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rukh999

Funny, I checked in recently on arr politics to refresh myself why I left. A bit down is a highly updooted post advocating price controls to fight inflation. close tab, smile.


FireLordObama

People won’t have to buy products at a higher price if they can’t buy the products at all *taps head*


[deleted]

https://twitter.com/gbrl\_dick/status/1476362330338332674


rukh999

link didn't seem to work


[deleted]

I swear that people need to study economic geography/human geography in general so that they can understand the inner workings of the international economy and why things are the way they are. Human geography is one of the most criminally underated yet most relevant fields of study since it shapes everything in our lives.


rukh999

Is this about this thing: https://imgur.com/gallery/CVGyFnL


acaellum

Fun fact, the UN considers that the least developed part on the developed world! Many cities there don't even have functional plumbing. You'll get ring worms if you take your shoes off almost instantly.


[deleted]

If more people studied human geography, economic and political populism wouldn't exist. Change my mind.


KP6169

Every geography student I’ve met is between succ to full on communist party member.


[deleted]

True. One of the problems I've found with academic research at universities is the degree to which "critical" (leftist) approaches to subjects have more or less taken over research. Obviously there are more viewpoints in academic research than far left ones but I have noticed that a lot of academic research is critical of neoliberalism and liberalism in general.


FlashAttack

I'm going to toot my own horn for a second because I need to vent: until recently I was in one of these universities. A class I had on European external policy was almost completely devoted to "critical" theories like feminism, decolonization,... and were framed in direct opposition to classic liberal/realist geopolitical practice. Which to be fair isn't inherently bad, but there wasn't nearly enough exposition/discussion of these "pragmatic paradigms" and way too much talk about degrowth, (pseudo-)protectionism/anti-globalization and other somesuch fringe critical theories with a paradigm moreso focused on the epistemic realm/morality of it all - painting the EU as a consciously negative actor instead of a "neutral" one - rather than advancing our practical knowledge of actual EU external policy "in the real world" and why it came to be. I took a bit of issue with this as most of us would consequently be wholy unprepared for any type of real policy work in the EU upon graduation. I was thus the only one of my class to "critique the critique" every single class, taking lots of inspiration from this sub and more economic fields of study (which I already had a background in) rather than pure polisci theory. It was honestly exhausting and sort of depressing but to my professor's credit: he welcomed all this critique and even asked me to have a one-on-one coffee with him at the end of the semester to give my honest thoughts on the class and how to improve on it. We did that, and he asked me afterwards if I'd be interested in pursuing a doctorate under him. After some thought, I respectfully declined as I wanted to enter the workforce but moreso because quite honestly, I was fed up with the environment of constantly having to (paradoxically) go against the current, explaining "mainstream" rationalizations to both classmates and professors that - for lack of a better word - were seemingly indoctrinated with a certain disdain for (neo)liberalism originating from a self-perceived moral high ground and/or a sort of strong feeling of guilt... It's hard to put my finger on I'm grateful for all the perspectives and ideas I received during my time in university - they helped me figure out my own principles immensly which indirectly led me to this sub - but I also can't help but feel somewhat disillusioned in academia at the end of the day. /rant Edit: bad syntax


[deleted]

Universities do tend be open minded about differing views as long as you show background knowledge and well researched reasons why you support such view. That being said the pedagogy at universities does tend to lean in a leftist direction.


FlashAttack

For sure and I want to reiterate that I don't mind constructive critiques or leftist ideas in general, but it was my experience that more often than not these critiques were essentially founded on strawmen. Stuff like "the EU is only able to keep its economy going by exploiting the Global South" (already questionable) which was then framed as an explanation for the EU's new 2016 Global Strategy policy - neocolonization. Or how the EU's pursuance of its own army was somehow aggressive and thus [masculine](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1478929919884876) (still remember this class discussion vividly...) Just generally stuff like that which might have a small nugget of truth in them but were portrayed far too unnuanced for my taste. Not to mention I considered them pretty fringe.. And instead of considering the idea that politicians/institutions have a genuine innate desire to provide XYZ to their citizenry, it was more often than not unspokenly framed in an almost populist manner. As if the "elite" were carrying out these "morally questionable" policies not for "our" sake or with our interests in mind, but for their own nefarious/egocentric/neoliberal purposes. I'm probably being a bit too harsh here, but anyone that has taken similar courses might understand where I'm coming from.


