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The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism
We live under an ideology that preys on every aspect of our our education and our jobs; our healthcare and our leisure; our relationships and our mental wellbeing; even the planet we inhabit � the very air we breathe. So pervasive has it become that, for most people, it has no name. It seems unavoidable, like a natural law.
But trace it back to its roots, and we discover that it is neither inevitable nor immutable. It was conceived, propagated, and then concealed by the powerful few. It is time to bring it into the light - and, in doing so, to find an alternative worth fighting for.
Neoliberalism. Do you know what it is?
BASED ON A MAJOR MOTION FILM TO BE RELEASED IN 2024
But trace it back to its roots, and we discover that it is neither inevitable nor immutable. It was conceived, propagated, and then concealed by the powerful few. It is time to bring it into the light - and, in doing so, to find an alternative worth fighting for.
Neoliberalism. Do you know what it is?
BASED ON A MAJOR MOTION FILM TO BE RELEASED IN 2024
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2024
413 people are currently reading
6,700 people want to read
About the author
George Monbiot
40books1,025followersGeorge Joshua Richard Monbiot is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
June 6, 2024
I requested this from NetGalley on the strength of Monbiot's essays in the Guardian. Good call: Invisible Doctrine is a short, crisp, angry, lucid primer on what, exactly, neoliberalism is and how it intersects with extractive capitalism to give us a world in which the rich control more and more of the earth's dwindling resources while the rest of us work too hard and generally suck it up. I highlighted any number of one-liners and whole passages.
Many of the book's insights are ones you're likely to have encountered before -- neoliberalism "casts us as consumers rather than citizens"; systemic failures (such as climate catastrophe) are framed as individual failures (why aren't you recycling more???). But if, like me, you don't know much about economic theory, or about the economists (Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek) whose ideas brought us to our present pass, Invisible Doctrine is your book.
I especially appreciated the discussion of rent, meaning not what you pay the landlord every month but what those who control "crucial and nonreplicable resources" charge the rest of us for access to them. For example, when a public service is privatized, we pay the new owner something extra for access to that service, and this is the new owner's profit, aka rent.
Also new to me was Monbiot and Hutchison's analysis of the "frontier." To the extent that capitalism depends on the extraction of finite resources, it has to keep finding new places to extract those resources from: hence the frontier. (The authors' index case is the island of Madeira, whose name means "Wood" and which has been deforested in its entirety.) Not that I came to Invisible Doctrine ignorant of the financial impetuses behind colonialism, but this specific application of the idea of a frontier made me see expansion from a fresh angle.
There's more, quite a lot more -- offshoring; the drawing of a distinction between conspiracy theories (supported by evidence) and conspiracy fictions (convenient distractions from real conspiracies, such as Big Tobacco's project of hiding the evidence that cigarette smoking causes cancer); finance as a complex adaptive system, & the implications thereof; etc., etc. -- but let's keep this review to a reasonable length.
I have complaints, of course. In some places, mechanisms could have been spelled out more clearly. Here, for instance: "When, in 1971, Richard Nixon abandoned the system of fixed exchange rates, he opened the door for speculation and capital flight." Uh ... okay? So how'd that work? To be fair, detail is necessarily going to suffer to some extent, in the interest of brevity and accessibility, and anyway Monbiot and Hutchison's analysis is convincing regardless.
Toward the end of the book I started muttering, "Yes, but how are we supposed to fix this?" The authors answer that question with reference to Murray Bookchin (he whose ideas influenced the extraordinary experiment in democratic rule that is the Kurdish region of ). They have differences with Bookchin, and they point out crucial omissions in his work:
I don't know that I'm exactly left with any hope, but at least I'm in a condition of better comprehension and less despair. Thanks to NetGalley and Crown for the ARC.
Many of the book's insights are ones you're likely to have encountered before -- neoliberalism "casts us as consumers rather than citizens"; systemic failures (such as climate catastrophe) are framed as individual failures (why aren't you recycling more???). But if, like me, you don't know much about economic theory, or about the economists (Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek) whose ideas brought us to our present pass, Invisible Doctrine is your book.
I especially appreciated the discussion of rent, meaning not what you pay the landlord every month but what those who control "crucial and nonreplicable resources" charge the rest of us for access to them. For example, when a public service is privatized, we pay the new owner something extra for access to that service, and this is the new owner's profit, aka rent.
Also new to me was Monbiot and Hutchison's analysis of the "frontier." To the extent that capitalism depends on the extraction of finite resources, it has to keep finding new places to extract those resources from: hence the frontier. (The authors' index case is the island of Madeira, whose name means "Wood" and which has been deforested in its entirety.) Not that I came to Invisible Doctrine ignorant of the financial impetuses behind colonialism, but this specific application of the idea of a frontier made me see expansion from a fresh angle.
There's more, quite a lot more -- offshoring; the drawing of a distinction between conspiracy theories (supported by evidence) and conspiracy fictions (convenient distractions from real conspiracies, such as Big Tobacco's project of hiding the evidence that cigarette smoking causes cancer); finance as a complex adaptive system, & the implications thereof; etc., etc. -- but let's keep this review to a reasonable length.
I have complaints, of course. In some places, mechanisms could have been spelled out more clearly. Here, for instance: "When, in 1971, Richard Nixon abandoned the system of fixed exchange rates, he opened the door for speculation and capital flight." Uh ... okay? So how'd that work? To be fair, detail is necessarily going to suffer to some extent, in the interest of brevity and accessibility, and anyway Monbiot and Hutchison's analysis is convincing regardless.
Toward the end of the book I started muttering, "Yes, but how are we supposed to fix this?" The authors answer that question with reference to Murray Bookchin (he whose ideas influenced the extraordinary experiment in democratic rule that is the Kurdish region of ). They have differences with Bookchin, and they point out crucial omissions in his work:
He fails to deal adequately with transnational issues, especially the problems of global capital, global supply chains, defense against aggressive states, and the need for universal action on global crises (such as climate and ecological breakdown).They also argue that Bookchin's decentralized democracy can coexist with representative democracy, which is probably just as well given that the fewer things it's necessary to undo completely the better our odds.
I don't know that I'm exactly left with any hope, but at least I'm in a condition of better comprehension and less despair. Thanks to NetGalley and Crown for the ARC.
May 21, 2024
This is not a long book, but it does not need to be. Every sentence is expertly crafted to deliver a gut-punch of critical truth about how the invisible hand of the neoliberal market ideology is reaching in and taking from the majority and giving to the rich.
If you have ever stopped and looked at all the things that are going wrong in the western world and thought they don't make sense, this book offers you the answer. An answer as obvious as the nose on your face when pointed out, greed. The authors systematically tear apart the lies, obfuscation, and distraction techniques used by neoliberalism and its proponents to plunder the world, undermine democracy, and let the world burn.
Know thine enemy by reading this book, and discover the alternatives systems of nationhood offered by the authors for consideration, such as local governance and deeper participatory democracy, all with the goal of improving the world, not optimising exploitation. The neoliberals want us to think their way is the only way, which is why they stopped naming their doctrine in public. This book breaks that fallacy and throws back the curtains to shed some much-needed light on the invisible doctrine of neoliberalism.
If you have ever stopped and looked at all the things that are going wrong in the western world and thought they don't make sense, this book offers you the answer. An answer as obvious as the nose on your face when pointed out, greed. The authors systematically tear apart the lies, obfuscation, and distraction techniques used by neoliberalism and its proponents to plunder the world, undermine democracy, and let the world burn.
Know thine enemy by reading this book, and discover the alternatives systems of nationhood offered by the authors for consideration, such as local governance and deeper participatory democracy, all with the goal of improving the world, not optimising exploitation. The neoliberals want us to think their way is the only way, which is why they stopped naming their doctrine in public. This book breaks that fallacy and throws back the curtains to shed some much-needed light on the invisible doctrine of neoliberalism.
June 30, 2024
Great understanding of how capitalism exploits workers and denounces capitalism as it is an economic system that buys up political power. Refuses to understand the effectiveness of previous socialist revolutions, and as socialism as a useful next step. Authors contradict themselves a lot in this boom in this regard, by suggesting that the current system is useless, but fails to understand the importance of revolution over reform. Authors are denouncing liberalism and then continue by advocating for it.
They mention Colonialism, but never imperialism - how the western empire squashes any attempt at organised worker systems.
The book appeals to the Liberal, whilst exposing the flaws of capitalism, but doesn't understand the difference between Fascism and authorisationism. The authors quickly brush off socialism/the strive for communism as something that just sort of failed, rather than recognise the true history and theory behind such revolutionary movements and the reasons as to why imperialism and fascim triumphed instead.
