This is big food for thought Ben. The neoliberalism from the 70's/80's started by Thatcher and Reagan has led us to this point in terms of how well our Western countries were able (or not) to deal with the pandemic. Whereas Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore and China did much better through their strong social and health systems. Capitalism is at the root of it. To say this has been a year of thinking and analysing about the 'why' would be an understatement. For me it was looking through the prism of European social safety net to the home country where there is no safety net (and individualism/self reliance is a cherished trait) in a way I had never looked at it before. Thank you.
I think it's been a year for a lot of us that has changed the way we look at things. We've needed that new perspective for a long time in order to see just how bad neoliberalism has been even for the countries at the imperial core.
One of the reasons I count myself among your faithful readers here and elsewhere is the apparently inexhaustible flow of worthy voices/writers to whom you regularly introduce us, Lee Jones being just the latest you've put on my radar!
Are you familiar with the UK writer Richard Seymour? He's in the Verso/Jacobin axis; has written some very good books on politics and culture (lately with an unexpected but well-deployed and interesting psychoanalytical lens overlaid); and his commentary was the best guiding light for me regarding the "Lexit" thinking it seems Lee Jones is good at articulating. (Though Seymour ultimately came down anti this Brexit, it's only for the reasons you mentioned here in your post, that it was a right-wing Brexit. But he's great on how exempting one's nation from the European Union of Neoliberal Austerity is hardly an objectionable idea to a conscientious leftist.)
I find him fascinating too. The feeling of "no alternatives" is just as bad in Europe as it is in America, where we feel we have to vote for the Democrats no matter how loathsome they are. I'm anti-Brexit, ultimately, too, because I don't see that a left alternative can come to power. But I am happy to listen to people who are trying to conceive and promote one. I don't know Richard Seymour, no. Happy to discover him and happy to help you discover others!
This is big food for thought Ben. The neoliberalism from the 70's/80's started by Thatcher and Reagan has led us to this point in terms of how well our Western countries were able (or not) to deal with the pandemic. Whereas Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore and China did much better through their strong social and health systems. Capitalism is at the root of it. To say this has been a year of thinking and analysing about the 'why' would be an understatement. For me it was looking through the prism of European social safety net to the home country where there is no safety net (and individualism/self reliance is a cherished trait) in a way I had never looked at it before. Thank you.
I think it's been a year for a lot of us that has changed the way we look at things. We've needed that new perspective for a long time in order to see just how bad neoliberalism has been even for the countries at the imperial core.
One of the reasons I count myself among your faithful readers here and elsewhere is the apparently inexhaustible flow of worthy voices/writers to whom you regularly introduce us, Lee Jones being just the latest you've put on my radar!
Are you familiar with the UK writer Richard Seymour? He's in the Verso/Jacobin axis; has written some very good books on politics and culture (lately with an unexpected but well-deployed and interesting psychoanalytical lens overlaid); and his commentary was the best guiding light for me regarding the "Lexit" thinking it seems Lee Jones is good at articulating. (Though Seymour ultimately came down anti this Brexit, it's only for the reasons you mentioned here in your post, that it was a right-wing Brexit. But he's great on how exempting one's nation from the European Union of Neoliberal Austerity is hardly an objectionable idea to a conscientious leftist.)
I find him fascinating too. The feeling of "no alternatives" is just as bad in Europe as it is in America, where we feel we have to vote for the Democrats no matter how loathsome they are. I'm anti-Brexit, ultimately, too, because I don't see that a left alternative can come to power. But I am happy to listen to people who are trying to conceive and promote one. I don't know Richard Seymour, no. Happy to discover him and happy to help you discover others!
@Ben — the pedestal for the great masters, whether there on or fallen, still needs spellcheck. ;-}
That said, still a terrific essay with lots to think about, comme toujours.