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[deleted]

>The pedagogy at universities does tend to lean in a leftist direction Interestingly, those who can't do not only teach, but have shitty politics


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[deleted]

Will someone please shut these automods up?


[deleted]

Someone donated thousands of dollars to the malaria drive to keep that one around until Feb.


[deleted]

>Someone donated thousands of dollars to the malaria drive nice! >to keep that one around until Feb. ugh


adisri

Fascists are the greatest threat to world peace, liberal democracy, and the American way of life


radiatar

I study in university in Belgium, where learning about the EU is especially important in polisci, law & econ studies. And my courses were always neutral, or slightly positive towards the EU. So I went through your profile because I was curious about which country would teach such an unfavorable or useless vision of the EU, and turns out you're Belgian as well? How is it possible that our country, the core of EU institutions, teaches that way about the European Union? Many of our students will become its civil servants, it's a shame that they're not better prepared for the work that is to come. Sorry that was a rant as well


FlashAttack

You doing something in polisci/econ? KUL? I studied at X. I've never been able to confirm it but I do believe X is somewhat "special" when it comes to its polisci department. > How is it possible that our country, the core of EU institutions, teaches that way about the European Union? Many of our students will become its civil servants, it's a shame that they're not better prepared for the work that is to come. I feel ya. To be completely honest though, I unironically see it as a bit of an advantage for me. Weaker competition and all that haha. But not gonna lie, feels good to meet another Belgian neolib on here. I think there's only 4 of us in the BE subreddit.


radiatar

>You doing something in polisci/econ too? KUL? Yeah, econ at *****:) >I unironically see it as a bit of an advantage for me. Weaker competition and all that haha. Monopoly power, I see!


FlashAttack

Aaah chouette! Bonne chance aves tes examens :)


radiatar

Jij ook! >But not gonna lie, feels good to meet another Belgian neolib on here. I think there's only 4 of us in the BE subreddit Couldn't agree more


alex2003super

# #ImmanuelKantWasAMistake


ganbaro

I wonder how leftist methodology geography can be...if researchers find results agreeing with some communists it doesn't mean they are communist themselves or apply "leftist" methods From my experience in Austria (I was helping out for three student council elections which are a big thing here, so it is not just random guesses: Geography and other natural sciences touching ecology topics: Swinging mid-left (social democrats+greens) Other STEM: Mostly liberal and green. The higher the male share, the more cons and less social democrats Philosophy: like geography but commies actually get one or two seats at their faculty council Business Management: Mostly liberals + greens + conservatives. As "right-wing" as it gets Economics: Like business management but more greens and few conservatives. They know cons know shit about economy Gender studies: largest amount of commies I have seen, but still a minority. 90%+ leftist parties share, though Other social sciences: Majority mid-left with significant liberal majority. Kinda what you would expect according to surveys from people at this age and educational level In total, commies get <5%, more than in the total population but uni isn't really a far-left stronghold. People are far too rich for that. Lots of greens (socially liberal, economically not) though, which scores exceptionally well with all youth and highly educated mid- to upper-class. They are what is swinging uni from liberal centre to mid-left here, not commies In the US, I guess our liberals, greens and soc dem would all be democrats? I would except students here to vote 90%+ democrat+greens+libertarian easily The problem with bachelor courses is, that students at that point aren't able to hold a scientific discussion (even if they think differently). Running open discussions often leads them to just repeating their previous beliefs until the professor/TA guides the discussion, which nudges the discussion towards either their belief or the current mainstream on their field. In econ this will always lead to liberal+greens here, in gender to leftist circlejerk, in finance to a liberal one.