They mention Colonialism, but never imperialism - how the western empire squashes any attempt at organised worker systems.
The book appeals to the Liberal, whilst exposing the flaws of capitalism, but doesn't understand the difference between Fascism and authorisationism. The authors quickly brush off socialism/the strive for communism as something that just sort of failed, rather than recognise the true history and theory behind such revolutionary movements and the reasons as to why imperialism and fascim triumphed instead.
July 1, 2024
Under the directorial eye of Peter Hutchinson this book is unlike any of Monbiot’s previous books in that it reads like a polished film script!
Starting by introducing us to the villain of our story, the strange and nefarious forces which wreak havoc upon the land, Monbiot and Hutchinson cast us in a new story. We, the ordinary people, shall strive for a smorgasbord of democratic representation in which a Bookchinite decentered flavour is proposed as a compliment to representative ones.
This is a fantastic introduction to Hayek and Friedman, a damning depiction of their proponents, and a lucid examination of a half century of political development. Even so, I bought this book after Monbiot’s conversation with Nish Kumar and still prefer the talk to the book!
Starting by introducing us to the villain of our story, the strange and nefarious forces which wreak havoc upon the land, Monbiot and Hutchinson cast us in a new story. We, the ordinary people, shall strive for a smorgasbord of democratic representation in which a Bookchinite decentered flavour is proposed as a compliment to representative ones.
This is a fantastic introduction to Hayek and Friedman, a damning depiction of their proponents, and a lucid examination of a half century of political development. Even so, I bought this book after Monbiot’s conversation with Nish Kumar and still prefer the talk to the book!
April 19, 2025
Reading this book about the dominant ideology of neoliberalism reminded me of that old analogy attributed to the writer David Foster Wallace: Two young fish are swimming along. An old fish passes by and says ‘morning boys, how’s the water?� One of the young fish turns to the other and says: ‘What the hell is water?�
We’ve been swimming in the water of neoliberalism now for so long (all of my adult life in fact) that we fail to see how it pervades just about every corner of our lives. And it’s this confronting reality that is tackled by UK writers George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison in their book ‘The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (and How it Came to Control Your Life)�.
As envisioned by thinkers like Hayek and Friedman, neoliberalism is a political ideology as all pervasive as communism. It puts every element of our existence as humans at the service of the price mechanism. As such it assumes that as a species we are inherently greedy, self-interested profit maximisers whose only role is as consumers and units of labour, not citizens or members of society. There is no motivation but profit.
The consequences of this system’s dominance since the rise of Thatcher and Reagan, its first political enablers, include ever-increasing inequality, the degradation of public institutions, the under-funding of public health and education, the growing role of money in politics, the selling of the rent-seeking interests of narrow sectional power as the public interest, growing depths of despair, the evisceration of the middle class and, most of all, the degradation of our planetary systems to the point of collapse.
We can’t see this ideology because it penetrates every aspect of our lives. It became so all pervasive that it has been the consensus operating system for much of the world for 40+ years. Parties of the nominal centre left bought into the Thatcher/Reagan program of privatisation, deregulation, and marketisation and took it to new extremes in the 1990s.
The neoliberals claim to stand for the efficiency of the market against the ‘dead hand� of the state, but in reality they are about capturing the state and harnessing its power to private interests. Risk is completely transferred to the shoulders of individuals who end up blaming themselves for failures that are in truth design flaws in the system itself.
Arguably, the global financial crisis of 2008-09 should have sounded the death knell for neoliberalism. But it so infests our political, economic and civic institutions that it lumbers on zombie-like and is now being overlaid by neo-fascist authoritarianism where demagogues employ manufactured culture wars to distract the masses as billionaires ransack what is left of the institutions of democracy.
Monbiot and Hutchison say we need a new story, one built around human beings� power of cooperation and altruism. But we are going to have to start by getting money out of politics, dismantling media monopolies and reclaiming the commons.
Essential reading.
We’ve been swimming in the water of neoliberalism now for so long (all of my adult life in fact) that we fail to see how it pervades just about every corner of our lives. And it’s this confronting reality that is tackled by UK writers George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison in their book ‘The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (and How it Came to Control Your Life)�.
As envisioned by thinkers like Hayek and Friedman, neoliberalism is a political ideology as all pervasive as communism. It puts every element of our existence as humans at the service of the price mechanism. As such it assumes that as a species we are inherently greedy, self-interested profit maximisers whose only role is as consumers and units of labour, not citizens or members of society. There is no motivation but profit.
The consequences of this system’s dominance since the rise of Thatcher and Reagan, its first political enablers, include ever-increasing inequality, the degradation of public institutions, the under-funding of public health and education, the growing role of money in politics, the selling of the rent-seeking interests of narrow sectional power as the public interest, growing depths of despair, the evisceration of the middle class and, most of all, the degradation of our planetary systems to the point of collapse.
We can’t see this ideology because it penetrates every aspect of our lives. It became so all pervasive that it has been the consensus operating system for much of the world for 40+ years. Parties of the nominal centre left bought into the Thatcher/Reagan program of privatisation, deregulation, and marketisation and took it to new extremes in the 1990s.
The neoliberals claim to stand for the efficiency of the market against the ‘dead hand� of the state, but in reality they are about capturing the state and harnessing its power to private interests. Risk is completely transferred to the shoulders of individuals who end up blaming themselves for failures that are in truth design flaws in the system itself.
Arguably, the global financial crisis of 2008-09 should have sounded the death knell for neoliberalism. But it so infests our political, economic and civic institutions that it lumbers on zombie-like and is now being overlaid by neo-fascist authoritarianism where demagogues employ manufactured culture wars to distract the masses as billionaires ransack what is left of the institutions of democracy.
Monbiot and Hutchison say we need a new story, one built around human beings� power of cooperation and altruism. But we are going to have to start by getting money out of politics, dismantling media monopolies and reclaiming the commons.
Essential reading.
April 19, 2025
Neoliberalism hates government intervention for regular folk, like during the New Deal. Help the people instead of corporations? How dare you! It defines us as consumers not citizens. It’s about cutting taxes, shedding regulations, privatizing public services, curtailing protest, killing union power, and shrinking the state. Shrink whatever helps the common man. Neoliberalism has been super successful for the wealthy but for the rest of us, like Terence Trent D’Arby’s career, it has “failed spectacularly.� Think of neoliberalism as an “escape from social obligation� or “escape from democracy�. But to understand neoliberalism, you first must understand capitalism.
Capitalism is about Boom, Bust, Quit. Find something you want. Rip it from the earth until it’s largely gone, then complain and move on to your next theft “burning through one frontier after another.� “This seizure, exhaustion, and abandonment of new geographical frontiers is central to the model we call capitalism.� It creates both a defiled extraction zone and a defiled disposal zone. “Boom, Bust, Quit is what capitalism does.� Steal “labor, land, resources, and money and try to create your own industrial revolution.� Capitalism impossibly demands endless growth on a finite planet thus turning the Earth into a sacrifice zone.
Neoliberalism was a term coined in 1938, but Ludwig von Mies and Friedrich Hayek were the minds behind the theory of neoliberalism. It comically redefines self-interest as a stand against “tyranny� in defensive of “freedom�. Think of it simply as class war by another name, or demanding the “freedom� to destroy the planet for short term financial gain. Neoliberalism redefined the “Little House on the Prairie� from a settler-colonialism setting into “a celebration of self-sufficiency, limited government, and economic and individual freedom.� Bill Clinton brought neo-liberalism into the Democratic fold making it and NAFTA safe for liberals. When Clinton said the “era of big government is over� he meant “I’ve sold the country out to neoliberalism.� Liberals� darling Obama had a chance to stop neoliberalism, yet merely doubled down on Clinton’s policies.
Neoliberal policies originally couldn’t be imposed within the US (too odious), so they were imposed internationally. As ex-economic hitman John Perkins will tell you, the US offers debt relief or loans that come back to bite the country that takes them: privatization, deregulation, trade liberalization, austerity - the joy of slashing everything that helps the common person within a society � destroying their buffer for when s#!& hits the fan. Moving forward the question is will we “reach the social tipping points before we reach the environmental tipping points�? And reaching the social tipping points and thus systemic change will require exposing neoliberalism and capitalism to the general public for what they really are. And it will require “wealth taxes� (in 1944 the rich paid 94% in taxes � but inequality returned w/ a vengeance in the 80’s), campaign finance reform and the end of Super-PACS (corporations buying elections). If you think that is hard to do, remember how smoking was revealed as bad and it went from common place to a shun-able activity. Neoliberalism replaced the Keynesian era, assuring that economic justice would now be unjust everywhere, even rich countries. Think of neoliberalism as a pump (no longer trickling wealth down but) driving wealth from the poor to the rich.
