The Neoliberal Playbook

Oct 3, 2024

—

The Redefinition of Liberalism

In recent decades, neoliberalism has come to dominate the global political and economic landscape. Often presented as a natural extension of classical liberalism, neoliberalism claims to promote individual freedom, market efficiency, and economic growth. However, a closer look reveals a different reality: neoliberalism has co-opted classical liberal principles to further corporate interests while reframing dissenters as authoritarians. This playbook—rooted in a blend of distortion and propaganda—bears troubling similarities to tactics used by historical regimes, including Nazi Germany. Understanding this playbook is crucial to recognizing the ways in which neoliberalism has redefined freedom and democracy.

Co-opting Classical Liberalism

Classical liberalism, historically associated with thinkers like John Locke, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill, champions individual liberty, limited government, and free markets as a means to promote personal freedom. These principles were built on the belief that government power should be restrained, ensuring that individuals are free to pursue their own lives without excessive interference.

However, modern neoliberalism has selectively adopted the language of classical liberalism to push policies that favor corporations and global elites over the individual. By framing itself as the true inheritor of classical liberal thought, neoliberalism has:

Distorted the principles of free markets to justify deregulation and privatization, leading to the concentration of power in a few corporate hands.
Used the language of freedom and individualism to defend policies that actually undermine the broader public’s access to resources and opportunities.

The result is a world where the ideals of classical liberalism are invoked to legitimize economic inequality and corporate dominance, a far cry from the original intent of protecting individual freedom and preventing the concentration of power.

Reframing Classical Liberals as Authoritarians

As neoliberalism has co-opted classical liberalism’s language, it has also strategically redefined its enemies. Those who challenge neoliberal policies or argue for a return to genuine individual liberty, constitutional limits on power, and free markets are increasingly framed as authoritarian or reactionary.

This tactic serves two purposes:

It discredits those who argue for a more equitable system by associating them with extremism or anti-democratic values.
It shifts the blame away from neoliberalism’s own failures, framing any opposition as a threat to freedom rather than a legitimate critique of market fundamentalism.

This strategy mirrors the techniques of Nazi Germany, where political opponents were painted as enemies of the state, regardless of their actual ideologies. By casting dissenters as radicals or authoritarians, neoliberals protect their own political and economic agenda, making it difficult for genuine critiques to gain traction.

Reframing Influential Classical Liberal Texts

Another key part of the neoliberal playbook involves selectively reinterpreting influential classical liberal texts. Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman—key figures in both classical liberalism and the development of neoliberal thought—are often held up as champions of modern market principles. However, their work has been distorted to support policies they themselves might not have fully endorsed.

Hayek, for example, was a staunch advocate of decentralized decision-making and warned against the dangers of centralized control. However, his concerns about monopolies and the centralization of corporate power are frequently overlooked by neoliberal interpreters, who instead focus solely on his critique of government planning.
Friedman, while a defender of monetarism and free markets, was not an advocate for unfettered corporate power. His belief in economic freedom has been selectively reinterpreted to justify deregulation that benefits corporations at the expense of individual liberty.

By reinterpreting these texts, neoliberals have managed to reshape classical liberalism into something that aligns with their global corporate agenda, masking the ways in which their policies often undermine the freedoms that classical liberals sought to protect.

Parallels to Nazi Germany’s Propaganda Tactics

The neoliberal playbook is not just an intellectual exercise in reinterpreting historical ideas; it also mirrors the propaganda techniques used by Nazi Germany to maintain control. Just as the Nazis co-opted nationalist symbols and socialist rhetoric to justify their regime while marginalizing true dissenters, neoliberals have co-opted the language of freedom and individualism to justify global economic control.

Key parallels include:

Reframing opponents: Like the Nazis, who painted political opponents as anti-German threats, neoliberals label anyone who challenges corporate-driven policies as anti-freedom or authoritarian.
Co-opting language: Both regimes strategically co-opt the language of earlier movements (nationalism for the Nazis, classical liberalism for neoliberals) to give legitimacy to their policies while distorting the original meaning of those ideas.
Creating false dichotomies: By reframing debates as a choice between neoliberalism and authoritarianism, they obscure the reality that many of their critics are calling for a return to genuine individual freedom and equitable markets.

The Real Threat to Freedom

The true threat to freedom in the current global landscape comes not from the dissenters labeled as authoritarians, but from the neoliberal policies that concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few global elites. As neoliberalism continues to reframe itself as the defender of individual liberty, it is critical to recognize the ways in which it has undermined the principles of classical liberalism.

Exposing the Neoliberal Playbook

By understanding the neoliberal playbook, it becomes clear how classical liberalism has been distorted to justify policies that erode personal freedom and strengthen corporate power. The reframing of dissenters as authoritarians and the reinterpretation of key texts serves to entrench neoliberal policies, all while hiding behind the rhetoric of freedom and democracy.

As these tactics continue to play out on the global stage, it is essential to challenge the co-option of classical liberal principles and expose the ways in which neoliberalism has hijacked the conversation around freedom, turning it into a tool for economic and political control rather than a true defense of individual liberty.

David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism (2005): This book explains how neoliberalism has reshaped classical liberal values to justify economic inequality and corporate dominance.
Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the Financial Meltdown (2013): Mirowski explores how neoliberalism continues to thrive by distorting classical liberal principles and reframing opposition as irrational.
Nancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America (2017): MacLean details how neoliberal figures repurposed classical liberal ideas to limit democracy and entrench corporate power.
Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets Since the Depression (2012): Burgin traces the rise of neoliberal thought and how it selectively reinterpreted classical liberalism to fit modern economic agendas.
Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism (2018): Slobodian examines how neoliberal thinkers reinterpreted classical liberal texts to support the creation of global institutions that favor elites.
Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom (1944): Returning to Hayek’s original work reveals how his concerns about centralized control were misinterpreted and co-opted by neoliberals.
Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (1962): A close reading of Friedman’s foundational work shows how his ideas about economic freedom have been selectively adapted by neoliberal policies to serve corporate interests.
Noam Chomsky, Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order (1999): Chomsky critiques neoliberalism’s impact on personal freedom and its role in entrenching corporate power.
Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution (2015): Brown explores how neoliberal policies have undermined democracy and individual liberty by concentrating wealth and power in elite hands.