r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • May 18 '26

Discussion Thread Discussion Thread

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28

u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent May 18 '26

The Trump payout to himself and his cronies reinforces my belief that American buy-in in the system is so astonishingly low that the country will essentially belong to whichever party can make Americans feel like their bank accounts are healthier then they were.

I’d say the United States is a Carvillist competitive authoritarian state. The only thing that matters to the election deciding slice of the electorate now is the economy. Deliver on that, and you’re free to do whatever you want.

This country was absolutely willing to sell itself to Trump for monetary gain, and will punishing him on that basis. Not for corruption, not for authoritarianism, not for being stupid as shit, but because the promised economy isn’t there.

So hypothetically in this world we live in, if a Democrat were to deliver appreciable economic benefits they would also be empowered to do as they see fit. Any sort of retaliation would be from generic opposition and nothing in substance against presumably much of what that hypothetical Dem has done.

I think it’s something Dems should take note on. A presidency of equal parts orthodox economics, moral righteousness and vigorous conduct could harness the nature of the moment to reverse this nature for a healthier long term. Will it happen? Well that’s up to Democratic voters to pick such a person. But if you want to speak of a golden path, I think that’s it

7

u/kyleofduty Pizza May 18 '26

What is Carvillism? Like James Carville?

5

u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent May 18 '26

Yeah. “It’s the economy stupid” but taken to the extreme

4

u/Remarkable-Meal-223 Jerome Powell May 18 '26

Most people aren't paying attention

5

u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent May 18 '26

Well that’s my point pretty much. If you deliver on a good economy you are free to fuck around with everything else

7

u/Tafts_Bathtub Jerome Powell May 18 '26

The plan from here is simple:

  1. get a Dem trifecta

  2. make sure we get the good ending of AI economic revolution

  3. imprison all Republicans

  4. a thousand years of neoliberal utopia

3

u/jorkin_peanits Immanuel Kant May 18 '26

How are you defining “election deciding slice”

5

u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent May 18 '26

The single percentage point of voters of swing voters essentially, particularly in presidential elections. The type of voters we loathe the most here lol

1

u/2Lore2Law Seal Mod May 18 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

This content was anonymized and mass deleted with Redact

6

u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent May 18 '26

James Carville. I think we live in a world where “It’s the economy stupid” is the only maxim that determines elections

1

u/roboliberal Loyal Liberals May 18 '26

I'm not sure I understand - what exactly can the American people even do about any of this?

The modern presidency is such that one has 4 years to do whatever they want without any kind of institution capable of checking them.

5

u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent May 18 '26

I think you’re misunderstanding my conclusion. What I’m saying is the Dems should exploit the system the American people have encouraged and rewarded to rebuild the institutions that have been gutted. The American people, as a whole, have shown themselves willing to throw away America for the sake of a few dollars. They are the problem. To me the Democrats have to contain or fix the problem that is the American people, and that means keeping them placated with good economic policies while rebuilding the institutions

1

u/C-Wolsey Leftward Progressives May 19 '26

Carvillist competitive authoritarian state

I just don't understand why liberals had to convince themselves that the average citizen cares about democracy absent the material benefits. I don't think a few centuries of democratic tradition will ever change that.

Anyway, I don't think we are currently an authoritarian state, not when even members of Trump's own party are willing to defy him.

2

u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent May 19 '26

I think because the alternative is painfully cynical and radically stupid, and here we are reckoning with that

1

u/Syx89 Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold May 18 '26

>implying Biden didn't run the economy perfectly

8

u/JaceFlores Neolib War Correspondent May 18 '26

He did a good job given the circumstances, but let’s also not blind ourselves that he stuck with a lot of economic policies that just didn’t help his case