The article inadvertently lays bare the systemic collapse of neoliberal ideology that has long claimed to champion the common good while serving the interests of a detached elite. The working class is starting to see through the hollow promises of a system that consistently prioritizes corporate profits over tangible improvements in the standard of living. Biden’s so-called post-neoliberal agenda was marketed as a transformative New Deal for the forgotten Rust Belt. Yet, towns like Lordstown, swung further toward Trump in 2024. This is not a failure of communication, as Chait suggests, but a failure of substance. The working class, battered by decades of economic dislocation, saw Biden’s policies for what they were: a rebranding of neoliberalism, not its dismantling.
Chait’s arguments are as revealing as they are unconvincing. Inflation, he argues, was merely bad timing; Rust Belt voters were too impatient to appreciate Biden’s efforts. But these excuses only underscore the arrogance of a managerial class that believes it can lecture the working class into gratitude while ignoring their immediate struggles. The reality is that inflation hit hard, and no amount of subsidies could offset the pain of rising grocery bills or stagnant wages. Chait’s admission that Biden’s policies “did not yield more support among union members” is a damning indictment of a system that has lost touch with the people it claims to represent.
The article is a perfect example of how liberals fail to acknowledge their role in the erosion of the working class. Both parties embrace outsourcing jobs, hollowing out communities, and suppressing wages in service of a corporate elite that thrives on exploitation. Biden’s presidency was a continuation of these policies, dressed up in populist rhetoric.
The failure of liberalism, then, is not just a political failure but a moral one. It is the failure of an ideology that has long claimed to stand for progress while systematically betraying the very people it purports to serve. As Biden so honestly put it, nothing will fundamentally change until the grip of neoliberalism is broken. The workers deserve a system that truly serves their interests, not one that exploits them while pretending to care.
This whole thing is ragebait. Do neoliberals even actually believe this horseshit?
I really think they do, they refuse to acknowledge that there are systemic problems because that would be an admission that liberalism doesn't actually work. Absent that, they end up with absurd narratives grappling to explain why public opinion is rapidly turning against them.
With Chait specifically, I don't know if he actually tries to do ragebait in order to promote his ideas. I think he is just genuinely that fucking stupid, because he keeps being wrong about everything that the American electorate does.