in Check It Out, Politics

It was the Democrats’ embrace of neoliberalism that won it for Trump | Naomi Klein | Opinion | The Guardian

More truth. I believe if Bernie Sanders had run against Trump we’d be saying “President-elect Sanders” today.

Here is what we need to understand: a hell of a lot of people are in pain. Under neoliberal policies of deregulation, privatisation, austerity and corporate trade, their living standards have declined precipitously. They have lost jobs. They have lost pensions. They have lost much of the safety net that used to make these losses less frightening. They see a future for their kids even worse than their precarious present.

At the same time, they have witnessed the rise of the Davos class, a hyper-connected network of banking and tech billionaires, elected leaders who are awfully cosy with those interests, and Hollywood celebrities who make the whole thing seem unbearably glamorous. Success is a party to which they were not invited, and they know in their hearts that this rising wealth and power is somehow directly connected to their growing debts and powerlessness.

Source: It was the Democrats’ embrace of neoliberalism that won it for Trump | Naomi Klein | Opinion | The Guardian