This is a death knell to the Irish people, her language, culture and way of life. In other words, a functional neoliberal state is one without goodness; a place where humanity, love and care are effectively lost on it’s people. To hopefully rectify this outcome we first must understand and define what neoliberalism actually means in the modern day.
In essence neoliberalism is a one dimensional strategy that seeks to transform every facet of society to ensure the stability and health of the free market above all else. That is to say, unconstrained capitalism is the primary goal of neoliberalism. This is a society where supply and demand are uninterrupted by regulation, labour rights and the growth of services in the public sector such as health and education. Therefore, it may be useful to think of neoliberalism as being in direct opposition to the rights of man. So what will a neoliberal state actually look like?
There are both social and economic implications of a neoliberal state, both of which are intertwined. The neoliberal state, through a long drawn out process, will seek to remove the onus on the state to provide and to care for the most vulnerable in society and to instead shift the responsibility to the individual and the family. This was evident by the recent referenda on care and family this year on March 8th, which was thankfully opposed by the people. In addition, the neoliberal state will also shirk from the responsibility to provide adequate resources for health, housing and education to all of it’s people, instead preferring increasing privatization as the solution.
In essence neoliberalism is a one dimensional strategy that seeks to transform every facet of society to ensure the stability and health of the free market above all else. That is to say, unconstrained capitalism is the primary goal of neoliberalism. This is a society where supply and demand are uninterrupted by regulation, labour rights and the growth of services in the public sector such as health and education. Therefore, it may be useful to think of neoliberalism as being in direct opposition to the rights of man. So what will a neoliberal state actually look like?
There are both social and economic implications of a neoliberal state, both of which are intertwined. The neoliberal state, through a long drawn out process, will seek to remove the onus on the state to provide and to care for the most vulnerable in society and to instead shift the responsibility to the individual and the family. This was evident by the recent referenda on care and family this year on March 8th, which was thankfully opposed by the people. In addition, the neoliberal state will also shirk from the responsibility to provide adequate resources for health, housing and education to all of it’s people, instead preferring increasing privatization as the solution.
To ordinary people this will mean unrealistic rent and mortgage rates and a health and education system that is only viable if you can afford the best of health insurance and the highest of university fees. It will be a state where progressive and liberal ideas, such as euthanasia and unregulated abortions are rushed through legislation without any degree of scrutiny. In this way, although such policies are disguised as progressive and pro-choice, they are in fact anti-human and anti-life. To continue, and perhaps most important of all, the biggest threat to the neoliberal state is a scarcity or a disruption of labour. Therefore, it will strive to flood the labour market and to placate labour unions in every way possible. In this way, the neoliberal state cannot operate effectively when there is any degree of ‘class consciousness’ among it’s people. Consequently, it will seek to destroy ‘class consciousness’ by championing so-called progressive ideologies and in purporting to defend minority rights, when in reality such gestures are nothing more than a convenient way to placate the masses.
This is precisely why the neoliberal and the woke agenda fit hand in glove, one cannot function without the other. Finally, the neoliberal state can only ever be globalist in outlook and it is therefore likely to be a tax haven for multinational corporations, and will have little or no qualms about using the country as a landing pad to assist imperialist war machines. In essence the economics of big business and trade will always come first over the financial wealth and needs of the people, the small business owner and farmer.
To conclude, it is no exaggeration to say that the neoliberal state is a dystopian nightmare. It is a place where people are viewed only as financial instruments to be used and discarded. It is a place where genuine politics and social reforms are replaced by mere language and open-ended definitions. It is a place where the health and needs of the company take precedence to the health and needs of the worker. It is a place where profits and greed reign supreme at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society. It is a place without compassion, love or empathy. It is an island without soul, without borders, without language and without culture.
To conclude, it is no exaggeration to say that the neoliberal state is a dystopian nightmare. It is a place where people are viewed only as financial instruments to be used and discarded. It is a place where genuine politics and social reforms are replaced by mere language and open-ended definitions. It is a place where the health and needs of the company take precedence to the health and needs of the worker. It is a place where profits and greed reign supreme at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society. It is a place without compassion, love or empathy. It is an island without soul, without borders, without language and without culture.
⏩ Gowain McKenna is a Belfast born engineer and musician. He has an M.Phil, MS.c and B.Eng in Aerospace Engineering, but has somehow found himself working in the marine industry in Co.Donegal Ireland, the place from which he now calls home. Visit his website.
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