This is a spotlight text in a history book written centuries in the future, at a time when humanity has gone through a great crisis and found a more life-centered way to life. It’s meant to inspire and to further exploration. See the index of all articles in this project, or follow the Long Journey Home tag for the most recent entries.
The text below is written by AI (ChatGPT) with detailed prompts from me. Since the AI is trained on a large library of texts, it is – in a sense – written by humanity as a whole.
This spotlight is on neoliberalism – the guiding principle of economics and policies in the late Age of Separation – as an expression of domination culture.
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Neoliberalism as Expression of Domination Culture: How Market-Driven Policies Accelerated Ecological Collapse
By Dr. Elias Mendez, Political Ecologist and Systems Theorist
Introduction: Neoliberalism as a Cultural Expression of Domination
In the late Age of Separation, neoliberalism was widely accepted as the dominant economic and political ideology, shaping the governance structures of most industrialized nations. Market deregulation, privatization of public goods, and the prioritization of corporate profits over social and ecological well-being were hailed as pragmatic, efficient, and even inevitable.
But in reality, neoliberalism was an economic expression of domination culture. It was never designed to create well-being for the majority or maintain the health of ecosystems. It was a mechanism for consolidating wealth and power in the hands of a small elite, no matter the social and ecological cost. Neoliberal policies not only deepened inequality and eroded democracy but also accelerated global ecological overshoot, hastening the collapse of ecosystems that human societies depended on.
At its core, neoliberalism was a final intensification of separation-based thinking—the belief that humans could dominate nature, that economic systems could exist outside of ecological constraints, and that wealth accumulation for the few justified the suffering of the many. This article examines how neoliberal policies deepened the crisis of the Age of Separation, amplified social and environmental injustices, and ultimately contributed to the Great Unraveling.
I. Neoliberalism as an Extension of Domination Culture
A. The Core Tenets of Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism was not just an economic model but an ideological framework that reshaped how societies operated:
- Market Supremacy: The belief that free markets were the best mechanism for solving all social, economic, and environmental problems.
- Privatization of Public Goods: Everything—from water and healthcare to education and even biodiversity—was treated as a commodity.
- Deregulation: Governments were stripped of their power to enforce environmental protections, workers’ rights, or economic safeguards.
- Austerity Measures: Public services were defunded under the guise of economic efficiency, shifting responsibility onto individuals rather than collective systems of support.
- Individualism Over Community: Citizens were reframed as consumers, and systemic issues like poverty and unemployment were framed as personal failures rather than structural outcomes.
These principles created an economic system that was designed for profit extraction rather than long-term social and ecological health.
B. The Illusion of Economic Freedom
One of neoliberalism’s greatest deceptions was the idea that it expanded personal freedom. In reality, it concentrated power in the hands of corporate and financial elites while dismantling the rights and protections of workers, communities, and ecosystems.
- Weakened labor protections meant corporations could exploit workers with lower wages and fewer benefits.
- Privatized healthcare and education left vast portions of the population unable to access basic services.
- Weakened environmental regulations allowed industries to pollute freely, often targeting marginalized communities least able to resist.
The emphasis on “free choice” ignored the reality that the economic system was rigged to benefit those with wealth and power, while the majority were left scrambling to survive within a system designed to extract from them.
II. Neoliberalism’s Role in Accelerating Ecological Overshoot
A. Endless Growth on a Finite Planet
Neoliberalism, like all domination-based economic models, was built on the assumption that economic growth could continue indefinitely. This assumption ignored the fundamental reality that the Earth has ecological limits—limits that neoliberal policies actively pushed past.
- Deforestation accelerated as multinational corporations sought to maximize profits in industrial agriculture, mining, and real estate.
- Fossil fuel extraction expanded, even as climate science made it clear that continued reliance on oil, coal, and gas would destabilize global weather patterns.
- Industrial agriculture depleted topsoil and water resources, creating fragile food systems that would later collapse under ecological strain.
The logic of maximizing profits in the short term ensured that ecological destruction was inevitable. Any attempt to introduce sustainability measures was either ignored or reframed as a business opportunity—leading to the rise of “green capitalism” rather than true systemic change.
B. The Myth of Green Capitalism
As ecological collapse became impossible to ignore, neoliberal institutions responded not by transforming economic systems but by co-opting environmentalism into a market framework.
- Carbon trading allowed corporations to continue polluting while purchasing “offsets”, often at the expense of Indigenous communities and small farmers.
- Sustainability certifications became marketing tools rather than meaningful protections.
- Techno-solutionism dominated environmental discourse, with billionaires funding speculative geoengineering projects rather than addressing root causes.
These solutions maintained the illusion that markets could solve the problems they created—while ecological degradation continued unchecked.
III. Neoliberalism and Social Fragmentation: The Erosion of Collective Power
A. Concentration of Wealth and Power
One of neoliberalism’s most devastating effects was the widening gap between the ultra-wealthy and everyone else. By the early 21st century:
- The wealthiest 1% controlled more than half of the world’s resources.
- Corporations had more political power than most nation-states.
- Massive tax cuts for the rich and corporations shifted the financial burden onto the middle and lower classes.
This concentration of wealth ensured that ecological destruction would continue unchecked, as the ultra-wealthy had no incentive to change the system that made them rich.
B. The Disempowerment of the Public
At the same time, neoliberalism systematically weakened the ability of people to challenge these structures:
- Labor unions were dismantled, leaving workers with little negotiating power.
- Regulations on corporate lobbying were removed, allowing industries to write policies that benefited themselves.
- Public protest was criminalized, and activists were framed as extremists.
By fragmenting communities and undermining collective action, neoliberalism ensured that resistance to ecological collapse would remain disorganized and ineffective.
IV. Crisis as Profit: How Neoliberalism Exploited Collapse
One of the most insidious aspects of neoliberalism was its ability to turn every crisis into a new opportunity for profit.
- Hurricanes, wildfires, and climate disasters became investment opportunities, as corporations bought up land and infrastructure in disaster-prone regions.
- Water scarcity was monetized, with corporations taking control of freshwater sources and selling them at a premium.
- Wars over resources, driven by climate instability, led to military contracts and privatized security forces making billions.
Even as the world crumbled, the neoliberal elite continued to profit from the very collapse they had engineered.
V. The Legacy of Neoliberalism in the Great Unraveling
By the time the Great Unraveling began, the consequences of neoliberalism were clear:
- Ecological tipping points had been crossed, with mass extinctions, soil depletion, and water crises leading to widespread food shortages.
- Global inequality had reached unsustainable levels, leading to political instability, mass migration, and civil unrest.
- Governments had been hollowed out, leaving them unable to respond effectively to systemic crises.
Neoliberalism did not just fail—it actively ensured collapse by prioritizing short-term profits over long-term survival.
VI. Conclusion: Neoliberalism as the Final Phase of Domination Culture
In retrospect, neoliberalism was never about creating a sustainable world. It was a system designed to maximize wealth for the few, regardless of the consequences. Its relentless emphasis on extraction, privatization, and deregulation accelerated ecological collapse and left societies vulnerable to systemic shocks.
Understanding the role of neoliberalism in the Age of Separation is essential for ensuring that future economic models do not repeat its mistakes. In the Age of Regeneration, economies are built not on domination and profit extraction but on reciprocity, cooperation, and ecological balance.
The failure of neoliberalism was not just an economic failure—it was the collapse of a worldview that saw life as a commodity rather than a sacred, interconnected whole.