Neoliberalism has its many faults, but neoliberalism didn't cause a worldwide fascist uprising. You can't even blame Fox and Murdoch outside the anglosphere. It is quite clearly an internet and social media phenomenon, and we need to deal with it accordingly.
Probably the correct diagnosis. What’s the treatment?
Neoliberalism as the ideology enabling massive wealth concentration not only created material conditions ripe for fascism, but also shaped the social media space.
Algorithms & tech bros
Totally man. Ever increasing inequalities via the massive financialization projects of neoliberalism definitely didn't pave the way for entire cohorts of society to reject trust in government, education, and media, which lied to them unapologetically about a promised life that never materialized
"Material conditions" cant be reduced to "how much moneys in your wallet," tho maybe 1 can be forgiven a little for thinking that bc some represent it that way But thats not what it means. The totality of material conditions prescribes the friction b/t contradictions. And yes, SM is in there, too
And the thing about the global nature of fascism is: trade is global, and modern capitalism is fascistic Like, sorry to tell you, but the edgy punks and black communists and what have you, were right. America is fascist, though it has acted as if it needed to be afraid of that fact. But not anymore
These other countries, too, who also have fascism written down, some in blood, are being emboldened. The panic of capital, the crisis of the future, is here, and everyone can feel the squeeze. And a lot of people want to ensure they're in power, or close to power, as it unfolds. Thus, fascism rises
What do you imagine would be an appropriate way of dealing with it?
The problem is “thing you dislike.”
I'm not saying social media is not a problem. But, why not both? Why not - malignant internet personalities exploited opportunities because of real-world problems caused by decades of blind faith on capitalist ideology?
I now live in Canada, but grew up in a developing nation. In my former country, the Anglo-American culture had a huge influence, something to emulate. Language is an ineffective shield against western influence.
People forget Hitler dominated the radio. New forms of media get first movers dominating.
Maybe it’s just global gen x. We had a world war and the generation that came after it was spoiled into becoming rabid hateful monsters.
And the lead poisoning
Else the medium will continue to work us over completely.
I can't even conceive of *how* though. People's brains have been mashed into pudding. What's the fix for that?
Gotta use trumpian tactics to make social media companies to shift their algorithms to platform more responsible channels
I'm not sure that will fix it. I think the left just needs to make our own all-encompassing social media propaganda to compete with the nonstop bullshit canon.
While correct in theory, that ship feels like it has sailed. Facebook and Twitter tried fact checking, IDing misinformation, deplatforming, etc., and it didn't work.
It helped! Then the fascists had a hissy fit and they stopped.
I don't think it did. It just made MAGA feel like Big Brother was censoring their brave truth telling. The left just needs to get in these spaces and crank out content.
The money and power on the left is fully committed to fairly brutal neoliberalism, working solely for capital and they’ve been cranking out content for years. It’s just they’re not good at it and most effort is put into trying to shit down the actual not at all radical left.
puhleez. This has been in the works since Nixon decided to embark on his Southern Strategy -- when one political party stakes its future on racial hatred and resentment, and the other (neo-liberal) one pretends that isn't happening, what we are seeing now is the inevitable result.
That is american explanation. The phenomenon is worldwide
1/ and that has to do with Russia, and its promotion of far right wing political parties, especially in places without strong democratic traditions Its as if you are unaware of how the US used the same tactics Russia uses now to destabilize Mid-East (Islamism) and Latin American (fascism) nations
2/ that were allying themselves with the USSR. And there was no internet back then The internet was simply a new tool - it was the will toward fascism (Southern strategy) and the complacency/acquiescence of those who were supposed to protect against it (neo-liberals) that got us where we are now
It's not entirely the fault of neoliberalism, but I think it's ridiculous to say there isn't a strong connection between Eurozone Crisis austerity and the resurgence of national conservative/fascistic movements
Do you really think putting a price tag on every single thing (even water), gutting the social safety net, and doing next to nothing to tackle climate change (bc $$) would make people fear that the future, the one they were promised to get buy-in for neoliberal reforms, would never materialize?
those didnt happen till the migrant crisis in 2015. and the reason they mattered so much is that europe's economy stagnated. if the economy was growing, the migrants would have been much easily absorbed and we'd be in a better spot. austerity did not cause the economies to stagnate regulations did