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Another quote from Henry Giroux:

"The liberal democratic vocabulary of rights, entitlements, social provisions, community, social responsibility, living wage, job security, equality, and justice seem oddly out of place in a country where the promise of democracy has been replaced by casino capitalism, a winner-take-all philosophy, suited to lotto players and day traders alike. As corporate culture extends even deeper into the basic institutions of civil and political society, buttressed daily by a culture industry largely in the hands of concentrated capital, it is reinforced even further by the pervasive fear and insecurity of the public that the future holds nothing beyond a watered down version of the present. As the prevailing discourse of neoliberalism seizes the public imagination, there is no vocabulary for progressive social change, democratically inspired visions, or critical notions of social agency to expand the meaning and purpose of democratic public life."

The neo-liberal emphasis on rights is defensive in character. It is designed to protect the individual against the encroachment of the state in the market place. The individual is seen to be threatened by society.

So we have the formal equality of human beings before a central state authority.

Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at August 16, 2004 11:57 PM | TrackBack