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The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
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.
558 pages, Hardcover
First published September 18, 2007
About the author
Naomi Klein
81 books6,677 followersNaomi Klein is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses; support of ecofeminism, organized labour, and leftism; and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism, ecofascism and capitalism. As of 2021, she is an associate professor, and professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia, co-directing a Centre for Climate Justice.
Klein first became known internationally for her alter-globalization book No Logo (1999). The Take (2004), a documentary film about Argentine workers' self-managed factories, written by her and directed by her husband Avi Lewis, further increased her profile. The Shock Doctrine (2007), a critical analysis of the history of neoliberal economics, solidified her standing as a prominent activist on the international stage and was adapted into a six-minute companion film by Alfonso Cuaron and Jonás Cuarón, as well as a feature-length documentary by Michael Winterbottom. Klein's This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (2014) was a New York Times nonfiction bestseller and the winner of the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
In 2016, Klein was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for her activism on climate justice. Klein frequently appears on global and national lists of top influential thinkers, including the 2014 Thought Leaders ranking compiled by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, Prospect magazine's world thinkers 2014 poll, and Maclean's 2014 Power List. She was formerly a member of the board of directors of the climate activist group 350.org.
Klein first became known internationally for her alter-globalization book No Logo (1999). The Take (2004), a documentary film about Argentine workers' self-managed factories, written by her and directed by her husband Avi Lewis, further increased her profile. The Shock Doctrine (2007), a critical analysis of the history of neoliberal economics, solidified her standing as a prominent activist on the international stage and was adapted into a six-minute companion film by Alfonso Cuaron and Jonás Cuarón, as well as a feature-length documentary by Michael Winterbottom. Klein's This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (2014) was a New York Times nonfiction bestseller and the winner of the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
In 2016, Klein was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for her activism on climate justice. Klein frequently appears on global and national lists of top influential thinkers, including the 2014 Thought Leaders ranking compiled by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, Prospect magazine's world thinkers 2014 poll, and Maclean's 2014 Power List. She was formerly a member of the board of directors of the climate activist group 350.org.
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February 15, 2009
There is a part of me that would like to make this review a bit funny. This is a deeply disturbing book. I’ve a preference for humour as a means of confronting the deeply disturbing. But I can’t bring myself to say anything remotely funny about this book.
Klein compares some psychological experiments (torture by any reasonable definition of the word) carried out in the 1950s in Canada (funded by the CIA off US soil so they could plausibly deny they were researching torture) in which patients were blasted back to virtually a blank slate by sensory depravation and electric shock treatment to US foreign policy in countries such as Chile in the 1970s and Iraq today.
If you had forgotten just how evil unconstrained capitalism is – it is time to read this book. If you are concerned that the world seems to believe democracy = free markets – it is time to read this book.
For two decades it has been abundantly clear that the greatest danger facing the world is the ideology that likes to call itself Economic Rationalism but is better described as Radical Free Market Economics. This is the view that any restraint placed on the free operation of the market – from fixing minimum wages to environmental standards to health and safety controls in the workplace – are by definition wrong and counterproductive. This view states that governments are, by definition, wasteful and unnecessary. This view is an attempt at justifying unmitigated greed as if it was a universal good. It is about destroying all vestiges of democracy (and God knows those vestiges are today meagre indeed) in our society and handing over all power to corporations. If you are not troubled by the shift in power in the world away from governments elected by the people, for the people to corporations created out of greed for greed – then you really need to turn off American Idol and start looking around yourself.
Klein takes a series of increasingly distressing ‘case studies’ in which ever purer forms of radical free market economics are applied in times of crisis across the world – invariably with devastatingly negative results, invariably the opposite of what is predicted by the neo-liberals. She points out that without a crisis such as 9/11 or Katrina or the War in Iraq – such policies would never be allowed to be implemented. But come a crisis people are so shocked by what has just happened to them that they are prepared to forgo their democratic rights so things can be ‘fixed’.
The problem is that these bastards don’t want anything fixed. They want to apply more shocks, because that is the only way they can get rid of democratic structures that stand in the way of them handing over the wealth of our nations to themselves. The Corporate raping of Iraq as depicted in this book is only slightly less shocking than the Corporate raping of New Orleans. Perhaps I found the stuff about New Orleans more shocking because it was Americans doing this sort of thing to their own people. I know, I’m naïve.
The descriptions of torture in the book are too much to take. I’ve never been able to distance myself enough from the victims of torture to be objective about it. I believe it is the core of the democratic spirit – the notion that the sufferers of torture are our brothers and sisters and the perpetrators of torture require justice to be enacted against them – that immediately has me siding with the tortured. We have a moral responsibility to stop our government from using our tax dollars to torture people. If morality means anything at all – this is the minimum it can mean.
Klein documents that the torture used throughout the world by US client states has a long history going back to experiments done in the 1950s in Canada and have clearly become part of US foreign policy. If we are to be on the side of democracy then we must force our governments to stop using torture against the citizens of other countries. Particularly when these citizens are asking for what should be granted to them immediately – the right to reclaim the benefit of their own natural resources from foreign owned corporations.
There are so many lessons in this book, but the major one is that if people stand up against these greedy lunatics then we can stop them. We can reclaim our dignity and redistribute some of what has plundered from us. The criminal waste of tax dollars by these corporations in both Iraq and New Orleans is almost beyond description. In the book Iraq is at one point referred to as the Free Fraud Zone.
The world we live in today is increasingly becoming divided between those who have and are kept secure behind walled suburbs and those who have not and are forced to live without the basic necessities of life. We need to understand that my security is enhanced by making the world safer for you. That life isn’t about who ends up with the most stuff they don’t need or the biggest bank account or the fastest car, but that we are social animals and so what is good for all is also what is good for us.
As I said, this is a deeply disturbing book – but also an incredibly important one.
Klein compares some psychological experiments (torture by any reasonable definition of the word) carried out in the 1950s in Canada (funded by the CIA off US soil so they could plausibly deny they were researching torture) in which patients were blasted back to virtually a blank slate by sensory depravation and electric shock treatment to US foreign policy in countries such as Chile in the 1970s and Iraq today.
If you had forgotten just how evil unconstrained capitalism is – it is time to read this book. If you are concerned that the world seems to believe democracy = free markets – it is time to read this book.
For two decades it has been abundantly clear that the greatest danger facing the world is the ideology that likes to call itself Economic Rationalism but is better described as Radical Free Market Economics. This is the view that any restraint placed on the free operation of the market – from fixing minimum wages to environmental standards to health and safety controls in the workplace – are by definition wrong and counterproductive. This view states that governments are, by definition, wasteful and unnecessary. This view is an attempt at justifying unmitigated greed as if it was a universal good. It is about destroying all vestiges of democracy (and God knows those vestiges are today meagre indeed) in our society and handing over all power to corporations. If you are not troubled by the shift in power in the world away from governments elected by the people, for the people to corporations created out of greed for greed – then you really need to turn off American Idol and start looking around yourself.
Klein takes a series of increasingly distressing ‘case studies’ in which ever purer forms of radical free market economics are applied in times of crisis across the world – invariably with devastatingly negative results, invariably the opposite of what is predicted by the neo-liberals. She points out that without a crisis such as 9/11 or Katrina or the War in Iraq – such policies would never be allowed to be implemented. But come a crisis people are so shocked by what has just happened to them that they are prepared to forgo their democratic rights so things can be ‘fixed’.
The problem is that these bastards don’t want anything fixed. They want to apply more shocks, because that is the only way they can get rid of democratic structures that stand in the way of them handing over the wealth of our nations to themselves. The Corporate raping of Iraq as depicted in this book is only slightly less shocking than the Corporate raping of New Orleans. Perhaps I found the stuff about New Orleans more shocking because it was Americans doing this sort of thing to their own people. I know, I’m naïve.
The descriptions of torture in the book are too much to take. I’ve never been able to distance myself enough from the victims of torture to be objective about it. I believe it is the core of the democratic spirit – the notion that the sufferers of torture are our brothers and sisters and the perpetrators of torture require justice to be enacted against them – that immediately has me siding with the tortured. We have a moral responsibility to stop our government from using our tax dollars to torture people. If morality means anything at all – this is the minimum it can mean.
Klein documents that the torture used throughout the world by US client states has a long history going back to experiments done in the 1950s in Canada and have clearly become part of US foreign policy. If we are to be on the side of democracy then we must force our governments to stop using torture against the citizens of other countries. Particularly when these citizens are asking for what should be granted to them immediately – the right to reclaim the benefit of their own natural resources from foreign owned corporations.
There are so many lessons in this book, but the major one is that if people stand up against these greedy lunatics then we can stop them. We can reclaim our dignity and redistribute some of what has plundered from us. The criminal waste of tax dollars by these corporations in both Iraq and New Orleans is almost beyond description. In the book Iraq is at one point referred to as the Free Fraud Zone.
The world we live in today is increasingly becoming divided between those who have and are kept secure behind walled suburbs and those who have not and are forced to live without the basic necessities of life. We need to understand that my security is enhanced by making the world safer for you. That life isn’t about who ends up with the most stuff they don’t need or the biggest bank account or the fastest car, but that we are social animals and so what is good for all is also what is good for us.
As I said, this is a deeply disturbing book – but also an incredibly important one.
November 21, 2021
This book can affect worldview, trust and faith in authorities, and belief in official, whitewashed history.
Klein unleashes the shocking and disturbing facts of an economic policy practiced over more than four decades, that can be described as a new level of contempt for human beings and nature mixed with megalomania and madness. And that´s saying something when looking at the recent, not entirely bloodless world history.
One of the foundations and inspirations for the theories of the economist Milton Friedman are the experiments of the physician Ewen Cameron. His therapy was the complete mental destruction of his patients employing electric shocks, drugs, solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, noise terror, and, if there is still time, subsequent reconstruction. This was done, after sometimes months of pain, in the form of tapes, which played motivating sentences to the severely traumatized patients for days and weeks.
Based on this idea of wiping out a delicate psyche to build a better, healthier personality, Friedman developed the concept of destroying economies and then rebuilding them better and without the hassle of government interference. An integral part was, after the collapse of the existing state, privatization, deletion, or minimization of all state intervention such as health, education, infrastructures such as water, electricity, communication, pension system, employee protection laws, trade unions, all social achievements of Europe, environmental protection regulations, and fundamental democratic rights.
