“Neoliberalism” can be a vague term, but it’s still an oft-used one. In a few different milieux, mainly progressive or far-left circles and also some post-liberal or liberal-skeptical circles on the right, it’s used as a curse.
Depending on which critic you are listening to, “neoliberalism” can include capitalism, it can include secularism, it can include internationalism, it can include the homogenization of cultures, or it can include the sexual revolution. Broadly, the various uses of “neoliberalism” include modern cultural and economic changes that flatten differences, increase individualism, grease the skids of commerce, and shove aside old ways.
Neoliberalism, in any fair understanding, is obviously a force for massive generation of prosperity. While progressive critics won’t agree, it’s also a force for widespread distribution of prosperity.
This chart is often drawn to illustrate the primary benefit of neoliberalism. It shows a massive decline in the portion of the world living in extreme poverty.
On the Left, many critics of neoliberalism will say that neoliberalism has eroded labor unions, exacerbated the worker’s alienation toward his work, exploited poor countries, and devastated the environment.
These criticisms, in my opinion, range from the slightly exaggerated to the mostly false. But I don’t deny that neoliberalism, like all of modernity, has dismantled many things of value, and that this has caused some human suffering — alongside the suffering it has alleviated, as shown by the above chart.
The question that all critics and defenders of neoliberalism should ask is: What has neoliberalism dismantled in American life?
I think this Pew Research Center survey gives us a hint:
The headline: “Americans are less likely than others around the world to feel close to people in their country or community.”
That is, neoliberalism has made it easier for us to go it alone, and it has subtly replaced many of our relationships with transactions. To give a small but telling example: First, Wal-Mart relieved us of the need to walk from store to store, spending a whole day on Main Street getting our needs for the week, and then Amazon relieved us of the need to leave the house at all.
Along the way, we steadily lost touch with our neighbors and neighborhoods.
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It’s the younger, more secular, liberal Americans who feel least connected, in this Pew survey. That is, the folks feeling most jilted by neoliberalism have every reason to think our modern, materialistic, and individualistic society is harming them because they are, far more than religious conservatives, disconnected from their neighbors.
Their mistake, however, is in imagining that they can have connection, belonging, and security while also eschewing those old-fashioned things such as faith, family, and community.
