I do think that stan is correct to identify it with neoliberalism, even if he's only invoking that term in a kind of popular conception totemic sense
or more like, the product of neoliberal thought worming its way so deep into the culture that it's informed ppl's basic outlook on economic life
the core tenet of neoliberalism is the optimization of society for the operations of the free market by virtually any means
of course, it turns out that optimization is often wildly unpopular - i.e. austerity - and neoliberals have always been perfectly happy and willing to use the power of the state to enact and enforce - often violently - policies designed to further that optimization. Hayek's support of Pinochet is the most infamous example, but you could also look at famous 80s labor battles like Thatcher breaking the miners or Reagan breaking the air traffic controllers, which both involved harsh repressive measures.
however, there's obviously a certain amount of friction that comes along with violent repression
so if you can incentivize people to "voluntarily" optimize their own lives for the market out of economic necessity, indoctrination, ambition, etc, so much the better