These ideas had been rejected after the Second World War, in a time of New Deal and Keynesianism, as sick and entirely out of the question. In the 1970s, the democratic and insolent socialist governments of Latin America became so provocative (and expensive for the US companies) for the US that they were all too happy to conjure up this hitherto outlawed economic doctrine. Before Pinochet's coup, scientific legitimacy was sought for the approach of indoctrination of young Latin Americans by the Chicago Boys, advocates of neoliberal predatory capitalism. These were educated in the US and then sent back to their Latin American universities and economic commissariats to form eagerly new advocates of teaching there. After the coup d'état, democratically elected by President Allende, and supported by Americans, the hammers were dropped onto the stunned population.
This eponymous shock tactic is based on the concept, to hit the economic combatants in the weakest moment when she/he is paralyzed on the ground and can´t defend her/himself to break her/him even in such a sustainable manner that she/he never recovers and all resistance are nipped in the bud. In Chile, everything has now been reversed concerning democratic reforms, and a military dictatorship has been set up, state employees dismissed, social services cut or reduced to a minimum, and privatized where possible. The purpose of the tactics was to drive the fallen state as deeply as possible into a severe economic crisis to additionally weaken it and make it susceptible to low loans, harder hitting economic sanctions, and the cheap exploitation of nature for raw materials.
The result for population, environment, and infrastructure was and is always the same. Distress, desperation, poverty, increased infant mortality, unemployment, contamination of natural resources, the sixth extinction, climate change, the misery of entire social groups, and untold suffering. All thanks to the zealous young economists with their scientifically utterly insincere and sorely prescribed infirmity. As a bonus, the Americans gladly donated their torturers, who showed the best techniques on a living practice object utilizing tortures inspired by Ewen Cameron's experiments, death squads, and secret police.
The US then used this principle to destroy entire societies in some Latin American states and succeeded in undermining democratic governments without triggering bloody civil wars and coups. The elections were merely accepted, but in the backroom, the same economic rules were taken almost one to one from Friedman's concoctions. As a result, a popular government was de facto disabled and had to bow to pressure from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. Also in South Africa, this perfidious tactic was used successfully.
Before the massacre on Tiananmen Square in China, a radical neo-liberal economic reform was launched, and Friedman personally animated the Chinese rulers to a stricter approach. To just Chuck Norris the dirty protesters like a boss is always the best solution.
But not only in the southern hemisphere, the disciples of the most undeserved fringe economic pseudoscience Nobel Prize winner of all time weren´t idle too. In the 1990s, both Poland and Russia were vaccinated, or let´s better say infected, with these ideas and, under pressure to receive economic aid or to be left to themselves, were forced to accept the conditions. As Margaret Thatcher, at the low point of her popularity (who always votes these people into office facepalm), won another election through war games around the Falkland Islands and thus could undermine the English welfare state, so also Yeltsin, at the low point of his career, used the Chechen war to increase the poll numbers again.
Stoke up nationalism, build up an enemy image, bombard, invade, massacre. In Iraq, the shock therapy technique reached its peak so far. After the initial shock and awe tactics of the actual war, democratic elections were banned, civil servants dismissed, all contracts awarded to American companies to rebuild the state, instead Iraqi economy and infrastructure abandoned, and citizens arbitrarily abducted and tortured.
After the tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina, the favor of the hour was finally used to forcibly relocate those affected and survivors to redeploy the valuable land and shoreline for luxury hotels, modern homes, industrial fishing ports, and fish farms. The former residents have been relocated to slums and deprived of any livelihood, and have been told that a return would be impossible due to the risk.
Over the past ten years, a massive war industry has emerged, focusing not only on privatizing police and military power with ever-larger numbers of security forces and mercenaries but also on counter-terrorism and surveillance electronics.
The theory that social gains and distributive justice in the United States and Europe of the 20th century were only enforced because of the US fear of a spillover, of communism and social unrest until the world socialist revolution, is bizarre. Thus, the whole social market economy could only be considered as a militarily necessary concept for creating a buffer zone in Europe and restraining the potential opposition in the US. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the social, political, and economic systems of Europe and America are even quicker moving towards working the same way as described, though not so dramatic and spectacular, but slowly and creeping, to pave the way for the neofeudal, neocolonial new world order.
I wonder why nobody is talking about the foundations of our economic system, although, duh, it´s so wacky, unscientific, psycho, fringe, inhuman that an open debate is avoided, suppressed, and censored at all costs. Free press in democracies, how ridiculous, there is no damned open debate, it´s a doctrine, a dogma, a taboo, everyone gets stigmatized and ridiculed as a stone age communists when openly talking about the truth. Just joking, governments and media go even further and just don´t mention anything of it. Just silence to better hear the screams and pleas of the background extinction victims and better talk about climate change and financial crises, our only true real problems.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolibe...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocons...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocolo...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-feu....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critici...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gl...
Klein unleashes the shocking and disturbing facts of an economic policy practiced over more than four decades, that can be described as a new level of contempt for human beings and nature mixed with megalomania and madness. And that´s saying something when looking at the recent, not entirely bloodless world history.
One of the foundations and inspirations for the theories of the economist Milton Friedman are the experiments of the physician Ewen Cameron. His therapy was the complete mental destruction of his patients employing electric shocks, drugs, solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, noise terror, and, if there is still time, subsequent reconstruction. This was done, after sometimes months of pain, in the form of tapes, which played motivating sentences to the severely traumatized patients for days and weeks.
Based on this idea of wiping out a delicate psyche to build a better, healthier personality, Friedman developed the concept of destroying economies and then rebuilding them better and without the hassle of government interference. An integral part was, after the collapse of the existing state, privatization, deletion, or minimization of all state intervention such as health, education, infrastructures such as water, electricity, communication, pension system, employee protection laws, trade unions, all social achievements of Europe, environmental protection regulations, and fundamental democratic rights.
These ideas had been rejected after the Second World War, in a time of New Deal and Keynesianism, as sick and entirely out of the question. In the 1970s, the democratic and insolent socialist governments of Latin America became so provocative (and expensive for the US companies) for the US that they were all too happy to conjure up this hitherto outlawed economic doctrine. Before Pinochet's coup, scientific legitimacy was sought for the approach of indoctrination of young Latin Americans by the Chicago Boys, advocates of neoliberal predatory capitalism. These were educated in the US and then sent back to their Latin American universities and economic commissariats to form eagerly new advocates of teaching there. After the coup d'état, democratically elected by President Allende, and supported by Americans, the hammers were dropped onto the stunned population.
This eponymous shock tactic is based on the concept, to hit the economic combatants in the weakest moment when she/he is paralyzed on the ground and can´t defend her/himself to break her/him even in such a sustainable manner that she/he never recovers and all resistance are nipped in the bud. In Chile, everything has now been reversed concerning democratic reforms, and a military dictatorship has been set up, state employees dismissed, social services cut or reduced to a minimum, and privatized where possible. The purpose of the tactics was to drive the fallen state as deeply as possible into a severe economic crisis to additionally weaken it and make it susceptible to low loans, harder hitting economic sanctions, and the cheap exploitation of nature for raw materials.
The result for population, environment, and infrastructure was and is always the same. Distress, desperation, poverty, increased infant mortality, unemployment, contamination of natural resources, the sixth extinction, climate change, the misery of entire social groups, and untold suffering. All thanks to the zealous young economists with their scientifically utterly insincere and sorely prescribed infirmity. As a bonus, the Americans gladly donated their torturers, who showed the best techniques on a living practice object utilizing tortures inspired by Ewen Cameron's experiments, death squads, and secret police.
The US then used this principle to destroy entire societies in some Latin American states and succeeded in undermining democratic governments without triggering bloody civil wars and coups. The elections were merely accepted, but in the backroom, the same economic rules were taken almost one to one from Friedman's concoctions. As a result, a popular government was de facto disabled and had to bow to pressure from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. Also in South Africa, this perfidious tactic was used successfully.
Before the massacre on Tiananmen Square in China, a radical neo-liberal economic reform was launched, and Friedman personally animated the Chinese rulers to a stricter approach. To just Chuck Norris the dirty protesters like a boss is always the best solution.
But not only in the southern hemisphere, the disciples of the most undeserved fringe economic pseudoscience Nobel Prize winner of all time weren´t idle too. In the 1990s, both Poland and Russia were vaccinated, or let´s better say infected, with these ideas and, under pressure to receive economic aid or to be left to themselves, were forced to accept the conditions. As Margaret Thatcher, at the low point of her popularity (who always votes these people into office facepalm), won another election through war games around the Falkland Islands and thus could undermine the English welfare state, so also Yeltsin, at the low point of his career, used the Chechen war to increase the poll numbers again.
Stoke up nationalism, build up an enemy image, bombard, invade, massacre. In Iraq, the shock therapy technique reached its peak so far. After the initial shock and awe tactics of the actual war, democratic elections were banned, civil servants dismissed, all contracts awarded to American companies to rebuild the state, instead Iraqi economy and infrastructure abandoned, and citizens arbitrarily abducted and tortured.
After the tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina, the favor of the hour was finally used to forcibly relocate those affected and survivors to redeploy the valuable land and shoreline for luxury hotels, modern homes, industrial fishing ports, and fish farms. The former residents have been relocated to slums and deprived of any livelihood, and have been told that a return would be impossible due to the risk.
Over the past ten years, a massive war industry has emerged, focusing not only on privatizing police and military power with ever-larger numbers of security forces and mercenaries but also on counter-terrorism and surveillance electronics.
The theory that social gains and distributive justice in the United States and Europe of the 20th century were only enforced because of the US fear of a spillover, of communism and social unrest until the world socialist revolution, is bizarre. Thus, the whole social market economy could only be considered as a militarily necessary concept for creating a buffer zone in Europe and restraining the potential opposition in the US. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the social, political, and economic systems of Europe and America are even quicker moving towards working the same way as described, though not so dramatic and spectacular, but slowly and creeping, to pave the way for the neofeudal, neocolonial new world order.
I wonder why nobody is talking about the foundations of our economic system, although, duh, it´s so wacky, unscientific, psycho, fringe, inhuman that an open debate is avoided, suppressed, and censored at all costs. Free press in democracies, how ridiculous, there is no damned open debate, it´s a doctrine, a dogma, a taboo, everyone gets stigmatized and ridiculed as a stone age communists when openly talking about the truth. Just joking, governments and media go even further and just don´t mention anything of it. Just silence to better hear the screams and pleas of the background extinction victims and better talk about climate change and financial crises, our only true real problems.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolibe...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocons...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocolo...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-feu....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critici...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gl...
