A key point go follow here is that the Bush and Clinton dynasties even though from different parties, were broken. I don't necessarily agree that neo-liberalism is dead. Much of the Republican Party is still neo-liberal and in fact no matter what Trump says that looks like populism, the reality is that privatizers are expressing neo-liberalism and Trump is a privatizer -- people think he will be big government - from what I've read the infrastructure Trump plan is privatizing in spades. The latest data shows that Trump support came from educated, wealthy people, and that more poor people voted for Hillary. So be careful about focusing just on the white uneducated. Oh, it's too complicated for my poor brain. Let me know when the new era arrives. And if you see fit to donate at the end of reading this piece.
Goodbye, American neoliberalism. A new era is here
Cornel West
Trump’s election was enabled by the policies that overlooked the plight
of our most vulnerable citizens. We gird ourselves for a frightening
future
The
neoliberal era in the United States ended with a neofascist bang. The
political triumph of Donald Trump shattered the establishments in the
Democratic and Republican parties – both wedded to the rule of Big Money
and to the reign of meretricious politicians.
The Bush and Clinton dynasties were destroyed by the media-saturated
lure of the pseudo-populist billionaire with narcissist sensibilities
and ugly, fascist proclivities. The monumental election of Trump was a
desperate and xenophobic cry of human hearts for a way out from under
the devastation of a disintegrating neoliberal order – a nostalgic
return to an imaginary past of greatness.
White working- and middle-class fellow citizens – out of anger and
anguish – rejected the economic neglect of neoliberal policies and the
self-righteous arrogance of elites. Yet these same citizens also
supported a candidate who appeared to blame their social misery on
minorities, and who alienated Mexican immigrants, Muslims, black people,
Jews, gay people, women and China in the process.
This lethal fusion of economic insecurity and cultural scapegoating
brought neoliberalism to its knees. In short, the abysmal failure of the
Democratic party to speak to the arrested mobility and escalating
poverty of working people unleashed a hate-filled populism and
protectionism that threaten to tear apart the fragile fiber of what is
left of US democracy. And since the most explosive fault lines in
present-day America are first and foremost racial, then gender,
homophobic, ethnic and religious, we gird ourselves for a frightening
future.
What is to be done? First we must try to tell the truth and a
condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. For 40 years,
neoliberals lived in a world of denial and indifference to the suffering
of poor and working people and obsessed with the spectacle of success.
Second we must bear witness to justice. We must ground our truth-telling
in a willingness to suffer and sacrifice as we resist domination. Third
we must remember courageous exemplars like Martin Luther King Jr, who
provide moral and spiritual inspiration as we build multiracial
alliances to combat poverty and xenophobia, Wall Street crimes and war
crimes, global warming and police abuse – and to protect precious rights
and liberties.
The age of Obama was the last gasp of neoliberalism. Despite some
progressive words and symbolic gestures, Obama chose to ignore Wall
Street crimes, reject bailouts for homeowners, oversee growing
inequality and facilitate war crimes like US drones killing innocent
civilians abroad.
Rightwing attacks on Obama – and Trump-inspired racist hatred of him –
have made it nearly impossible to hear the progressive critiques of
Obama. The president has been reluctant to target black suffering – be
it in overcrowded prisons, decrepit schools or declining workplaces.
Yet, despite that, we get celebrations of the neoliberal status quo
couched in racial symbolism and personal legacy. Meanwhile, poor and
working class citizens of all colors have continued to suffer in
relative silence.
In this sense, Trump’s election was enabled by the neoliberal
policies of the Clintons and Obama that overlooked the plight of our
most vulnerable citizens. The progressive populism of Bernie Sanders
nearly toppled the establishment of the Democratic party but Clinton and
Obama came to the rescue to preserve the status quo. And I do believe
Sanders would have beat Trump to avert this neofascist outcome!
In this bleak moment, we must inspire each other driven by a
democratic soulcraft of integrity, courage, empathy and a mature sense
of history – even as it seems our democracy is slipping away.
We must not turn away from the forgotten people of US foreign policy –
such as Palestinians under Israeli occupation, Yemen’s civilians killed
by US-sponsored Saudi troops or Africans subject to expanding US
military presence.
As one whose great family and people survived and thrived through
slavery, Jim Crow and lynching, Trump’s neofascist rhetoric and
predictable authoritarian reign is just another ugly moment that calls
forth the best of who we are and what we can do.
For us in these times, to even have hope is too abstract, too
detached, too spectatorial. Instead we must be a hope, a participant and
a force for good as we face this catastrophe.
Since you’re here …
…
we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian
than ever but far fewer are paying for it. And advertising revenues
across the media are falling fast. So you can see why we need to ask for
your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a
lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we
believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your
perspective, too.
Fund our journalism and together we can keep the world informed.
No comments:
Post a Comment