And I haven’t offered any suggestions?
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