June 13, 2023
- "عقيدة الصدمة: صعود رأسمالية الكوارث" هو احد الكتب المرجعية التأريخية التحليلية لكيفية اكتساح الدول اقتصادياً وخصخصتها وتدميرها لاحقاً، وهو كتاب اقتصادي - سياسي لكنه مكتوب بلغة صحافية سهلة الفهم ومدعّم بمراجع هائلة (المراجع تقارب ال100 صفحة) تضفي عليه مصداقية كبيرة مما يجعله كتاباً علينا اقتناءه وقراءته والمناقشة فيه وترشيحه لزملائنا والتكلم عنه كثيراً.. وكثيراً جداً.
- "الصدمة"، فكرة طبية او فكرة في الطب النفسي لعلاج الم��ضى قام طبيب كندي بمحاولة تحويلها لطريقة للتحكم بالعقل البشري، بدعم من وكالة الإستخبارات الأمريكية، ص46
هذه الطريقة قامت القوات الأمريكية بإستعمالها في معتقلاتها (ابو غريب، غوانتانامو) وقامت بتدريب اجهزة امنية اجنبية عليها إبان الحكم الديكتاتوري لتلك البلاد (الأرجنتين وتشيلي والسلفادور وغيرها).
- هذه الفكرة اخذها اقتصادي يدعى "ميلتون فريدمان" ونظّر (اي وضع نظريته بناء عليها) بها، وقد استفاد من موقعه في جامعة شيكاجو للترويج لها، ورغم انها لم تجد ارضاً خصباً لها للتطبيق في الولايات المتحدة الا انها وبعد وصول "سلفادور آليندي" الى سدّة الحكم في تشيلي وتهديده لمصالح الشركات الأمريكية فيها وتدبير الإنقلاب عليه، بدأ تلامذة فريدمان (ألملقبون بصبيان شيكاجو) بتنفيذ نظريته فتمّ بيع الشركات الوطنية وخصخصتها من مياه وكهرباء ومصارف ونقل عام، كما تم تقليص الإنفاق الحكومي والدعم الحكومي مما ادى لاحقاً الى كارثة في تشيلي لم ينجها منها سوى احتفاظ الدولة بمصانع النحاس. ذات التجربة عادت لتتكرر في الأرجنتين (دكتاتورية عسكرية ايضاً) والبرازيل والأوروجوي مروراً ببولندا وروسيا واندونيسا مروراً بالعراق ولبنان وغيره...
- الفكرة الأساسية لعقيدة الصدمة هي بخلق او استغلال صدمة كبيرة من اجل فتح الأسواق وتمرير قوانين السوق الحرة، ورفع يد الدولة او كف يدها عن التدخل في السوق، مستغلين مرحلة ما بعد الصدمة حيث يكون الوعي الجماعي كامناً او ضامراً:
ص360:
ص204:
والنظرية تقول ان الأسواق قادرة على شفاء نفسها من اي تضخم او مشاكل تواجهها، وطبعاً هذا الإدعاء الزائف نقضته الكثير من الوقائع لاحقاً.
- في خضم الدكتاتوريات الجنوب-امريكية، كان للشركات المتعددة الجنسية اليد الطولى في دعم هذه الأنظمة، ومساعدتها على التخلص من خصومها (العمال والفقراء والأحرار) لأنها مستفيدة منها، فمثلاً:
ص162:
- يدعي فريدمان وأتباعه والغرب بشكل عام انهم ضد الشيوعية وأساليب القهر المتبعة في تلك الأنظمة وانهم حمّال بيارق الحرية والتمدّن والديمقراطية، لكنهم بنفس السوء او وجهان لعملة واحدة: ص311:
وما أفضل من هذه الشهادة في ذلك:
كما يدعون بأن أسلوب التجارة الحرة المفتوحة هو سبب نجاح اقتصادات نمور آسيا، لكن الأمر مغاير، ص374:
اذن، فعقيدة الصدمة هي فكرة اقتصادية تخدم فكرة سياسية بسيطة الا وهي السيطرة على مقدرات الشعوب وجعل شركات العام سام اكثر انتفاخاً بالمليارات مع ترك بعض الفتات لوكلاء محليين، ص429:
- "رأسمالية الكوارث"، او كيفية الإستفادة من الكارثة (كارثة طبيعية كإعصار، او بشرية كالحروب، او افتراضية كالإشاعات)، والوقت المناسب هو في لحظتها على الدوام:
لكن هل على الدولة العظمى ان تنتظر الكارثة؟ بالتأكيد لا، فالخطط موجودة ومعدّة مسبقاً، ص531:
لكن الشركات المستفيدة لا علاقة لها بالكوارث فهي تستفيد بالصدفة اليس كذلك؟ ص530:
هل تطبق الولايات المتحدة هذه النظرية في الخارج فقط؟ لا، لقد طبقتها في الداخل ايضاً، خصوصاً مع سيطرة الخصخصة على التعاقدات الداخلية، والدليل ما حدث في نيو اورلينز غداة اعصار "كاترينا":
- في العراق، طبق الأمريكيون ذات الإستراتيجية بشكل صدمات متلاحقة بدءاً من ليلة القصف الى الإجتياح فالإحتلال والصدمات النفسية والإقتصادية:
* القصف الأولي، الذي اشعل ليل بغداد واستخدمت فيه الاف القنابل والصواريخ كان لإرهاب الناس وصدمها تماماً: ص458:
* محاولة محو تاريخ البلاد او وعي الناس الجماعي، ص 458:
* والفشل الذريع بالمحصلة من زاوية سياسية واقتصادية:
فتركوا البلاد ممزقة تتصارع فيها العصابات الطائفية والمذهبية من اجل مصالح آنية او عرقية او غيبية بعد ان تم نهب البلاد وسرقة مليارات الدولارات.
- لا شك ان هذه النظرية لم تنتهي، ولم ينتهي تطبيقها، فلا زلنا نرى العديد من الأمثلة في منطقتنا عن كيفية ارهاب الشعوب وصدمها من اجل تمرير سياسات كان من المستحيل ان تمر في الأيام العادية، حتى ان بعض الدول تستعمل ذات المفهوم لتمرير قوانين داخلية. اما رأسمالية الكوارث التي تنتج طبقة غنية بشكل مفرط، فهي تذهب بنا رويداً رويداً الى تشكيل مناطق خضراء غنية محمية بشركات خاصة، تحيط بها احزمة البؤس والفقر وهذا الإتجاه عالمي الى حد ما وسيؤدي بالنتيجة الى شرخ عامودي بنتائج كارثية.
- الكتاب يحتوي على عشرات الأمثلة والقصص والطروحات الأخرى التي لا مجال لذكرها كلّها، لكن اهمها القصة الوهمية لإنتهاء الفصل العنصري في جنوب افريقيا وكيف تم الربح السياسي على حساب الإقتصادي، قصة صعود نجم بورس يلتسن وقصفه لمجلس النواب، قصص محاكمة الديكتاتوريات في امريكا الجنوبية، قصص التسونامي في سريلانكا وتايلند، قصص جدار الفصل على الحدود الأمريكية-المكسيكية وداخل فلسطين المحتلة، تحول الإستقرار من عامل اساسي للإزدهار الإقتصادي الى عامل غير مؤثر، قصص الوقوف بوجه الصدمة من لبنان الى العراق الى الارجنتين... وغيرها الكثير من حول العالم.
- "الصدمة"، فكرة طبية او فكرة في الطب النفسي لعلاج الم��ضى قام طبيب كندي بمحاولة تحويلها لطريقة للتحكم بالعقل البشري، بدعم من وكالة الإستخبارات الأمريكية، ص46
"كان المرضى يلجأون الى كاميرون (الدكتور إيوين كاميرون) بحثاً عن علاج لإعتلالاتهم النفسية البسيطة - مثل اكتئاب ما بعد الولادة والقلق والمشاكل الزوجية- إلا انه عمد الى استخدامهم، بدون علم او اذن منهم، كحقل للتجارب العلمية من اجل ارضاء تعطّش وكالة الإستخبارات المركزية الأمريكية، للحصول على معلومات حول كيفية التحكم بالعقل البشري."
هذه الطريقة قامت القوات الأمريكية بإستعمالها في معتقلاتها (ابو غريب، غوانتانامو) وقامت بتدريب اجهزة امنية اجنبية عليها إبان الحكم الديكتاتوري لتلك البلاد (الأرجنتين وتشيلي والسلفادور وغيرها).
- هذه الفكرة اخذها اقتصادي يدعى "ميلتون فريدمان" ونظّر (اي وضع نظريته بناء عليها) بها، وقد استفاد من موقعه في جامعة شيكاجو للترويج لها، ورغم انها لم تجد ارضاً خصباً لها للتطبيق في الولايات المتحدة الا انها وبعد وصول "سلفادور آليندي" الى سدّة الحكم في تشيلي وتهديده لمصالح الشركات الأمريكية فيها وتدبير الإنقلاب عليه، بدأ تلامذة فريدمان (ألملقبون بصبيان شيكاجو) بتنفيذ نظريته فتمّ بيع الشركات الوطنية وخصخصتها من مياه وكهرباء ومصارف ونقل عام، كما تم تقليص الإنفاق الحكومي والدعم الحكومي مما ادى لاحقاً الى كارثة في تشيلي لم ينجها منها سوى احتفاظ الدولة بمصانع النحاس. ذات التجربة عادت لتتكرر في الأرجنتين (دكتاتورية عسكرية ايضاً) والبرازيل والأوروجوي مروراً ببولندا وروسيا واندونيسا مروراً بالعراق ولبنان وغيره...
- الفكرة الأساسية لعقيدة الصدمة هي بخلق او استغلال صدمة كبيرة من اجل فتح الأسواق وتمرير قوانين السوق الحرة، ورفع يد الدولة او كف يدها عن التدخل في السوق، مستغلين مرحلة ما بعد الصدمة حيث يكون الوعي الجماعي كامناً او ضامراً:
ص360:
"وحدها البلدان التي تعاني أزمة شديدة، تقبل بإبتلاع الدواء المرير، ووحدها البلدان التي في حالة صدمة ترضى ان تعالج بالصدمة""
ص204:
"في العام 1982 كنب ميلتون فريدمان..:"وحدها الأزمة -الواقعة او المنظورة- هي التي تحدث تغييراً فعلياً. فعند حدوث تلك الأزمة، تكون التدابير المتخذة منوطةً بالأفكار المحيطة. تلك هي وظيفتنا الأساسية.. ان نطوّر البدائل للسياسات الموجودة، وان نبقي تلك البدائل قائمة ومتوفرة حتى يصبح المستحيل سياسياً حتمية سياسية""
والنظرية تقول ان الأسواق قادرة على شفاء نفسها من اي تضخم او مشاكل تواجهها، وطبعاً هذا الإدعاء الزائف نقضته الكثير من الوقائع لاحقاً.
