You're not wrong to see a contradiction between neoliberal ideology and a business class that derives huge profits from state contracts, but that contradiction only exists at the level of ideology. In fact, neoliberal economic policies (as opposed to ideology) have created exactly this situation wherever they have been implemented. The 21st century state simply has to do certain things. It cannot fully divest itself of its responsibilities to provide certain services. But under neoliberal policies, it provides this services via the market, through private contractors because the idea that markets always deliver services more efficiently is a primary article of neoliberal faith (e.g., the most recent health care reform bill). Obviously, as a result of this excessive reliance on contractors, there is increasing interpenetration between the state and the market. It rarely leads to the more efficient allocation of resources, much more often leads to corruption, kickbacks, and the pillaging of public coffers (e.g. Halliburton's role in the Iraq War). But what it does very well at is enriching a small slice of the business community, as it most certainly has done in Egypt.
Also, please don't confuse social democratic with "communist". They are two very different entities, and if you used the examples of France and Germany rather than Cuba, you would be led to very different conclusions.
Was this ever not a foregone conclusion? It is perfectly obvious now in any case: Israel will continue to steal Palestinian land and to imprison and impoverish the Palestinian people, with the impossible hope that they can ultimately simply push the Palestinians into Jordan or Egypt (the hysterical lines about Israel's enemies wanting to push them into the sea have a biting irony for this reason). But Egypt and Jordan will never take the millions of refugees Israel wants to force onto them. So the ultimate outcome will be the so called bi-national state, and Israel will in effect transform itself.
In a way, it is even possible to feel something like hope and optimism about this conflict, because a single state with equal rights would be vastly more just than any arrangement for two states could possibly be at this point. But the amount of pointless, needless suffering that will result from Israel's poisonous racism is a terrible down-payment on a still distant and uncertain future.
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You're not wrong to see a contradiction between neoliberal ideology and a business class that derives huge profits from state contracts, but that contradiction only exists at the level of ideology. In fact, neoliberal economic policies (as opposed to ideology) have created exactly this situation wherever they have been implemented. The 21st century state simply has to do certain things. It cannot fully divest itself of its responsibilities to provide certain services. But under neoliberal policies, it provides this services via the market, through private contractors because the idea that markets always deliver services more efficiently is a primary article of neoliberal faith (e.g., the most recent health care reform bill). Obviously, as a result of this excessive reliance on contractors, there is increasing interpenetration between the state and the market. It rarely leads to the more efficient allocation of resources, much more often leads to corruption, kickbacks, and the pillaging of public coffers (e.g. Halliburton's role in the Iraq War). But what it does very well at is enriching a small slice of the business community, as it most certainly has done in Egypt.
Also, please don't confuse social democratic with "communist". They are two very different entities, and if you used the examples of France and Germany rather than Cuba, you would be led to very different conclusions.
What a beautiful thought.
Was this ever not a foregone conclusion? It is perfectly obvious now in any case: Israel will continue to steal Palestinian land and to imprison and impoverish the Palestinian people, with the impossible hope that they can ultimately simply push the Palestinians into Jordan or Egypt (the hysterical lines about Israel's enemies wanting to push them into the sea have a biting irony for this reason). But Egypt and Jordan will never take the millions of refugees Israel wants to force onto them. So the ultimate outcome will be the so called bi-national state, and Israel will in effect transform itself.
In a way, it is even possible to feel something like hope and optimism about this conflict, because a single state with equal rights would be vastly more just than any arrangement for two states could possibly be at this point. But the amount of pointless, needless suffering that will result from Israel's poisonous racism is a terrible down-payment on a still distant and uncertain future.