[ POISONED GROWTH ]
↓
Short-term gains through neoliberal globalization (“Drinking poison to quench thirst”)
↓
[ SYSTEMIC CRISIS ]
Financial meltdowns • Mass layoffs • Supply chain shocks • Social unrest
↓
[ REGENERATION LOOP ]
Capital restructures • Outsourcing 2.0 • New tech bubbles • Debt expansion (Hydra grows back multiple heads)
↓
[ STATE/NATIONALISM BACKSTOP ] Governments deploy force & bailouts • Nationalist narratives absorb anger • Borders tighten • Social surveillance expands
↓
[ LEGITIMACY REBOOT ]
Crisis is framed as external threat • Public rallies around the flag • New normal established
↓
[ RETURN TO POISONED GROWTH ] Neoliberal machine restarts — now leaner, faster, more extractive
(The cycle repeats)
📝 Key Idea
Nationalism & state power aren’t contradictions to neoliberalism — they’re emergency tools.
Each crisis is a “patch update” rather than a system change.
The Hydra metaphor: cut off one head (bubble, war, scandal), new heads