The future is replacing private luxury (for billionaires) with public luxury (the commons). Think of privatization as “legalized theft from the public realm.� It leads to degraded services because the new owner extracts as much money from the service as possible by charging more, cutting corners or dumping unprofitable customers. These owners of public services also expect to be rescued by the state, insulating them from risk. Rentiers are economic parasites that live off the work of others. Neoliberalism empowers rentiers and asset strippers. While capitalism is about growth, neoliberalism is about distribution of power in the hands of the rich. It’s not about “freedom� or “choice�, it’s about “who dominates whom�; looting the South to enrich the North - looting the future “to enrich the present.� You can trace neoliberalism back to Thomas Hobbes and his brutish war of every man against every man. You see it in the atomize and rule strategy of both Thatcher and Reagan. Let’s face it, “If wealth were the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.� Clinton and Gore were neoliberal (pushing off-shoring, self-regulation, NAFTA, WTO and even repealing the Glass-Steagall Act). “The repeal of Glass-Steagall led directly to the catastrophic bank failures of 2008.� Susan George said, in the 50’s you would have been laughed at for proposing neoliberal ideas, but now it is shamelessly bi-partisan and mainstream.
To sell neoliberalism, the nastiest corporations pay for “neutral� commentators and think tanks (deemed immune to retribution). By 2017, there were “nearly 500 neoliberal think tanks in more than ninety countries.� Think tank funders by using “dark money� are “shielded from demographic scrutiny.� It’s about interpreting the voice of the oligarchs as the voice of the people. In this way rich scum bags like the Koch brothers can do dirty things “without getting dirty themselves.� “Anti-social industries � those with the most to lose � invest the most in politics.� With neoliberalism, “the blame for systemic failure is individuated�. That reminds me of the original “Keep America Beautiful� campaign funded by business that intentionally put the onus for change on the American people. Neoliberals today reject the term “neoliberalism� saying it is pejorative. The mask is off.
The UK’s Liz Truss was a hardcore neoliberal, making even Thatcher look moderate. She was funded by dark money and think tanks. She crushed protest through pushing a Public Order bill through Parliament and crippled economic life for Brits. Monbiot says “this is the age of killer clowns�: think Berlusconi, Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro, Modi, and Victor Orban � they all are shameless buffoons, “stoking outrage� with a disregard for justice. The founder of PayPal Peter Thiel actually said this neoliberal comment, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.� Insecurity as opportunity. Neoliberalism’s founder, Friedrich Hayek said he preferred Pinochet’s dictatorship to democracy. If Hayek were one of Pinochet’s 40,018 victims, would he have revised that comment? Also to sell neoliberalism, economic conflicts are disguised as “cultural conflicts� � channel that anger elsewhere � it’s the immigrants! It’s the pro-Palestine protestors!
On page 100, Monbiot gets uncool by relabeling “conspiracy theories� as “conspiracy fictions.� No FBI trained marksman afterwards used Oswald’s gun as flawlessly as he did? Fiction! Building 7 collapses in obvious free fall speed? Fiction. COVID vaccines injured a single human being? Fiction! Apparently, Monbiot has never doubted the official story. Iraq has weapons of mass destruction? Good enough for me! George then says, “conspiracy fictions are the fuel of far-right politics� � as if people on BOTH sides of the aisle don’t often wonder what the true story is. Globalization “is an extension of colonial looting.� Neoliberalism is capitalism’s accelerant. The US, Canada, UK and Australia now are all paying a lot of money annually to keep out immigrants from countries afflicted by Western waste products. “In 2022, Floods in Pakistan displaced 33 million people and washed away 3 million acres of soil.�
A 2022 poll found that a whopping 56% of Americans thought we must get back to “traditional values� (like what? Settler-colonialism? Slavery? Disempowerment of women? Institutionalized racism? Invading more countries as in the 1898 Philippine/American War, Haiti 1915-34, or the Vietnam War?). The same 56% agreed with a need for a “tough leader� and to “silence troublemakers spreading radical ideas� (like free healthcare, the US daring to adher to international law, or maybe NOT financing supporting an obvious genocide?). 56%! That explains why when democrat John Kerry recently said at the World Economic Forum that there is TOO much free speech in the US, not one liberal democrat complained. Give me a progressive any day.
In 2023, Canadian wildfires temporarily caused the “worst air quality in the world.� The same year, seawater off the coast of Florida hit 101 degrees � like a hot shower. Monbiot thinks we should call climate change, “an earth systems crisis�. This has been clearly accelerated by the move from capitalism to neoliberalism. If you buy an organic tote bag at the store, never lose it, and keep reusing it, as the environmental impact of making one “is equivalent to that of 20,000 plastic ones.� Monbiot says easily one of the best things a consumer can do is “ceasing to fly.� [To visually see how much flying contributes to climate change go to and see the thousands of planes aloft worldwide at any given time]
This was a very good book and I learned a lot, but found it strange that a book on Neoliberalism, had no section on alternatives to either it or capitalism, like the need for a steady state economy, or even socialism. Does anyone think either capitalism or neoliberalism will solve climate change or stop economic collapse and extinction?
Capitalism is about Boom, Bust, Quit. Find something you want. Rip it from the earth until it’s largely gone, then complain and move on to your next theft “burning through one frontier after another.� “This seizure, exhaustion, and abandonment of new geographical frontiers is central to the model we call capitalism.� It creates both a defiled extraction zone and a defiled disposal zone. “Boom, Bust, Quit is what capitalism does.� Steal “labor, land, resources, and money and try to create your own industrial revolution.� Capitalism impossibly demands endless growth on a finite planet thus turning the Earth into a sacrifice zone.
Neoliberalism was a term coined in 1938, but Ludwig von Mies and Friedrich Hayek were the minds behind the theory of neoliberalism. It comically redefines self-interest as a stand against “tyranny� in defensive of “freedom�. Think of it simply as class war by another name, or demanding the “freedom� to destroy the planet for short term financial gain. Neoliberalism redefined the “Little House on the Prairie� from a settler-colonialism setting into “a celebration of self-sufficiency, limited government, and economic and individual freedom.� Bill Clinton brought neo-liberalism into the Democratic fold making it and NAFTA safe for liberals. When Clinton said the “era of big government is over� he meant “I’ve sold the country out to neoliberalism.� Liberals� darling Obama had a chance to stop neoliberalism, yet merely doubled down on Clinton’s policies.
Neoliberal policies originally couldn’t be imposed within the US (too odious), so they were imposed internationally. As ex-economic hitman John Perkins will tell you, the US offers debt relief or loans that come back to bite the country that takes them: privatization, deregulation, trade liberalization, austerity - the joy of slashing everything that helps the common person within a society � destroying their buffer for when s#!& hits the fan. Moving forward the question is will we “reach the social tipping points before we reach the environmental tipping points�? And reaching the social tipping points and thus systemic change will require exposing neoliberalism and capitalism to the general public for what they really are. And it will require “wealth taxes� (in 1944 the rich paid 94% in taxes � but inequality returned w/ a vengeance in the 80’s), campaign finance reform and the end of Super-PACS (corporations buying elections). If you think that is hard to do, remember how smoking was revealed as bad and it went from common place to a shun-able activity. Neoliberalism replaced the Keynesian era, assuring that economic justice would now be unjust everywhere, even rich countries. Think of neoliberalism as a pump (no longer trickling wealth down but) driving wealth from the poor to the rich.
The future is replacing private luxury (for billionaires) with public luxury (the commons). Think of privatization as “legalized theft from the public realm.� It leads to degraded services because the new owner extracts as much money from the service as possible by charging more, cutting corners or dumping unprofitable customers. These owners of public services also expect to be rescued by the state, insulating them from risk. Rentiers are economic parasites that live off the work of others. Neoliberalism empowers rentiers and asset strippers. While capitalism is about growth, neoliberalism is about distribution of power in the hands of the rich. It’s not about “freedom� or “choice�, it’s about “who dominates whom�; looting the South to enrich the North - looting the future “to enrich the present.� You can trace neoliberalism back to Thomas Hobbes and his brutish war of every man against every man. You see it in the atomize and rule strategy of both Thatcher and Reagan. Let’s face it, “If wealth were the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.� Clinton and Gore were neoliberal (pushing off-shoring, self-regulation, NAFTA, WTO and even repealing the Glass-Steagall Act). “The repeal of Glass-Steagall led directly to the catastrophic bank failures of 2008.� Susan George said, in the 50’s you would have been laughed at for proposing neoliberal ideas, but now it is shamelessly bi-partisan and mainstream.
