How does this theory apply to say, gay marriage or healthcare in America?
These are the counterexamples to the ratchet effect that demonstrate the theory is false.
What the ratchet effect fails to encapsulate about neoliberalism is that neoliberals are not blocking progress to the left. Neoliberals are intentionally moving too slowly to the left to make meaningful, systemic change.
Democrats move one step forward, Republicans move three steps back. So even though Democrats are moving us forward they do it so slowly that over multiple administrations we move backwards.
Democrats never bothered to codify Roe v Wade. Republicans aggressively pursued Supreme Court appointments. Democrats refused to remove the filibuster when RBG died. Republicans removed the filibuster to get their Supreme Court picks through the Senate.
Side note, it was Democrats for who removed the filibuster for most Presidential appointments, but not Supreme Court appointments. People tend to learn the wrong lesson for this as well. Republicans are bad faith actors. They are going to try to seize power no matter what Democrats do. The Democrats did not bring this upon themselves. Republicans did it.
This distinction, that the Democrats are moving too slowly not blocking progress, matters because it is a core appeal of neoliberalism. If neoliberals completely blocked progress as the ratchet effect claims, people would more readily reject neoliberalism. Instead neoliberalism allows for incremental progress which at a glance can seem appealing. What people who partially internalize neoliberalism fail to realize is that our problems our systemic. Incremental change is too slow to correct criminal justice, wealth inequality, or stop climate change.
In short we need a new meme. I’ve been thinking about two dancers moving slowly to a furnace on the right. Something like:
🚪 💃 🕺🔥
Where the dancer on the left keeps moving one step towards the exit while the dancer on the right takes three steps toward the furnace. This meme could probably use some work though or maybe a different approach altogether. I would definitely would like to hear people’s thoughts.
Progress comes at the point of a spear. Voters had to demand it before the oligarchy would consider concessions in either area, and it’s worth noting that neither of those categories are examples of left-wing victories. Healthcare is still a dystopian nightmare (and capitalist wet dream) and gay marriage is under threat from a SCOTUS that is looking for wedge issues to rile up the conservative base for the next round of elections.
Except we’re not in a more progressive place than we were twenty years ago. We have literal Nazis running the government. Twenty years ago, there was public demand for gay marriage rights. Today, the government is considering pregnancy incentives. Twenty years ago, we had public demand for healthcare reform. Today, we have unfettered capitalism murdering sick people for profit. Can you not see how the centrist half-measures were distractions, not progress. It was the frog in the boiling water turning down the heat so it boils slower. That’s not progress.
Same two party system has been in place since before the civil rights movements.
The last VP’s marriage would’ve been illegal in multiple states and Kamala wouldn’t have been allowed to campaign in any diner she wanted.
Kids got conscripted to die overseas.
Today, we have unfettered capitalism murdering sick people for profit.
You think this got worse since Obamacare? Super curious about how you decided that.
You’re making some pretty wild claims. Yes, there’s a lot to worry about. But to say everything is hopeless and there’s been no progress is just as childish as when conservatives complained that America was now a decadent liberal hellhole because Obama improved healthcare.
Obamacare fixed some of the more egregious and indefensible practices, like refusing to cover pre-existing conditions, but it maintained and fortified the stranglehold insurers have on the healthcare industry. In many ways it was good, but on balance we are not better off.
And yes, Kamala was able to drink from the same fountains as Trump, but those victories came at great expense and over long time periods. Dr. King didn’t get to see the promised land before he was assassinated in 1968, and in 2025 we’re sending brown people to death camps.
Things seem better than they were, because we like to pat ourselves on the back for all the small victories. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, progress comes at the point of the spear. Nobody wants to keep pushing forever, keep boring those hard boards their whole life, so we notch the wall where we stand and call that the goal line.
But the oppressors never tire, never waiver, because they are the predators. When the old oligarchy tires, they’re eaten by the younger, hungrier oligarchs. And each generation will curry favor by granting small victories. You can have some marriages recognized, as long as the birth rates stay high enough. You can have some healthcare, but costs will skyrocket while wages stagnate.
Rapist Donald J Trump, convicted felon, racist, won two national elections. United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson murdered hundreds of thousands of sick Americans before he was killed in the street. Private companies are leaking top secret information to foreign dictators. And it’s still legal for the police to murder a black person.
We need to stop accepting “good enough” as good enough. Patrick Henry didn’t say “give me liberty or make me an offer.” Ελευθερία ι συμβιβασμός? Fuck that. We’re not better until we’re all better.
How does this theory apply to say, gay marriage or healthcare in America? Both of which have gone from a less Left position to a more Left position?
