Geoffrey MillerVerified account

2/Many have expressed skepticism of this idea, since many alt-right trolls use anime avatars - or at least used to. But this is purely posturing. Rightists use the avatars ironically. Meanwhile, the anime industry in Japan has traditionally attracted more leftists.pic.twitter.com/BjCdRU86gH

3/But this is beside the point. Anime itself, as an institution, is clearly neoliberal. The first (and simplest) reason is that anime is a global industry, bringing people together through shared enjoyment of products they consume.pic.twitter.com/1LiZjJle7v

4/The industry has also helped Japan diversify into services, and boosted its exports - both monetary and cultural. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2015-11-25/reviving-japan-inc-s-entertainment-division …pic.twitter.com/ggPg9VuQKn

5/Anime often depicts explicitly globalist themes - characters with names and appearances implying that they're from all over the world, themes of international cooperation and peace, etc.pic.twitter.com/Soh3KiYQlX

6/The most neoliberal anime is probably Cowboy Bebop, which depicts a hardy band of entrepreneurs trying to make it in a fully globalized, capitalist future.pic.twitter.com/bL8JuCKbne

7/But the ultimate reason that anime is neoliberal, as I see it, is something more subtle. Anime depicts thriving technological civilizations that are *explicitly nonwhite*, and not associated with the colonial legacy of Old Europe.pic.twitter.com/YH45levJSN

8/Perhaps the central idea of neoliberalism - at least the left-leaning 1990s version rather than the reactionary-libertarian 1980s version - is that global trade and a mixed economy can make the developing world rich. https://www.bradford-delong.com/2018/12/delongs-principles-of-neoliberalism-thanks-to-miniver-cheevy-for-formatting-hoisted-from-the-archives-from-1999.html …pic.twitter.com/tlDrFPXpl6

9/Since decolonization in the mid-20th century, we've seen a remarkable flowering of industry, technology, and mixed-economy prosperity, especially in Asia but also increasingly in Africa. That, in my opinion, is the good kind of neoliberalism. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-10-18/why-the-developing-world-started-gaining-on-the-west …pic.twitter.com/12sESznyui