This is Neoliberalism, Part V: the false promise of “Choice”
Beware of politicians, pundits and experts who say they support consumer “choice” — that word does not mean what you think it means.
As progressives we must always — and I mean ALWAYS — be on guard about ANY conservative or centrist argument that uses the word “choice.” These types of attacks utilize the talking points and the philosophical underpinnings of neoliberalism as set forth in Milton Friedman‘s seminal book, Free to Choose, which sought to portray neoliberal capitalism as the perfect system because it offered “choice” to the Consumer. Friedman was Reagan’s favorite economist and his neoliberal principles informed and guided many of the anti-government, pro-market policies that defined “Reaganomics”.
Indeed, Friedman’s work played a critical role in fueling the so-called “Reagan Revolution”.
Free to Choose was a PBS TV series that was simultaneously published as a book in January, 1980. The concurrent airing of the TV series ensured that the book quickly became a bestseller — just as the 1980 Presidential Election was starting to heat up.
Although Reagan lost the Iowa caucuses in January, by the time the New Hampshire GOP Primary rolled around on February 26, 1980, Free to Choose had shot up to number 3 on the New York Times Bestseller List. Reagan came from behind to win that Primary with 50% of the vote.
The Free to Choose book and the TV series were both aimed at bringing the principles of free-market capitalism to the broader public. Primary among these was the premise that only Capitalism could bring freedom to human society. Through the book and the media, these neoliberal ideals were encapsulated into bite sized themes and slogans such as “consumer choice”. The idea that “choice” is not only the most important aspect of economic freedom, but that choice itself can only be delivered through free-market capitalism, is a central tenet of neoliberalism.
Reagan’s anti-government mantra was, in short, popularized by Friedman’s work, and as more and more Americans became familiar with the ideas of Friedman and his Chicago School colleagues, the more Reagan’s ideas of privatization and “getting government off the backs of the American people” seemed to make sense.
Needless to say, Reagan won the 1980 Republican Primary and went on to win the general election in a landslide.
