Ordoliberals attacked redistributive wage policy by reframing well-being as feelings of satisfaction

Evidence

While attending to the sound of a humanistic critique of narrow economistic thinking, it is important not to overlook the fact that the attacks were directed mainly against redistributive social and wage policies. Rüstow (1957b, 235) stressed “the origins of the term Vitalpolitik in opposition to a purely material social policy.” It was not the demand for higher income, better working conditions, or shorter work time—classical labor movement demands, in short—that was considered to yield the determining indicator of the positive life situation of the “mass,” but rather a policy “with an impact on the well being, a feeling of content of the individual human” (Rüstow 1957b, 235). It was possible for Ordos to conceive of a sort of social subjectivism, according to which feelings of satisfaction (to be generated) would replace more mundane material solutions of the social question. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 513

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader question of how neoliberal thought justified inequality by shifting the object of policy from material redistribution to subjective well-being — parallels modern happiness-economics critiques. — connects to: Positive stereotypes like ‘poor but happy’ legitimize inequality — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1410; Mainstream framing of class as income and status obscures the working class’s existence — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 84
• DEFINE: Defines Vitalpolitik as policy targeting individual subjective contentment rather than material living conditions.

Broader Connections

• Positive stereotypes like ‘poor but happy’ legitimize inequality #complicates (0.75) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1410
• Mainstream framing of class as income and status obscures the working class’s existence #expands (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 84