To sell neoliberalism, the nastiest corporations pay for “neutral� commentators and think tanks (deemed immune to retribution). By 2017, there were “nearly 500 neoliberal think tanks in more than ninety countries.� Think tank funders by using “dark money� are “shielded from demographic scrutiny.� It’s about interpreting the voice of the oligarchs as the voice of the people. In this way rich scum bags like the Koch brothers can do dirty things “without getting dirty themselves.� “Anti-social industries � those with the most to lose � invest the most in politics.� With neoliberalism, “the blame for systemic failure is individuated�. That reminds me of the original “Keep America Beautiful� campaign funded by business that intentionally put the onus for change on the American people. Neoliberals today reject the term “neoliberalism� saying it is pejorative. The mask is off.
The UK’s Liz Truss was a hardcore neoliberal, making even Thatcher look moderate. She was funded by dark money and think tanks. She crushed protest through pushing a Public Order bill through Parliament and crippled economic life for Brits. Monbiot says “this is the age of killer clowns�: think Berlusconi, Trump, Boris Johnson, Jair Bolsonaro, Modi, and Victor Orban � they all are shameless buffoons, “stoking outrage� with a disregard for justice. The founder of PayPal Peter Thiel actually said this neoliberal comment, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.� Insecurity as opportunity. Neoliberalism’s founder, Friedrich Hayek said he preferred Pinochet’s dictatorship to democracy. If Hayek were one of Pinochet’s 40,018 victims, would he have revised that comment? Also to sell neoliberalism, economic conflicts are disguised as “cultural conflicts� � channel that anger elsewhere � it’s the immigrants! It’s the pro-Palestine protestors!
On page 100, Monbiot gets uncool by relabeling “conspiracy theories� as “conspiracy fictions.� No FBI trained marksman afterwards used Oswald’s gun as flawlessly as he did? Fiction! Building 7 collapses in obvious free fall speed? Fiction. COVID vaccines injured a single human being? Fiction! Apparently, Monbiot has never doubted the official story. Iraq has weapons of mass destruction? Good enough for me! George then says, “conspiracy fictions are the fuel of far-right politics� � as if people on BOTH sides of the aisle don’t often wonder what the true story is. Globalization “is an extension of colonial looting.� Neoliberalism is capitalism’s accelerant. The US, Canada, UK and Australia now are all paying a lot of money annually to keep out immigrants from countries afflicted by Western waste products. “In 2022, Floods in Pakistan displaced 33 million people and washed away 3 million acres of soil.�
A 2022 poll found that a whopping 56% of Americans thought we must get back to “traditional values� (like what? Settler-colonialism? Slavery? Disempowerment of women? Institutionalized racism? Invading more countries as in the 1898 Philippine/American War, Haiti 1915-34, or the Vietnam War?). The same 56% agreed with a need for a “tough leader� and to “silence troublemakers spreading radical ideas� (like free healthcare, the US daring to adher to international law, or maybe NOT financing supporting an obvious genocide?). 56%! That explains why when democrat John Kerry recently said at the World Economic Forum that there is TOO much free speech in the US, not one liberal democrat complained. Give me a progressive any day.
In 2023, Canadian wildfires temporarily caused the “worst air quality in the world.� The same year, seawater off the coast of Florida hit 101 degrees � like a hot shower. Monbiot thinks we should call climate change, “an earth systems crisis�. This has been clearly accelerated by the move from capitalism to neoliberalism. If you buy an organic tote bag at the store, never lose it, and keep reusing it, as the environmental impact of making one “is equivalent to that of 20,000 plastic ones.� Monbiot says easily one of the best things a consumer can do is “ceasing to fly.� [To visually see how much flying contributes to climate change go to and see the thousands of planes aloft worldwide at any given time]
This was a very good book and I learned a lot, but found it strange that a book on Neoliberalism, had no section on alternatives to either it or capitalism, like the need for a steady state economy, or even socialism. Does anyone think either capitalism or neoliberalism will solve climate change or stop economic collapse and extinction?
August 11, 2024
As a centrist with strong social democratic tendencies, I expected this book to be one that would leave me pumping my fist in the air, glad that the modern world had been articulated in a brief but helpful way.
Unfortunately I was heartily disappointed.
To begin: it's immensely biased. Ideologically the authors are so against "neoliberalism" that they don't once ever mention anything good about it. They don't discuss any of the ideas of neoliberalism to demonstrate why anyone thinks they might be good: the idea, for instance, that free markets are self-regulating because consumers will change their habits in reaction to poor goods or services. Obviously it only works in theory - but they neglect to discuss the theory! Even books about the evils of communism say it's good on paper.
It could be because "neoliberalism" in this book is actually being used as a byword for a hotchpotch of right-wing ideologies including but not limited to objectivism (briefly mentioned), libertarianism, and anything bad that has ever been attributed to capitalism. It's all plonked on the doorstep of their own definition of neoliberalism, using their own definition of capitalism. It's incoherent, random, and sometimes fails to mention certain elements that would have made this book far more readable and less vitriolic.
Let's take several examples:
They talk about how bad ISDS is, but neglect to mention that these were all agreed to in international trade agreements by the governments who apparently lose their sovereignty. Nations signed up to it! It wasn't foisted upon them and isn't a loss of sovereignty.
They discuss the neoliberal privatisation of the post-Soviet economy but don't think it worthwhile pointing out how and why the non-neoliberal Soviet system collapsed.
They make a constant argument that the public sector is a panacea for private sector ills, ignoring the many examples of public sector corruption globally and its inefficiency in many parts. Further, they talk about governments not funding the NHS adequately with annual increases of 4% (showing the public sector isn't managing well) and blame this on neoliberalism - yet the 4% increase requires constant growth, which earlier in the book they denounce as a terrible neoliberal idea...
No mention of private philanthropy contributing to the public good - for example, Carnegie libraries - and how philanthropic capitalism meets their altruistic argument in the book's closing points.
Completely sidelining political factors throughout really got my goat. Apparently the West wanted to spread neoliberalism during the Cold War just for the sake of it. According to the narrative of this book, you wouldn't think the Americans were just doing whatever they could to diminish Soviet influence. The assassination of Mossadegh was neoliberalism, rather than the one in a series of botched Western attempts to preserve a West-friendly leader. No doubt the Cuban Missile Crisis wasn't a fear of nuclear war but because Havana wanted to tax them. Sigh.
Democracy is either brilliant or a bad idea, depending which chapter you read. It's either a weapon of neoliberalism or it's Kryptonite. In my view, both are probably true, but the argument is remarkably wobbly and could have been fleshed out far better.
The point of colonial looting is interesting and I'd have liked this to have more detail, and discussion of how this has continued despite independence. How are the actions of African dictators linked to neoliberalism? Are they neoliberal or just selfish nationalists asset-stripping their own country for their own personal gain?
Saudi Arabia was not mentioned - the world is pivoting to the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia becoming increasingly wealthy from fuelling (literally) Western society for the past half century. Is Wahhabism consistent with neoliberalism?
A Thatcher quote in the book seemed to be specifically interpreted to mean that the state shouldn't help people - yet I read the quote to mean that the state should be a help of last resort and that people should try and help themselves first. I think their point would have been made better by a fuller interpretation of Thatcher's quote, as neoliberalism wants to retain the state for emergencies, such as the bailouts that are referred to in the book.
They mention that Trump repealed executive order 13770, but didn't mention that he was the one who introduced it, nor that Clinton did the same thing during his tenure.
Nixon was shown as a neoliberal, but he introduced the Clean Water Act, which is against neoliberal interests. These inconsistencies should have been discussed more - for example, how the minimum wage increases despite neoliberalism.
The authors blamed neoliberalism for depression, obesity etc,. Although certainly a factor, I don't feel it was really adequately explained why it's the key factor.
Truss was brought down by markets (run by neoliberals) because she tried to introduce neoliberal policies. Again, the authors needed to square this circle and didn't.
The argument that the left only believes in conspiracy theories because the far-right made them up and convinced the left to believe them is one of the most silly things I've read in my life.
Finally, although I have several other points that could be made, the authors talk about the USA changing during World War Two to alter their economy and society in order to win the war, and asks why it can't be done again. Apart from the existential threat of the Axis, it's because it was a short term measure to win the war, full in the knowledge that they'd return to normal afterwards. The changes proposed now to life and society would be permanent and therefore would meet far more resistance. They ignore that in the 8 years before Pearl Harbor FDR had a torrid time trying to pass through his New Deal legislation (with mixed results), and that the majority of Americans were against joining the war before December 1941, even with the evil Axis waging war across the world on their erstwhile allies.
