George Monbiot argues that neoliberalism is not a neutral economic toolkit but a powerful narrative—markets equal freedom, governments oppress—that has guided policy since Hayek and Friedman, using a strong state to build and shield markets while privatising gains and socialising losses; this story, internalised culturally as “homo economicus,” fuels inequality, social atomisation and ecological overshoot, yet its hegemony is fracturing after the 2008 crash, the pandemic and recent economic shocks. To replace it, Monbiot proposes a rival narrative grounded in three pillars: reviving commons governance (from energy co-ops to data trusts), providing universal basic services that treat essentials as rights, and adopting ecological-economics metrics that pursue well-being within planetary limits, including strategic degrowth in high-impact sectors. He insists paradigm change hinges less on data than on compelling stories, pointing to pilot schemes in places like Preston, Barcelona and Amsterdam and to grassroots organising—from community fridges to citizens’ assemblies—as evidence that the new story is already being woven.