Shock and Awe...

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
While other writers have documented the growth of corporate power, the rise of the military-industrial complex and the shredding of our constitution in the expediency of protecting us from international terrorists, few have managed to piece the shards together to provide a crystal clear view of the major crises facing our country and the world. 

Drawing upon documentary evidence of the CIA's use of shock therapy to remold human beings, Klein makes a striking comparison with the use of extreme tactics as part of the "Shock Doctrine" to remake nations along the lines of privatization schemes.

To support her case, Klein paints a grim portrait of what she calls "disaster capitalism" -- the self-reinforcing cycle of corporate pillage and neglect of the public sector, the environment, etc. that then feeds the recurring pattern of natural and political disasters which in turn, create the need for lucrative governmental contracts.  In the process, corporations enrich themselves on the public largess.  Their actions are not part of some sinister plot cooked up in back rooms, but rather the result of the pursuit of neo-conservative free market ideology.  And so it goes.  

Klein's book is profoundly unsettling in a way only true stories can be.  Yet, do not be frightened away.  In the pages of The Shock Doctrine, the reader will find a way to put together the fragments so that one can begin to make sense of the ecological, economic and political crises we face. 

Check out online interviews with Naomi Klein. http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/video-audio

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