How the Two-Party System Protects the Rich and Leaves You Behind
Let’s cut the crap, if you think “liberals” are to blame for the economic hellscape we’re living in, you’ve been conned. The real snake is neoliberalism, a corporate friendly ideology that both Democrats and Republicans have been shoving down our throats for decades. But thanks to some corny slick ass political branding and media twist, liberals are the ones being blamed while the actual offenders walk right past you.
Conservatives love to blame liberals for everything, (especially suburbia) from skyrocketing rents to wage stagnation, but here’s the kicker: those are the direct results of free market policies championed by the right and center left Democrats. Meanwhile, disillusioned Democrats are all pissy, fighting amongst their own party members for selling out to Wall Street and calling it “progress.”
So let’s sort through the shit and figure out why liberals are getting blamed for neoliberalism’s mess, and why that’s exactly what the real culprits want.
The Bait-and-Switch: Liberalism vs. Neoliberalism
First, a little context. When we talk about “liberals” in America, we’re usually talking about people who want a stronger social safety net, higher taxes on the rich, and regulations to keep corporate assholes in check. Think FDR’s New Deal or LBJ’s Great Society.
Neoliberalism, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. It’s about slashing regulations, cutting taxes for corporations, and letting the free market solve everything, even when it screws over working people. This isn’t some fringe theory; it’s been mainstream U.S. policy since at least the 1980s.
The problem is, the line between these two ideologies has been intentionally blurred. Neoliberalism got branded as “centrist” or even “progressive,” which is like putting lipstick on a pig and calling it a prom queen. Both parties ran with it, but liberals, especially the ones who still believe in social safety nets and fair wages, got stuck with the blame.
How Both Parties Sold Us Out
The love affair with neoliberalism started with Ronald Reagan, who cut taxes for the rich, gutted regulations, and kicked unions in the teeth. But it didn’t stop there. The real betrayal came in the 1990s when Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party hopped on the neoliberal bandwagon. Here’s what that looked like:
NAFTA: Clinton’s free trade deal was sold as a win for American workers. In reality, it was a gift-wrapped handout to corporations that offshored jobs faster than you can say “outsourcing.” Manufacturing towns across the U.S. are still paying the price.
Welfare Reform: The 1996 welfare reform law gutted federal aid programs and left millions of low-income Americans screwed. Clinton called it “ending welfare as we know it,” but what he really did was kick people while they were down.
Financial Deregulation: Repealing the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 gave Wall Street the green light to gamble with the entire economy. Less than a decade later, the 2008 financial crisis proved just how much of a disaster that was.
Obama didn’t help much, either. Sure, he passed the Affordable Care Act, but he also cozied up to Wall Street, bailed out the banks, and pushed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, another neoliberal trade deal that would’ve screwed American workers even more if it hadn’t died in Congress.
So Why Do Liberals Get the Blame?
If both parties embraced neoliberalism, why do liberals get most of the heat? Here’s the brutal truth: it’s part political strategy, part betrayal, and part sheer stupidity.
1. Betrayal of Expectations
• People expect Republicans to carry water for corporations, that’s not news. But liberals are supposed to stand up for the working class, regulate Wall Street, and actually care about inequality. When Democratic leaders started pushing neoliberal policies, it felt like a knife in the back.
2. Conservative Bullshit Tactics
• Conservatives have spent decades turning “liberal” into a catch-all insult for anything they don’t like. By branding neoliberal policies like deregulation and welfare cuts as “liberal failures,” they managed to deflect blame from their own free-market fanaticism. It’s a slick con, and it worked.
3. The Leftist Roast Session
• The loudest critics of neoliberalism aren’t conservatives, they’re people on the left. When Bernie Sanders and groups like Occupy Wall Street called out the Democratic Party for selling out, they ended up reinforcing the idea that “liberals” were to blame for everything. That’s not what they meant, but that’s how it landed.
4. Media Brainwashing
• The mainstream media loves to blur the lines between liberalism and neoliberalism, mostly because they’re owned by the same corporate interests that profit from keeping us confused. By presenting neoliberal policies as “centrist” or even “progressive,” they’ve made it damn near impossible for most people to tell the difference.
The Consequences: Fighting the Wrong Battles
Blaming liberals for neoliberalism is a waste of time, and it’s exactly what the real culprits want. While we’re busy throwing punches at each other, corporate power is getting stronger, inequality is getting worse, and the same policies that got us into this mess are still running the show.
If you’re a conservative who actually gives a damn about economic fairness, you should be just as pissed at corporate power as any leftist. And if you’re a Democrat who’s sick of getting screwed by your own party, it’s time to stop settling for candidates who just slap a rainbow sticker on neoliberal policies and call it a day.
What Needs to Happen Now
Step one is getting our definitions straight. If you think “liberal” means deregulation and free-market worship, congratulations, you’ve been played. Neoliberalism is the real enemy, and both parties are guilty.
Step two is demanding more from our so-called leaders. For Republicans, that means actually standing up to corporate power instead of just whining about “woke” culture. For Democrats, it means ditching the Wall Street cash and going back to actual liberal values, like protecting workers, regulating corporations, and making sure regular people can afford to live.
If we can’t do that, we might as well just roll out the red carpet for the billionaires and get used to living in a corporate-owned dystopia.
The bottom line is this: blaming liberals for neoliberalism’s failures is not just wrong, it’s exactly what the people in power want. By keeping us confused and divided, they get to keep raking in profits while we fight each other over scraps.
So let’s call out the real villains: the politicians in both parties who sold us out for campaign donations and boardroom gigs. Let’s stop pretending that liberals and neoliberals are the same thing, and start holding the real culprits accountable, for once.
Because if we don’t figure this out soon, we’re going to keep blaming the wrong people while the billionaires laugh all the way to the bank.
Julian Lucas, is a photographer, a purveyor of books, and writer, but mostly a photographer. Don’t ever ask him to take photos of weddings or quinceaneras, because he will charge you a ton of money.
