Illiberalism
Gilead
Abortion, reproductive freedom and health
Fig. 1. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
As Bess Levin observes, it is more than a little bizarre that even as Republicans keep getting their asses handed to them on abortion rights, they keep pushing abortion restrictions.[1]
I’ve long suspected that Democrats prefer sitting in opposition, where they can complain about the Republicans and where no one expects them to actually accomplish anything. Now I’m forced to suspect the reverse as well.
Samantha Hendrickson, “Republican faction seeks to keep courts from interpreting Ohio’s new abortion rights amendment,” Associated Press, November 10, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/ohio-abortion-overthrow-judicial-powers-77a68c1e6ee6fc79462f6aaf4ea1a323
Bess Levin, “RNC Chair Says Republicans Should Be More Vocal About Wanting to Restrict Abortion, Despite Massive Losses for Trying to Restrict Abortion,” Vanity Fair, November 13, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/11/ronna-mcdaniel-republicans-abortion
Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[2] fair use.
Jason Burke, “Netanyahu sets out uncompromising postwar vision as Israel pounds Gaza,” Guardian, November 12, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/12/main-gaza-hospital-totally-surrounded-director-says-as-netanyahu-rejects-ceasefire-calls
Roman Catholic Church
Fig. 1. Catholic temple, El Señor de Tila, Balancan, Tabasco, Mexico. Photograph by Carlos Valenzuela, August 29, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ruth Graham and Jason Horowitz, “Texas Bishop Loudly Critical of the Pope Is Removed,” New York Times, November 11, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/11/world/europe/pope-francis-joseph-strickland.html
Philip Pullella, “In very rare move, Pope dismisses conservative US bishop Strickland,” Reuters, November 12, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-francis-dismisses-conservative-us-bishop-strickland-2023-11-11/
Neoliberalism
Ideology as ‘science:’ economics
Patrick Iber has written a very smart review of Jennifer Burns’ book, Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative.[3] I do not plan on buying or recommending the book, but as is so often the case with good reviews, the review is extraordinarily useful.
Of course, you might expect me to say that. Iber largely confirms[4] much of what I’ve been saying about neoliberalism for quite some time.
But what I found especially noteworthy, is that Iber thinks circumstances and elite self-interest ensure that neoliberalism will make a comeback.[5]
Neoliberalism—the low wages, the soaring inequality, the perception that workers (especially when unionized) rather than employers are oppressors, and the fundamental unfairness—have combined to destroy my life. And the Democratic Party’s persistent embrace of neoliberalism makes a vote for their candidates an extremely difficult swallow for me.
Patrick Iber, “The End of Milton Friedman’s Reign,” review of Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns, New Republic, November 13, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/175932/milton-friedman-chicagonomics-end-reign
- [1]Bess Levin, “RNC Chair Says Republicans Should Be More Vocal About Wanting to Restrict Abortion, Despite Massive Losses for Trying to Restrict Abortion,” Vanity Fair, November 13, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/11/ronna-mcdaniel-republicans-abortion↩
- [2]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [3]Patrick Iber, “The End of Milton Friedman’s Reign,” review of Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns, New Republic, November 13, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/175932/milton-friedman-chicagonomics-end-reign↩
- [4]Patrick Iber, “The End of Milton Friedman’s Reign,” review of Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns, New Republic, November 13, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/175932/milton-friedman-chicagonomics-end-reign↩
- [5]Patrick Iber, “The End of Milton Friedman’s Reign,” review of Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns, New Republic, November 13, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/175932/milton-friedman-chicagonomics-end-reign↩