this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2025
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Libertarians and neoliberals unironically believe that "a rising tide lifts all boats"
I heard that recently and thought to myself 'yea I don't have a fucking boat' and realized that is the true meaning of this phrase. People who own boats already are gonna do great. People who don't will drown.
I think that's a reasonable and accurate response to people using this thought terminating cliche
A rising tide does lift all boats. Giving all your money to a couple uber rich people is not a rising tide, though.
I agree that a literal rising tide does lift all the boats at port but that trite little saying is used to justify trickle-down economics and neoliberalism at every turn
Literally it isn’t and you, and maybe the handful of liars using it for that purpose, just flat-out do not understand the saying.
A rising tide lifting all boats is specifically about how helping the bottom helps everyone. It is so astronomically far from the concept of trickle-down economics.
This is kinda a weird argument we're having but I've literally heard this argument "from the pulpit" in multiple college econ classes, perhaps your experience is different.
I think if we were assessing whether this analogy is fit for purpose then you would have to say that it only makes sense if all the 'boats' are always at the same level which is the case for real boats on a real tide
The boats, no matter the size, will all be raised by a rising tide.
That is a true statement about boats (that are still floating)
More like a geyser that lifts just a couple of boats
Libertarians don't, and it's one of the few things Neoliberals are actually right about.
"A rising tide lifts all boats" refers to the fact that giving money to the people on the bottom of the financial pyramid who needs it the most will benefit everybody. Unlike just shoveling it at the already rich, which is what capitalism is designed for.
Infuriatingly, almost none of the Dem leadership actually follow through on this mantra with actual policy, beholden to the rich capitalists as they are.
The problem is that more and more people can't afford a boat anymore.
And even if they could, Neoliberals and fascists have given the rich all of the places where they can use or even place a boat.
Neo liberals believe in trickle down economics though.
Yeah, that's why I pointed out that they SAY "a rising tide" but very rarely actually act on it when it comes to legislation.
"Centrist" (read: right wing to far right by the standards of democracies in general) politicians are nothing if not hypocrites and lying demagogues 🤷