Overall, although I understood the point that the authors were trying to make, I really didn't enjoy reading this. The chapter on conspiracies was amusing considering that the whole book is pretty much trying to argue that there's a neoliberal conspiracy run by the uber-wealthy to control our entire lives, which itself runs contrary to their other notions of systems and invisible hands.
A lot of the book is mainly about how capitalism is a naff system and has some incredible flaws that can be taken advantage of by selfish and immoral individuals to accumulate vast resources, and then use those resources to protect their position and wealth. This would have been perfectly valid. But to cook up a bunch of varying and sometimes conflicting narratives and arguments and throw them under an umbrella term like neoliberalism and rant about it (the book feels like a rant for two-thirds of the time), does a disservice to the fundamental and valuable argument hidden underneath - and a disservice to the authors, who are clearly articulate and intelligent. The writing style was great. The content was not so.
A more balanced view, or a couple hundred more pages exploring the context and nuance of capitalism and neoliberalism would make this a far better read.
Unfortunately I was heartily disappointed.
To begin: it's immensely biased. Ideologically the authors are so against "neoliberalism" that they don't once ever mention anything good about it. They don't discuss any of the ideas of neoliberalism to demonstrate why anyone thinks they might be good: the idea, for instance, that free markets are self-regulating because consumers will change their habits in reaction to poor goods or services. Obviously it only works in theory - but they neglect to discuss the theory! Even books about the evils of communism say it's good on paper.
It could be because "neoliberalism" in this book is actually being used as a byword for a hotchpotch of right-wing ideologies including but not limited to objectivism (briefly mentioned), libertarianism, and anything bad that has ever been attributed to capitalism. It's all plonked on the doorstep of their own definition of neoliberalism, using their own definition of capitalism. It's incoherent, random, and sometimes fails to mention certain elements that would have made this book far more readable and less vitriolic.
Let's take several examples:
They talk about how bad ISDS is, but neglect to mention that these were all agreed to in international trade agreements by the governments who apparently lose their sovereignty. Nations signed up to it! It wasn't foisted upon them and isn't a loss of sovereignty.
They discuss the neoliberal privatisation of the post-Soviet economy but don't think it worthwhile pointing out how and why the non-neoliberal Soviet system collapsed.
They make a constant argument that the public sector is a panacea for private sector ills, ignoring the many examples of public sector corruption globally and its inefficiency in many parts. Further, they talk about governments not funding the NHS adequately with annual increases of 4% (showing the public sector isn't managing well) and blame this on neoliberalism - yet the 4% increase requires constant growth, which earlier in the book they denounce as a terrible neoliberal idea...
No mention of private philanthropy contributing to the public good - for example, Carnegie libraries - and how philanthropic capitalism meets their altruistic argument in the book's closing points.
Completely sidelining political factors throughout really got my goat. Apparently the West wanted to spread neoliberalism during the Cold War just for the sake of it. According to the narrative of this book, you wouldn't think the Americans were just doing whatever they could to diminish Soviet influence. The assassination of Mossadegh was neoliberalism, rather than the one in a series of botched Western attempts to preserve a West-friendly leader. No doubt the Cuban Missile Crisis wasn't a fear of nuclear war but because Havana wanted to tax them. Sigh.
Democracy is either brilliant or a bad idea, depending which chapter you read. It's either a weapon of neoliberalism or it's Kryptonite. In my view, both are probably true, but the argument is remarkably wobbly and could have been fleshed out far better.
The point of colonial looting is interesting and I'd have liked this to have more detail, and discussion of how this has continued despite independence. How are the actions of African dictators linked to neoliberalism? Are they neoliberal or just selfish nationalists asset-stripping their own country for their own personal gain?
Saudi Arabia was not mentioned - the world is pivoting to the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia becoming increasingly wealthy from fuelling (literally) Western society for the past half century. Is Wahhabism consistent with neoliberalism?
A Thatcher quote in the book seemed to be specifically interpreted to mean that the state shouldn't help people - yet I read the quote to mean that the state should be a help of last resort and that people should try and help themselves first. I think their point would have been made better by a fuller interpretation of Thatcher's quote, as neoliberalism wants to retain the state for emergencies, such as the bailouts that are referred to in the book.
They mention that Trump repealed executive order 13770, but didn't mention that he was the one who introduced it, nor that Clinton did the same thing during his tenure.
Nixon was shown as a neoliberal, but he introduced the Clean Water Act, which is against neoliberal interests. These inconsistencies should have been discussed more - for example, how the minimum wage increases despite neoliberalism.
The authors blamed neoliberalism for depression, obesity etc,. Although certainly a factor, I don't feel it was really adequately explained why it's the key factor.
Truss was brought down by markets (run by neoliberals) because she tried to introduce neoliberal policies. Again, the authors needed to square this circle and didn't.
The argument that the left only believes in conspiracy theories because the far-right made them up and convinced the left to believe them is one of the most silly things I've read in my life.
Finally, although I have several other points that could be made, the authors talk about the USA changing during World War Two to alter their economy and society in order to win the war, and asks why it can't be done again. Apart from the existential threat of the Axis, it's because it was a short term measure to win the war, full in the knowledge that they'd return to normal afterwards. The changes proposed now to life and society would be permanent and therefore would meet far more resistance. They ignore that in the 8 years before Pearl Harbor FDR had a torrid time trying to pass through his New Deal legislation (with mixed results), and that the majority of Americans were against joining the war before December 1941, even with the evil Axis waging war across the world on their erstwhile allies.
Overall, although I understood the point that the authors were trying to make, I really didn't enjoy reading this. The chapter on conspiracies was amusing considering that the whole book is pretty much trying to argue that there's a neoliberal conspiracy run by the uber-wealthy to control our entire lives, which itself runs contrary to their other notions of systems and invisible hands.
A lot of the book is mainly about how capitalism is a naff system and has some incredible flaws that can be taken advantage of by selfish and immoral individuals to accumulate vast resources, and then use those resources to protect their position and wealth. This would have been perfectly valid. But to cook up a bunch of varying and sometimes conflicting narratives and arguments and throw them under an umbrella term like neoliberalism and rant about it (the book feels like a rant for two-thirds of the time), does a disservice to the fundamental and valuable argument hidden underneath - and a disservice to the authors, who are clearly articulate and intelligent. The writing style was great. The content was not so.
A more balanced view, or a couple hundred more pages exploring the context and nuance of capitalism and neoliberalism would make this a far better read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2024
Over the past 8 years I have been seeing more and more political actors attempt to display some version of a populist persona both on the right and left. Where they use class war language to rail against corporate America in favor of working and middle class families. Many are playing a character and actually will issue minimal to zero institutional change. However, it's interesting to notice this seismic shift in rhetoric that shows many political actors need to use this language to get elected. That is the interesting part because it reflects the disgust many Americans both on the right and left have about our current political system. I believe that speaks to the death of neoliberalism. The standard Neo liberal approach cannot win an election when there is national attention on the election. This political understanding is not yet understood by mainstream political pundits or commentators. Let me make an example.
Recently the topic of price controls came up in the response to corporations price gouging Americans on basic necessities such as groceries, rent etc. During the inflationary period in 2022, grocery prices increased 8.5% while corporate profits were 30% higher, virtually at all time highs. Due to the economic concentration of groceries in America. There was no where else to go, there was no competition, there was no other options. You were forced to pay those rates. So this price control policy which was rolled out in a purposely vague fashion was meet with sheer contempt from Silicon Valley elites, pundits and corporate America. The politician who put this policy out was compared to a communist... But what did the American people think?
62% of Americans favored this policy, with 52% of Republicans favoring this policy. This is Neo liberals worst nightmare because if the people believe the government can step in and resolve this issue, it damages the entire elite conception of free markets where voters and politicians are supposed to stay out of the market. Increasingly this view is being meet with deep anger, the naive elites who criticized this plan show their inability to understand what the majority of Americans are thinking. A deep misunderstanding of what the center in this country actually is when it comes to economic gains. Elites should never discount Americans anger towards corporate America after the 2008 crisis and the price gouging during the pandemic.
