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Comment by olivermarks | Hacker News Reader

Although various individuals from the conservative with a small 'c' world plus libertarians are cited in this article, the arguments put forth here are for me another example of a misunderstanding of what 'right leaning' might mean in this era. Proponents and builders of surveillance capitalism and associated global data gathering for corporate and state uses tend to lean 'left', as in neo liberal left. The older tradition of conservatism tends to be much more interested in personal privacy and respect for the individual. Example: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/facebook-an...

Neo conservatives and neoliberals (the UK Guardian is a good example of globalist neo liberal ideas) are largely the same thing with some nuances. Just as there are various flavors of 'left' this is also true of the 'right'.

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"Proponents and builders of surveillance capitalism and associated global data gathering for corporate and state uses tend to lean 'left', as in neo liberal left."

Neoliberalism is a right wing ideology, not a left wing one.

""Neoliberalism" is contemporarily used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as "eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers" and reducing state influence in the economy, especially through privatization and austerity."[1]

This is pretty much the opposite from what those on the left aim for.

Those on the left want nationalization, not privitazation, regulation of capital markets, not deregulation, price controls, not their elimination, and more state influence in the economy, not less.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberal

Yes, and since the eighties the American Left embraced neoliberalism whole heatedly. Then leaned into progressiveness inorder to differentiate itself.

So yeah, now we have flavors of neoliberalism.

@pmoriarty There is little to choose between Republican and Democrat politics in the US, they are both merely flavors of neoliberalism/neocon policies as @mola identifies. There are other branches of the left and right but they are suppressed, ignored or slandered in the corporate media. Silicon valley corporate political allegiances are a good example of neoliberalism, currently wrapped in identity politics

It depends on which "left" you're talking about - it's not quite so simple. Clinton's 90's administration is frequently (and I would say accurately) described as neoliberal. The democratic party has become much more business and corporate friendly over the past 40 years. I think you'd be right in describing modern-day progressives as the "left" that you are defining here in opposition to neoliberalism. Does that make neoliberalism itself right-wing? Are establishment democrats right-wing if they have adopted neoliberal policies, as many have? Is Clinton now considered to have been a right-wing president by that definition?

I think these are interesting questions to ask now as the left, broadly speaking, doesn't have a strong political identity, with many progressives further left of the democratic party and other disaffected voters leaning libertarian.

"Is Clinton now considered to have been a right-wing president by that definition?"

To the extent that Clinton embraced neoliberal policies, he would be considered to be pursuing a right-wing economic agenda.

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