Imagining the Good Life

A series of essays makes the case that breaking free from neoliberalism must present a clear vision to fulfill Americans’ psychic longing for community, stability, and control.

by Shahrzad Shams June 13, 2024

SPONSORED: This article is part of a series that seeks to elevate and define a progressive vision of “the good life,” developed by the Roosevelt Institute in collaboration with The American Prospect. You can read the whole series here.

Neoliberalism’s grip is slipping. The ideological, economic, and cultural paradigm of the last half-century is waning, and for good reason. Neoliberalism has been disastrous for America’s political economy, as austerity, privatization, and deregulation have led to crippling wealth and political inequality. More insidious though equally damaging, neoliberalism has also created a sort of cultural sickness; hyperindividualism and the ever-present narratives of deservedness, productivity, and merit have infiltrated our psyches, warping our sense of self, how we view others, and how we move through the world. It’s no surprise that we are facing loneliness and suicide epidemics, that overwork and burnout are commonplace, and that our society has become atomized.

As the neoliberal order recedes, a tide of longing for a better life has washed over American society. We yearn for community and to belong to something greater than ourselves. We want to exercise control and agency over our lives. We yearn to feel safe and to experience a sense of stability. We crave clear and simple explanations for why the world works as it does, to understand why things are as they are. And perhaps most of all, we all simply long to feel good, when so much of our day-to-day lives is filled with stress, despair, and anxiety.

We know this system has failed us, and there is a clear appetite from both sides of the political spectrum to change course. The right has focused most of its attention on the psychic dissatisfaction the neoliberal order has inflicted on people, largely through the realm of mass culture. It has capitalized on the longing tide, channeling it for political gain, in service of realizing its vision of what it believes society should look like, how it should work, and for whom.

By contrast, the left has done little to engage with people’s psychic longings. Instead, it’s worked to push for and champion strong, progressive economic policies to replace the neoliberal ones that have radically expanded material inequality. This is important, critical work. But it’s not enough on its own, and it is unable to rival the emotional appeals made by the right. What are piecemeal policies compared to a large-scale vision of a purportedly just, utopian society?
https://prospect.org/sponsored/thegoodlife/2024-06-13-imagining-the-good-life/

Freedom for the Wolves
The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com › ideas › archive › 2024/04
Apr 22, 2024 — Neoliberal orthodoxy holds that economic freedom is the basis of every other kind. That orthodoxy, a Nobel economist says, is not only false; it is devouring ...