https://old.reddit.com/r/greentext/comments/qa292t/anon_goes_on_reddit?sort=controversial
Edit: guys, instead of mocking the antiwork lowcows here where it's comfy, why don't you guys go post your snazzy comebacks there so you can actually contribute to the drama?
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No, the term is absolutely useless. I’ve seen it used to describe from Bernie, AOC and the Left parties in Nordic countries to Trump, Bolsarno to Pinochet.
It is worse than the word fascist in this regard.
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That's the usage of the term, which is the case with any term that carries negative connotations for it's user. Rightoids called everyone from Bernie, through Obama, down to even Biden - socialists. Why? Because in their mind it's an insult or something without any particular meaning other than government doing stuff.
As a descriptive term outside of derogatory usage, "neoliberal" kind of does make sense - it describes the sort of centrist, pink capitalist progressives that came about in the early 21st century. They abandoned all pretense of their Social-Democratic roots, and are just a force against dismantling an existing safety net, patching up the holes in it caused by ever-increasing inequality, and pushing through the agenda of the special interest alliance that they have as a captive voter base. There isn't a better term for it, as liberal is too broad and progressive can mean whatever the frick you want it to mean, depending on your position in time and space.
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First of all, I don’t necessarily disagree about that assessment about progressives and social democrats in the second paragraph but I don’t agree with it either. I can see someone arguing both ways and still be somewhat right.
Second, the thing is, no one outside those who are terminally online or circlejerking in academic and political circles ever uses the word “neoliberal”. It is also extremely new, in the hyper-“generalized” way it is used now. Socialism by contrast is a word politically important to those all across the political spectrum and has been so for 200+ years, including the arch conservatives and/or reactionary (rather than radical/”overly”-populist) right. In fact, Vladimir Lenin deliberately renamed the Social Democratic Labor Party of Russia (Bolshevik) to the Communist Party of Russia (Bolshevik) as well as other parties around the world specifically for the reason that just identifying as socialist did not showcase their radicalness to the otherwise somewhat acclimated bourgeoisie. As compared to “neoliberal” it has roots that are obscure and only stays in certain circles but has no definition.
The only place where people self identify as “neoliberal” is literally on Reddit. That should be telling how small of a presence the term has the wider political world. And despite of that, it’s function remains as diluted as the words “fascist” and “socialist”.
In regards to needing a term to describe something, it’s not really necessary. You guys on the left think too much in terms and categorizations of categorizations. An almost completely different mindset comparatively.
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Because it's important. It legitimately annoys me when people say Biden, Clinton, or Blair are "left". They aren't by any stretch of the imagination, unless you're looking at them from the point of view of fricking Mussolini or something (and even then, tbh...)
So, yeah, you need labels for political movements in order to not lump in Lenin with fricking Sanders or Churchill with Hitler. It's nonsense...
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I meant in the likes of “Marxist-Leninism”, “socialism of the 21st century”, “anarcho-collectivism” and all the thousands of other names and accompanying terms. Most people outside of the left don’t think in these rigid categories of themselves. Heck, “capitalism” didn’t even enter the vernacular of non-socialists until after the 19th century.
Also, Obama, Biden and Blair are left by several standards (possibly including their own), you don’t have to be the creator of fascism for that to happen, though Mussolini and fascists in general always play by weird rules...
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Mommy is soooo proud of you, sweaty. Let's put this sperg out up on the fridge with all your other failures.
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