Spudcup does:
To explain this requires that I revisit an explanation of just what neoliberalism is. George Monbiot did this very well in 2016, and although he has a new book out on this theme, I doubt that he will do much better than this:
Neoliberalism sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations.
Given that I am a neoliberal I am allosed to say bollocks to this.
The defining belief of neoliberals is that humans are a cooperative species and markets are how they do that cooperatin’. A market transaction is a cooperation. The competition is between those who you might cooperate with.
This isn’t difficult people.
Nothing wrong with competition.
The problems start when there isn’t any. Healthcare, education, uniparty politics, the blob, etc etc.
In both cases I am quite sure of my case. The reason is that both parties are profoundly neoliberal, and neoliberals are quite certain that government cannot deliver. As a result, when they secure office they set out to deliver on that belief, and as such will always disappoint an electorate that thinks that not only should government exist, but that it should do so for good reason, and should deliver as a result.
He doesn’t lack confidence of course. Regardless of the fact he is utterly ignorant of politics, economics and finance he’s strident. It’s as though the 1970s (which as far as I’m aware he lived through) actually didn’t occur. Oddly I do think he is onto something when he says that the electorate has expectation that the government should exist and deliver. Ask not what you can do for the state but what the state can do for you.
What that means is that we get what I described as ‘cowardly politicians’ in my 2011 book, The Courageous State.Whenever neoliberal politicians identify a problem they think that government intervention will only make matters worse. They think the market can solve the problem that market failures, inevitably, created. They therefore walk away from anything of real concern declaring it nothing to do with them: it is for the market to address.
I’ll take the example of excessive rents which his beloved SNP has decided to tackle using Rent controls. The result – a collapse in supply and people unable to rent. Willingness to try and solve a problem is hardly a virtue when your analysis of the problem and the solution are both wrong. I would agree that we have completely cowardly and craven politicians for sure but that is surely a reason to give them less power – not more.
Given that the far-right are essentially in this same mould, they too cannot deliver the government people in this country desire.
The consequence is that only someone, or some coalition of parties on the left, can deliver what people need now. Only they can break the hegemony.
I’d characterise a real far right (As opposed to the one that exists in his fevered imagination ) as one which
– Extends state control over vast swathes of the economy
– looks to confiscate assets and redeploy them in a manner the state decrees
– Redistributes wealth and income using the power of the state
So I don’t see much difference between what Murphy proposes and the Far Right. Indeed his support for Hamas and condemnation of Israel, revealing deeply anti-semitic tendencies is very much ‘far right’ rather than necessarily Left wing.
I’ve always found it a good rule of thumb to dismiss anyone using the term ‘neoliberal’ in a pejorative sense as not worthy of serious consideration. It’s a good rule to apply to both Murphy and Monbiot, both of whom exude the kind of pure evil previously thought to exist only in the wildest reaches of the imagination.
It’s very easy to use Monbiot to explain economics:
“This is George Monbiot. Whatever he says about economics, do the opposite.”
I find it ironic that Murphy uses the tactics of Goebbels in constantly repeating lies then fires our scattergun allegations of fascism against everyone who disagrees with him.
Perhaps it was the visit to Dachau where he had his epiphany.
I think we can comfortably say that socialists are not a cooperative species. So claiming humans are is a slight exaggeration.