to the progress of the marketplace. Whereas the traditional Enlightenment exalted the cultivation of creativity as an expression of the person's intrinsic value, neo-liberalism reduces creativity and individual talent into a commodity, thus the value system fostered and rewarded has a cash value. Not just the educational system, but the entire institutional structure is shaped to cater to the neo-liberal value system that has reduced human beings into commodities serving the ultimate goal of marketplace hegemony.

Neo-liberalism has been winning the PR war from Reagan to Bush (the son), partly because it had convinced a segment of the middle class of the panacea myth. However, that is rapidly coming to an end, as existing social relations and the social contract on which pluralistic society is built are now unraveling.The reality of the current global recession and the deep structural problems confronting countries, including the G-7, have exposed the myths and fallacies of neo-liberalism. Increasingly, more and more people are demanding an end to the panacea myth that neo-liberalism had been promising to all but delivering it only to the rich.

1 comment:

Regarding this, however: "In 2011, poverty is higher not only in underdeveloped nations, but in the advanced ones as a result of the global recession of 2008-2011, with the US alone having more than 17% living below poverty standards, and EU about the same number and expected to rise both in US and Europe."

Actually, poverty as a percent of total global population is on the decline, and this is mostly attributable to China's progress in improving