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1. Nate Cull (natecull@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 10-Jul-2019 20:15:33 EDT Nate Cull

   I find this an interesting article because I almost totally disagree with the author's definition of 'neoliberal'.

   https://lithub.com/the-problem-of-neoliberal-realism-in-contemporary-fiction/

   To me, 'neoliberalism' (an actual, and *conservative*, economic theory; very little to do with political liberalism as it is understood in 21st century America) is predicated precisely on the notion this author believes: that conflict (competition) is irreducible and cannot be resolved.

   If we want to leave neoliberalism, we must also leave conflict.

   1. Nate Cull (natecull@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 10-Jul-2019 20:18:22 EDT Nate Cull

      in reply to

      It is economic neoliberalism - 19th century, Dickens-era economics, if you like, revived as a deliberate pushback *against* the leftward swing of American politics in the 1930s - that sees humans as fundamentally individuals who can never share anything, can never aspire to any higher unity.

      If this author is bothered by the idea that humans should be able to grow past their conflicts, that conflict is NOT irreducible... then I submit that that author is bothered by leftism, not neoliberalism.

      1. Nate Cull (natecull@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 10-Jul-2019 20:25:58 EDT Nate Cull

         in reply to

         'Neoliberal Realist' fiction, to me, is the piles of depressing stuff we have where individuals must constantly fight each other for survival at every level, where there is no hope of ever seeing another's viewpoint or working in common.

         Neoliberal Realist fiction is Fight Club. It's Zombie Apocalypse stories. It's online multiplayer gaming and the cult of winning at all cost. It's Survivor and Hunger Games and the whole genre of 'reality television'.

         It's the fascist myth of eternal conflict.

         1. Nate Cull (natecull@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 10-Jul-2019 20:27:04 EDT Nate Cull

            in reply to

            So if you're believing that conflict is eternal and can never be resolved...

            ... then I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm going to enjoy your stories, because I just don't fundamentally believe that that is a true description of the actual world.

            1. Nate Cull (natecull@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 10-Jul-2019 20:32:04 EDT Nate Cull

               in reply to

               This author is maybe not making this case... I don't really even grasp WHAT they are saying about conflict, except perhaps that they find most modern fiction boring. Something that I agree with. Perhaps they just want the conflicts in the stories to be real, not artificial? And I would agree. But again: I would say that that need to artificially *introduce*, not *resolve*, interpersonal conflicts, is the neoliberal (ie: conservative, competitive, capitalist) impulse.