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> Hickel accuses Gates/Pinker et. al. of promoting 'hard neoliberal' (i.e. strong free market) ideals. I don't believe this characterization is fair. Gates/Pin

> Hickel accuses Gates/Pinker et. al. of promoting 'hard neoliberal' (i.e. strong free market) ideals. I don't believe this characterization is fair. Gates/Pinker are selling exactly the antidote to potential guilt for "kicking away the ladder". History makes clear that "free market" ideals never apply to ourselves, only to those colonies and developing nations the IMF and World Bank can coerce into line. Argentina had 2~3x Korea's GDP per capita in 1970, and now the relation has almost exactly flipped. You should know which country had stronger protectionist policies and which was sold out to the World Bank. Pinker is marketing these harmful policies as "enlightenment", and lying with statistics to ease affluent intellectual guilt.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
There was effectively a uprising, a revolutionary coup and a dictatorship in Argentina during that time, causing enormous political turmoil. And your blaming this in the 'World Bank' and 'Capitalists'? No. Neoliberals had little to do with it. My comment stands: Pinker is not a neoliberal, and he's not even supporting neoliberalism. Frankly neither is Bill Gates. A 'neoliberal' would not support things like socialized medicine, or major investments in aid - which is exactly what Gates is trying to get the US to do. Is Gates calling for lower taxes? Austerity? No? Is Pinker calling for an end to socialized medicine? For 'Statoil' to be privatized? No.
- aglavine 8y ago
  for many people neoliberal is a tag for anything they don't like
- sooheon 8y ago
  During the same period, we have put presidents in jail immediately after the end of their term, others have fled with billions, another has committed suicide, and it's open knowledge that corruption is rampant and a handful of conglomerates own the country. Our very last president was impeached and thrown directly in jail due to a popular uprising. We had dictator presidents for decades. Park Chung Hee, widely credited with the Miracle on the Han, was a dictatorial strongman with little grand plan except that knew protectionist policies would allow Korea to trade favorably, and trade up the industrial ladder from textiles to shipbuilding. Gates and Pinker are giving ground on marginal issues like healthcare, but pushing the core agenda of "free markets make everyone's lives better".
  - aglavine 8y ago
    "Thrown to jail", that's a big difference with Argentina. But more important, budget deficit was most of the time less than 2%.
aglavine 8y ago
I am from Argentina, and the "sold out to the World Bank" narrative is really harmful to my country. Stop spreading it, you're totally clueless about it. What really made us poorer is chronic budget deficit supported by debt and inflation, and systemic corruption that weak institutions can't fight. As an example, we have two ex-presidents-now-senators that are condemned by Justice System but protected by special legal status for senators and congress men.
- sooheon 8y ago
  During the same period, we have put presidents in jail immediately after the end of their term, others have fled, another has committed suicide, and it's open knowledge that corruption is rampant. We had dictator presidents for decades. Park Chung Hee, widely credited with the miracle on the Han, was a dictatorial strongman with little grand plan except that knew protectionist policies would allow Korea to trade favorably, and trade up the industrial ladder from textiles to shipbuilding.

sonnyblarney 8y ago

There was effectively a uprising, a revolutionary coup and a dictatorship in Argentina during that time, causing enormous political turmoil. And your blaming this in the 'World Bank' and 'Capitalists'? No. Neoliberals had little to do with it. My comment stands: Pinker is not a neoliberal, and he's not even supporting neoliberalism. Frankly neither is Bill Gates. A 'neoliberal' would not support things like socialized medicine, or major investments in aid - which is exactly what Gates is trying to get the US to do. Is Gates calling for lower taxes? Austerity? No? Is Pinker calling for an end to socialized medicine? For 'Statoil' to be privatized? No.

aglavine 8y ago
for many people neoliberal is a tag for anything they don't like
sooheon 8y ago
During the same period, we have put presidents in jail immediately after the end of their term, others have fled with billions, another has committed suicide, and it's open knowledge that corruption is rampant and a handful of conglomerates own the country. Our very last president was impeached and thrown directly in jail due to a popular uprising. We had dictator presidents for decades. Park Chung Hee, widely credited with the Miracle on the Han, was a dictatorial strongman with little grand plan except that knew protectionist policies would allow Korea to trade favorably, and trade up the industrial ladder from textiles to shipbuilding. Gates and Pinker are giving ground on marginal issues like healthcare, but pushing the core agenda of "free markets make everyone's lives better".
- aglavine 8y ago
  "Thrown to jail", that's a big difference with Argentina. But more important, budget deficit was most of the time less than 2%.

aglavine 8y ago

I am from Argentina, and the "sold out to the World Bank" narrative is really harmful to my country. Stop spreading it, you're totally clueless about it. What really made us poorer is chronic budget deficit supported by debt and inflation, and systemic corruption that weak institutions can't fight. As an example, we have two ex-presidents-now-senators that are condemned by Justice System but protected by special legal status for senators and congress men.

sooheon 8y ago
During the same period, we have put presidents in jail immediately after the end of their term, others have fled, another has committed suicide, and it's open knowledge that corruption is rampant. We had dictator presidents for decades. Park Chung Hee, widely credited with the miracle on the Han, was a dictatorial strongman with little grand plan except that knew protectionist policies would allow Korea to trade favorably, and trade up the industrial ladder from textiles to shipbuilding.