- في خضم الدكتاتوريات الجنوب-امريكية، كان للشركات المتعددة الجنسية اليد الطولى في دعم هذه الأنظمة، ومساعدتها على التخلص من خصومها (العمال والفقراء والأحرار) لأنها مستفيدة منها، فمثلاً:
ص162:
"وفقاً للمؤرخ الأميركي اللاتيني، كارين روبرت، في نهاية حكم الدكتاتورية (في الأرجنتين)، كان مغظم الممثلين النقابيين قد اختفوا من اكبر شركات البلد على غرار "مرسيدس بنز" و"كرايزلر" و"فيات كونكورد"... لم يكن النقابيون وحدهم هم الذين واجهوا هجوماً استباقياً بل كل شخص كان يجسد رؤية لمجتمع مبني على القيم وليس على الربح البحت"
- يدعي فريدمان وأتباعه والغرب بشكل عام انهم ضد الشيوعية وأساليب القهر المتبعة في تلك الأنظمة وانهم حمّال بيارق الحرية والتمدّن والديمقراطية، لكنهم بنفس السوء او وجهان لعملة واحدة: ص311:
"لقد عشنا مدّة طويلة تحت نير الدكتاتورية الشيوعية، لكننا اكتشفنا اليوم ان العيش تحت رحمة دكتاتورية رجال الأعمال لم يكن أفضل."
وما أفضل من هذه الشهادة في ذلك:
"أنا استقيل اليوم من فريق عمل صندوق النقد الدولي بعد اكثر من 12 عاماً من الخدمة في تأمين المساعدات الرسمية، عمل تمثّل في الإتجار بأدويتكم وبحقائبكم المملوءة بالخدع، وإرسالها الى الحكومات والشعوب اللاتينية وأفريقيا. تعتبر الإستقالة بالنسبة الي اليوم تحرراً لا يقدر بثمن، لأني أخطو بها الى المكان الذي يسعني فيه ان احلم بغسل يدي مما يشكل دماء ملايين الفقراء والجياع" دايفد بودو - موظّف في صندوق النقد الدولي"
كما يدعون بأن أسلوب التجارة الحرة المفتوحة هو سبب نجاح اقتصادات نمور آسيا، لكن الأمر مغاير، ص374:
"الا ان الإدعاء ان سبب هذا النمو (نمو اقتصاد النمور الآسيوية) هو التجارة الحرة كان ادعاءً كاذباً. كانت ماليزيا وكوريا الجنوبية وتايلند تتبع سياسات حمتئية صارمة تمنع الأجانب تملك الأراضي، او شراء المصانع المحلية. وكانت الدولة لا تزال تتمتع بدور كبير في تلك البلدان، مبقية قطاعات كالطاقة والنقل في يدي الحكومة""
اذن، فعقيدة الصدمة هي فكرة اقتصادية تخدم فكرة سياسية بسيطة الا وهي السيطرة على مقدرات الشعوب وجعل شركات العام سام اكثر انتفاخاً بالمليارات مع ترك بعض الفتات لوكلاء محليين، ص429:
"بأختصار، ان جزءاً كبيراً من سياسة الولايات المتحدة الخارجية، هو تمرّس في التقدير العام، تخلط فيه نخبة انانية بين حاجاتها ورغباتها، وحاجات العالم بأسره""
- "رأسمالية الكوارث"، او كيفية الإستفادة من الكارثة (كارثة طبيعية كإعصار، او بشرية كالحروب، او افتراضية كالإشاعات)، والوقت المناسب هو في لحظتها على الدوام:
الوقت الأفضل للإستثمار هو حين يكون الدم لا يزال على الأرض"، هذا ما قاله لي بصراحة أحد المندوبين في المؤتمر الثاني ل "إعادة إعمار العراق" في واشنطن""
لكن هل على الدولة العظمى ان تنتظر الكارثة؟ بالتأكيد لا، فالخطط موجودة ومعدّة مسبقاً، ص531:
"أطلقت وزارة الخارجية في الولايات المتحدة مكتب "إعادة الإعمار وإرساء الإستقرار" وتطلب منه رسم خطط مفصّلة لإعادة اعمار 25 بلداً يمكنها ان تقع ضحية التدمير الذي ترعاه الولايات المتحدة من فنزويلا الى ايران. ويتم تنظيم الشركات والمستشارين بواسطة عقود موقّعة مسبقاً، ليكونوا جاهزين للبدء بالعمل حالما تقع الكارثة."
لكن الشركات المستفيدة لا علاقة لها بالكوارث فهي تستفيد بالصدفة اليس كذلك؟ ص530:
"بالنسبة الى الشركات التي تتميّز ببعد النظر وبالحكمة كـ "هاليبرتون" ومجموعة "كارلايل"، يشكّل المدمرون والبناءون أقساماً مختلفة من الشركات نفسها"
هل تطبق الولايات المتحدة هذه النظرية في الخارج فقط؟ لا، لقد طبقتها في الداخل ايضاً، خصوصاً مع سيطرة الخصخصة على التعاقدات الداخلية، والدليل ما حدث في نيو اورلينز غداة اعصار "كاترينا":
""الناس قد يكونون على دراية بعدم المساواة الذي قد يظهر من خلال الحياة اليومية في المدارس المتطورة، او في كنف الشرائح التي تحظى في امكانية النفاذ الى رعاية صحية جيدة، الا ان التوقع العام كان مختلفاً في حالة الكوارث"
- في العراق، طبق الأمريكيون ذات الإستراتيجية بشكل صدمات متلاحقة بدءاً من ليلة القصف الى الإجتياح فالإحتلال والصدمات النفسية والإقتصادية:
* القصف الأولي، الذي اشعل ليل بغداد واستخدمت فيه الاف القنابل والصواريخ كان لإرهاب الناس وصدمها تماماً: ص458:
"ان استرتيجية "الصدم والترهيب" كانت تقوم بعملها، وتتحدى قوانين الحرب التي تمنع العقاب الجماعي. كانت عقيدة الصدم والترهيب عقيدة عسكرية تفاخر بأنها لا تستهدف قوّات العدو العسكرية فحسب، بل "المجتمع بأسره"، كما يشدد واضعوها، فالخوف الجماعي هو جزء أساسي من الإستراتيجية."
* محاولة محو تاريخ البلاد او وعي الناس الجماعي، ص 458:
"لقد أذى القصف العراق طبعاً، لكن النهب الذي لم تضبطه قوات الإحتلال (كان يجدر القول الذي سهّلته وساهمت فيه)، هو ما تسبب في محو جوهر البلد الذي كان"
* والفشل الذريع بالمحصلة من زاوية سياسية واقتصادية:
"استخدمت أساليب الصدم كلّها في العراق ما عدا القنبلة النووية، وبرغم ذلك لم ينجح المحتلون في إخضاع العراق. بات فشل هذه التجربة جليّاً"
فتركوا البلاد ممزقة تتصارع فيها العصابات الطائفية والمذهبية من اجل مصالح آنية او عرقية او غيبية بعد ان تم نهب البلاد وسرقة مليارات الدولارات.
- لا شك ان هذه النظرية لم تنتهي، ولم ينتهي تطبيقها، فلا زلنا نرى العديد من الأمثلة في منطقتنا عن كيفية ارهاب الشعوب وصدمها من اجل تمرير سياسات كان من المستحيل ان تمر في الأيام العادية، حتى ان بعض الدول تستعمل ذات المفهوم لتمرير قوانين داخلية. اما رأسمالية الكوارث التي تنتج طبقة غنية بشكل مفرط، فهي تذهب بنا رويداً رويداً الى تشكيل مناطق خضراء غنية محمية بشركات خاصة، تحيط بها احزمة البؤس والفقر وهذا الإتجاه عالمي الى حد ما وسيؤدي بالنتيجة الى شرخ عامودي بنتائج كارثية.
- الكتاب يحتوي على عشرات الأمثلة والقصص والطروحات الأخرى التي لا مجال لذكرها كلّها، لكن اهمها القصة الوهمية لإنتهاء الفصل العنصري في جنوب افريقيا وكيف تم الربح السياسي على حساب الإقتصادي، قصة صعود نجم بورس يلتسن وقصفه لمجلس النواب، قصص محاكمة الديكتاتوريات في امريكا الجنوبية، قصص التسونامي في سريلانكا وتايلند، قصص جدار الفصل على الحدود الأمريكية-المكسيكية وداخل فلسطين المحتلة، تحول الإستقرار من عامل اساسي للإزدهار الإقتصادي الى عامل غير مؤثر، قصص الوقوف بوجه الصدمة من لبنان الى العراق الى الارجنتين... وغيرها الكثير من حول العالم.
February 27, 2019
Using shock treatment as a metaphor, Klein analyzes the importance of economic dislocations and disasters to the success of Milton Friedman's free market philosophy. This is an important book, and shows why the apparent stupidities of the Bush administration in Iraq and Katrina are actually deliberate measures designed to daze and demoralize people into accepting a radical free-market agenda.
August 30, 2017
يعتبر هذا الكتاب من اهم الكتب الى ممكن تقراءها فى حياتك .. كتاب به كمية معلومات سياسية وتاريخية واقتصادية مبذول فيه جهد خرافى ..الكاتبة نقلتك من تشيلى وانقلاب بينوشيه الى بوليفيا والارجنتين والبرازيل لانجلترا وبولندا لروسيا للصين لتايلاند وسيريلانكا وكوريا وجزرالمالديف الى امريكا وصولا الى العراق ولبنان , لتقرأ مثلا كم كسبت الشركات الأمريكية المليارات من غزو العراق
تشرح الكاتبة وتفند فكر ميلتون فريدمان والنيو ليبرالية او فكر السوق الحر فكر صبيان شيكاغو الذى يعتمد على اهم ثلاث افكار وهى الخصخصة والغاء تدخل الحكومة تحدي�� الاسعار او التحكم بالسوق والحد من الاعانات والرعاية الاجتماعية.