This brings me to my next point, today the justice department prosecuted a software company that was used by landlords to artificially raise rents. The FBI raided their offices a few months ago and now are charged with violating anti trust policy. Where landlords would impute data points about their properties and the models of the software company would give the maximum price landlords could charge tenants, it also recommended removing listings and purposely keeping rooms unused as a means to inflate the price of their properties by restricting supply. The software company was a way where landlords could conspire through software to raise prices in tandem. The software company is called RealPage. This speaks to my point about there being a free market where companies are supposed to compete against one another to offer the best services, instead they scheme to force you into higher prices while offering no change in property value or amenities. This is the type of 'capitalism' many elites desire.
This book was an interesting read on the history of Neo liberalism, it talks about recent events like the pandemic, price gouging, rents soaring and the financial crisis. However, its only 164 small pages. To really deliver something more meaningful, we need to go deep into every topic thats why I only rated it 3 stars. It was a good quick read, I would recommend it if you're looking for a primer on Neo liberalism.
Recently the topic of price controls came up in the response to corporations price gouging Americans on basic necessities such as groceries, rent etc. During the inflationary period in 2022, grocery prices increased 8.5% while corporate profits were 30% higher, virtually at all time highs. Due to the economic concentration of groceries in America. There was no where else to go, there was no competition, there was no other options. You were forced to pay those rates. So this price control policy which was rolled out in a purposely vague fashion was meet with sheer contempt from Silicon Valley elites, pundits and corporate America. The politician who put this policy out was compared to a communist... But what did the American people think?
62% of Americans favored this policy, with 52% of Republicans favoring this policy. This is Neo liberals worst nightmare because if the people believe the government can step in and resolve this issue, it damages the entire elite conception of free markets where voters and politicians are supposed to stay out of the market. Increasingly this view is being meet with deep anger, the naive elites who criticized this plan show their inability to understand what the majority of Americans are thinking. A deep misunderstanding of what the center in this country actually is when it comes to economic gains. Elites should never discount Americans anger towards corporate America after the 2008 crisis and the price gouging during the pandemic.
This brings me to my next point, today the justice department prosecuted a software company that was used by landlords to artificially raise rents. The FBI raided their offices a few months ago and now are charged with violating anti trust policy. Where landlords would impute data points about their properties and the models of the software company would give the maximum price landlords could charge tenants, it also recommended removing listings and purposely keeping rooms unused as a means to inflate the price of their properties by restricting supply. The software company was a way where landlords could conspire through software to raise prices in tandem. The software company is called RealPage. This speaks to my point about there being a free market where companies are supposed to compete against one another to offer the best services, instead they scheme to force you into higher prices while offering no change in property value or amenities. This is the type of 'capitalism' many elites desire.
This book was an interesting read on the history of Neo liberalism, it talks about recent events like the pandemic, price gouging, rents soaring and the financial crisis. However, its only 164 small pages. To really deliver something more meaningful, we need to go deep into every topic thats why I only rated it 3 stars. It was a good quick read, I would recommend it if you're looking for a primer on Neo liberalism.
June 13, 2024
Everyone should read this book!
September 9, 2024
“Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s ten richest men have doubled their wealth, while an additional 163 million people have been pushed below the poverty line.�
This book traces the origins of capitalism back to the island of Madeira in the 1400s with the Portuguese capture and exploitation of the land before repeating the same Boom, Bust Quit! model to the West African island of Cabo Verde before moving onwards to find new regions to exploit again and again.
“The real triumph of the neoliberal international network was not its capture of the right, but its subsequent colonisation of the parties that once stood for everything Hayek detested.�
We then go onto the roots of neoliberalism with the Austrians Von Mises and Von Hayek and the later development of their ideas through the Chicago School and how that would then spread out and establish across the world, usually through the violent coercion of the US military and the CIA, overthrowing democracy and installing dictators, reframing perspective and switching people from citizens to consumers.
“The man who sank Hillary Clinton’s bid for the presidency in 2016 was not Donald Trump. It was her husband.�
We also get to those awful, cowardly men and their so called “third way� ideas, the likes of Clinton, Blair and Obama and the less charismatic and forgettable millionaires who followed them, and currently squat in power on both sides of the Atlantic serving various corporate agendas at the expense of the environment and the majority of the electorate.
“Friedman’s masterstroke was implanting the idea that ‘Business freedom is personal freedom� in the minds of Americans.�
Thanks to four decades of successive neoliberal leaders and governments we see that we are moving closer all the time to all resources, services and objects being commodified and all relationships being reduced to cold, transactional exchanges where the motive is only profit, regardless of the true external costs or long-term damage to society.
They have adopted the Boom, Bust, Quit! model across the planet and are now planning to export that model to outer space and other planets, because it is entirely dependent on forever finding new markets and territories to exploit, driven only by profit no matter the external cost or impact to anyone or anything else.
“Neoliberal capitalism continues to loot the South to enrich the North, it also loots the future to enrich the present.�
In the UK, the government hands back 91p of every £1 it harvests in the form of Energy Profits Levy tax to oil and gas corporations drilling for new sources, also we see that, between 2013 and 2018 the UK spent almost twice as much as sealing its borders as it did on climate finance. The US spent 11 times more, Australia 13 and Canada 15 times more,
“Collectively, the rich nations are fortifying themselves with a rampart to exclude the victims of their own waste products.�
So this provides a solid and highly accessible introduction into neoliberalism, the authors show it for what it is and its true toxic impact throughout societies across the world and what happens when you live under a chronic culture of privatising profit and democratising loss.
February 12, 2025
Monbiot has been banging various versions of this often lonely drum for decades now. And many people, myself included, largely agree with him. But the truth isn't what it used to be, and though he and Peter Hutchison finish this book with a note of hope, or possibility, it still feels like such a big job to turn things around.
November 27, 2024
Loved this a lot. Reminded me of Adam Curtis� Screenwipe and Newswipe. I recommend to anyone interested in social science, sociology, politics, basically anything.
February 1, 2025
The book covers the concept of neoliberalism. This is the term few of us understand, and the authors posit that this lack of understanding is a deliberate, evasive ploy. Neoliberalisms anonymity is both a symptom and a cause of its power. What is it a symptom of? It is a symptom of our created apathy and created helplessness due to a sense that things cannot be done another way. Indeed, like an unconcerned parent ”governments repeatedly seek to persuade us that they are incapable of action� can't address poverty� can't ensure that the elderly, or the sick, or the addicted are properly looked after.�. The learned hopelessness perpetuates nihilism. There is a political element to this, because being alone / divided makes us weaker.
The authors argue that all the pertinent modern-day issues are related to the same underlying cause, namely neoliberalism. Rather than recognising this, we turn to demagogues like Donald Trump to address non-issues.
“What is neoliberalism? It's an ideology whose central belief is that competition is the defining feature of human-kind. It tells us we are greedy and selfish, but that greed and selfishness light the path to social improvement, generating the wealth that will eventually enrich us all.� as a result, we are cast as consumers rather than citizens. In this doctrine of the undeserving are revealed through the grace bestowed upon them by the god of money. Recasting our entire lives as a series of transactions relationships lose their inherent value and we become increasingly nihilistic. Indeed, any state attempt to redistribute wealth in this line of thought fuels dependency and subsidises the losers.
“Powerful people and corporations seize wealth from around the world and hide it from the governments that might otherwise have taxed it, and from the people they have robbed� The fairy tale that capitalism tells about itself - that you become rich through hard work and enterprise - is the greatest propaganda coup in human history.�
I believe the main issue that the authors are getting at is ultimately rising inequality, which is not a sustainable phenomenon. “Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world's ten richest men have doubled their wealth,' while an additional 163 million people have been pushed below the poverty line.� indeed, wealth does not trickle down to benefit the masses. Where enterprise and profits are prioritised there is an increasing shift in power towards those individuals and companies with the greatest amount of wealth. Indeed politicians often interested in their own careers after leaving office will exchange voting for de-regulation for advantages when they leave office.
“The dirtiest, most anti-social and damaging companies have the greatest incentive to invest in politics, as they are the ones most likely to face the heaviest regulation, if exposed to full democratic scrutiny. For this reason, they spend more money on changing political outcomes than any other commercial interests. The result is that politics comes to be dominated by the dirtiest, most anti-social and damaging industries.�
The book, then goes on to suggest that there ought to be limitations on how much private wealth can and should be accumulated. Nonetheless some of the communal proposals of the book seem to be incompatible with modern nation states. It is a good book, that gets you thinking about 12 inequality and ludicrousness of the constant chase for wealth. This chase benefits, nobody other than those that have excessive amounts of wealth in the first place. The authors are right to point out that this is worsening quality of life and also massively impacting peoples mental health. The most prominent issue is without a doubt rising inequality.
The authors argue that all the pertinent modern-day issues are related to the same underlying cause, namely neoliberalism. Rather than recognising this, we turn to demagogues like Donald Trump to address non-issues.
