pages/site/garden/neoliberalism/index.md

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title: "Neoliberalism"
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<h1 class="p-name">Neoliberalism</h1>
<p>133 words, ~1 minute read. <span v-html="data[`site/${pageData.page.value.relativePath}`]" /></p>
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<details><summary>Referenced by:</summary><a href="/garden/individualism/index.md">Individualism</a><a href="/garden/local-communities/index.md">Local Communities</a><a href="/garden/technocracy/index.md">Technocracy</a></details>

Neoliberalism is a conservative political philosophy that emphasizes [Individualism](/garden/individualism/index.md) and is resistant to change/progress. It became popular with the advent of President Raegan and his sweeping changes to the US economy and government (replacing the comparatively socialist polices of the New Deal and the Great Society), and affects both the Republican and Democratic US political parties.

I believe neoliberalism primarily affected the boomer generation and generation x. This lines up with [trends in protest participation](https://nealcaren.org/publication/caren-social-2011/caren-social-2011.pdf), which dipped during that time (by birth cohort) and picked back up starting with Millenials. The government is still largely controlled by those generations and still very neoliberal, despite increasingly progressive and left-leaning youth demographics.

Neoliberalism often supports ideas like meritocracies, calling them fair and just. However, by ignoring the context surrounding people's abilities and socioeconomic status, meritocracies end up merely reinforcing the current status quo - and if the current status quo is unfair or unjust, so too will be the meritocracy. Needless to say, we do not currently live in a society where the status quo is fair and just.