Neoliberal Fumigation

From the "Applying the proper chemicals" department

To keep opening the wound of neoliberalism that wrecks my brain (what does not kill makes stronger(???)), I sometimes tune in to Pascal Lottaz and his Neutrality studies podcast, among others. He is a strange one (Swiss “neutrality” is one big ball of contradictory strangeness), but an honest seeming broadcaster. Recently he had a discussion over the China-Japan-Philippines South China Sea situation.

Does anyone ever ask a neoliberal what the purpose is here? Because it friggin’ seems to me the main idea is to slow down shipping so we can produce some regressive inflation¹. Why else would you not want goods from Chinese factory workers to flow freely? Everyone forgot about JIT. Not that JIT was ever a great idea, but it was proof in principle that human civilization has reached insane levels of productivity such that no one on Earth needs to be living in poverty or debt. That supply chains benefitted the oligarchs and rentiers only was beside the point. That is a human created problem that human can solve and is orthogonal to the brute fact of the matter concerning manufacturing productivity.

It is also orthogonal to Degrowth movements. Yes, I want degrowth of wasteful output and wasteful energy use. I want massive growth in renewables and sustainable supply chains. Who the hell doesn’t? (Oh, yes, the oligarchs somewhat rely upon squeezing past the planetary boundaries for profit, so they are the countervailing force to popular progressive desires.)

I can guess what the objections to my take on all this will be, or partially, and so to pre-empt that, let me acknowledge my geopolitical analysis skills are the equivalent of mathematically being able to employ Pythagoras’ theorem. To whit: only the obvious leaps out at me. But don’t be a dick and miss my point. I am making principled MMT analysis points about macroeconomics, not about prevailing idiocy of political psychologies and groupthink. My purpose is not to understand the neoliberal mind, but to free everyone else form that mindset, so everyone else can do something about this bitter period of almost unbridled rentier capitalism. Our era is a colonization of the working class mind, not just of the global south. Sure, I am utterly opposed to exploitation of the global south, but global south leaders earn no sympathy form em if they refuse to learn MMT. Their people are the ones who suffer. It is a terrible, horrific and tragic circumstance that entire nations of resource rich people suffer so badly because their leaders are ill-educated.

You can harp on to me all days about the power relations and the hopelessness and justification for doomerism and all that, but I’m not listening. Neither you nor I know what a unified group of people are capable of achieving. You cannot unify though without some common knowledge and purpose. I aim, in my small way, to disseminate such knowledge and purpose. If you have a better plan for fumigating your neoliberal infestation do let me know.

That was all lead in to a couple of brief comments on the South China Sea situation. I just felt the need to point out I am only offering some big picture macroscopic perspective, which I never hear in the discourse and which I think is sorely lacking.

Can China be Dragged into Battles It does not want to fight?

Part-1. @7:10 the Lottaz’s guest mentioned something about China not wishing to be dragged into battles, and I think he meant of the physical type. My take: it is not about being "dragged into others battles" is it? It is about maintenance of neoliberal order and rentier capitalism. This is far more existential a threat to the oligarchs than communism; (a) because there is no need for a despot/authoritarian for an anti-neolib nation (as Chinese leadership will learn over time — they only need wise unity of purpose in the macroeconomy with enhanced freedoms in the micro), and (b) If China shows neoliberalism is an empty promise for the working class — or rather a very good promise of increasing returns to the rich — And in addition Chinese leadership eventually get around to reading MMT, then no one can stop them without dropping nukes on them. But "stop them" form doing what? The only evident answer seems to be to trade with others. That's what the Wets has to stop them from doing at all costs. Which is highly ironic. Neoliberalism touts "free trade" as the greatest thing since sliced bread, but the fascist branch of neoliberalism, the neocons, (actually probably all neoliberal branches_ ) do not know their trading arm from their thieving as$h0le.

Part-2. The main problem China has, imho, is they are themselves infested with neoliberals. And gone are the days of Stalinesque purges and gulags (not that they ever worked). So the purge has to be intellectual & spiritual (imho ok, I’m just morally against the Tankies and all that right-wing adjacency strongman posturing shyte). But whatever the method of fumigation, it cannot really get going much without top level support. The trouble here is Xi and the top echelon CCP officials are still colonized by neoliberal brainworms. “How can that be?” you say. Well, even if they reject the Washington consensus, and remain Westphalian, their macroeconomic policy betrays them as half-neoliberal. And there is no good fraction of Neoliberal. Neoliberalism inoculation does not have an effective homeopathic does other than zero.

How do you fumigate against neoliberals? That's a book title someone ought to fill the pages of... and one of the answers is MMT education especially for workers (see why at the end), and another is supporting a strong working class. Despite Marx failing to foresee neoliberal feudalism — socialism is not inevitable without people desiring some variety of it, the labour theory of value is false (get used to it Douggie Lane et al) — the working class are nevertheless still the revolutionary force. Oligarchs could be too, hot take (any wise decent person is a revolutionary, because they are wise and decent… I love a good tautology). Just do not listen to any of the insane lefties who claim a revolution cannot be nonviolent, because they more often than not think in materialistic terms.

A successful revolution purging the neoliberals will be (so say I the MMT prophet) righteous and extremely violent... in the intellectual realm. A lot of horrific ideas will die, a ruthless death. Beginning probably with the chief *_myths_* surrounding state currency operations (as banal as that may seem, it is _critical_ ). The State has a simple currency monopoly — so can control the price level while running full employment. You have to know this to use it for worker emancipation. Know your rightful demands.

Part-3 to illustrate the magnitude of the problem of fumigation against neoliberals, Pascal Lottaz is himself still a neoliberally colonized mind. I lost count of how many times Pascal spouts out the vile Maggie Thatcher "taxpayer funded" myth. If he’s not spitting out that vomit he’d be all over the inflation bogeyman myth —speaking out both sides of his mouth since he rails against austerity. Friggin' disgusting, though I can forgive people if they are merely ignorant, my Church of MMT Indulgences are US$1000 on Kofi.

To fumigate in case you are like Pascal, use this medicine: smithwillsuffice.github.io/ohanga-pai/questions/ (it’s the off-brand blackmarket type of medicine for free, so if you think paying for something makes it more valuable try https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15794201-modern-money-theory).

1. I am an inflation bull, but only when it is boosting the lowest real wage (plus pensions, plus social welfare benefits). Let’s then avoid contention and just say all other ways to generate inflation are probably going to be obscenely regressive because of the lags and (inevitable?) ass-for-face backwards policy responses. Let’s also be kind to me and say boosting the lowest wage is not inflation, it is a step-wise currency re-gauging. Then I do not need to excite your inflation bogeyman neurons ever again. MMT frame, ok! When pro-inflation I am presuming the policy response is MMT informed, I acknowledge today it would not be! Nevertheless, under any political economy, a bit of inflation is infinitely preferable to mass unemployment, dogs. To any doubters: must… compute… costs of… social… pathologies… of unemployment…. (brain explodes, before you compared to the social costs of inflation [ahem!] currency re-gauging).