Thread by @SteB777

"Starmer slashes aid to fund major increase in defence spending"

This is purely about Keir Starmer grovelling to Donald Trump, as he thinks it is his only hope. It is a stupid, vain hope.

1/theguardian.com/politics/2025/…

Whilst this is being presented to the public, by the billionaire owned and controlled media, as Trump and right wing populists vs liberal leaders, this is completely false, as these neoliberal centrists, put Donald Trump in the White House with their nasty neoliberal policy.
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As I have repeatedly tried to explain, right wing populism and centrist neoliberalism, are just 2 sides of the same coin. They are both neoliberal, and in hock to billionaire oligarchs. The only difference is in presentation, not substance.
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Centrist neoliberals, from Tony Blair to Starmer, and in the US, the Clintons, Obama, Biden, have pursued deeply unpopular neoliberalism, which has turned the public against them, opening an opportunity to the latter day fascists, of right wing populists.
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In the media, this is false presented, as the right against liberals.

The thing is, liberalism, isn't want people think it is. It isn't about being socially progressive. Right wing populists are economically liberal.
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"Economic liberalism is associated with markets and private ownership of capital assets. Economic liberals tend to oppose government intervention and protectionism in the market economy when it inhibits free trade and competition"

6/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_…

"Neoliberalism[1] is both a political philosophy and a term used to signify the late-20th-century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism"

Neoliberalism, simply means new liberalism.

7/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolibera…

What we're seeing in the US with the Trump regime, is just more extreme neoliberalism, without the sugar coating of the centrists to sell it to the public. That is why Starmer is so comfortable with Trump, because the're both neoliberals, under the surface.
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Taxing extreme wealth, billionaire wealth, is extremely popular with the public.

So why are supposed centrists like Starmer, Biden et al, so opposed to taxing the very rich more, when it is publicly popular? Because they too were neoliberals.

9/oxfam.org.uk/media/press-re…

This has been a scam imposed on the public, by the oligarch owned media, of the Conservative right vs the liberal centre, when in reality, they both believe in the same doctrine.
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The public have been baffled by whether they voted "left" and right, they got essentially the same policy. Its for the simple reason, that the "left", hasn't been left, for well over 40 years. It has just been a different flavour of neoliberalism.
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In the UK, re-nationalizing the public utilities, water, energy, rail, has been popular for a long time, even amongst Conservative voters. So why are people like Starmer so opposed to it. The answer is neoliberalism.

12/ipsos.com/en-uk/3-in-5-b…

In short, what neoliberalism is about, is an extreme form of capitalism, which intends to cut public spending on welfare, privatizing everything, and an obsession with economic growth, and low taxes for the very rich.
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How else can you explain, why supposed left of centre politicians, oppose bigger taxes on the very rich, want to cut public services, oppose the public ownership of utilities, even though these things would be popular with the public?

Because they are not what they seem.
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People like Keir Starmer, are far more virulently opposed to the real left, than he is to Trump. This is because Trump is a neoliberal, and the left opposes neoliberalism. It really is as simply as that.

15/aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/11…

In case anyone mistakenly thinks this is a left wing argument, and I am left wing, let me re-state again, that I am opposed to all political ideology. I do not see left wing ideology as the solution.
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My position is about sustainability, having a society not destroying the natural systems that sustain this. Climate Justice = Social Justice. This is not ideological, simply because in system terms, the unequal distribution of wealth, leads to environmental destruction.
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I believe that create a sustainable society, people need to cooperate, and to be focused on the welfare of others with compassion, rather than accumulating wealth. On the surface, this may seem similar to left wing ideology, but the motivation is very different.
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The history of left wing ideology, socialism, is based on the oppression and exploitation of the working class opposed by their capitalist over lords, and aimed to instead put production in the hands of the people, but was still broadly industrialist.
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My argument is that ideology, a fixed, pre-existing set of prescriptions, for solving problems, is never going to solve the sustainability crisis, the climate and ecological crisis, because we need to re-think everything.
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Ideology, is a thinking straight-jacket, which assumes to know what the problem is, and what the solutions are. It constrains thinking. The climate and ecological crisis, is so massive in scope, that anyone proposing to know what the problems and solutions are, is deluded.
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I only added this, to make it clear why anyone seeing my analysis as left wing, is misrepresenting my position. I am not opposed to many left wing aims. It is just in my opinion, flawed because it ignores sustainability, and the planetary boundaries.

22/stockholmresilience.org/research/plane…

My objection to neoliberalism, and economic liberalism - they are the same - is not ideological. It is because it is destroying our natural life support systems, and will lead to the collapse of our civilization and mass starvation.
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This threat to our civilization, caused by the climate and ecological crisis, which could lead to civilization collapse, is not in the far off future, it could happen very soon, if we fail to grasp the ecology of the world, which sustains us.
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But I am a human being, with compassion for other human beings. I do not want to see the collapse of our civilization, and the horror of mass starvation which would follow. I am not motivated by ideology, but finding a way to stop this happening.
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Yes, the Trump regime is the worst of the worst. It is fascist, plain and simple. It will speed up climate and ecological/biodiversity catastrophe. But nor will the neoliberal centrists stop it. They created the crisis, and Trump.
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Our leadership, is not fit for purpose, both sides of the political divide are terrible for humanity. Yes, the Trump manifestation, is the worst of the worst. But that is like saying that drowning is a better way to die, than being burned to death.
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