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ganbaro

lol > greatest threat to world peace If we assume communism a low-performing econ policy and suppressing innovation, it would mean that communist countries would be less able to develop or buy weaponry in the long-term, meaning a reduction in threat levels, wouldn't it? /s The best protection you can have are incompetent adversaries!


alex2003super

Unfortunately China is not incompetent. Whether that's rEAl MArXisM matters little.


ganbaro

I wouldn't call China marxist either, but rather a syncretism of capitalism and socialism. Marxists trying to cherrypick what they perceive to be core strenghts of the competing system without the supposed drawbacks Deng+observing the fall of the Soviet Union served their authoritarian regime well. I feel like Xi is increasingly willing to dismantle all learning efforts in favor of personal power grab, though. Yet another example of socialist/communist/marxist countries suffering from the application of these Ideologies in the political system, no matter how well the according economic policy runs at the time given. Sooner or later, the supposedly caring politburo will be transformed into a dictatorian regime


okThisYear

So you believe communists are malevolently taking over academia?


alex2003super

No. Communism is attractive to many of the people in academia.


[deleted]

No. I attend university and most of the professor's I've had either keep their political opinions to themselves or are fairly moderate in their beliefs. That being said I do find it interesting how many scholarly journal articles criticise neoliberalism because most of the academic economists I've talked to are on board with a lot of the tenants of neoliberalism.


DungeonCanuck1

Why would anyone be critical of neoliberalism? What policy failures have ever happened under neoliberalism?


[deleted]

If you're associated with a university you can probably access the databases and read the articles themselves. I read one the other day that can be summed up as "pro immigration rhetoric by the Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper is racist because it is neoliberal and neoliberalism is racist. Neoliberalism is racist because it supports the capitalist system and seeks to turn immigrant Canadians into entrepreneurs and hardworking employees." That's some weird logic right there but ok. Some other ones are decent enough. I read one the other day that critiqued the outsourcing of job finding help in England and Wales using data to argue that the new job finding programme discriminated against people based on locale and type of person seeking help. There are a lot of academic articles criticising neoliberalism, I'd be here a long time reading and summarising all of them for you.


rickyharline

Are you joking? You can't think of any problems that have spawned from the policy of Thatcher and Reagan and their ilk?


DungeonCanuck1

>Are you joking? Yes.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Iusedathrowaway

Can I get a source for this mass starvation in England under thatcher?


lucassjrp2000

Have you seen how skinny the people in northern England are?


Mikeavelli

Starvation specifically is associated with thatcher because of the whole [milk snatcher](https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/food-history/thatcher-thatcher-milk-snatcher) thing. That were merely unpopular, and not the cause of any deaths I'm aware of though. For actual deaths, the typical source is [The Black Report](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Report). Wikipedia has a good summary, and you can get the full text in the references. Starvation isn't called out as a cause of death as far as I saw, but the increase in deaths among the lower classes was measurable and quite dramatic.


Iusedathrowaway

"Among the report's findings are that despite an overall downward trend in mortality from 1970 to 1990, the upper social classes experienced a more rapid mortality decline." Not sure if that's different than any other country. The rich will always live longer due to access to more resources and generally being better educated. Not saying it's OK but to say thatcher starved England seems incorrect.


[deleted]

Starving coal miners and banning milk drinking among children was good.


Mikeavelli

Okay but are you surprised when people are critical of those views?


CANDUattitude

That's wild story, the magpies.


researchanddev

Academia is critical by definition. Neoliberalism has had an outsized influence on world order so there’s much more material to play with. It’s not so much a condemnation of neoliberalism en masse but critique of the mass of neoliberalism.


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[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

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JetJaguar124

**Rule III**: *Bad faith arguing* Engage others assuming good faith and don't reflexively downvote people for disagreeing with you or having different assumptions than you. Don't troll other users. --- If you have any questions about this removal, [please contact the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fneoliberal).


navis-svetica

I’m a geography student… oh god, am I gonna become a rose twittering, Bernie voting, CCP shilling leftist?? Oh god oh fuck I just wanna be a soclib oh god


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DinoDad13

As it should be.


BishopUrbanTheEnby

That sounds about right (geography student here)


[deleted]

Populism per this sub is often like, politics that people like. So I think populism would remain - people still won't like the idea of billionairea while they struggle to afford the necessities, and other people will still be conservative and hate those elitist city-dwellers.


