Neoliberal economics denies the axiom of human equality

Evidence

Bauer criticised proposals for redistribution, which he argued rest on the belief that, as we are all ‘basically the same’, wealth differentials must reflect ‘some perversion of the natural and just course of events by some malevolent force, in particular, the power of the rich to impoverish the rest’. … Bauer, like Mises much earlier, stressed the basic inequality of people, and of peoples, arguing that economic achievement depends primarily on ‘aptitudes, motivations, mores and modes of thought and on social institutions and political arrangements’. Those who benefit from a market economy are those who are most adaptable, entrepreneurial, industrious, ingenious, thrifty, ambitious and resourceful, he claimed, while the ‘less adaptable may go to the wall’. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 407

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle on how the redistribution debate turns on whether equality is an axiom or an empirical premise — and how that split maps onto the human-rights/neoliberalism collision.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s work on market ethics; the equality-as-axiom vs equality-as-result distinction echoes philosophical debates between Rawls, Nozick, and contemporary egalitarians. — connects to: Neoliberal development framed egalitarian welfare norms as obstacles to be overcome — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 409; Neoliberal thought framed welfare rights as contradicting rather than completing civil rights — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 162; Neoliberal thinkers rejected natural-rights foundations, deriving morality from market evolution — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 28 (+1 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: The point that redistribution’s opponents frame equality as a dogmatic axiom while equality itself is the unargued premise of human-rights discourse is genuinely paradigm-shifting for the field.

Broader Connections

• Neoliberal development framed egalitarian welfare norms as obstacles to be overcome #corroborates (0.82) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 409
• Neoliberal thought framed welfare rights as contradicting rather than completing civil rights #corroborates (0.78) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 162
• Neoliberal thinkers rejected natural-rights foundations, deriving morality from market evolution #corroborates (0.72) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 28