In the final four decades of the twentieth century, America underwent a stupendous shift in national politics and economics scales. Politically, government embraced neoliberal policies that favored the economic and social theory of free market to encourage deregulation and privatization to result in economic restoration against inflation. Economically, deregulation favored wealthy corporation to reduce wage on workers and expend their savings to invest which expanded income inequality. In the beginning, state-centric system dominantly supervised the regulation of the U.S. economy, however, the rise of neoliberalism in the seventies and eighties enhanced the role of the private sector that widened the income gap between …show more content…
In the eighties, neoliberalism dominated the policymaking in America which resulted to economic disparity, so the workers vent their dissatisfactions about their status quo by striking. However, policymakers who promoted neoliberalism saw it an opportunity to weaken labor union, “the union of air traffic controllers, began a strike in violation of federal law, Reagan fired them all … The hiring of worker to replace permanently those who had gone on strike” (Give Me Liberty!, 1051) Because Reagan dismissed workers who went on strikes, it encouraged employers to suppress workers and launch anti-union offensives. Moreover, deregulation contributed its parts to encourage businesses to find opportunities to exploit labor by shifting production lines to locations where they found cheaper labor and no union. As a result, neoliberal policies devastated workers when they lost the power to collectively bargain to obtain economic power to better their lives. Hence, demission of unionized workers and relocation of production lines weakened power of labor unions which undefined social democracy for …show more content…
In retrospect, the proponents of neoliberalism praised the virtues of free markets, free trade, and private enterprise, yet the effects of neoliberal policies on citizens’ lives were quite the opposite. Neoliberalism favored consortia when encouraged investments in the free market system, yet it led to deregulation and deindustrialization causing millions of worker unemployed. Because of losing stable incomes, workers suffered in economic hardships when government offered fewer pensions after budget cut of welfare programs and let to economic disparity. Moreover, Reagan promoted neoliberal policies badly influenced workers’ rights because he encouraged the demission of unionized workers who went on strikes that empowered employers to suppress labor unions. Due to unequal distribution of wealth between social classes, it widened income gaps that undefined social democracy when rich got richer and poor got poorer. Therefore, neoliberalism negatively impacted on Americans when it contributed to work degradation, unequal distribution of wealth, weak labor unions, and null democracy. And then the globalization in the nineties enhanced the rich elites’ economic gains at the oppression on majority population in the