LA Progressive: Trump’s Reign of Cruelty: Gangster Capitalism and the Unraveling of the Social
When individuals are forced into relentless competition for survival, they lose any sense of shared responsibility, makingthem more susceptible to the cruelty that defines contemporary politics.
By HENRY GIROUX
Neoliberalism has always been more than an economic project; it is a political and educational weapon designed to erode social solidarity and dismantle the foundations of democracy. It does not merely defund public institutions like healthcare, education, and welfare—it delegitimizes them, recasting them as burdens rather than essential public goods. As a pedagogical and ideological assault, neoliberalism has championed unfettered greed, unchecked self-interest, and a notion of government devoid of any sense of social responsibility. It has conditioned people to see mutual care as weakness and competition as the only natural order of society. When individuals are forced into relentless competition for survival, they lose any sense of shared responsibility, making them more susceptible to the cruelty that defines contemporary politics. Neoliberalism is a precursor to fascism, especially at a time when it can no longer defend itself as a force for improving the quality of life. In fact, its promotion of extreme inequality, the concentration of power in few hands, and its view of democracy as a poisonous vehicle for equality and inclusion creates the conditions for both extreme violence and cruelty.