Neoliberalism Anchorages – Neoliberalism is not a Religion, it is a System

Authors

  • Marian Guzek

Abstract

The treatment of neoliberalism as religion leads to a situation in which
there are almost no people in the world who admit that they are neoliberals.
Although it is common in Poland, especially in political parties, it is
also inappropriate to understand neoliberalism as liberalism. As a result,
calling people ‘liberals’ sounds like calling them names. When Donald Tusk
declared his retreat from the liberal doctrine and feeling attracted to social
democracy, he did not want to be a ‘liberal’, and the main Polish neoliberal,
Leszek Balcerowicz, did not want to admit that he was one and he decided
to ‘move’ towards a target system in the libertarian ideology that takes the
form of anarcho-capitalism. The author advances and justifies a thesis that
the system of neoliberalism alone has its anchorage not only in libertarianism
but also in the financial spheres and because of that, in spite of the fact that it
caused a disastrous crisis with its first victim – the United States, the efficient
systematic reforms in this state do not lead to liberalism, which – in accordance
with economic sciences – would be in agreement with the principles
of the mainstream.

Published

2013-09-30