ولتمرير تلك القرارات فى كل تلك البلاد يجب الاستعانة بعقيدة الصدمة التى يتعرض لها الشعب فيتعرض :
لصدمة اولى متمثلة فى حرب مثل جزر الفوكلاند بين بريطانيا والارجنتين , أو غزو العراق او فى كارثة طبيعية مثل تسونامى او حتى ازمة اقتصادية طاحنة, وإذا لم يجدوا أزمة اقتادية تطور الفكر لامكانية خلق تلك الازمة الاقتصادية لتؤدى الى انهيار البلد اقتصاديا ويتم خلق تلك الازمة من تقارير كاذبة تصدرا من صندوق النقد والبنك الدولى فتلجأ الدول لهما لأخذ قروض لانقاذ البلد فتأتى شروط البنك وصندوق النقد ��لدولى
صدمة ثانية من قرارات اقتصادية سريعة ويتم الاعتماد على صدمة الشعب من الصدمة الاولى لتمرير قرارات ضد مصلحة الشعب ولا يستفيد منها الا الشركات الكبري فتزيد معدلات الفقر وتنحسر الطبقة المتوسطة لتكون تحت خط الفقر
ومن يرفض يتعرض لصدمة ثالثة متمثلة فى الخطف والتعذيب والقتل
وضح الكتاب كيف تتحكم الشركات الكبري وصندوق النقد والبنك الدولى فى قرارات الدول اوالقيام بحرب وحتى اختيار الرؤساء ففى كوريا اخذت ضمانات من اربع رؤساء مرشحين لاتمام شروط صندوق النقد فمعنى ذلك اذهب وقول رأيك فى الانتخابات واختار بين أربع مرشحين يؤيدون او يتبعون أوامرنا , فانتخب من تريد وسوف ننفذ ما نريد نحن!!
اختم بشهادة رجل مزارع ارجنتينى في المحكمة تم حبسه خمس سنين في عصر الطغمة العسكرية يقول سيرجيو طوماسيلا :
لقد اصر ان الاساءة التى تعرض لها هو وزوجته لا يمكن عزلها عن المصالح الاقتصادية للشركات لذا فبدلا من تسمية الجنود وطغاة العسكر الذين اساءوا اليه اختار ان يسمى المؤسسات الوطنية والاجنبية التى تستفيد من عدم قدرة اقتصاد البلد للاعتماد على نفسه فتفرض الاحتكارات الاجنبية الحصاد علينا وتفرض الكيماويات التي تلوث ارضنا وتفرض التكنولوجيا وكل ذلك يتم من خلال اقلية حاكمة قمعية تملك الارض وتهيمن علي الحياة السياسية ولكن تلك الاقلية الحاكمة تتغير وتتهرض للاحتكارات نفسها ولكن العدو الممثل فى الشركات مثل فورد موتورز وفيليب موريس وغيرهم هى ما يجب ان نغير
يقول انه يعتقد انه سينتصروا قى يوم من الايام ولكن يجب ان نعلم من هو العدو
كلام مزارع فهم الى مش فهموا عندنا سياسيين ومتعلمين وحتى رؤساء
لا اريد ان اطيل الريفيو فممكن ان اكتب الكثير على اهمية ذلك الكتاب فالذى ذكرته فى الريفيو لا يمثل الا القليل جدا من معلومات والحقائق المذكورة فى الكتاب ولكن انصح به الجميع يستحق اكثر من خمس نجوم ..
April 13, 2024
“Capitalism” 101: Shocking, to Western liberalism…
Preamble:
--It’s difficult to find a label more propagandized than “capitalism” (the other being its opposition, “socialism”). What’s really shocking is how we often skip careful definitions and immediately jump to find “facts” that confirm the conclusions we have already made.
--In an effort to combat this, I recommend the “What is Politics?” video series, which builds foundational definitions.
…Let me add to the definitions:
1) “liberal”:
--From a global historical perspective (always be wary when context is omitted), liberalism and capitalism/imperialism are two sides of the same coin.
[ii] “moral sentiments”: referencing Adam Smith’s 1759 The Theory of Moral Sentiments; as a moral philosopher, perhaps Smith had a bit more to say than just economic self-interest (despite being an ivory-tower intellectual).
[iii] “anonymous shareholders”: the stock market is a key capitalist market. Markets for goods (“real commodities” with real producers and real costs of production, i.e. Smith's “butchers, bakers and brewers”) have long existed before capitalism; we can call these “societies with markets”. That’s not capitalism. Capitalism is a “market society” because of 3 peculiar markets: labour/land/money, which feature "fictitious commodities" (humans/nature/purchasing power, which are not "produced" like real commodities just for buying/selling on markets): Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works—and How It Fails
…If we cut through liberalism’s idealist rhetoric and examine its materialist structures, then I find the label “cosmopolitan capitalism” most revealing:
…for more on the “historical materialist” lens, see the aforementioned “What is Politics?” video series, as well as this checklist: A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium
1a) “default liberals”:
--This is what I call the apolitical public who by default adopt the “ruling ideas” as if it is a balanced centrism between “left” vs. “right”, not realizing such ideas have been carefully framed by the ruling capitalist minority.
--This is what I call the much smaller group of avid spectators and the intelligentsia for cosmopolitan capitalism (see: Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies).
2) “leftists”/“radicals”:
--Radicals seek to diagnose the structural roots of social ills and provide systemic alternatives rather than band-aids. A good start is to carefully unpack real-world capitalism. “Progressives” range from liberals to leftists, often due to context (ex. trying to be pragmatic).
3) “right-wing”/“conservative”/“reactionary”:
--I unpack all this in reviewing Klein’s 2023 Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World.
…also see:
-The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump
-Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
-why Jordan Peterson is actually crying about capitalism (“all that is holy is profaned”): 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
The Good:
--Klein’s 2007 book is a resounding success in achieving its primary goal of offering an engaging critique of “capitalism” for the general Western audience (i.e. default liberals).
--Here’s a sample comparing the readership of popular books on “economics” (these are Goodreads numbers, which of course bias English-speaking esp. American readers using the website since 2007):
-838,472 ratings: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (2005): "probably the best-known economics book of our time" which somehow omits "capitalism".
-593,970 ratings: Rich Dad, Poor Dad (1997): self-help for liberals.
-190,622 ratings: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (2001): critical history/social science, along with 239,208 ratings for A People's History of the United States (1980).
-158,942 ratings: The Communist Manifesto (1848): in reality, this is one of the most widely read books globally.
-158,173 ratings: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (2010): written like a script for a Hollywood blockbuster. Oh, wait…
-146,926 ratings: The Psychology of Money (2020): self-help for liberals, with “behavioral psychology”?
-93,460 ratings: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016).
-46,867 ratings: Klein’s 2007 book: Note how rare it is for a book with “capitalism” in the title to be popular.
-31,560 ratings: Capital in the Twenty First Century (2013): yet how many actually bothered to read it to completion? See Varoufakis’ critique.
The Missing:
--With the book’s primary goal being a resounding success (where countless works have utterly failed, including all the academic tomes that never even try), we can now push readers to dig deeper.
--How sound are Klein’s foundations and how far can we take them? Missing clear definitions (i.e. how is Klein defining “capitalism”?), which I stress in my preamble, we have to do extra work to sort this all out, as it’s all mixed up in the book:
1) Colonization: origins or foundations?:
--Reading Klein’s evolution as a writer/theorist, there seems to be a foundational clash between:
a) Western “progressive” lens: growing up in Global North post-WWII “middle class” mass consumerist privileges, thus struggling more with alienation, vs.
b) Solidarity with those outside the privileged bubble, i.e. working poor in the Global North and globally, who are more burdened by direct exploitation.
--Had Klein focused on the latter lens in conceptualizing “capitalism”, Klein would have centered this buried passage:
…For the rest of the review, see the comments below (starting at comment #12):
2) “Welfare State” Capitalism: a compromise to derail Keynes/Socialism/Third World decolonization
3)“Corporatism”/“Disaster Capitalism”?
Preamble:
--It’s difficult to find a label more propagandized than “capitalism” (the other being its opposition, “socialism”). What’s really shocking is how we often skip careful definitions and immediately jump to find “facts” that confirm the conclusions we have already made.
--In an effort to combat this, I recommend the “What is Politics?” video series, which builds foundational definitions.
…Let me add to the definitions:
1) “liberal”:
--From a global historical perspective (always be wary when context is omitted), liberalism and capitalism/imperialism are two sides of the same coin.
Liberalism’s fatal hypocrisy [...] was to rejoice in the virtuous Jills and Jacks, the neighbourhood butchers, bakers and brewers [i], so as to defend the vile East India Companies, the Facebooks and the Amazons, which know no neighbours, have no partners, respect no moral sentiments [ii] and stop at nothing to destroy their competitors. By replacing partnerships with anonymous shareholders [iii], we created Leviathans that end up undermining and defying all the values that liberals [...] claim to cherish.[i] “butchers, bakers and brewers”: referencing Classical liberal economics godfather Adam Smith’s famous quote praising self-interested producers unintentionally providing social needs, thus not needing state regulation. Vulgar pro-capitalists have cherry-picked the beneficial self-interest part, as if these petty producers are comparable to corporations owned by anonymous shareholders (who by definition are not producers, i.e. workers).
[Another Now: Dispatches from an Alternative Present, emphases added]
[ii] “moral sentiments”: referencing Adam Smith’s 1759 The Theory of Moral Sentiments; as a moral philosopher, perhaps Smith had a bit more to say than just economic self-interest (despite being an ivory-tower intellectual).
[iii] “anonymous shareholders”: the stock market is a key capitalist market. Markets for goods (“real commodities” with real producers and real costs of production, i.e. Smith's “butchers, bakers and brewers”) have long existed before capitalism; we can call these “societies with markets”. That’s not capitalism. Capitalism is a “market society” because of 3 peculiar markets: labour/land/money, which feature "fictitious commodities" (humans/nature/purchasing power, which are not "produced" like real commodities just for buying/selling on markets): Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works—and How It Fails
…If we cut through liberalism’s idealist rhetoric and examine its materialist structures, then I find the label “cosmopolitan capitalism” most revealing:
Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned […]…This provides clues to how adaptive capitalism can be at co-opting grassroots demands. The racism used by colonization’s divide-and-conquer can continue under token liberal “multiculturalism”, which smuggly rests on top of the global division of labour adopted from colonialism (cheap labour and “brain drain”): The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions
[The Communist Manifesto]
…for more on the “historical materialist” lens, see the aforementioned “What is Politics?” video series, as well as this checklist: A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium
1a) “default liberals”:
--This is what I call the apolitical public who by default adopt the “ruling ideas” as if it is a balanced centrism between “left” vs. “right”, not realizing such ideas have been carefully framed by the ruling capitalist minority.
The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.1b) “devoted liberals”:
-Marx
--This is what I call the much smaller group of avid spectators and the intelligentsia for cosmopolitan capitalism (see: Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies).
