
Neoliberalism and the End of Democracy [pdf] - grdeken
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bc0e610abd04bd1e067ccc/t/5cb6ddc015fcc00dbe496d9d/1555488196539/Hickel+-+Neoliberalism+and+the+End+of+Democracy+(Chapter+only).pdf
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chanakya
Is this an academic paper? Telling a story the way the author sees it, causal
relationships established as if they are obvious, no need to actually show
they exist. This is indoctrination, not analysis.

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googthrowaway42
The author is a contributor to Jacobin Magazine which according to Wikipedia
"has been variously described as democratic socialist, socialist and Marxist"
so it would seem you're spot on.

As far as a critique of the actual paper, it seems to be predicated on the
idea that democracy and freedom are synonymous when in fact they're orthogonal
concepts. You can have tyrannical democratic structures, in fact that's what
the founding fathers sought to combat in the original system they laid out
which was less democratic than it is now (e.g. only land owners, people who
have skin in the game, can vote).

"When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the
end of the republic." – Benjamin Franklin

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anoncake
You cannot have freedom without democracy (unless of course you're part of the
ruling class). When someone else rules over you, you aren't free.

Democracy does not guarantee freedom but it greatly increases the chances and
distributes it more equally. Your chance of being "tyrannized" by the majority
is less than 50%. A ruling class you aren't part of _will_ tyrannize you.

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TouchyJoe
> When someone else rules over you, you aren't free.

That is the case in today's so called democracies. Just because you pick your
ruler doesn't mean you have any say in the fate of society.

check the video for actual democracy:
[https://youtu.be/qH43YHaUGyQ](https://youtu.be/qH43YHaUGyQ)

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extradesgo
See the difference between saying democracy is necessary for freedom and
saying that democracy obviates freedom. Parent comment only made claim to the
former.

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anoncake
Nor did I make any claim about our current democracies being democracies
(though "no say" is an exaggeration).

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alpineidyll3
Why is it necessary to dig so far to understand the decay of American
democracy? Today's problems are impossible without simple gerrymandering and
the idiosyncrasies of the electoral college. It's not a deep problem.

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extradesgo
What exactly are you saying is the problem? Even if it’s as simple as you
claim, those “simple” problems are apparently not subject to repair. So long
as that is the case, I recommend considering that the problem does in-fact
have a bit more depth to it.

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alpineidyll3
The problem is that the USG isn't responsive to the well being of it's people
because it doesn't need to be. The reasons are mostly abuses of technicalities
which are different in our present time than they were in Rome ~yr0 ce.

They are subject to repair.

Our nation's brightest political theorists such as Lawrence Lessig have put
forth simple solutions to their credit. Theres the majority vote interstate
compact which has been ratified by many states already. Simple vornoi
redistricting would solve the gerrymandering problem.

Ideologies and philosophies don't build civilizations. They distract otherwise
capable people. Practical circumstances shape civilizations. That's really the
major lesson of the classics if you read them.

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bryanlarsen
Neoliberalism as practiced in the United States isn't a good idea. In other
countries it's had much more success. For instance, Denmark doesn't have a
minimum wage, and has very high labour mobility. A generous social safety net
and strong trade unions enables this.

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gremlinsinc
Then is it really neoliberalism in Denmark? It seems strong social safety net
and trade unions are somehow anathema to neoliberalism.

Sure they could participate in the global economies and reap rewards from the
globalization but they're also a smaller player w/ less power on the world
stage.

American neoliberalism has been a bad idea not just for us, but maybe for the
whole world. It's all gonna come to a head though if they really do evict 40
million people this year.

