ABSTRACT
The political ethics of neoliberalism of course reflects broader discourses and regimes of contemporary political power. In 2008, the world of neoliberalism came crashing down, seemingly destroyed by the financial crisis. For neoliberalism, politics was almost always first and foremost a problem of individual morality. The entire basis of neoliberalism depended on public recognition that governments were to be feared and markets to be celebrated. The problem of neoliberalism became not governments or the state but the danger posed by markets and those who profited the most from them. Neoliberalism is perhaps particularly susceptible to the inherent market fluctuations. The fear of mass violence and potential global instability was used to reframe neoliberalism as a source of social security. The ethos of responsibility would discursively reframe the very political problem of neoliberalism. The theme of responsibility has a long history of importance for capitalism.