2) “leftists”/“radicals”:
--Radicals seek to diagnose the structural roots of social ills and provide systemic alternatives rather than band-aids. A good start is to carefully unpack real-world capitalism. “Progressives” range from liberals to leftists, often due to context (ex. trying to be pragmatic).
3) “right-wing”/“conservative”/“reactionary”:
--I unpack all this in reviewing Klein’s 2023 Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World.
…also see:
-The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump
-Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
-why Jordan Peterson is actually crying about capitalism (“all that is holy is profaned”): 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
The Good:
--Klein’s 2007 book is a resounding success in achieving its primary goal of offering an engaging critique of “capitalism” for the general Western audience (i.e. default liberals).
--Here’s a sample comparing the readership of popular books on “economics” (these are Goodreads numbers, which of course bias English-speaking esp. American readers using the website since 2007):
-838,472 ratings: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (2005): "probably the best-known economics book of our time" which somehow omits "capitalism".
-593,970 ratings: Rich Dad, Poor Dad (1997): self-help for liberals.
-190,622 ratings: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (2001): critical history/social science, along with 239,208 ratings for A People's History of the United States (1980).
-158,942 ratings: The Communist Manifesto (1848): in reality, this is one of the most widely read books globally.
-158,173 ratings: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine (2010): written like a script for a Hollywood blockbuster. Oh, wait…
-146,926 ratings: The Psychology of Money (2020): self-help for liberals, with “behavioral psychology”?
-93,460 ratings: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016).
-46,867 ratings: Klein’s 2007 book: Note how rare it is for a book with “capitalism” in the title to be popular.
-31,560 ratings: Capital in the Twenty First Century (2013): yet how many actually bothered to read it to completion? See Varoufakis’ critique.
The Missing:
--With the book’s primary goal being a resounding success (where countless works have utterly failed, including all the academic tomes that never even try), we can now push readers to dig deeper.
--How sound are Klein’s foundations and how far can we take them? Missing clear definitions (i.e. how is Klein defining “capitalism”?), which I stress in my preamble, we have to do extra work to sort this all out, as it’s all mixed up in the book:
1) Colonization: origins or foundations?:
--Reading Klein’s evolution as a writer/theorist, there seems to be a foundational clash between:
a) Western “progressive” lens: growing up in Global North post-WWII “middle class” mass consumerist privileges, thus struggling more with alienation, vs.
b) Solidarity with those outside the privileged bubble, i.e. working poor in the Global North and globally, who are more burdened by direct exploitation.
--Had Klein focused on the latter lens in conceptualizing “capitalism”, Klein would have centered this buried passage:
In the first stage of capitalist expansion, that kind of ravenous growth was provided by colonialism—by “discovering” new territories and grabbing land without paying for it, then extracting riches from the earth without compensating local populations. [Milton] Friedman’s war on the “welfare state” and “big government” held out the promise of a new font of rapid riches—only this time, rather than conquering new territory, the state itself would be the new frontier, its public services and assets auctioned off for far less than they were worth.--The question we have to ask Klein is this: has colonization ever not been the foundations of capitalism (i.e. “market society” run on endless private accumulation)? Did the “welfare state” period transcend colonization?
…For the rest of the review, see the comments below (starting at comment #12):
2) “Welfare State” Capitalism: a compromise to derail Keynes/Socialism/Third World decolonization
3)“Corporatism”/“Disaster Capitalism”?
February 16, 2014
This was a very illuminating work about how chaotic situations are used, and sometimes created, as cover for the imposition of drastic economic and political reorganization in vulnerable economies. The end product of these actions is a so-called free market model as advocated by the Chicago School of Milton Friedman and his acolytes. Examples used include Chile, China, Argentina, Bolivia, South Africa, Russia, among others. The technique is for western financial powers to swoop in during a time of financial crisis and refuse to lend a struggling nation any money until that nation agrees to a radical reworking of its economy. This reworking is done in a shock, with many changes instituted all at once, with little or no warning. These changes, as they are draconian toward the lower classes, usually need to be accompanied by severe political repression in order to enforce the transition. What we see here is the mechanism of a growing form of corporatist colonialism.
Klein parallels her examination of the stresses endured by many national economies with a look at actual, literal, personal shock treatment. In the 1950s a researcher named Ewan Cameron did research on his theory that instead of Freudian therapy a more effective method of treating mental illness was to erase the patient’s personality using electric shocks. Then the blank page would be receptive to reconstruction by the good doctor. The shocks caused amnesia and extreme regression. Cameron devised a new tool, one that applied six shocks at once, and even used a wide range of drugs to disorient and wipe clean as much of the patient’s personality as possible. Once the subject was reduced to a vegetative state, Cameron played them tapes dozens, maybe hundreds of times over. The CIA took note and launched a program of its own.
She posits a parallel between treatments that serve to erase personality with the economic and political shocks that struggling nations are forced to endure, shocks that are part and parcel of the move from a developmentalist economy, one that seeks local control and self-sufficiency, to a globalist economy, one in which foreign investment in and ownership of local enterprise is encouraged.
While I found that at times Klein extended her discourse beyond the reach of her material, her analysis of the subject matter is compelling, her linkage of different forms of shock (personal, political, economic) illuminating, and the applicability of her work to the current economic disruptions frightening. Despite its subject matter, this a compelling, and relatively fast read. It should be mandatory reading for anyone concerned with politics, economics, world affairs or current events.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
August 4, 2011 - the following article has particular relevance not only for the international implementation of TSD, but to its application within the USA. It is an interview with Dr. Michael Hudson, a guy who has been ahead of the curve for a long time on the roots of current economic atrocities.
June 18, 2012 - Joe Nocera's NY Times column on how ALEC-based programs are gutting democracy in Rhode Island
July 10, 2020
I only got about ¼ into this. I don't like the shifty way Klein argues her points. I felt like I was being propagandized rather than educated.
Much of her main “shock doctrine” argument seems to be just sort of a tightly-woven set of linguistic parallels that are meant to suggest causation. Something like: Hitler had the autobahn built. The autobahn allowed drivers to finally race where they wanted to go. Hitler crafted what he thought of as the final solution to a race problem. So you see, highway systems are part and parcel of genocide.
You see, electroshock is a mostly-discredited method of treating mental illness that results in profound disorientation and amnesia. Electric shocks are also used to torture people in despotic regimes. People recommending against gradual economic reforms have used the metaphor of “shock treatment” to describe rapid, all-at-once changes. Ergo, these sorts of economists are like torturers trying to mess with our minds.
She also uses the term “free market” — the bête noire of her book — to cover just about any economic circumstance she doesn’t like, whether there’s anything free about it or not.
On the one hand, the free market villains swoop in after disasters to inflict their “three trademark demands — privatization, government deregulation, and deep cuts in social spending” and on the other hand, this more often than not gets illustrated with examples like the U.S. paying huge sums of money to such corporations as those who provide various contracting services in Iraq. You can call that bad, but don’t call it “privatization, government deregulation, and deep cuts in social spending.” And certainly don’t call it “free market” anything.
Much of her main “shock doctrine” argument seems to be just sort of a tightly-woven set of linguistic parallels that are meant to suggest causation. Something like: Hitler had the autobahn built. The autobahn allowed drivers to finally race where they wanted to go. Hitler crafted what he thought of as the final solution to a race problem. So you see, highway systems are part and parcel of genocide.
You see, electroshock is a mostly-discredited method of treating mental illness that results in profound disorientation and amnesia. Electric shocks are also used to torture people in despotic regimes. People recommending against gradual economic reforms have used the metaphor of “shock treatment” to describe rapid, all-at-once changes. Ergo, these sorts of economists are like torturers trying to mess with our minds.
She also uses the term “free market” — the bête noire of her book — to cover just about any economic circumstance she doesn’t like, whether there’s anything free about it or not.
On the one hand, the free market villains swoop in after disasters to inflict their “three trademark demands — privatization, government deregulation, and deep cuts in social spending” and on the other hand, this more often than not gets illustrated with examples like the U.S. paying huge sums of money to such corporations as those who provide various contracting services in Iraq. You can call that bad, but don’t call it “privatization, government deregulation, and deep cuts in social spending.” And certainly don’t call it “free market” anything.
March 2, 2008
“The lucky get Kevlar, the rest get prayer beads.”
This is a chilling, writhing outrage of a book. A hideous, squealing beast of a book that cannot and should not be ignored.
Klein has dropped the curtain on an ugly, malevolent Wizard. When these kind of curtains drop, we never like what we see. Like so many of these kinds of leftist exposes on conservatives, the Bush Administration, the neocons and their rabble, this book needn’t have been written. Orwell wrote it already. But better than any other book of its kind, Klein makes it so painfully obvious that these necons who have grabbed control of the reins of this wild mustang of a country and who disdain the government so much have absolutely no business governing. Something is indeed rotten when Destruction and Doom is this profitable. It’s Cowardly, it’s Un-American, it’s Weak, and it is Lazy.
If Reading is Sexy, this book is a tour through a decrepit brothel with Klein as your guide to point out the perverse fetishes and hemorrhaging syphilitic tumors rupturing on the sides of our society. Klein’s story is an epic and sprawling Indictment, providing exhaustive analysis and criticism of the disastrous economic policies pursued in Latin America, Poland, China, South Africa, Iraq, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and in Asia after the tsunami.
The Shock Doctrine is the story of Milton Friedman and his “Chicago School” of economic policies: Led by the US and its incestuous, inbred offspring (the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO), Friedman touted an economic policy that came to be termed The Washington Consensus. It was resoundingly embraced by neocons under the ideal of spreading “freedom” to countries at their most dire by installing the triumvirate of Friedmansism: 1) privatization (outsourcing), 2) free trade/deregulation, and 3) a cut in government spending. What Klein does a very good job of illuminating throughout her book is that what these neocons refer to as economic freedom does not equate to nor provide for human rights and civil liberties. Economic freedom (free trade) is not a panacea for the world’s ills. A blind faith in capitalism is not enough. A dictatorship of communism or fascism is revealed to be the same as a dictatorship of Business. As Klein’s gruesome story unfolds across the world, the main tenets of this “shock doctrine” cease to be privatization, deregulation, and pay cuts but instead Exploitation, Opportunism, Manipulation, and Corruption. Such economic polices only survived when democracy was suppressed. As Klein explains,“Once you accept that profit and greed as practiced on a mass scale create the greatest possible benefits for any society, pretty much any act of personal enrichment can be justified as a contribution to the great creative cauldron of capitalism, generating wealth and spurring economic growth – even if it’s only for yourself and your colleagues.”