“What is neoliberalism? It's an ideology whose central belief is that competition is the defining feature of human-kind. It tells us we are greedy and selfish, but that greed and selfishness light the path to social improvement, generating the wealth that will eventually enrich us all.� as a result, we are cast as consumers rather than citizens. In this doctrine of the undeserving are revealed through the grace bestowed upon them by the god of money. Recasting our entire lives as a series of transactions relationships lose their inherent value and we become increasingly nihilistic. Indeed, any state attempt to redistribute wealth in this line of thought fuels dependency and subsidises the losers.
“Powerful people and corporations seize wealth from around the world and hide it from the governments that might otherwise have taxed it, and from the people they have robbed� The fairy tale that capitalism tells about itself - that you become rich through hard work and enterprise - is the greatest propaganda coup in human history.�
I believe the main issue that the authors are getting at is ultimately rising inequality, which is not a sustainable phenomenon. “Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world's ten richest men have doubled their wealth,' while an additional 163 million people have been pushed below the poverty line.� indeed, wealth does not trickle down to benefit the masses. Where enterprise and profits are prioritised there is an increasing shift in power towards those individuals and companies with the greatest amount of wealth. Indeed politicians often interested in their own careers after leaving office will exchange voting for de-regulation for advantages when they leave office.
“The dirtiest, most anti-social and damaging companies have the greatest incentive to invest in politics, as they are the ones most likely to face the heaviest regulation, if exposed to full democratic scrutiny. For this reason, they spend more money on changing political outcomes than any other commercial interests. The result is that politics comes to be dominated by the dirtiest, most anti-social and damaging industries.�
The book, then goes on to suggest that there ought to be limitations on how much private wealth can and should be accumulated. Nonetheless some of the communal proposals of the book seem to be incompatible with modern nation states. It is a good book, that gets you thinking about 12 inequality and ludicrousness of the constant chase for wealth. This chase benefits, nobody other than those that have excessive amounts of wealth in the first place. The authors are right to point out that this is worsening quality of life and also massively impacting peoples mental health. The most prominent issue is without a doubt rising inequality.
April 25, 2025
This book helped me put my thinking more into historical context. Why the world is how it is today seems to make more sense to me now. I was especially happy when the author mentioned complexity :)
While reading the book, following the narrative was easy, but now trying to recount it is not as easy. I wonder if this is because neoliberalism is so deeply stuck in my being that it is hard to imagine a world outside of it.
I still wonder about the "why" of the other side. Why would people with a lot of money be so mean? Is it just because money makes people bad (I can't believe it)? Or is there something more complex at play (must be, but what is it?)? How can we stop the rich from exploiting the planet and the people? I believe that most people have good intentions, but that the system makes them act a certain way. What are those levers we must push to change it?
I also wish there were more answers on how the thinking of the people who vote for the right works. There are currently so many, and I am still looking for answers on their motives other than "the rich people put a lot of money into changing their opinion into supporting them". How exactly does it work? Someone tell me. There are still so many black boxes I feel like I need to understand better before we can actually change this system. Or am I just one of those people he describes at the end, who wants to change the world incrementally rather than in big waves at a time? Do we have all the answers we need, and does change really lie in doing rather than thinking about it? Possibly. Maybe both at the same time?
While reading the book, following the narrative was easy, but now trying to recount it is not as easy. I wonder if this is because neoliberalism is so deeply stuck in my being that it is hard to imagine a world outside of it.
I still wonder about the "why" of the other side. Why would people with a lot of money be so mean? Is it just because money makes people bad (I can't believe it)? Or is there something more complex at play (must be, but what is it?)? How can we stop the rich from exploiting the planet and the people? I believe that most people have good intentions, but that the system makes them act a certain way. What are those levers we must push to change it?
I also wish there were more answers on how the thinking of the people who vote for the right works. There are currently so many, and I am still looking for answers on their motives other than "the rich people put a lot of money into changing their opinion into supporting them". How exactly does it work? Someone tell me. There are still so many black boxes I feel like I need to understand better before we can actually change this system. Or am I just one of those people he describes at the end, who wants to change the world incrementally rather than in big waves at a time? Do we have all the answers we need, and does change really lie in doing rather than thinking about it? Possibly. Maybe both at the same time?
January 3, 2025
A blistering rebuke of capitalism's great accelerator for the past 50+ years known as neoliberalism. It's a term many of us have heard tossed around, but likely few people can clearly define. This is no accident—its ambiguous place in the minds of the public is all part of the plan.
The Invisible Doctrine's authors, journalist George Monbiot and filmmaker Peter Hutchison, present a sweeping and eminently readable history of neoliberalism and how it came to affect and influence almost every aspect of our lives. The world is rife with crises and rather than providing solutions, capitalism only exacerbates them or creates new ones. Neoliberalism is the mechanism through which these failures of the system continue to prop themselves up in a never ending cycle of greed and misery.
As exhausting and discouraging it may be to read, the authors make the point that in order to affect change, we must first understand. This book is part of that understanding. That isn't to say that there aren't issues here. On some subjects Montbiot and Hutchison do not delve very deep into the history and some examples might seem to merely scratch the surface of an issue. However, I do not hold this against the book as it really is not a text meant for academic study. This is a scathing polemic written to be accessible by the many which shines a spotlight on one of the great evils of our time. For many of us, the immediacy of the problem is not readily apparent, obscured as it is by the sheen of technology and the endless stream of media. Flooding people with information so that no one really knows the truth might lead them to wonder if they can ever know the truth. Perhaps the truth is not worth pursuing as they are far too preoccupied with simply trying to make ends meet. Once again, this is all by design. The path to change may not easy to come by, but it is not too late to save us from ourselves.
The Invisible Doctrine's authors, journalist George Monbiot and filmmaker Peter Hutchison, present a sweeping and eminently readable history of neoliberalism and how it came to affect and influence almost every aspect of our lives. The world is rife with crises and rather than providing solutions, capitalism only exacerbates them or creates new ones. Neoliberalism is the mechanism through which these failures of the system continue to prop themselves up in a never ending cycle of greed and misery.
As exhausting and discouraging it may be to read, the authors make the point that in order to affect change, we must first understand. This book is part of that understanding. That isn't to say that there aren't issues here. On some subjects Montbiot and Hutchison do not delve very deep into the history and some examples might seem to merely scratch the surface of an issue. However, I do not hold this against the book as it really is not a text meant for academic study. This is a scathing polemic written to be accessible by the many which shines a spotlight on one of the great evils of our time. For many of us, the immediacy of the problem is not readily apparent, obscured as it is by the sheen of technology and the endless stream of media. Flooding people with information so that no one really knows the truth might lead them to wonder if they can ever know the truth. Perhaps the truth is not worth pursuing as they are far too preoccupied with simply trying to make ends meet. Once again, this is all by design. The path to change may not easy to come by, but it is not too late to save us from ourselves.
April 5, 2025
A very brief and basic introduction to neoliberalism, most enjoyed the two chapters at the end which touched on new visions for democracy.
January 13, 2025
This isn't a comprehensive text, but it's not meant to be that and it never claims to be one. Instead, it's a primer on the history of neoliberalism, tracing its origins and infiltration into most of the political systems around the world. If you're well-read on the topic, you're not gonna get much of this book. However, if you're like me and you're just dipping your toes into learning about neoliberalism, this is a good starting point.
June 8, 2024
I like a good polemic once in a while, but please try and convince your readers that you take them seriously by engaging with your opponents. A little back and forth with the defenders of neo-liberalism would have made this a better book. What did they really say? How did they respond to the actual societal result of their ideas? etc etc.
October 28, 2024
George Monbiot is one of the few who lay out the scientific facts of everything gone and going wrong with humanity relentlessly, here deconstructing neoliberalism.
April 15, 2025
Feel like I needed to include the first paragraph of the book:
“What is neoliberalism? It’s an ideology whose central belief is that competition is the defining feature of humankind. It tells us we are greedy and selfish, but that greed and selfishness light the path to social improvement, generating the wealth that will eventually enrich us all. It casts us as consumers rather than citizens. It seeks to persuade us that our well-being is best realized not through political choice, but through economic choice�. by buying and selling we can discover a natural, meritocratic hierarchy of winners and losers.�
Much better second half than first half, this book did a good job of summing up a lot of questions I’ve had about society and politics and the general lack of social programs in this country. From the mid 20th century to today, astroturf campaigns have spent billions of dollars convincing us that neoliberal “competition� and the “free market� are the only fair and just way to run a society, and keeping us (well, some people�) distracted by meaningless culture wars so that we don’t look towards exposing real corruption and forging a more equitable society.
