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“Neoliberalism” generally refers to the policy shifts under Reagan, Thatcher, etc. the “liberal” part of the word coming from the original sense of it and not t

• pessimizer 4y ago
  > the modern American version just meaning “left”. To add to this. "Classical liberal" in the US means laissez faire as a form of government, and is an Americanism for liberal. "Liberal" in the US means closely associated with the Democratic Party, which is also "classically" liberal, but believes that preventing irrational discrimination against the societally disadvantaged trumps freedom of contract. "Neoliberal" also started as an Americanism for liberal but was retconned into referring to the philosophy that liberalism trumps democracy, so societies need to be rigged to support liberalism by any means necessary. "Liberal" really just means "hands-off." If you're the Republican kind of liberal, you think that the only important thing is that the federal government keeps their hands off of things. If you're the Democratic kind of liberal, you also think that smaller institutions such as churches, Chambers of Commerce, Klan groups and state governments should also keep their hands off things, and that the federal government should be hands-on enforcing that. If you're a neoliberal, you think that the federal government, churches, Chambers of Commerce, Klan groups and state governments should be hands-on enforcing a hands-off policy when it comes to regulating finance or labor. Both parties will veer from these principles when appealing to their illiberal bases (the religious right and the labor left), but feebly. turning those aberrations into what we call "wedge issues."