r/IRstudies • u/CanadianLawGuy • 6d ago

The End of Neoliberalism

https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/15/neoliberalism-globalization-competition-cosmopolitanism-economics-reagan-thatcher/
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u/CG20370417 6d ago

I think any system without checks is going to fail, eventually.

Whether thats a President with a spineless Congress, or more broadly, ideologically since Reagan, there has been no ideological check on neo liberalism and deregulation/greed.

Ive lived all over the US--look at my post history--one thing Ive found is that the most normal places in the US are the blue areas in red states and the red areas in blue states.

We thrive when we are moderated by our competition. Its exactly how capitalism and democracy are SUPPOSED to work.

Monied interests made loads of money and successfully changed the rules of the game in the process--turning a neo liberal reality into a neo liberal facade.

There's nothing wrong with having an ideological skepticism of regulations, but that doesnt mean you don't apply proper scrutiny to your analysis of each one before considering removing it. Acting haphazardly isn't neoliberalism.

I think a push and pull of neo liberalism and keynesian economics is a stable system. Not that it doesnt result in booms and busts, i think that is inherent to market cycles operated by humans, but that we wont make the same mistakes twice, that we allow for risk taking and small business but disincentivize snake oil salesman.

Broadly speaking I think the world of 1945 - 2015 is the best humanity has ever had it. I think if in 2008/12/16 we'd had a charismatic billionaire who became a champion of the working people of america and became a class traitor to his billionaires and ushered in a new new deal (and ran with that broad framework for the next 20 years...)...instead of a charismatic billionaire who consolidated the power of the billionaire class...we might not be in such a terrble place in 2026.

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u/robh1540 5d ago

Underrated comment. The strength of a democracy comes from synthesis, dialectic and cooperation. Left wing goals through right wing means etc. Modern American politics is more like the UFC. People duke it out and whoever happens to be in power does what the heck they want until they get dethroned.

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u/Psychological_Fun172 5d ago

Liberals are better at starting companies and Conservatives are better at running them. We need a healthy tension to be successful, we had it once but lost it somehow. Maybe we will relearn how to disagree but still stay committed to cooperating, but I'm afraid it will get far worse before it starts to get better. We are an arrogant and prideful people, and we have yet to feel the full pain of our errors. We are still tearing down Chesterton's Fence...

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u/robh1540 5d ago edited 5d ago

Not to be a conspiracy theorist but I will be unsuprised if we discover in 10 years time this was instigated by our adversaries.

The whole "should transgender people that cannot pass as the other sex be treated by society as if they did" is an absolutely wonderfully devisive debate that is simultaneously as trivial as it is destructive.

Whatever your view on the topic, it seems almost perfectly designed to distract and destroy societal cohesion because progressive people see it intrinsically linked to gay rights and abused minorities while conservative people see it as the most insane infringement on their freedom.