A commentator asked here last night, in the context of the discussion on neoliberalism:
Who is your audience and what do you want them to understand? You are a talented communicator, unlike Keen who obsesses with spreadsheet models, but I am not sure what you are trying to achieve. I was always taught that your audience will remember at most 3 things if you are lucky.
I find it odd that people can be confused about what I am trying to do in my work. But the comment made me think. This is my response. I reserve the right to refine it.
My audience is anyone who wants to understand why our economy is failing to meet people's needs and what we can do about it.
I am not seeking power for myself. I have never sought that. I am promoting the politics of care, which is about creating a society that puts people and their needs first.
To achieve that, I believe people must be empowered through education. They need to understand how the economy really works so that they have the knowledge, confidence and agency to demand change from the bottom up.
Neoliberalism has colonised our thinking. It has even taken away much of the language we need to imagine alternatives. We have been taught to think that markets know best, that government is powerless and that there is no alternative to the way things are.
We need to reclaim that language, challenge those assumptions and rediscover what democratic government can achieve.
That is why I talk about neoliberalism. Unless people understand the ideology that has constrained their choices, how can they recognise that other possibilities exist?
My objective is not simply to communicate three memorable messages. It is to help people think differently, so that they can create change for themselves.
That is what I am doing.
And what is neoliberalism? Try this:
Neoliberalism is the politics of austerity.
In economics, it is the belief that private businesses and markets do things better than governments, and that making profits matters more than meeting people's needs.
I think the word will definitely stay in my lexicon.
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I had occasion yesterday to look up your glossary definition of neoliberalism, and I much prefer the more concise description you have given in today’s blog post. It makes perfect sense and I imagine most people could relate to it easily. Thank you.
My thinking develops over time.
Another question worthy of an explanation, is why does nobody on the right of politics ever use the term neoliberalism?
They do not wish to confess their sins.
Would suggest that the rhetoric of freer markets and deregulation leads to basically win-win situations is often not the case
Good to engage with this. Politics of care and repudiation of austerity are key points.
I remember going on a course many years ago on writing effective management reports. My main takeaway was “think about the Sun readers”.
I want to hear an economic journalist do an effective challenge to a treasury minister on the household analogy. When that happens then I can start to think about ideology.
How many times is neoliberalism mentioned in “Finding the Money”. And the old saw about how do you eat an elephant.
How many times is it mentioned?
Does it matter?
Tbh, that is a narrowly focused film. I am not narrowly focused.
I would say that you are trying to destroy the household analogy, that taxes fund spending, and provide an alternative to the status quo, via the “politics of care”, a non-party lexicon of things any politicians can draw on. The effect is a power/resources shift from the City to the citizen.
The audience is three fold
– decision-makers in politics and media
– MPs getting worried about public sentiment
– anyone who is thinking about what to do with their vote.
You are utilising the resources available to you, and adapting your style to maximise your influence via a variety of comunication channels (different types of video, blog, podcast, interviews, opinion journalism, books).
Your outings this last few days brought out that you are a significant heavyweigt on tax – and just taxation is at the heart of the current struggle, just as people-focussed spending is at the heart of the solutions,
The nuts and bolts of “controlling the economy (inflation, money supply, interest, bonds, “debt” etc) will NEVER have mass appeal, but the politicians and meia need educating on it so it is important.
Your efforts are paying off. You are regularly re-evaluating your work. You have responded to challenges and opportunities. And best of all – you are not looking for power or material gain. Thats rare.
KUTGW!
–
Thank you
All that thinking has a cost
No wonder my coffee consumption is so high!
“Neoliberalism is socio-economic parasitism.” ?
Yes, if I want no one to understand what I’m talking about.
Yes, when Demos Kratos wrote ‘austerity economics’ earlier it hit the spot with me and I think your first line ‘Neoliberalism is the politics of austerity’ can and will get the fundamentals of the ideology over to pretty much any audience. As to whether many will read on. Yes, in time, as it will become embarrassing not to know!
Thank you