Neoliberalism in Education

Neoliberalism is a Contagious Disease

What country do you think the following excerpt from Giroux's chapter (2008) purports to describe?

(a) Indonesia

(b) USA

(c) Indonesia and the USA

(d) none of them

In keeping with the progressive impoverishment of politics and public life over the past two decades, the university is increasingly transformed into a training ground for corporate interests and, hence, receding from its role as a public sphere in which youth can become the critical citizens and democratic agents necessary to nourish a socially responsible future. Strapped for money and increasinghly defined in the language of corporate culture, many universities are now modeled after the wisdom of the business world and seems less interested in higher learning than in becoming licensed storefronts for brand-name corporations -- selling of space buildings, and research programs to rich corporate donors. As higher education is corporatized, young people find themselves on campuses that look like malls . . .. . . . As higher education increasingly becomes a privilege rather than a right, many working-class youth either find it financially impossible to enter college or, because of increased cost, have drop out.
Not surprisingly, students are now referred to as "customers," while some university presidents even argue that professors should be labeled "academic entrepreneours". College presidents are now often called CEOs and have come to be known less for their intellectual leadership than for their role as fund-raisers and their ability to bridge the worlds of academe and business. What was once the hidden curriculum of many universities -- the subordination of higher education to capital -- has now become an open and much-celebrated policy of both public and private higher education. (Giroux, Henry A, Against the Terror of Neoliberalism: Politics Beyond the Age of Greed. London, Boulder: Paradigm Publishers. 2008, pp.102-103).

Even though Giroux refer his description to the US condition, but it applies to other countries as well, perhaps it may also apply to our country. This shows that neoliberalism is indeed a global contagious disease.

Your Govt is infected by neoliberalism disease!

How do you know if your Government is infected by neo-liberalism disease?

You will immediately know it by understanding the main points of neo-liberalism

The main points of neo-liberalism Martinez, (2000).

The rule of the market.
Liberating “free” enterprise or private enterprise from any bond imposed by the government (the state) . . . Calls for total freedom of movement for capital, goods and services . . . unregulated markets is the best way to increase economic growth, which will ultimately benefit everyone.
Deregulation:
Reduce government regulation of everything that could diminish profits . . . including protecting the environment and safety of the job.
Privatization.
Sell state-owned enterprises, goods and services to private investors . . . in the name of greater efficiency.
Cutting public expenditures for social services
Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves – then blaming them, if they fail, as “lazy” ("fatalistic", "lack of need for achievement or McCleland's nAch -- added by me), etcetera.

Neoliberalism Kills

NEOLIBERALISM KILLS !!!

The domination of neoliberalism is a victory of ideas, or precisely: a set of myths. Accordingly, to be succesful in overturning the myth we must redouble our efforts to win "the battle of ideas". Winning this battle requires conserted efforts to reveal that neoliberalism functions as "an ideological cover for the promotion of capitalist interests, not as a scientific framework for iluminating the economic and social consequences of capitalist dynamics" (Hart-Landsberg, 2006).

As a set of myths, neoliberalism consists of, among other things, the myth of the superiority of "free trade"; the myth that unregulated free market is essential precondition for the fair distribution of wealth and for political democracy; the myth that economic growth will reach its maximum speed when the movement of goods, services, and capital is unimpeded by government regulation or any "un-natural barriers".

Well yes, the human race on planet Earth, taken as an aggregate mass abstraction, may be getting richer. But there is another side of reality: a new report from the World Institute for Development Economic Research of the United Nation University (as quoted in Hirschhorn, 2006) shows that wealth creation is "criminally" unequal: the richest 1 percent of adults alone owned 40 percent of global assets in the year 2000; the richest 2 percent owned more than half of household wealtyh; and the richest 10 percent accounted for 85 percent of the worl total. The trend shows that the unequal distibution of wealth may get worse; the riche are still getting richer, more millionaires are becoming billionaires.

That leaves very little for the remaining 90 percent of the global population. As for them, the bottom half of the world owned barely 1 percent of global wealth; over 1 billion poor people subsist on less one dollar a day. Even worse, according to Unicef, 30.000 children die due to poverty -- that's over 10 million children killed by neoliberals every year. The poor will not survive neoliberalism!!!

The proposition that unregulated free-market is essential precondition for political democracy, or that economic liberalization is a necessary precondition for political liberalization, is another myth. The reality shows that neoliberals' free market is slowly killing political democrarcy in various part of the world as politics become more and more commodified, as state now makes stronger and stronger alignment with corporate capital, and as the state emphasize more on its policing functions, with a stronger political willingness to punish rather that serve the poor (which are most visible in the increasing use of the coercive state appartuses to arrests homeless, to enforce anti-begging laws, to eliminated side streets vendors, to guard environmentally harmful urban projects, to take a stance on the capitalists side in industrial relations disputes, etc.). Democracy will not survive neoliberal free market!!!.

