Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
What happens when reason stops mattering in politics? We are living through the answer in real time. For 45 years, neoliberalism has been the dominant force in Western democracies, and in that time, it has done something far more dangerous than redistribute wealth upwards. It has systematically dismantled the intellectual and ethical foundations that make democratic politics possible.
The Enlightenment gave us something extraordinary: the idea that reason, evidence, and the equal moral worth of every human being should guide how we organise society. Neoliberalism replaced that with markets. It reduced people from moral equals to economic actors, stripped public services in the name of efficiency, weakened democratic accountability, and narrowed the boundaries of political thought until Margaret Thatcher's "There Is No Alternative" became conventional wisdom rather than a political choice.
The consequences are now impossible to ignore. Careful reasoning is being replaced by crude slogans. Evidence is losing ground to belief. Nuanced debate has given way to hostility. And the backlash against neoliberalism's failures is not producing a return to Enlightenment values; it is producing the conditions for fascism: demands for loyalty over accountability, indifference to consequences, and the deliberate promotion of inequality for the benefit of an elite.
Thomas Hobbes warned us centuries ago about what happens when the social order breaks down. We are approaching that point. But as this video argues, the current path is not inevitable. Change is possible, but it requires us to recommit to evidence-based decision-making, rebuild democratic institutions, constrain markets, and put care, not profit, at the centre of politics. Can we do that still? That is the question.
Check out our poll below: youtube.com/post/UgkxY9QLA--pVqe1hy3sOU9hR8J_nuX2Eyg2
00:00 — Are we going backwards in how we think?
00:50 — Donald Trump and the warning signs
01:40 — What the Enlightenment really was
02:30 — Reason, evidence, and equal moral worth
03:20 — Democracy shaped by Enlightenment ideas
04:10 — How neoliberalism changed the focus
05:00 — Markets over people: the shift in thinking
05:50 — The loss of ethics and equality
06:40 — Weakening institutions and public trust
07:30 — Alienation, climate failure, and system breakdown
08:20 — Backlash: from neoliberalism to authoritarian risk
09:00 — Thomas Hobbes and the warning on social order
09:40 — “There is no alternative” and lost choices
10:10 — Rebuilding: evidence, equality, and care
TRANSCRIPT
A transcript for this video is available at: taxresearch.org.uk
IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp
HOW TO SUPPORT US
Please consider donating: ko-fi.com/taxresearch
ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’.
This video was edited by Thomas Murphy.
RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY:
https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social
OR
ON MY BLOG: taxresearch.org.uk/Blog
HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS
Subscribe and get notified of new videos released.
INTRODUCTION: youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060
PLAYLISTS:
The Wealth Series
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobQLeyZYAagFDMjEFTKbhRD
Ecenomics
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob54Gs-fOL-8OAQ-IpduwB4
Britain
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobwTT4ATvJjsf8OO6S7wD10
Tax
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY
MMT
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX
Money
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m
Climate Change
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ
USA
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H
Labour
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw
The Trump Administration
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx
#Enlightenment #Neoliberalism #PoliticalTheory #ModernPolitics #EconomicThinking #DonaldTrump #Democracy #Authoritarianism #Fascism #PoliticalPhilosophy #ThomasHobbes #Inequality #PublicPolicy #SocialChange #PoliticalEconomy #GlobalCrisis #FutureOfPolitics #CriticalThinking #EvidenceBased #DemocraticValues #EconomicIdeas #InstitutionalFailure #PowerAndPolitics #SocialJustice #Reform #PoliticalDebate #CivicEngagement #Philosophy #TruthMatters #NewPolitics
What happens when reason stops mattering in politics? We are living through the answer in real time. For 45 years, neoliberalism has been the dominant force in Western democracies, and in that time, it has done something far more dangerous than redistribute wealth upwards. It has systematically dismantled the intellectual and ethical foundations that make democratic politics possible.
The Enlightenment gave us something extraordinary: the idea that reason, evidence, and the equal moral worth of every human being should guide how we organise society. Neoliberalism replaced that with markets. It reduced people from moral equals to economic actors, stripped public services in the name of efficiency, weakened democratic accountability, and narrowed the boundaries of political thought until Margaret Thatcher's "There Is No Alternative" became conventional wisdom rather than a political choice.
The consequences are now impossible to ignore. Careful reasoning is being replaced by crude slogans. Evidence is losing ground to belief. Nuanced debate has given way to hostility. And the backlash against neoliberalism's failures is not producing a return to Enlightenment values; it is producing the conditions for fascism: demands for loyalty over accountability, indifference to consequences, and the deliberate promotion of inequality for the benefit of an elite.
Thomas Hobbes warned us centuries ago about what happens when the social order breaks down. We are approaching that point. But as this video argues, the current path is not inevitable. Change is possible, but it requires us to recommit to evidence-based decision-making, rebuild democratic institutions, constrain markets, and put care, not profit, at the centre of politics. Can we do that still? That is the question.
Check out our poll below: youtube.com/post/UgkxY9QLA--pVqe1hy3sOU9hR8J_nuX2Eyg2
00:00 — Are we going backwards in how we think?
00:50 — Donald Trump and the warning signs
01:40 — What the Enlightenment really was
02:30 — Reason, evidence, and equal moral worth
03:20 — Democracy shaped by Enlightenment ideas
04:10 — How neoliberalism changed the focus
05:00 — Markets over people: the shift in thinking
05:50 — The loss of ethics and equality
06:40 — Weakening institutions and public trust
07:30 — Alienation, climate failure, and system breakdown
08:20 — Backlash: from neoliberalism to authoritarian risk
09:00 — Thomas Hobbes and the warning on social order
09:40 — “There is no alternative” and lost choices
10:10 — Rebuilding: evidence, equality, and care
TRANSCRIPT
A transcript for this video is available at: taxresearch.org.uk
IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO
If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp
HOW TO SUPPORT US
Please consider donating: ko-fi.com/taxresearch
ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’.
This video was edited by Thomas Murphy.
RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY:
https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social
OR
ON MY BLOG: taxresearch.org.uk/Blog
HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS
Subscribe and get notified of new videos released.
INTRODUCTION: youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060
PLAYLISTS:
The Wealth Series
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobQLeyZYAagFDMjEFTKbhRD
Ecenomics
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob54Gs-fOL-8OAQ-IpduwB4
Britain
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobwTT4ATvJjsf8OO6S7wD10
Tax
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY
MMT
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX
Money
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m
Climate Change
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ
USA
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H
Labour
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw
The Trump Administration
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx
#Enlightenment #Neoliberalism #PoliticalTheory #ModernPolitics #EconomicThinking #DonaldTrump #Democracy #Authoritarianism #Fascism #PoliticalPhilosophy #ThomasHobbes #Inequality #PublicPolicy #SocialChange #PoliticalEconomy #GlobalCrisis #FutureOfPolitics #CriticalThinking #EvidenceBased #DemocraticValues #EconomicIdeas #InstitutionalFailure #PowerAndPolitics #SocialJustice #Reform #PoliticalDebate #CivicEngagement #Philosophy #TruthMatters #NewPolitics
