A small tuft can topple a big load, and it doesn’t necessarily take large amounts of sand to make a huge piece of machinery stop – just a single grain of sand is enough. Use the sand in a real, ritual or conceptual way to put spokes in the wheels of the neoliberalism’s power apparatus.
Introduction
The neoliberal ideology creates a justification for society’s very richest to become even richer, and sets a course for how politicians can be used as useful idiots in the implementation of this plan. As one participant at a neoliberal think tank forum put it: Politicians are empty ships waiting to be filled.
Both the neoliberal clergy, which is made up of market liberal think tanks worldwide, and their super rich clients, realize how shockingly unfair and anti-democratic this strategy is. Therefore, they do everything they can to make both the ideology and its consequences invisible, as well as to hide the connections between themselves and society’s very richest.
The neoliberal think tanks in particular have two main arenas. One is the media, where they tirelessly engage in obfuscation and the spread of propaganda on such a large scale that no one else has the resources to wage an equal battle. The second arena is the informal spaces of politics, such as corridors, lobbies, nightclubs and VIP lounges, well hidden from public view.
To control the media, the neoliberal think tanks have built up an impressive academic army of influence agents, equipped with specialist knowledge that can counter any approach to critical thinking about the neoliberal project. Here we find everything from historians, philosophers and social scientists via statisticians, economists and lawyers to communication advisers and media consultants. There isn’t a field in which they don’t have expertise, and they speak with authority and confidence without revealing their actual values. As the academics they are, they strive for objectivity, but on closer inspection, they are rhetorically one-track.
Revolving door practice is an important keyword when it comes to describing how the neoliberal think tanks influence politics. Former politicians are in demand as PR advisers in consultancy agencies or think tanks, and act as lobbyists for powerful and wealthy clients. Acquaintances and networks from their previous political activities give them access to forums where political decisions are made. In addition, they possess knowledge of methods and strategies for the political game.
Both the media strategy and lobbying are central components of the power apparatus of the neoliberal think tanks – a power apparatus that turns money power into political power in a particularly anti-democratic way. The consequences of this are a society characterized by powerlessness and the crumbling of trust.
Contents
Sand fom the Sahara
Instructions
If it’s possible to sprinkle sand in a machine, it might also work to sprinkle sand in a power apparatus?
It’s worth a try.