“What is neoliberalism? It’s an ideology whose central belief is that competition is the defining feature of humankind. It tells us we are greedy and selfish, but that greed and selfishness light the path to social improvement, generating the wealth that will eventually enrich us all. It casts us as consumers rather than citizens. It seeks to persuade us that our well-being is best realized not through political choice, but through economic choice�. by buying and selling we can discover a natural, meritocratic hierarchy of winners and losers.�
Much better second half than first half, this book did a good job of summing up a lot of questions I’ve had about society and politics and the general lack of social programs in this country. From the mid 20th century to today, astroturf campaigns have spent billions of dollars convincing us that neoliberal “competition� and the “free market� are the only fair and just way to run a society, and keeping us (well, some people�) distracted by meaningless culture wars so that we don’t look towards exposing real corruption and forging a more equitable society.
February 5, 2025
Beoordeeld als pamflet/essay. Vurige aanklacht die de neoliberale 'consensus' tot de grond toe afbrandt.
Natuurlijk wat blinde vlekken (geopolitiek, lokale variatie, cultuur), maar met name de stukken over geschiedenis van het normaliseren van het neoliberalisme zijn sterk.
Als vervolg daarop ook het framen van onze zogenaamde 'individuele verantwoordelijkheid' op het gebied van duurzaamheid als truc van dezelfde neoliberale: klimaatverandering, ecologische voetafdruk... termen verzonnen door corporate lobbies om de bal bij consumenten te laten.
Natuurlijk wat blinde vlekken (geopolitiek, lokale variatie, cultuur), maar met name de stukken over geschiedenis van het normaliseren van het neoliberalisme zijn sterk.
Als vervolg daarop ook het framen van onze zogenaamde 'individuele verantwoordelijkheid' op het gebied van duurzaamheid als truc van dezelfde neoliberale: klimaatverandering, ecologische voetafdruk... termen verzonnen door corporate lobbies om de bal bij consumenten te laten.
December 16, 2024
Ook zo benieuwd naar neoliberaal?
Luister naar het NOS-journaal! Nu vriendelijk voorgelezen door een deftige tut op de radio.
Philips wil een plek aan tafel in het overleg over de zorgbegroting. Grote bedrijven moeten een bepalende stem krijgen in ons zorgaanbod!
Windturbines in Duitsland zijn een vreselijk idee. Duurzame energiebronnen zijn stom want ze belemmeren het uitzicht van de mensen in Groesbeek!
Philips wil een plek aan tafel in het overleg over de zorgbegroting. Grote bedrijven moeten een bepalende stem krijgen in ons zorgaanbod!
Windturbines in Duitsland zijn een vreselijk idee. Duurzame energiebronnen zijn stom want ze belemmeren het uitzicht van de mensen in Groesbeek!
April 26, 2025
This book is absolutely fabulous. It offers a clear understanding of the origins of neoliberalism, how it operates, and why it continues to rise despite the many historical problems caused by this movement.
January 24, 2025
Brothers this is such a good punchy eye opening book fr fuck the Koch brothers xo
December 6, 2024
Aanrader als je ook maar een beetje geïnteresseerd bent in economic and political state of the world right now.
Leest heel makkelijk weg en is best kort. Mist daardoor af en toe wat verdere uitleg, maar stoorde me daar niet aan want het was wel goed onderbouwd en helder.
Leest heel makkelijk weg en is best kort. Mist daardoor af en toe wat verdere uitleg, maar stoorde me daar niet aan want het was wel goed onderbouwd en helder.
June 3, 2024
If there is one book I’ve ever read that is relevant to literally everyone it is this book. It’s a disgusting cliche to start a or end a review with ‘Everyone should read this book�. At best it’s filled brimming with sycophantic hyperbole, at worst it’s trite and unimaginative. But. But�
There are about 160 pages here, it’s well-written and digestible (it doesn’t use words like sycophantic in the 3rd sentence for e.g�), and it outlines our global political and economic situation in an engaging, thorough way. It’ll make you angry and sad and determined, and even maybe give you a little hope at the end. It’s no time at all to read, but in terms of times spent vs. understanding gained it must have one of the highest ratios of any book I’ve ever read. And as you might expect it’s thoroughly researched and referenced (and has about 50 more pages of endnotes for anyone wanting further reading (that’s right! A 1/3 of the book is endnotes� wild)). If there’s one thing you can do before the next General Election in your country to help you better understand what’s at stake, it’s to read the Invisible Doctrine. Everyone should read this book.
There are about 160 pages here, it’s well-written and digestible (it doesn’t use words like sycophantic in the 3rd sentence for e.g�), and it outlines our global political and economic situation in an engaging, thorough way. It’ll make you angry and sad and determined, and even maybe give you a little hope at the end. It’s no time at all to read, but in terms of times spent vs. understanding gained it must have one of the highest ratios of any book I’ve ever read. And as you might expect it’s thoroughly researched and referenced (and has about 50 more pages of endnotes for anyone wanting further reading (that’s right! A 1/3 of the book is endnotes� wild)). If there’s one thing you can do before the next General Election in your country to help you better understand what’s at stake, it’s to read the Invisible Doctrine. Everyone should read this book.
July 9, 2024
i want everyone in the world to read this book.
i have read some other books like it, such as Capitalist Realism, which i did not like and didn't stick with me. but this book was everything i wished Capitalist Realism was and more. it is very current and relevant in discussing world issues, and actually discusses multiple issues i have written essays about! it provides a comprehensive definition of neoliberalism including its history, economics and social implications, as well as discussing its predecessor, keynesian economics.
it isn't 'dangerously' radical and is surprisingly non-partisan, with strong messages of community and universal well-being (and an optimistic and actionable conclusion).
READ THIS BOOK!!!
i have read some other books like it, such as Capitalist Realism, which i did not like and didn't stick with me. but this book was everything i wished Capitalist Realism was and more. it is very current and relevant in discussing world issues, and actually discusses multiple issues i have written essays about! it provides a comprehensive definition of neoliberalism including its history, economics and social implications, as well as discussing its predecessor, keynesian economics.
it isn't 'dangerously' radical and is surprisingly non-partisan, with strong messages of community and universal well-being (and an optimistic and actionable conclusion).
READ THIS BOOK!!!
September 28, 2024
this was certainly more of an introductory text, a sort of hand-holding written guide for those completely unfamiliar with the workings of neoliberalism. the information, while semi-simplified, is nonetheless important and relevant.
you can’t argue or take issue with any of the criticisms of capitalism and neoliberalism that the authors make � these are all spot on. all in all, though, monbiot and hutchison seem to (rightly) criticise the system without actually acknowledging the real and viable alternative to it (socialism/communism).
my final take is that this is a good place to start for those looking to question and understand the exploitative economic system in place today, but that it should be accompanied by other, more revolutionary texts to complete the bigger picture.
you can’t argue or take issue with any of the criticisms of capitalism and neoliberalism that the authors make � these are all spot on. all in all, though, monbiot and hutchison seem to (rightly) criticise the system without actually acknowledging the real and viable alternative to it (socialism/communism).
my final take is that this is a good place to start for those looking to question and understand the exploitative economic system in place today, but that it should be accompanied by other, more revolutionary texts to complete the bigger picture.
August 5, 2024
Great overview of the history and dangers of neoliberalism since Hayek and von Mises in the 1930s, through the Koch brothers, Reagan and Thatcher, then Clinton and Blair to Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel.
The authors make a good point when they show how the neoliberalists disguise their radical ideas as freedom-loving when what they really mean is freedom for the rich to do as they wish (and slavery for the rest) rather than more freedom for all of us. The American Dream means anyone can aspire to be rich and successful but the truth is that the planet can only sustain a handful of rich people because capitalism is very destructive and wasteful of natural (and human) resources.
The authors make a good point when they show how the neoliberalists disguise their radical ideas as freedom-loving when what they really mean is freedom for the rich to do as they wish (and slavery for the rest) rather than more freedom for all of us. The American Dream means anyone can aspire to be rich and successful but the truth is that the planet can only sustain a handful of rich people because capitalism is very destructive and wasteful of natural (and human) resources.
July 13, 2024
Twenty years ago we did talk about neoliberalism and many thought that its time had passed after 2008. Looking around you anywhere in the world will show that is not the case, but if you don't know where to look, Monbiot and Hutchinson's new book is a simply brilliant guide. Neoliberalism's invisibility is by design, as the authors convincingly argue. There are few new things here, but it is packaged in such compelling narrative that it should become standard reading for everyone.
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