What is Neoliberalism?

DESCRIPTION
Neoliberalism entered the political lexicon years ago but only recently bled into the mainstream. But it remains largely misunderstood. Today we explore the roots of neoliberalism as an economic framework first and foremost. Then we delve a little further into how it evolved into a social and political ideology that strayed far from its roots.

#neoliberalism, #milton friedman, #gary becker, #ronald coase, #aaron director, #adam smith, #karl marx, #chicago school of economics, #ronald reagan

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ABOUT UNFTR
Unf*cking the Republic (UNFTR for short) is a longform podcast that covers U.S. politics through a progressive socioeconomic lens. Each episode is a deep and delicious audio dive into a particular subject that helps explain how we arrived in Bizarro America, the funhouse mirror version of what was originally intended. The UNFTR YouTube channel is designed to break some of these larger concepts into smaller more digestible pieces.

[ionae]

It may not be great for building initial viewing hrs, but I really like this trimmed down zero waffle format

[betterbetter]

Thanks Max! And Manny if you did the sound on this one gold star!

[thector]

I literally looked up the actual definition yesterday after wat hing some of your videos. I new kinda but wanted to better wrap my head around it. Your explanation was much h better than Wikipedia

[jdpod]

So uncle “waste of skin” is to neoliberalism as uncle Ho is to the north Vietnamese army?

[glideking]

Well written and presented. I really enjoy your videos!

[us]

F*ck yeah! Love you 99 and Manny! You cool too Max. Crack the whip 99. Chain Max to the radiator if necessary, I need more content.

[Maceta]

How can something that supposedly started in the late 70s and early 80s be referenced by left-wing authors like Herbert Marcuse in the 60s?

The truth is that the term 'Neoliberalism' existed way before Milton Friedman or Margaret Thatcher. It was used to refer to the New World Order of US Hegemony that was constructed after the end of WW2 and that stood in opposition to the Soviet Union.

So why was the definition of Neoliberalism changed to mean right-wing economic reforms of the 80s, then?

The answer is this: Left wing intellectuals spent the better part of the 50s and 60s denouncing the United States, The West, Capitalism, etc. All while bootlicking the Soviet Union and Maoist China that at the time were quite literally exterminating their populations in labor camps.

But then pressure mounted as knowledge of the crimes of communist regimes around the world began to pile up. And so there was a swift change of rhetoric during the 90s. "We were never communists, we just want *fair* Capitalism!". The Welfare State, which up until the 70s was mostly vehemently denounced by left wing radicals as Capitalist accommodation to anesthetize the revolutionary consciousness of the proletariat in Western Countries, suddenly became the ideal.

*Neoliberalism 1*, understood as the Capitalism of the early decades of the post-war period, that was described by Marcuse as nothing short of a living hell, suddenly became the Ideal, and thus *Neoliberalism 2* was invented.


This video talks about *Neoliberalism 2* as if the term 'Neoliberalism' didn't exist at all before the 70s, which it sure as hell did. The real Neoliberalism is and was always *Neoliberalism 1*, understood as post-war capitalism propelled by US foreign policy. It matters little whether the specific policies are center-left or center-right, the real benchmark for what constitutes Neoliberalism is whether a system adheres to the Anglo-Saxon institutional framework of democracy and market economy.

The only reason to use *Neoliberalism 2* instead of the real definition of the term is that it conveniently hides the complicity of western academia (you know, the people who created Neoliberalism 2) in defending the crimes of the most murderous regimes in the history of humankind.

More importantly, why do you keep making videos of subjects you are clearly know nothing about? I know the American left in general has the emotional intelligence and intellectual breadth of a 10 year old. But having the one of a 14 year old doesn't make it much better. Specially when being such an old guy as yourself.

[ceritusorbis]

Tangent: I read a right-wing article that used the word 'neoliberal' when the writer meant 'liberal'. I couldn't stop laughing at how ignorant they were. Needless to say, the entire article was trash.

[notyouraveragecomment]

Great video, I thought you would be a capitalist apologist

[ozzyhouston]

Now I can see how some libertarians and Republicans mistakenly think of themselves as scientific and/or rational. Which is rather dumb.