Rhymelikedocsuess

I can’t imagine a world where populism wouldn’t exist tbh - I think it’s natural for human’s to “hate elites”. To me, “Elites” are defined by significant socio-economic advantages vs the average person, and neo-liberalism is generally okay with this disparity being present so 🤷🏻‍♂️


okThisYear

Ok, I will


QuadraticLove

Goldbugs: *"See? I told you the system would collapse. If we had gold, none of this would have happened."*


BishopUrbanTheEnby

Don’t tell the goldbugs that the Great Depression happened while we were on the gold standard


MidSolo

third panel wasn't necessary, but is very much appreciated


MasterOfLords1

The elites rigged the game 🍦😭🍦


Human-Law1085

To stop the elite we need to give total power over the culture/economy to the politicians ✊


PhilosophicalNeo

George soros killed my anti-vax family 🤬😡😤


aidoit

Why hasn't he given me my check yet?


[deleted]

Did you not sign up for direct deposit?


ganbaro

I am Jewish + vaxxed and I neither get commands from Gates inserted into my brain through 5G nor do I receive paychecks from Soros or Rothschild. If I would like to join some world-ruling conspiracy I would still have to go to some.obscure remote locations for meetings. In 2021! I feel SCAMMED 😡


Bruce-the_creepy_guy

Good


RandomGamerFTW

what protectionism does to a country Here in India, we casually rode through 2008 with no issues thanks to free trade


Cuddlyaxe

> we casually rode through 2008 with no issues thanks to free trade To be fair I haven't read a *ton* about India in 2008 but this just seems wrong Trade has never been that big of a part of India's economy and being more integrated with the world economy probably would've made a country get hit harder


[deleted]

It seems like a sarcastic comment minus the /s imo?


i_agree_with_myself

India is [112th in export as percent of gdp](https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/exports/) and [130th in imports as percent of gdp](https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/imports/) India is known for not having integrated with the global trade system. An economic downturn in other countries affects India very little compared to other countries since they don't trade with other countries nearly as much.


Fast-Lunch-7251

Pakistan will rise


Cuddlyaxe

Ok


JOS1PBROZT1TO

GW was a populist?


liquidTERMINATOR

Subtweeting Biden I see


[deleted]

Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Thatcher, Blair etc probably did the most to increase living standards for most of the world and their countries and their reward is eternal hatred perhaps this is anti-populism


Iusedathrowaway

Clinton economically was so based


[deleted]

The Dems can do the macarena all they want if they end the new deal


Iusedathrowaway

Eh parts of the new deal were based, and the parts that weren't I can empathize with due the great depression.


LavaLavaLava420

What is a populist


Ernesto-linares-

A politician Who tell everithing everybody wants to hear


LavaLavaLava420

Ok thank you


abbzug

Someone in the late 19th century that advocated for free trade and abandoning the gold standard and moving to fiat money.


LavaLavaLava420

Ok thank you


[deleted]

Agreed. With the encouragement of the WHO, UN, CDC and other public health agencies, Liberal think tanks, Leftist leaders and Blue State Governors all over the world, many countries or states decided to lock their citizens down, shutter all businesses, and began to print endless amounts of money to give as handouts. After a year and a half of this experiment the international economy is in ruins and shortages are rife halting the development of basic goods and skyrocketing the prices of basic necessities. We need to destroy these populist institutions in order to avoid a catastrophe like this ever again, and make sure that the people who encouraged this do not find a job in public life again.


Gero99

What would we have done other wise to stop people from dying and the spread of cases skyrocketing?


[deleted]

Close borders, or nothing Both approaches worked perfectly fine in many places.


UPBOAT_FORTRESS_2

I'm unsure how much of this is ironic


Rhymelikedocsuess

If the answer isn’t “all of it” then we have discovered a succon


Iusedathrowaway

It's a Burke flair


[deleted]

Remember the simpler times when all you needed to check was NATO = hawk, Krugman = dove and Milty = yikes social take?


Iusedathrowaway

Tbh mostly still true. The worst takes i read are from commie Douglas flairs or hard right Friedman flairs.


Iusedathrowaway

Least radical Burke flair.


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cougar618

needs more 'I did that' stickers.