Neo-liberalism and neo-slavery

Abstract

Low pay and other minimal benefits at work cause some people to be in a state of neo-slavery. They are nominally free individuals and are not the property of others, but their economic standing and power is so limited that they have to work for whatever they can get; and just put up with it. This state of neo-slavery is not accidental, it is the outcome of neo-liberalism, the economic orthodoxy that now dominates the globe. Deregulation of markets, the privatisation of publicly owned assets, the shift in the disproportionate share of income and wealth controlled by a ruling elite, together with burgeoning inequality are all advocated in the name of the free markets as a scientific reality. Neo-liberalism has such a powerful grip that it is rarely discussed by name. These are just the way things are. This paper argues that the supposed inevitability of the neo-liberal agenda is driven more by blind faith than scientific objectivity. As such it is a religion pretending to be a science. Indeed the rampant inequality resulting from the neo-liberal prayer book is counter-productive, because more egalitarian societies are more successful, and are happier places to live.

Keywords: hospitality pay rates, inequality, neo-liberalism, neo-slavery