Fighting Capitalism

The Italian Proletarian Holiday

Morning Comrades.

A two part dispatch wrapped up in one. For one a few of you have emailed asking to explain the phrase “the promise of neoliberalism” and I’ll get right into that. The second part will tie into that explanation, specifically about how to deal with what is knocking on your door.

If you are of my age or older and entered the workforce in the early to mid 90s you will most likely remember the below. Seeing that “we” are now part of the ageing minority on here I wanted to explain the brutally successful indoctrination we all went through and most of us didn’t clock on time to fit, let alone stop it.

The neoliberal era, ushered in by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, promised a variety of benefits to the working class in the West, framed within the rhetoric of individual freedom, economic efficiency, and opportunity. These promises were tied to the broader neoliberal agenda, which emphasized free markets, deregulation, privatization, and the reduction of the welfare state.

A promise made was that the neoliberal reforms, including tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, deregulation, and globalization, would spur economic growth. The resulting "rising tide" would ostensibly "lift all boats," leading to increased wages and job creation across society. Markets were portrayed as the most efficient allocators of resources, ensuring everyone had the opportunity to succeed if they worked hard.

By rolling back state intervention and reducing corporate tax burdens, businesses would have more resources to invest, expand, and create new jobs. This was pitched as a shift toward a dynamic private sector economy that would offer more opportunities. Additionally, reduced government involvement in economic life would empower individuals to take control of their destinies. Hard work, rather than reliance on welfare programs, would lead to upward mobility. Neoliberalism promoted a narrative of self-reliance and a belief in the idea that barriers to success could be overcome by individual effort, ostensibly unimpeded by overregulation or taxation.

Tax cuts, especially for the middle and lower classes, would leave more money in the hands of individuals, boosting consumption and living standards.Deregulated markets would increase competition, lower prices, and expand consumer choice, allowing ordinary people access to a wider array of goods and services. Furthermore, opening up global markets and engaging in free trade agreements would benefit workers through access to new industries, markets, and opportunities. Western workers were told they would benefit from leadership in global industries, technological innovation, and expanded markets.

40 years later we have all clued up to the fact that not only did none of the above happen but they were intentional lies enforced by the brutal reality of a state acting solely in the interest of the capital ruling class, thus negating all fraudulent virtuous constructs of Western Democracies. Instead of broadly shared prosperity, neoliberalism brought Wage stagnation for most workers, even as corporate profits and executive compensation soared. Deindustrialization was paramount in many Western countries, as manufacturing jobs were offshored to take advantage of cheaper labour markets and labour unions were essentially dismantled of their actual power. Wealth became concentrated in the hands of the few as well as the subsequent Erosion of public goods and services, as privatization and austerity reduced access to affordable healthcare, education, and welfare and transferred the largest amount of wealth to the ruling class from us, in known history.

For most of us, this is now common knowledge, for some amazing reason too many bought into this and here.

This is where the second part of this dispatch comes in. History serves not as a hobby but a study, an illustration of our shared past, it is meant to be studied so that we can apply the learned lessons to our present and create a better future. Now, back in the early 1970s, much of the fought for social solutions for a post WW2 reality in the West were being challenged by the Capitalist Class. Systemic Social Care was being rolled back and tools such as inflation was being weaponised to further beat the working class into submitting to the neoliberal wet dream. Yet, people fought and fought hard and with that, an introduction to a piece of history, know as the Italian “Proletarian Holiday”

A few of you have emailed in the past asking for the above option as subscribing to yet another monthly something seems extravagant and I have always been too scatty to sort this out. Here we are then.

The below button is the usual offer for a free 2 week trial to check the ramblings behind the unfortunately necessary paywall.