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> neo-liberals, those who fled the obvious negative connotations of conservatism and its association with racism, sexism, etc. in the guise of conserving "value
by zeveb 6y ago
> neo-liberals, those who fled the obvious negative connotations of conservatism and its association with racism, sexism, etc. in the guise of conserving "values", but still sympathetic to those beliefs in private.
I think that's very much not what 'neo-liberal' means. I think that it means free-market liberalism — where 'liberalism' in the previous clause means 'classical liberalism,' as opposed to socialism, Communism or progressivism.
Many of the neo-liberals were, as I recall, leftists (for U.S. values of, anyway) who fled not conservatism but Communism/socialism as they saw that the math simply didn't work out.
- clairity 6y agoyes, that's the historical context (free-marketization), but i'm referring to the more recent machinations of the last couple decades, as there aren't enough communists/socialists (in the US at least) to account for the rise of our current brand of (neo-)liberalism. that arose from nominal conservatives shifting away from unfavorable connotations. the free-marketization makes that transition easier ideologically.
- jacobr1 6y agoCase in point: Southern California. This is the state were Reagan served as governor after all. Southern California used to be dependably republican, but no longer. But is this because of a fundamental shift (in population or beliefs), or just a lack of desire to be associated with the racial/social policies of the national republicans, with most non-racial views retained? I suspect the latter.
- clairity 6y agoyes, exactly, folks solved their cognitive dissonance by switching parties, not wholesale changes in beliefs.