Comments by "Harry Stoddard" (@HarryS77) on "A Neoliberal Calls In" video.

Cornel West has one of the more succinct definitions: privatize, financialize, militarize. It doesn't capture everything, but that's the big picture. Like Sam and co. point out, there's a hardcore faction of neoliberals within the establishment and another faction that takes the premises and assumptions of neoliberalism at face value but wants to provide moderate protections. People like Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris etc. etc. are, for all intents and purposes, neoliberal. When Cory Booker pushes charter schools, he's doing the work of neoliberalism.
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Neoliberalism refers to the return to economic liberalism's emphasis on private ownership in contrast to Keynesianism, which sought some role for the state. In reality, neoliberalism had many uses for the state, not least of which included using its monopoly on violence to discipline domestic populations as well as terrorize foreign ones into complying with capital. The alignment with Democrats or the GOP is part of the overuse and misuse of the term that Sam's talking about. A neoliberal isn't a "new" Democrat.
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Bernie Bro Iran-Contra Death squads in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, etc. Propping up dictators like Pinochet, Noriega, Guzzetti, Somosa. Funding a drug war with billions of dollars that's only ramped up violence, killed hundreds of thousands, and conveniently benefited US corporations. The only one who lacks an education here is you. You like bragging about how hard you work. Work hard to educate yourself about the history of US involvement around the world.
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@RuneForumwalker I think the fact that he ran against her record on Iraq was a major factor in his victory.
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@eios76 I think that's a better description of something like corporatism or fascism. Neoliberalism in theory eschews government "interfering" in the market. In practice, we know that actual neoliberals like Milton Friedman gladly accepted the government's interference in, for instance, Chile. Capitalist markets have always relied on state power to support themselves—a point made way back in the early-mid 19th century by Friedrich List—no less so the neoliberal version of markets. There's an obvious gulf between the theory and rhetoric and the reality. We certainly can see a high degree of collusion between the government and corporate entities—the revolving door, the lucrative government contracts. But I don't think it's quite right to say this represents a merger of the two.
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