“You watch the neighborhood, we’ll watch the skies” reads one particularly curious web image which include pictures of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron and Martin Luther King Jr. superimposed over the Manhattan skyline. Though the image’s exact origins are unclear, it is a perfect representation of the latest repackaging of neoliberalism: the “radical center.” The radical center doubles down on the neoliberal project which, after complicity in myriad crises, is sputtering to a grinding halt. At the forefront of this “radical” movement to maintain the political and social status quo are the wunderkind Macron, Trudeau and, occasionally, Angela Merkel, always represented by the mainstream media as confident, friendly and competent. From the perspective of the radical center, these custodians of our brave new world are more than just leaders of our global order – they transcend it. In contrast to the likes of Trump and Corbyn, who attack the status quo for its shortcomings, Macron and Trudeau are the figureheads of a harmonious, peaceful, intelligently designed world system that has, luckily for us, transcended the petty partisan divides that have hitherto stifled human development. The latent message which underpins this new movement is that neoliberal capitalism is not just the only way, it is the right way.
“The Future of American Politics”
To begin, what is the precise difference between the traditional political center…