“Neoliberalism” Is a Delusion of Marxists

“I have written previously that much of this ‘neoliberal’ nightmare is a myth, not because the world is without problems, but because the problems of the world are much too multifaceted, internally complex, and situationally unique for each problem to regarded as just another mutation of an invincible neoliberal virus replicating across the globe.”

In the view of certain partisans on the Right, the chickens finally came home to roost following the horrific events of October 7th, when two prominent law firms decided to rescind job offers to three students at Harvard and Columbia law schools. The decisions by these firms came following the revelation that these students were affiliated with public statements blaming the Israeli government for the murder and kidnapping of Israeli citizens by Hamas terrorists. For once, words had consequences for left-wing activists after years of cancelation campaigns aimed at controversial (and often conservative) figures under the guise that “words are violence.” Activists on the Right appeared to find catharsis in trying to amplify the consequences by doxxing students who signed these anonymous letters strongly critical of Israel.

Meanwhile, principled defenders of free speech held their fire. In keeping with its free speech bona fides, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) urged pause while acknowledging that firms have the legal right to rescind job offers. Then, among the usual suspects in academia where many complaints about free speech crackdowns have originated in recent years, leaders of the faculty senate at the University of Pennsylvania condemned the efforts of major donors to withdraw funds to protest the university’s inadequate response to anti-Semitic rhetoric on its own campus.

In a letter, the three leaders wrote that “[a]cademic freedom is an essential component of a world-class university and is not a commodity that can be bought or sold by those who use their pocketbooks to shape our mission.” But this seemingly staunch defense of free speech against the priorities of Mr. Moneybags, by a university with a history of speech codes under former president Sheldon Hackney and a ranking of 247 out of 248 in the FIRE’s 2024 college free speech rankings, perhaps inadvertently shined light on another front in the contemporary culture wars about free speech—namely, the obsession among left-wing academics and intellectuals with the threat that “neoliberalism” poses to speech, freedom, equality, and just about everything else.