Britain

Via Michael Roberts

The economic ideology of the man [Boris Johnson] who is likely to be Britain's prime minister by next month.

“I can’t think of any other politician, even Conservative politician, who from the crash of 2008 onwards actually stuck up for the bankers.

“Can you think of anybody who stuck up for the bankers as much as I did? I defended them day in, day out, from those who frankly wanted to hang them from the nearest lamppost.”

I believe passionately in UK business and as foreign secretary I spent a lot of my time promoting UK business, both in this country and abroad. I will continue to do so, if I’m lucky enough to become Prime Minister.”

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I don't see there is something new or strange with this if one looks at the British history and spirit. Business is highly valued (as valued as the rhetoric of "human rights"). The business of Britian is business. 

One should look at how much the shareholding "indusrty" is cherished, the housing industry is structured, the privatising-everything "ideology" is rampant, the amount of tax-payers money have gone to save businesses from collapse in the last few years ... how often I hear people in London talk about money and money-related issues ...

Johnson reflects a social category shaped by the form of capitalism of the last 4 decades or so. It is also a system and an ideology that fostered acquiescence and consent to an extent that even liberals oppose a social democratic change.

People tend to tolerate extremism by businesses/banks/governments as long as they see their socio-economic conditions improving or at least not threatened. It is true that there is more insecurity today, but the situation in a wealthy country is not unbearable and the dominant ideology (individualism, the alternative would be worse, the bourgeois concept and practice of "freedom", fear, etc) is still convincing.

Futhermore, politcally the general population is atomised; there is no a coherent social group/a cross-class social group that seeks a real change. What we see is a crisis in the main parties, and other parties are gaining members but not to the extent to effect real change, for the main theme is Brexit, not the type of the socio-economic system that should run oir lives.