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The Scourge of Neoliberalism: Why the Democratic Party Is Failing the Poor
The Scourge of Neoliberalism: Why the Democratic Party Is Failing the Poor
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/08/22/scourge-neoliberalism-why-democratic-party-failing-poor
By: Jake Johnson
Date: 2016-08-22
When Democrats began their rightward lurch in the late 1960's, they were not content to merely broaden their coalition in order to quell the rise of the ultra-reactionary right; they have been concerned, also, with preventing left-wing insurgencies that could spook their patrons and push the party left.
After Ronald Reagan's decisive victories — first in 1980 against an incumbent president whose administration had, in many ways, fueled the neoliberal turn, and again in 1984 — the efforts of Democrats eager to transform the party, both superficially and ideologically, intensified.
“The only alternative for Democrats now was to modernize,” notes Shawn Gude, summarizing the prevailing attitude of the Democratic leadership. “Anything but a wholesale rethink of the party's more social-democratic commitments would invite future electoral disaster.”
'The problem is, ultimately, systemic: It is about who writes the rules, and how these rules act in the real world to create extraordinary gains for some while leaving others to compete, endlessly and ruthlessly, for the rest.' (Image: DonkeyHotey/flickr/cc)
Source: http://vaticproject.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-scourge-of-neoliberalism-why.html
