I always see criticism of neoliberalism and austerity, but I don't think there's been virtually anywhere actually practicing neoliberalism or austerity. In the past 100 years, the government in almost every country went from 10% of GDP to 50 or over 60% of GDP, and that's under all kinds of parties, there really wasn't one that you could predictably say did anything differently since everyone basically agreed you needed to spend more, it's just a question of on what. Cut one thing, and splurge on another. The death of freedom in a thousand cuts. 110 years ago there essentially wasn't such thing as an income tax on most of the globe, today a blue collar worker can pay over 50% in taxes on his or her last dollar.
The politicians who claim to believe in that tend to just intend to cut taxes to buy votes while still increasing spending. Reagan is a perfect example, where he talked a good game about increasing freedom and shrinking government, but quadrupled the national debt and set up the next 40 years of debt explosion. Some politicians end up selling off common goods as well, but that seems to me to be sticking only to the most self-serving aspects of the ideology.
We'll have to see what President Milei in Argentina does. It would be interesting to see someone actually reduce government and actually increase individual freedoms in a century of creeping government weeds choking up our entire civilization.
The politicians who claim to believe in that tend to just intend to cut taxes to buy votes while still increasing spending. Reagan is a perfect example, where he talked a good game about increasing freedom and shrinking government, but quadrupled the national debt and set up the next 40 years of debt explosion. Some politicians end up selling off common goods as well, but that seems to me to be sticking only to the most self-serving aspects of the ideology.
We'll have to see what President Milei in Argentina does. It would be interesting to see someone actually reduce government and actually increase individual freedoms in a century of creeping government weeds choking up our entire civilization.
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In that case, I tend to agree quite strongly with you.
Unfortunately it's like a lot of things right now, a lot of movements claim to be about one thing and then end up actually about something entirely different.
I guess in that way, it also ends up becoming a lot more difficult to criticize, because whatever bad stuff they're doing, they're doing in the name of something that you actually might agree with. If we were actually talking about more freedom and less government I would totally be on board with that. In fact, if austerity was actually about balancing budgets I am 100% on board with that. Instead it just becomes sort of performative liberalism where they use the right words to convince people despite having no intention on following through with the whole.
I guess it's just human nature, claim you're doing something popular and then do whatever you want. It isn't new certainly.
Unfortunately it's like a lot of things right now, a lot of movements claim to be about one thing and then end up actually about something entirely different.
I guess in that way, it also ends up becoming a lot more difficult to criticize, because whatever bad stuff they're doing, they're doing in the name of something that you actually might agree with. If we were actually talking about more freedom and less government I would totally be on board with that. In fact, if austerity was actually about balancing budgets I am 100% on board with that. Instead it just becomes sort of performative liberalism where they use the right words to convince people despite having no intention on following through with the whole.
I guess it's just human nature, claim you're doing something popular and then do whatever you want. It isn't new certainly.
What you just said reminds me of the last comic book convention I went to before the lockdowns. It was like Feburary 2020.
I went because one of the youtubers I watch was going, and a bunch of anime industry cancel culture folks had targeted it. They called the fans of that youtuber racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic -- you know the score.
The thing that blew me away was just how diverse the fans actually were. The person running the convention is a non-binary trans, and you saw people of every hue of skin color, gay people, women, as well as people who clearly weren't neurotypical, and so on and so forth.
It's where you realize, the accusations are just part of the attack, they didn't need to be accurate, they just needed to successfully isolate the people they wanted to isolate.
I went because one of the youtubers I watch was going, and a bunch of anime industry cancel culture folks had targeted it. They called the fans of that youtuber racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic -- you know the score.
The thing that blew me away was just how diverse the fans actually were. The person running the convention is a non-binary trans, and you saw people of every hue of skin color, gay people, women, as well as people who clearly weren't neurotypical, and so on and so forth.
It's where you realize, the accusations are just part of the attack, they didn't need to be accurate, they just needed to successfully isolate the people they wanted to isolate.