This is one reason that participation in neoliberal life necessitates acting as an entrepreneur of the self: unreserved embrace of (this version of) risk is postulated to be the primary method of changing your identity to live life to the fullest. Contemporary entrepreneurial autobiographies almost always start out with some variation on: “I am not sure what it is about entrepreneurs that makes us risk-taking thrill seekers, but every entrepreneur I know is an adrenaline junkie. We kite board, heli ski, race cars, and keep finding new creative ways to challenge ourselves.” Alternatively, anyone who participates in the welfare state is just a dull drone, lost in a vegetative state. They are debased because they expect the state to shield them from risk, when in fact, they should be reveling in the opportunity to remake themselves.

Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis …, loc. 338