Neoliberalism has destroyed our ability to handle crises

Individualism, the free market, and billionaire ‘philanthropists’ will not save us from crises like the Coronavirus, or climate change, etc, (they tend to cause crises).

We need solidarity, a well funded, publicly-owned state, and economic planning in the interests of people and planet.

But sadly, our state has been diminished and corrupted, by those billionaires and their neoliberal, free market reforms - privatisation, deregulation, austerity.

Since the 1980s, we’ve had a market-knows-best, every-man-for-himself ideology imposed on us, for the benefit of the few. Profit for those at the top comes first. The planet, humanity, be damned.

Sorry to quote Nigel Farage, but we really do need to take back our country!

Not from immigrants or from people on benefits - but from those at the top who’ve ransacked our public services, exploited the workforce, wrecked the environment, bought the media, waged expensive, devestating wars, put us all in ever-increasing debt, and just generally made life increasingly miserable, as they’ve redistributed wealth from the many to the few.

We handed over our country and our freedom to a handful of billionaires and transnational corporations. A massive redistribution of power and wealth is needed.

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Compare the response to the Coronavirus crisis in neoliberal western states, to the response in China - which has been praised by the World Health Organisation. This response does not demonstrate China's authoritarianism; it demonstrates that they have a non-privatized, well-functioning state, and a government that is in control, rather than the market.

In China, government has authority over capital. And they’ve got a system that ensures only those who’ve proven themselves to serve society, end up in positions of power.

In the west, capital has authority over government. And our system rewards the most ruthless and self-interested, and puts them in positions of power.

It is why we wage wars, whilst China builds infrastructure, etc.

And it’s a huge reason as to why China can respond effectively to crises, whilst western governments cannot.

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In summary, the reasons for incompetent western response to this crisis:

- state diminished by privatisation/austerity
- reluctance to implement socialist policies
- prioritisation of short term economic health
- cult of individualism
- people misinformed by monopolised media

i.e. Neoliberalism.