Neoliberalism simply isn't popular

I've pointed out here and here how the political center-left has been absolutely routed all over the western world in recent years.
This has been due entirely to the close embrace of neoliberalism from parties that were founded on the premise of protecting the working class.

However, there were a couple exceptions to this trend.
Specifically, Justin Trudeau in Canada and Emmanuel Macron in France.
Their victories gave hope to the establishment that voters will continue to elect politicians that push pro-big business, anti-workers policies, as long as they also push socially progressive policies (think Hillary Clinton).

Well, recent polls show that even the exceptions are falling out of favor.
Let's start with Canada.

Discontent with the Trudeau Liberals has grown to such a level that if a federal election were held tomorrow, the Conservatives would romp to a comfortable win.
That’s according to a new Ipsos poll that found the Liberals to be hemorrhaging support even among their target demographics, namely the middle class, women and millennials, with many progressives increasingly weighing up a vote for the NDP.

So how did this happen? It happened for very predictable reasons.

They are in effect no longer authentic or consistent, and voters do not view them in their best interests.
Progressive young voters likely believe that Trudeau will peddle to the right, or poorly represent their views and older people wonder what new tax, regulation, or tariff they will have to work against while trying to understand what their own government is doing.

Boy that sounds familiar.

Now let's look at France.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s popularity has fallen to its lowest point so far in his presidency, a poll showed on Friday, a day after nationwide protests against his reform drive brought tens of thousands of public workers on the streets.
Despite falling unemployment and a high profile internationally, the number of people with a favorable opinion of the 40-year-old former investment banker dropped three percentage points in March to 40 percent, the BVA poll showed.
Frustrated over Macron’s wide-ranging labor and welfare reforms, nurses, teachers and other public sector workers walked off the job on Thursday over concerns about his plans to cut their headcount and introduce merit-based pay.

In the western world, the only major political party to end its toxic embrace of neoliberalism is the UK Labour Party. Coincidentally, the UK Labour Party is alone in rising in popularity.

Claims by a former Czech spy that Jeremy Corbyn was a paid 'collaborator' during the Cold War have not reduced support for the Labour leader or his party according to a new poll.
The YouGov poll for the Times, out on Saturday, found that just 8% of voters thought worse of the Labour leader because of the claims, but 6% thought better of him. The majority, 64%, said the stories had made absolutely no difference to their opinion on Corbyn.
The poll also found Labour's support has actually risen since the stories began. Labour's support has gone up one point to 42%, with the Conservatives unchanged on 40%.

Do you think there might be a lesson to be learned from this?

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JekyllnHyde's picture

The whole damn thing would be about the Neoliberal mantra of "structural adjustment." Translation: austerity will set you free!

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A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

JekyllnHyde's picture

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A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

snoopydawg's picture

@JekyllnHyde

For how many years have we been told that 'this' candidate is going to bring back jobs, invest in head start and all the other happy day crap that they tell us when they are running only to do a complete 180 once they're elected?

Just the amount of extra money that went to the military could have solved a lot of problems here. But no ...

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Who in their right mind, that isn't part of the ruling 1%, wants to see the resources that previously went to make their lives decent and tolerable, siphoned off the make the relatively few rich and powerful even MORE rich and powerful?

The only way that the ruling class has been able to "sell" neoliberal policies is by way of lies, fancy arguments that are bullshit (more lies), and fear tactics (even more lies), and the way they've peddled such lies is by way of the mainstream corporate media that they own and control. This has been the case at least since Reagan's election in 1980.

But after awhile, after DECADES in which people slowly notice that they've become increasingly impoverished and that the opportunities for improving their lives and the lives of their children have disappeared, they finally wake up. Unfortunately, by the time they have woken up, it's too late.

And they then become susceptible to someone like Trump when they realize that the supposedly "left," neoliberal wing (in the U.S., this wing is called the "Democratic Party") of the ruling duopoly is a scam.

Final thought: What was it Mencken once said? No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people?

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snoopydawg's picture

@SoylentGreenisPeople

I can think of one that is on my list

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

longtalldrink's picture

Wish WE had a Labor Party. All we have is the dismal Dems...and they HATE labor...especially if they have to do it.

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Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin

@longtalldrink Well that's what all those unpaid ivy league interns are for, to deal with us, the great unwashed.

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@Snode

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

@longtalldrink

And there was somebody starting a Party that he was hoping that Bernie would head... unfortunately, they won't even let any Party having a platform concerned with the actual American people and environment even into the freaking debates.

In the Presidential election before the last one, Green Party Presidential candidate Dr.Jill Stein was dragged off by police and held tied to a chair under guard in a holding room throughout the debates for merely showing up and trying to get into the debates or at least drawing attention to the fact that the debates were closed to non-corporate-Party candidates... and I'm damned sure that Hillary swiped a number of Jill's votes in the last one. A lot of people voted for Jill, and we know what Hillary's campaign/the DNC she'd leased and staffed did to Bernie.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.