The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Naomi Klein's
The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you.
"At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq'' civil war, a new law is unveiled that will allow Shell and BP to claim the country's vast oil reserves… Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly outsources the running of the 'War on Terror' to Halliburton and Blackwater… After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts… New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be re-opened." Klein not only kicks butt, she names names, notably economist Milton Friedman and his radical Chicago School of the 1950s and 60s which she notes "produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today." Stand up and take a bow, Donald Rumsfeld.
There's little doubt Klein's book--which arrived to enormous attention and fanfare thanks to her previous missive, the best-selling No Logo, will stir the ire of the right and corporate America. It's also true that Klein's assertions are coherent, comprehensively researched and footnoted, and she makes a very credible case. Even if the world isn't going to hell in a hand-basket just yet, it's nice to know a sharp customer like Klein is bearing witness to the backroom machinations of government and industry in times of turmoil. --Kim Hughes
In this groundbreaking alternative history of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman's free-market economic revolution, Naomi Klein challenges the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory. From Chile in 1973 to Iraq today, Klein shows how Friedman and his followers have repeatedly harnessed terrible shocks and violence to implement their radical policies. As John Gray wrote in The Guardian, "There are very few books that really help us understand the present. The Shock Doctrine is one of those books."
In her ground-breaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the interest of foreign corporations. She called it “disaster capitalism.” Covering Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, and New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed something remarkably similar. People still reeling from catastrophe were being hit again, this time with economic “shock treatment” losing their land and homes to rapid-fire corporate makeovers.
The Shock Doctrine retells the story of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman’s free market economic revolution. In contrast to the popular myth of this movement’s peaceful global victory, Klein shows how it has exploited moments of shock and extreme violence in order to implement its economic policies in so many parts of the world from Latin America and Eastern Europe to South Africa, Russia, and Iraq.
At the core of disaster capitalism is the use of cataclysmic events to advance radical privatization combined with the privatization of the disaster response itself. By capitalizing on crises, created by nature or war, Klein argues that the disaster capitalism complex now exists as a booming new economy, and is the violent culmination of a radical economic project that has been incubating for fifty years.
Review by P. Steele from San Diego, CA USA:
Klein caters to her socialist audience with this work of astonishingly blatant distortions and falsehoods, knowing that it will sell to the true believers and that she'll get away with it. But don't look here for real scholarship. Her straw-man case against Friedman and free-markets it so blatantly distorted and fabricated that any gems of truth are lost in the mire.
Read the other one-star reviews for some details, and for a more thorough analysis read Johan Norberg's review in the October 2008 issue of Reason magazine, which shows how thoroughly Klein actually gets Friedman's position, and many facts about economics, exactly backward across the board. To accomplish that requires more than error, it indicates a deliberate attempt to deceive.
Review by Carl W. Mccargo from :
In regard to my purchase of "Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein, the seller was very prompt with the shipping and the condition of the book was excellent as advertised. I had no problems with payment via the Amazon website:is very easy to navigate. I am a return shopper at Amazon and do not see that changing in the near future. The selection is great. I have not begun the book yet, but I am acquainted with it through talk radio review and a friend's review of it. I am also familiar with Naomi's work and have such respect for her moral and ethical stands. I am looking forward to getting the details of this book for myself.
Carl
Review by Timothy L. Kirch from :
Klein uncovers Freidmanite economic policy and shows it as it is: a cold, callous model in which the rich get richer and the hell with everyone else. By the time we have followed the trail of destruction that the Chicago School has left in its wake, we come to expect the horrifying, yet natural progression of its policy, which is that of disaster capitalism. This book is an amazing eye opener.
Review by Tobias Austin from USA:
If you thought you knew about America, and it's foreign policy for the past 50 years, wait 'til you read this book. The idea that these things are being done, in our name, in places all over the world, is a crime. Pray, that under a new president the methods and tactics used by our country will cease, immediately. "The Shock Doctrine" will shock you. I promise.
Review by T. Vanwagoner from San Diego, CA:
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
I suggest everyone reads this book. It was very informative and eye opening to out goverment.
Current Promotions
Similar Products