Slavoj Zizek said that (ex)-Communists like the Chinese or the Russians make such good neoliberals because they were brought up to hate the bourgeoisie (meaning, the middle-class), and neoliberalism allows them to wage war against this despised class.
9 responses to “Why Communists Make Good Neoliberals”
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It’s definitely noticeable in SA that the communists are very good at destroying the middle class but have not impact on the rich.
https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/the-kzn-south-coast-what-could-have-been -
They share something in common: they both use ideology to attempt to reverse engineer plausible stories for what would otherwise be the naked exercise of power.
Without the necessity of producing things that are required to survive, they’d be able to retain power indefinitely by emulating a perpetual motion machine that genuflects periodically in the direction of the patron saints of the ideological order.
The communist genuflects toward Marx, while the neoliberal genuflects toward Milton Friedman, both seeking their desired utopias through ideology.
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Very well-said.
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They might be able to achieve perpetual motion provided the productive generate sufficient wealth to subsidize the powerful but unproductive.
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In theory, yes, but in practice, no.
There’s always a new ideological revolution to come about that manages to pack a harder punch with its rhetoric.
I did think of your contention, and left out a reference to it precisely because without the rise of the new revolutionaries, everything would have defaulted to flavours of communism.
Instead, through its desire to hide its naked power ambitions, it eventually defaults to flavours of fascism, and that is inevitably enough to encourage these shifts in power.
Eventually communism succumbs itself because the desire to wield power in this way proves irresistible, and the communist fails to realise he’s replaced himself with a copy of himself.
The so-called “Permanent Revolution” maintains its overall pretence while replacing itself periodically with nastier stuff, enabling new generations of people who enjoy the exercise of naked power.
When looking at policy, always keep in mind how it transfers power to these people in ways where they have an excuse for what would otherwise be its naked execution.
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Wanhope.
Both you, Mrs. C. and Mr. Putin inveigh against neoliberals and neoliberalism.
I do not know either of you from Adam’s off ox. You, I can query, (yay?) though that is only because you are small potatoes. So I cannot, catch-22-wise, judge you by your deeds.
So…Why should I care about neoliberalism as a bogey-man?
If it helps, you have, through your blogs, nearly cured me of my anti-Russian prejudice.
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You’d think that one would take a break from justifying genocide around Christmas but no. Who cares about silly things like Christmas when one can go and bully a person who’s grieving over a war that’s destroying her country?
What is it that drives you to be nasty to people who have done you absolutely no harm? And around Christmas, too. How do you justify that to yourself?
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I wish it were otherwise. You have so much talent and charm. You write so well. You’ve mastered both the verbal attack patterns and the gentle defenses against them, and so often use your skills for the good.
Look around you. Americans are mourning the loss of their country, the mass murder of their loved ones.
Even at Christmas.
I do not think there is a short term happy ending for either of our people, but I pray that you can find hope and moments of grace and peace.
So I will not ask you any more questions.
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Dude, you need help. Please find a therapist ASAP.
It’s sad you have nobody in your life to seek help for you.
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A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
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