Neoliberalism kills children, and democracy !!!

Snapshots of Neoliberalism

Faces of Poverty in the Land of Plenty

God is on sabbatical leave

Friends, here is the situation:

The Kings and all their ministers are gone for a box office love movie.
Our elected noble and wise lawmakers go on comparative studies abroad, comparing their books of laws, hi-tech accesories and salaries.
Our revolutionary middle class arguing for a revolution, sipping Starbuck's coffee, then races to malls for shopping spree .
. . . and God is on sabbatical leave
. . . and they are all leave us home alone.


Yes, we are all alone when those market worshipers sneak in through our backdoor, grining, laughing. like a gang of ghosts.
. . . and in no time unveiled faces of poverty appear all around the house.


. . . and with a single Midas touch, they turned us into commodities to be sold in a market we never made. (March 14, 2008)

Neoliberalism and Plastic Surgery

To look beautiful is a neoliberalism moral duty.
Girls, go get plastic surgery for your breasts, your noses, your tummies, and your asses!. You may find and would surprise that paying for plastic surgery by women, to look beautiful and to improve employability is a typical neoliberal phenomenon.

Because, you too exist for the market, not the other way around. Accordingly, and you shall also compete each other. Neoliberalism thus see competitiveness — or specifically employability, for women and those who do not own capital — is their moral duty. They have a moral duty to arrange their lives to maximize their advantage on the labor market. As a consequence, it is not a surprise to find that plastic surgery by women – to look more beautiful -- is a common phenomenon in neoliberal economies. For them, to look beautiful is a way to improve employability (in this context is a new synonim for exploitability); the chance to get employed in several industries, especially in entertainment, media, public relations, airline industries, would be greater if you're look beautiful. Such a phenomenon helps explain the cooptation of patriarchy by neoliberal ideology, or the hierarchical co-existence between the two ideologies.

Neoliberalism and social fatigue

Enough is enough. No more development . . . please. I have had enough developments . . . I am full of developments . . . I am too tired of development. Gimme a break. Your developments have nothing t do with me . . .

Neoliberalism and the disappearance of the"public"

The extent to which neoliberal ideology penetrate our society has a direct and linear relationship with the disappearance of noncommodified or un-marketable spheres of life. As the logic of neoliberalism dictates efficiency, maximum profits and capital accumulation, maximum production and consumption, public spheres and public enterprises are increasingly either commodified (privatized) or abandoned (liquidated). It's just a question of time before we say goodbye to nearly all form of public spheres and enterprises ; educational sector will gradually become an open sector for profit-seeking investment, institutions such as public schools and universities will be pushed into service industry. The same is also true for broadcasting sector. Non-commercials public or community broadcasting stations, will be considered as unproductive spheres, and hence their airspace frequencies should be reallocated for profit-seeking broadcasting companies. In a parallel move, the State, on one hand, increasingly abandons its social investment in health, and social welfare, but, on the other hand, increasingly strengthening its policing function, to control and to punish rather than to serve the poor, intensifying the use of repressive state apparatuses to clean up streets from beggars, vendors, and other "penyakit masyarakat" (a term uses by bureaucrats for "society's diseases", such as street prostitutes, petty criminals, etc.)
Such phenomena also applies in political spheres as votes and political authorities can be bought and sold in the market, and as the State becomes more closely aligned with capital, as a new "mode of power production" (that include the circuit of money - power - more money - more power) becomes more common. Gone are the years when public could control political processes on issues affecting their life. Soros says, democracy will not survive neoliberal free market.

Neoliberalism and the death of a mother and son

Today, a seven-month pregnant mother and her 5-year old son, died of hunger
Today, a seven-month pregnant mother and her 5-year old son, died of hunger, in Makassar, the capital city of South Sulawesi. A television station aired the tragedy, seconds before continued its attack on public with a series of luxurious products commercials, before the audience switched to yellow programs that sell dreams and creams, and before everybody slipped back into their own personal businesses. Everything is back to normal by the time the nation started its Saturday evening routines. Because it's a personal tragedy of a pedicab drivers's family, not a tragedy for the nation; because it's a private matter, beyond State's responsibility and intervention; because it's simply a human tragedy, and has nothing to do with markets. That's what neoliberalism is all about.

Neoliberalism and Never-ending Disasters

Is there any direct relation between neoliberalism

and "natural" disasters?

Yes there is.