No. The Average Joe does not benefit from such disaster capitalism. People like you and I do not get anything out of such tactics, and the citizens of countries where such horrendous laws are put into place certainly do not benefit. No. The benefits go to firms like Halliburton, Bechtel, and Blackwater who swarm around the government salivating for no-bid contracts like junkies pacing the sidewalks outside a methadone clinic. Never have Disparity and Hypocrisy sung so depressing a duet. We have Socialism in America, but not for the poor, that would be Socialism! No, our handouts go to Rich Friends. The poor are getting poorer. The rich are getting richer. Private firms greedily gobble up no-bid government contracts from their fat cat robber baron puppet leader-friends straight out of corporate America now sitting in big chairs in corner offices for the U S of A. The outsourcing and branding that was successful in the private sector was introduced to the public sector. Big Business and Big Government are in a Big Bed fucking to their dirty pig heart’s content.
So Iraqi Freedom was really about opening up a new market for private multi-national corporations to reap absurd profits. It is a crude, obnoxious tactic and a new level for war profiteers. And once those tactics had failed in Iraq, they were used in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck. Like the pathetic drunk at the Roulette Wheel, Bush and his cronies are nothing more than stupid kids who don’t learn, foolishly insisting that “they’re due.”War profiteers should be treated like the drunk driving, child molesting pervert Losers they are.
We all know that the Emperor Has No Clothes. But now, it doesn’t matter. Our Leaders are Blind, Deaf and Dumb anyway. They are dressed, fed, entertained, and put to bed by Outsourced Contractors.“When it came time to update the Army Manual on the rules for dealing with contractors, the army contracted out the job to one of its major contractors, MPRI – it no longer had the know-how in-house.” Most disheartening is that these people seem to have lost their sense of humor. Irony is clearly lost on them. All hope is lost. Send them back to a small liberal arts college and have them suffer through an anthropology major or something.
Klein again and again asks the right questions from a different perspective. A good critic, Klein consistently analyzes events and actions to determine the cause for which they are indicative of. Torture? What is that symptomatic of? What is torture serving? That is the ill, what is the disease, the cause, that needs to be cured?
Klein’s prose is dense and exacting, exerting the thorough confidence of a straightforward journalist asking the right questions about the right topics from a refreshingly different perspective. Given her subject matter, you actually wish she’d allow herself a little more personal rage, some occasional vitriol and human madness. But no. Klein is a cool character, calmly exposing the atrocities and mistakes of our Modern Era. She even quotes Rilke, Brecht, and the rapper Juvenile.
This book belongs on your shelf next to The People’s History of the United States of America, but Klein is hardly the storyteller that Zinn is. But like Zinn’s magnificent and important work, The Shock Doctrine is about the Little Man, the Worker, the Poor, the Forgotten. The Shock Doctrine continues on in that great and noble canon that is for The Rest.
Despite such a sprawling, probing work that can at times wander and leap across themes and arguments, Klein can be quite poignant when she drops the complex and well-constructed debate in favor of keen observations. Observing the “reconstruction” following the Asian Tsunami disaster, Klein observes, “What it looked like was hundreds of thousands of poor, brown-skinned people (the fishing people deemed “unproductive” by the World Bank) being moved against their wishes to make room for ultrarich, mostly light-skinned people (the “high-yield” tourists).
“One thing was certain, though: if peace was to take root in Sri Lanka, it needed to outweigh the benefits of war including the tangible economic benefits flowing from a war economy, in which the army takes care of the families of its soldiers and the Tamil Tigers look after the families of its fighter and suicide bombers.”We are fighting the same exact problem in Iraq. That’s the West for you, we figured out a way to get Peace. But it’s War. Cheers!
Some day, Historians will find the non-fiction books written about this era and probably mistake them for the plays of some raving-mad lunatic genius, the next Shakespeare. But no, unfortunately our Humiliation and our Embarrassment are Real. Klein is haunting, making you realize that we live in a world where,“Survival is determined by who can afford to pay for escape.”
This is a chilling, writhing outrage of a book. A hideous, squealing beast of a book that cannot and should not be ignored.
Klein has dropped the curtain on an ugly, malevolent Wizard. When these kind of curtains drop, we never like what we see. Like so many of these kinds of leftist exposes on conservatives, the Bush Administration, the neocons and their rabble, this book needn’t have been written. Orwell wrote it already. But better than any other book of its kind, Klein makes it so painfully obvious that these necons who have grabbed control of the reins of this wild mustang of a country and who disdain the government so much have absolutely no business governing. Something is indeed rotten when Destruction and Doom is this profitable. It’s Cowardly, it’s Un-American, it’s Weak, and it is Lazy.
If Reading is Sexy, this book is a tour through a decrepit brothel with Klein as your guide to point out the perverse fetishes and hemorrhaging syphilitic tumors rupturing on the sides of our society. Klein’s story is an epic and sprawling Indictment, providing exhaustive analysis and criticism of the disastrous economic policies pursued in Latin America, Poland, China, South Africa, Iraq, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and in Asia after the tsunami.
The Shock Doctrine is the story of Milton Friedman and his “Chicago School” of economic policies: Led by the US and its incestuous, inbred offspring (the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO), Friedman touted an economic policy that came to be termed The Washington Consensus. It was resoundingly embraced by neocons under the ideal of spreading “freedom” to countries at their most dire by installing the triumvirate of Friedmansism: 1) privatization (outsourcing), 2) free trade/deregulation, and 3) a cut in government spending. What Klein does a very good job of illuminating throughout her book is that what these neocons refer to as economic freedom does not equate to nor provide for human rights and civil liberties. Economic freedom (free trade) is not a panacea for the world’s ills. A blind faith in capitalism is not enough. A dictatorship of communism or fascism is revealed to be the same as a dictatorship of Business. As Klein’s gruesome story unfolds across the world, the main tenets of this “shock doctrine” cease to be privatization, deregulation, and pay cuts but instead Exploitation, Opportunism, Manipulation, and Corruption. Such economic polices only survived when democracy was suppressed. As Klein explains,“Once you accept that profit and greed as practiced on a mass scale create the greatest possible benefits for any society, pretty much any act of personal enrichment can be justified as a contribution to the great creative cauldron of capitalism, generating wealth and spurring economic growth – even if it’s only for yourself and your colleagues.”
No. The Average Joe does not benefit from such disaster capitalism. People like you and I do not get anything out of such tactics, and the citizens of countries where such horrendous laws are put into place certainly do not benefit. No. The benefits go to firms like Halliburton, Bechtel, and Blackwater who swarm around the government salivating for no-bid contracts like junkies pacing the sidewalks outside a methadone clinic. Never have Disparity and Hypocrisy sung so depressing a duet. We have Socialism in America, but not for the poor, that would be Socialism! No, our handouts go to Rich Friends. The poor are getting poorer. The rich are getting richer. Private firms greedily gobble up no-bid government contracts from their fat cat robber baron puppet leader-friends straight out of corporate America now sitting in big chairs in corner offices for the U S of A. The outsourcing and branding that was successful in the private sector was introduced to the public sector. Big Business and Big Government are in a Big Bed fucking to their dirty pig heart’s content.
So Iraqi Freedom was really about opening up a new market for private multi-national corporations to reap absurd profits. It is a crude, obnoxious tactic and a new level for war profiteers. And once those tactics had failed in Iraq, they were used in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck. Like the pathetic drunk at the Roulette Wheel, Bush and his cronies are nothing more than stupid kids who don’t learn, foolishly insisting that “they’re due.”War profiteers should be treated like the drunk driving, child molesting pervert Losers they are.
We all know that the Emperor Has No Clothes. But now, it doesn’t matter. Our Leaders are Blind, Deaf and Dumb anyway. They are dressed, fed, entertained, and put to bed by Outsourced Contractors.“When it came time to update the Army Manual on the rules for dealing with contractors, the army contracted out the job to one of its major contractors, MPRI – it no longer had the know-how in-house.” Most disheartening is that these people seem to have lost their sense of humor. Irony is clearly lost on them. All hope is lost. Send them back to a small liberal arts college and have them suffer through an anthropology major or something.
Klein again and again asks the right questions from a different perspective. A good critic, Klein consistently analyzes events and actions to determine the cause for which they are indicative of. Torture? What is that symptomatic of? What is torture serving? That is the ill, what is the disease, the cause, that needs to be cured?
Klein’s prose is dense and exacting, exerting the thorough confidence of a straightforward journalist asking the right questions about the right topics from a refreshingly different perspective. Given her subject matter, you actually wish she’d allow herself a little more personal rage, some occasional vitriol and human madness. But no. Klein is a cool character, calmly exposing the atrocities and mistakes of our Modern Era. She even quotes Rilke, Brecht, and the rapper Juvenile.
This book belongs on your shelf next to The People’s History of the United States of America, but Klein is hardly the storyteller that Zinn is. But like Zinn’s magnificent and important work, The Shock Doctrine is about the Little Man, the Worker, the Poor, the Forgotten. The Shock Doctrine continues on in that great and noble canon that is for The Rest.
Despite such a sprawling, probing work that can at times wander and leap across themes and arguments, Klein can be quite poignant when she drops the complex and well-constructed debate in favor of keen observations. Observing the “reconstruction” following the Asian Tsunami disaster, Klein observes, “What it looked like was hundreds of thousands of poor, brown-skinned people (the fishing people deemed “unproductive” by the World Bank) being moved against their wishes to make room for ultrarich, mostly light-skinned people (the “high-yield” tourists).
“One thing was certain, though: if peace was to take root in Sri Lanka, it needed to outweigh the benefits of war including the tangible economic benefits flowing from a war economy, in which the army takes care of the families of its soldiers and the Tamil Tigers look after the families of its fighter and suicide bombers.”We are fighting the same exact problem in Iraq. That’s the West for you, we figured out a way to get Peace. But it’s War. Cheers!
Some day, Historians will find the non-fiction books written about this era and probably mistake them for the plays of some raving-mad lunatic genius, the next Shakespeare. But no, unfortunately our Humiliation and our Embarrassment are Real. Klein is haunting, making you realize that we live in a world where,“Survival is determined by who can afford to pay for escape.”
July 13, 2016
(spoilers ahead, but it's not fiction so don't worry about it)
Where do I begin? This is a failed Noam Chomsky book.