These are the counterexamples to the ratchet effect that demonstrate the theory is false.
What the ratchet effect fails to encapsulate about neoliberalism is that neoliberals are not blocking progress to the left. Neoliberals are intentionally moving too slowly to the left to make meaningful, systemic change.
Democrats move one step forward, Republicans move three steps back. So even though Democrats are moving us forward they do it so slowly that over multiple administrations we move backwards.
Democrats never bothered to codify Roe v Wade. Republicans aggressively pursued Supreme Court appointments. Democrats refused to remove the filibuster when RBG died. Republicans removed the filibuster to get their Supreme Court picks through the Senate.
Side note, it was Democrats for who removed the filibuster for most Presidential appointments, but not Supreme Court appointments. People tend to learn the wrong lesson for this as well. Republicans are bad faith actors. They are going to try to seize power no matter what Democrats do. The Democrats did not bring this upon themselves. Republicans did it.
This distinction, that the Democrats are moving too slowly not blocking progress, matters because it is a core appeal of neoliberalism. If neoliberals completely blocked progress as the ratchet effect claims, people would more readily reject neoliberalism. Instead neoliberalism allows for incremental progress which at a glance can seem appealing. What people who partially internalize neoliberalism fail to realize is that our problems our systemic. Incremental change is too slow to correct criminal justice, wealth inequality, or stop climate change.
In short we need a new meme. I’ve been thinking about two dancers moving slowly to a furnace on the right. Something like:
🚪 💃 🕺🔥
Where the dancer on the left keeps moving one step towards the exit while the dancer on the right takes three steps toward the furnace. This meme could probably use some work though or maybe a different approach altogether. I would definitely would like to hear people’s thoughts.
Progress comes at the point of a spear. Voters had to demand it before the oligarchy would consider concessions in either area, and it’s worth noting that neither of those categories are examples of left-wing victories. Healthcare is still a dystopian nightmare (and capitalist wet dream) and gay marriage is under threat from a SCOTUS that is looking for wedge issues to rile up the conservative base for the next round of elections.
This is still not what the meme is saying. Healthcare was even worse pre Obamacare. Gay marriage was not legal 20 years ago.
Both are in a more progressive place than they were twenty years ago, which is completely contrary to the notion of ratcheting.
Except we’re not in a more progressive place than we were twenty years ago. We have literal Nazis running the government. Twenty years ago, there was public demand for gay marriage rights. Today, the government is considering pregnancy incentives. Twenty years ago, we had public demand for healthcare reform. Today, we have unfettered capitalism murdering sick people for profit. Can you not see how the centrist half-measures were distractions, not progress. It was the frog in the boiling water turning down the heat so it boils slower. That’s not progress.
Same two party system has been in place since before the civil rights movements.
The last VP’s marriage would’ve been illegal in multiple states and Kamala wouldn’t have been allowed to campaign in any diner she wanted.
Kids got conscripted to die overseas.
You think this got worse since Obamacare? Super curious about how you decided that.
You’re making some pretty wild claims. Yes, there’s a lot to worry about. But to say everything is hopeless and there’s been no progress is just as childish as when conservatives complained that America was now a decadent liberal hellhole because Obama improved healthcare.
Obamacare fixed some of the more egregious and indefensible practices, like refusing to cover pre-existing conditions, but it maintained and fortified the stranglehold insurers have on the healthcare industry. In many ways it was good, but on balance we are not better off.
And yes, Kamala was able to drink from the same fountains as Trump, but those victories came at great expense and over long time periods. Dr. King didn’t get to see the promised land before he was assassinated in 1968, and in 2025 we’re sending brown people to death camps.
Things seem better than they were, because we like to pat ourselves on the back for all the small victories. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, progress comes at the point of the spear. Nobody wants to keep pushing forever, keep boring those hard boards their whole life, so we notch the wall where we stand and call that the goal line.
But the oppressors never tire, never waiver, because they are the predators. When the old oligarchy tires, they’re eaten by the younger, hungrier oligarchs. And each generation will curry favor by granting small victories. You can have some marriages recognized, as long as the birth rates stay high enough. You can have some healthcare, but costs will skyrocket while wages stagnate.
Rapist Donald J Trump, convicted felon, racist, won two national elections. United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson murdered hundreds of thousands of sick Americans before he was killed in the street. Private companies are leaking top secret information to foreign dictators. And it’s still legal for the police to murder a black person.
We need to stop accepting “good enough” as good enough. Patrick Henry didn’t say “give me liberty or make me an offer.” Ελευθερία ι συμβιβασμός? Fuck that. We’re not better until we’re all better.