Protection, and reconstruction of the natural environment have no role in neoliberal capital accumulation programs(within the never-ending circuit of money - commodities - more money) ; they are not valued in market, and they demand extensive government intervention in the market operations. Consequently, in the absence of strong public pressures, environmental protection and reconstruction programs, or environmentally-friendly economic regulations, would all be significantly constrained. To make matter worst, for many government bureaucrats and members of parliament, their authority to make regulations, policy decisions and implementations, can all be commodified, to be sold in the market for their personal gains. Air Pollution

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/indoe.html

Air pollution is perhaps Indonesia's most severe environmental problem. According to an official at the World Bank office in Jakarta, "air pollution imposes costs of at least $400 million on the Indonesian economy every year." It also has very a serious impact on public health. For example, inflammation of the respiratory tract, which is directly linked to air quality, was the sixth leading cause of death in Indonesia (after accidents, diarrhea, cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis, and measles).

Automotive Industry
Motor vehicles are one of the chief sources of air pollution in Indonesia. Between 1995 and 2001, the number of vehicles in Indonesia grew from 12 million to almost 21 million. Many of these vehicles are motorcycles or scooters, which lack the catalytic converters required for cleaner emissions. Moreover, almost no motor vehicles in Indonesia use unleaded gasoline. Instead, the vast majority of these vehicles rely on either leaded gasoline or diesel fuel, leading to unhealthily high concentrations of airborne lead.
Despite the phasing out of leaded gasoline, Jakarta's air remains among the dirtiest in the world. The concentration of particulate matter is high, as are the levels of carbon dioxide, hydrocarbon, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. In July 2003, the Jakarta Post placed much of the blame on the fact that city authorities can only force public vehicles to comply with emissions standards. At that time, public vehicles accounted for only 315,000 of the almost 5 million vehicles in the city.

Illegal Loging
Forest fires also contribute to Indonesian air pollution. Often these fires result from illegal logging of Indonesia's rain forests. During 1997 and 1998, the fires were especially severe. Nearly 10 million hectares burned, producing a haze that impacted all of Southeast Asia. The World Bank's Indonesia Environment Monitor, 2003 states that the costs of 1997-8 fires exceeded the combined legal liabilities assessed for the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Bhopal chemical disaster.

Industries as Polluter
Indonesia's industrial sector, which contains chemical, petroleum, coal, plastic and rubber products, and food industries, also is a significant polluter. Unfortunately, there is limited quantitative data on their overall impact. The Blue Sky Program was initiated by the Ministry of Environment in 1992 to improve air quality in Indonesia's five largest cities: Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabya, and Medan. The Blue Sky Program imposed controls on 20 industries. Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/indoe.html


Deforestation and Floods

Indonesia had the world's worst deforestation in 2006

Trees have been or are being cut down at increasingly high rates. If this is not stopped many unfavorable side effects could result.

Why Trees Matter

Source: The Choice: Doomsday or Arbor Day Jocelyn Stock Andy Rochen - http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/deforestation.htm
To understand why deforestation is such a pressing and urgent issue, forests must first be given credit for what they bring to global ecosystems and the quality of life that all species maintain. Tropical Rainforests presently give a place to call home for 50% - 90% of all organisms, 90% of our relatives, the primates, and 50 million creatures that can live no place but the rich rainforests (World Rainforest Movement 16). Not only are other species at risk, but the human race also benefits from what the trees give. From something as minor as the spices that indulge food to life giving medicines, the rainforests amplify and save lives. According to the World Rainforest Movement, 25% of medicines come from the forests (28). This is a number that does not do justice to all the cures that have yet to be discovered or that have been destroyed. The forests give life, not only to other species, but they help to prolong the human race. The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath by trapping carbon and other particles produced by pollution. Trees determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. As more water gets put back in the atmosphere, clouds form and provide another way to block out the sun?s heat. Trees are what cool and regulates the earth?s climate in conjunction with other such valuable services as preventing erosion, landslides, and making the most infertile soil rich with life. Mother earth has given much responsibility to trees.

Logging and Deforestation
The small farmer plays a big role, but it is modern industry that too cuts down the trees. The logging industry is fueled by the need for disposable products. 11 million acres a year are cut for commercial and property industries (Entity Mission 1). Peter Heller found that McDonald?s needs 800 square miles of trees to make the amount of paper they need for a year?s supply of packaging, Entity Mission found that British Columbia manufactures 7, 500,000 pairs of chopsticks a day, and the demand for fuel wood is so high that predictions say that there will be a shortage by the year 2000. Logging does too have its repercussions. The logging industry not only tries to accomplish all this but it even indirectly helps the "shifted cultivators" and others to do more damage. The roads that the loggers build to access the forests and generate hydroelectric power create an easy way for many people to try to manipulate the forest resources. The amount of damage that this adds to the forests can not be measured nor can that of the illegal logging. Some importers may even be buying illegally logged wood and not even have known it ("Logging is the Major Cause of Global Deforestation ? New WWF Report" 2).
Source: The Choice: Doomsday or Arbor Day Jocelyn Stock Andy Rochen - http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/deforestation.htm