I live in Kensington, Brooklyn and I have noticed neoliberalism takes place within my community and the neighborhoods around me. In the apartment building I live in there used to be mainly just Russian and Uzbek people that live here, and my family and I have been living here for 16 years. And as the time passes and years go on, I’ve seen a lot of people move out and I noticed a lot of young Gen Z people have been moving in. There are Russian and Uzbek people that live here but not nearly as many as there used to be. And there have been a handful of new restaurants open up and it seems to be directed towards younger people like Gen Z. They look so modern and I could see why these restaurants appeal to them. I normally see these restaurants packed with Gen Z people almost all the time. The area around me is changing and bringing in different people. It shows neoliberalism because the area is starting to look something like Williamsberg which is really gentrified. I can relate it to Dickinson’s argument because she spoke about graffiti and how the police are trying to get rid of graffiti so the city of New York looks safe. And they do this for the middle and upper class people because that’s who they care about the most. And I feel like the same thing is happening here in my community because the rent is rising, new people are moving in, and the neighborhood around is changing into something that appeals to the new people. And it’s used to attract them. The meme means that being different is seen as a bad thing because it doesn’t ‘fit in’ but if it can be used to get something like money, it will be exploited to get money from it.
Spring 2022
