Alex Himelfarb’s newest book, Breaking Free of Neoliberalism: Canada’s Challenge, is a compelling read.
Breaking Free takes the reader through neoliberalism’s origins during World War II; its philosophical originators—Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek, and other advocates [notably Milton Friedman]; its ascendence during the economic turmoil of the late 1970s, and its hold on governments of various stripes up to the present day.
Corporate and billionaire-funded think tanks in the U.S. and Canada—notably the Fraser Institute and the CD Howe Institute—were essential for moving the agenda to prominence. A corporate-owned media ecosystem has worked for decades to shape our culture and beliefs.
At the core of neoliberalism, in its various mutations, is that the paramount freedom is economic freedom. Therefore, the state’s first obligation is to protect “the right to profit.”
It was originally ideology, an elite consensus that became a political project and, eventually, a political order that shaped public policy, public attitudes, and beliefs. The key feature of an “order” is that its core tenets define what is desirable and what is possible across political parties, within government, and for the public at large.
Under neoliberalism, governments are part of the problem, not part of the solution. Taxes are a “burden”. Regulations that protect labour rights, health, safety, and the environment are “red tape” that inhibits competition and wealth creation.
Himelfarb captures neoliberalism’s essential recipe: rein in public spending, cut taxes, raise interest rates as the automatic response to inflation, reduce demand; with as a result less investment, higher unemployment, lower wages, pressure on small businesses, renters and mortgage holders, less help to those in need—and lower expectations.
Himelfarb takes us through the various manifestations of neoliberalism in the 1980s and ’90s under classic right-wing governments in the anglosphere [Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney] and reformist or so-called third way governments [Blair, Clinton, Chrétien], which have operated inside its guard rails. More recently, the Obama, Biden, and Trudeau governments. It is the story of how neoliberalism had severely narrowed the window of possible change and convinced many to believe that there is no alternative.
Neoliberalism came to Canada with the government of Brian Mulroney in 1984. Mulroney initiated the privatization of Canada’s publicly owned corporations (crown corporations). They included Air Canada, Petro-Canada, and Connaught Laboratories, one of the top vaccine companies in the world. Mulroney’s decision to enter into a free trade deal with the U.S. was a key moment in Canada’s neoliberal transition.
It was extended to Mexico under NAFTA and ratified by the Chrétien-Martin government. The Liberal government’s neoliberal architecture was cemented in the iconic 1995 budget (which was the subject of the book I co-authored with Maude Barlow, Straight through the Heart). It delivered massive cuts: from transfers to provinces for health, education, and welfare; cuts across almost all departments and agencies, social housing, and international assistance. It was followed by the privatization of the Canadian National Railway.
Then came fossil fuel funded Harper’s neoliberal government, which entrenched austerity, focused on making Canada an energy superpower, and was a strong climate denialist, removing Canada from the Kyoto Environment Accord.
Federal Conservative opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre is a protégé of Stephen Harper. Riffing off public anger and alienation about affordability and the elites, he promises a return to the classic neoliberal playbook: axe the carbon tax, lower taxes, less government spending, less regulation, and lower public debt.
A central consequence of decades of neoliberalism has been the rise of the oligarchs and the unprecedented increase in income and wealth inequality, including within Canada. As Pickett and Wilkinson observe in The Spirit Level, greater the inequality results in symptoms of social decay and disruption, as well as lower trust in one another and less hope for the future.
Himelfarb’s book traces neoliberalism’s ebbs and flows and, most importantly, its devastating impact on democracy, and social and environmental well-being.
Himelfarb shows how neoliberalism has weathered every crisis and every new pronouncement of its death. It seems to contain within it the seeds of its own perpetuation as it undermines the collective tools for fighting back.
He does not hold back, nor diminish what our country has experienced, and why. It is a formidable exercise in truth telling.
No illusions, yet there’s still hope
Under no illusions about the challenges ahead, Breaking Free offers hope in transcending neoliberalism.
It involves community activism coming together to overcome neoliberalism and build a more equitable, inclusive society and a zero-carbon planet.
Unions have historically been a major countervailing power to neoliberalism. Himelfarb is optimistic about the returning strength of the union movement after decades of decline.
Breaking Free involves breaking free of neoliberal “common sense”. Neoliberalism breeds cynicism. Cynicism undermines our will to cooperate or engage in collective action even when we know that’s precisely what’s needed.
According to Himelfarb, we can do more than just vote. There are many ways to act, to participate in our self-government, to make things better: join a party, run for office, join the public service, volunteer for a cause you believe in, write a song, paint a picture, write a poem.
Breaking Free provides concrete examples of acting together and fighting for each other. It allows us to practice solidarity and find common ground.
One example is the 1970s collective of black feminists and lesbians, the Combahee River Collective, which built on their experience to work in coalition with other progressive organizations and movements to fight “against racial, sexual, heterosexual and class oppression.” They understood that the systems of oppression are “interlocking”.
Another is Astra Taylor’s Debt Collective, a debtors’ union that brings diverse communities together to fight for relief from unjust or oppressive debt, their debt and the debt of others. Its struggles have evolved to include Medicare for all, free tuition and the right to housing.
“I don’t know how we make sustainable progress on any front if we don’t tackle the issues of power, of class, of democracy,” writes Himelfarb. This is coming from someone who once was at the pinnacle of Canadian public service.
The central role played by the government during the pandemic provided a brief glimpse of what we were capable of together.
“Given the stakes,” Himelfarb concludes, “we need to find the will, the courage and the humility to join the fight, to join our particular fights to the fights of others, to practice solidarity and to rediscover our shared humanity and the common good.
It is required reading for understanding how to turn the tide going forward. Himelfarb writes, we will know when neoliberalism is dead and buried when human rights and democracy take precedence over economic freedom and profit.
Breaking free is a stunning accomplishment. I have been immersed in the analysis of neoliberalism for most of my career. And yet Breaking Free has provided me with new insights. It is unsurpassed.
Full disclosure: I (along with Alex’s wife Frum) persuaded him to write this book. Second, I helped the publisher shepherd it through to completion. Finally, I am proud of my modest role.
