Neoliberalism induces risk-bearing then blames the victims when risk fails

Evidence

This is how neoliberalism works: first it moves heaven and earth to induce you to manage your own portfolio and assume more risk; then it demonizes the victim when the entire structure comes crashing down, as it inevitably must. The most famous (and consequential) attack on the poor for their indebtedness was the rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange by Rick Santelli, which is credited in retrospect with jump-starting the Tea Party in the United States. Santelli was catapulted to instant fame after his five-minute outburst on CNBC in February 2009—where he decried government bailouts, called struggling home owners “losers” and speculated aloud that a new Tea Party might be needed—went viral. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 351

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Connects to the reader’s article on sacrifice — Santelli’s Tea Party rant performs ritual demonization of homeowner ‘losers’ as scapegoats for a structural crisis, a sacrificial logic in economic form.
• XREF: connects to: The ideal neoliberal subject is a self-sufficient entrepreneurial risk-taker — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 36; Development economics RCTs blame individuals while ignoring poverty’s structural causes — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 289; Financialization creates a bifurcated hierarchy between celebrated risk-takers and racialized at-risk victims — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 45 (+23 more)

Broader Connections

• Resilience-based responses wrongly shift blame from society onto individual victims #corroborates (0.88) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 337
• Neoliberal crisis narratives redirect blame from structures onto individual psychology #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 433
• Neoliberal selfhood reframes reward and punishment as risk outcomes, not justice #expands (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 273
• The bad-apples framing deflects blame from systemic causes #exemplifies (0.78)
• Neoliberalism’s crisis strategy redirected blame from banks onto state debt #exemplifies (0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 475