Neo-liberalism as Emperor with no clothes by Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia

In analyzing the arguments of Kevin Rudd on neo-liberal ideology depicted as being an emperor with no clothes, it is necessary to know some hints of what neo-liberalism is and what is wrong with its ideology and philosophy. History proves that no single political philosophy, ideology and concept can permanently be perfect and working, but everything, in turn, needs to be molded, modified or transformed into a better one. So too is for human politics and society.

To be short, neo-liberalism was born in 1960s and generally termed as a modern political economic theory favoring privatization, free trade, minimal government intervention in business and reduced public expenditure on social services. It was once a dominant theory over three decades until the great financial crisis in 2008 in which Henry Waxman, who is neo-liberal, admitted the downfall of neo-liberalism. Technically speaking, the ground Kevin Rudd’s attacking neo-liberals seems to be based on what he views the system of neo-liberalism is no longer relevant in this globalization era.

Truth, Kevin Rudd has a dig deep related to his views on neo-liberalism because he effectively pinpointed the grounded facts. But it is good to notice that scholars acknowledged that neo-liberalism had championed for a very long time in the exercise of political dogma. Literally, that sentiment made neo-liberals so confident that their political ideology seemed to be always right and self-correcting. In other words, they took it for granted. 

It is largely learnt that neo-liberals were so convinced of their ideological righteousness of their cause, coupled with a blind unquestioning belief that markets were inherently self-correcting, as a result, they refused to recognize the severity of the problems emerged. The worst scenario is, hardline neo-liberals were not interested because they knew in their hearts they were right (Kevin Rudd 2009). In this regard, it is similarly true with a man, who has self-righteousness in mind, cannot be convinced of others’ opinions and advices. This type of person with such silly belief has very limited sphere. Even worse, after hurting himself by his own actions, he starts learning of the mistakes he committed. However, it has been late and the sun is already set when trying to correct his detrimental behavior and thoughts. 

In broader concern, it is the matter of how self-correcting and ideological righteousness is assessed in a particular variant of neo-liberalism trend that is said to have dominated the international politics over the last 30 years. With that approach, the question remains unabated, albeit there is, in fact, interesting point in terms of economic policy—that is absolutely about free-market fundamentalism. This worked for years, though. 

Summing up his critique, Kevin Rudd seemed so frustrated to see neo-liberals are paying no attention towards the problems emerged, and instead still holding the ideology that did not suit the global order any longer. He apparently adopted the idea of social democratic system and is viewed the solution to preventing liberal capitalism from cannibalizing itself.