Firstly, Klein is working with a strange definition of capitalism. When the free market economists who Klein refers to (like Friedman and Hayek) talk about capitalism they are referring to an economic system free of government intervention. Klein however uses the word capitalist to refer to the current economic model– one in which governments and corporations work in tandem to exploit the general population. (Edit: I realize that "capitalism" has multiple definitions, but the problem is that Klein uses a different definition from the economists she is criticizing, which makes her entire criticism seem like an assault upon a strawman). Klein has essentially built a book around conflating capitalism with corporatism. This is fairly subtle in the first chapter, but reaches a point of real absurdity towards the end of the book. There is a clear distinction between the policies advocated by Hayek/Friedman, and George W. Bush. Klein purposefully obfuscates this.
The Shock Docterine starts out criticizing Milton Friedman for his activities in Chile. This is at least understandable because Friedman did in fact visit Chile and advise Piñochet. However, this is more or less where the facts begin and end. She soon moves on to more dubious claims- for instance, blaming Friedman and his acolytes for the Iraq war in particular (a war he expressly opposed) and the military industrial complex in general. It should be obvious to any reader that this sort of alliance between business and government has little to do with free markets, private property rights, or "capitalism" as defined by Chicago or Austrian school economists.
By the end of the book she really goes bonkers. She details the plight of several Sri Lankan fishing communities. Here is the story as she presents it: A hurricane hits Sri Lanka destroying many coastal settlements. Hotel companies see an opportunity decide to take possession of the coastal property, which has been conveniently cleared of all those pesky villages. The hotel companies move in and take possession of the beaches. When the villagers protest, the government police force defends the newly acquired beaches on behalf of the hotels using violence. The villagers are reduced to living in poverty and squalor because their land was stolen from them by the alliance of hotel companies and government.
In summary, The hotel companies used the government to steal the private property of the fishing communities. And this is supposed to be an example of free market practices that Hayek and Friedman would approve of. See the issue I'm having?
A modified version of this book would actually make for an apt criticism of corporatism, which is why I was tempted to give this book two stars. However, the problem here is far deeper than a confusion of terms. She actually ascribes neo-Conservative ideas to Libertarian or Classical Liberal thinkers. The Shock Doctrine is essentially the strawman from hell.
And for that it earns 1 star.
Where do I begin? This is a failed Noam Chomsky book.
Firstly, Klein is working with a strange definition of capitalism. When the free market economists who Klein refers to (like Friedman and Hayek) talk about capitalism they are referring to an economic system free of government intervention. Klein however uses the word capitalist to refer to the current economic model– one in which governments and corporations work in tandem to exploit the general population. (Edit: I realize that "capitalism" has multiple definitions, but the problem is that Klein uses a different definition from the economists she is criticizing, which makes her entire criticism seem like an assault upon a strawman). Klein has essentially built a book around conflating capitalism with corporatism. This is fairly subtle in the first chapter, but reaches a point of real absurdity towards the end of the book. There is a clear distinction between the policies advocated by Hayek/Friedman, and George W. Bush. Klein purposefully obfuscates this.
The Shock Docterine starts out criticizing Milton Friedman for his activities in Chile. This is at least understandable because Friedman did in fact visit Chile and advise Piñochet. However, this is more or less where the facts begin and end. She soon moves on to more dubious claims- for instance, blaming Friedman and his acolytes for the Iraq war in particular (a war he expressly opposed) and the military industrial complex in general. It should be obvious to any reader that this sort of alliance between business and government has little to do with free markets, private property rights, or "capitalism" as defined by Chicago or Austrian school economists.
By the end of the book she really goes bonkers. She details the plight of several Sri Lankan fishing communities. Here is the story as she presents it: A hurricane hits Sri Lanka destroying many coastal settlements. Hotel companies see an opportunity decide to take possession of the coastal property, which has been conveniently cleared of all those pesky villages. The hotel companies move in and take possession of the beaches. When the villagers protest, the government police force defends the newly acquired beaches on behalf of the hotels using violence. The villagers are reduced to living in poverty and squalor because their land was stolen from them by the alliance of hotel companies and government.
In summary, The hotel companies used the government to steal the private property of the fishing communities. And this is supposed to be an example of free market practices that Hayek and Friedman would approve of. See the issue I'm having?
A modified version of this book would actually make for an apt criticism of corporatism, which is why I was tempted to give this book two stars. However, the problem here is far deeper than a confusion of terms. She actually ascribes neo-Conservative ideas to Libertarian or Classical Liberal thinkers. The Shock Doctrine is essentially the strawman from hell.
And for that it earns 1 star.
February 2, 2020
This is an ambitious book. It tries to tie the economic politics of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia (in the 1970s), Russia, Poland, China, South Africa (in the 1980s and early nineties), the war in Iraq, the tsunami, and hurricane Katrina into a unified theory. Obviously, certain investigative and interpretive biases are required to make this work. Third world nationalism and developmentalism, in general, get off pretty easy in Klein's analysis. As a specialist in Indonesia, I found her portrayal of the Suharto regime as a betrayal of the somehow more viable Sukarno regime a bit evasive (let us not foget that Sukarno was also an ideologue who ran the nation's economy into the ground in the name of fighting neo-colonialism). Making me wonder just how she'd cooked the books in analyzing numerous other countries whose histories I don't know so well.
That said, it offers a very provocative perspective tying together some of the most significant events of the past quarter century.
The thesis, simply put, is that the economic theory championed by Milton Friedman and his Chicago School, first play-tested in the third world in the 1970s, has increasingly come home to roost in the West and Bush's America. The gist of the theory, according to Klein, is a total rejection of Keynesian economics (i.e. the New Deal approach to combatting recession through government spending). In contrast, the three guiding principles of the Chicago School are: deregulation, privatization and cutbacks. (Sound familiar yet?) Transferriing as much of the public sector as possible to the private sector, eliminating government regulations of business, cutting back on services, protections and other economic benefits to the workforce.
The problem, as Friedman and his disciples realized early on, is that voting citizens don't actually want any of this, and will not vote for neoliberal policies through any normal, free democratic process. The solution? Make democracy abnormal. Through shock and awe. Wait for (or instigate) a state of crisis and emergency (i.e. war, natural disaster, mass torture, revolution) and then implement neoliberal policies outside (or, in many cases, in direct contradiction to) democratic will. However, as we have discovered most recently in Iraq, such tactics don't tend to "settle down" into widespread prosperity for ordinary people. Rather, neoliberal governments find that if they let democracy operate normally again, they lose power. Which is why the United States ended up supporting so many dictators. In the name of spreading free market democracy.
There are some sharp notions in this book. I'm particularly taken with Klein's generalization of "Red Zone/Green Zone" to talk about zones of normalcy and nightmare created by neoliberal policies from Iraq to post-tsunami Sri Lanka to New Orleans. She also offers a persuasive refutation of the claim that we (the US) did the Marshall Plan in Europe, but when we tried it in Iraq, Arab Muslims just couldn't handle it. Rather, while the Marshall Plan was rooted in Keynesian economics (we rebuilt Europe's governments and public infrastructure), reconstruction in Iraq has been an "anti-Marshall plan," dismantling the Iraqi state and contracting all its functions to US corporations.
The REAL problem of this book is how to present arguments like these to anyone who doesn't already concsider themselves anti-globalization liberals. I think that any intelligent person who has read Thomas Friedman and found his arguments somewhat persuasive, should read this book too, and decide what sounds most persuasive for themselves. Unfortunately, I think most people will look at the jacket cover endorsements from Howard Zinn, Studs Terkel et al. and make a snap call for the usual ideological reasons.
THAT is not good for America.
That said, it offers a very provocative perspective tying together some of the most significant events of the past quarter century.
The thesis, simply put, is that the economic theory championed by Milton Friedman and his Chicago School, first play-tested in the third world in the 1970s, has increasingly come home to roost in the West and Bush's America. The gist of the theory, according to Klein, is a total rejection of Keynesian economics (i.e. the New Deal approach to combatting recession through government spending). In contrast, the three guiding principles of the Chicago School are: deregulation, privatization and cutbacks. (Sound familiar yet?) Transferriing as much of the public sector as possible to the private sector, eliminating government regulations of business, cutting back on services, protections and other economic benefits to the workforce.
The problem, as Friedman and his disciples realized early on, is that voting citizens don't actually want any of this, and will not vote for neoliberal policies through any normal, free democratic process. The solution? Make democracy abnormal. Through shock and awe. Wait for (or instigate) a state of crisis and emergency (i.e. war, natural disaster, mass torture, revolution) and then implement neoliberal policies outside (or, in many cases, in direct contradiction to) democratic will. However, as we have discovered most recently in Iraq, such tactics don't tend to "settle down" into widespread prosperity for ordinary people. Rather, neoliberal governments find that if they let democracy operate normally again, they lose power. Which is why the United States ended up supporting so many dictators. In the name of spreading free market democracy.
There are some sharp notions in this book. I'm particularly taken with Klein's generalization of "Red Zone/Green Zone" to talk about zones of normalcy and nightmare created by neoliberal policies from Iraq to post-tsunami Sri Lanka to New Orleans. She also offers a persuasive refutation of the claim that we (the US) did the Marshall Plan in Europe, but when we tried it in Iraq, Arab Muslims just couldn't handle it. Rather, while the Marshall Plan was rooted in Keynesian economics (we rebuilt Europe's governments and public infrastructure), reconstruction in Iraq has been an "anti-Marshall plan," dismantling the Iraqi state and contracting all its functions to US corporations.
The REAL problem of this book is how to present arguments like these to anyone who doesn't already concsider themselves anti-globalization liberals. I think that any intelligent person who has read Thomas Friedman and found his arguments somewhat persuasive, should read this book too, and decide what sounds most persuasive for themselves. Unfortunately, I think most people will look at the jacket cover endorsements from Howard Zinn, Studs Terkel et al. and make a snap call for the usual ideological reasons.
THAT is not good for America.
December 29, 2020
The Shock Doctrine - The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is an eye-opening, scathing critique of neo-liberalism and corporatism. Klein extensively examines disaster capitalism complex - a new form of economy built on fear in the wake of a mind-numbing crisis. Based on Nobel laureate Milton Friedman and the Chicago boys' economic theory, disaster capitalism involves the implementation of unpopular, radical free market reforms by exploiting the period of collective shock right after a national crisis during which the population's attention is diverted and their reactive capacities are numbed.
The Chicago boys were a group of Chilean economists prominent around the 1970s and the 1980s, and the majority of them were educated/trained at the Department of Economics of the University of Chicago. Although I am not well acquainted with the theory, from what I have gathered, Friedman advocated developing "alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable" during or immediately after a crisis. Friedmanites stockpile free market ideas and impose them swiftly after a crisis so that they are mostly irreversible.
The first laboratory for Friedman school of economics was Latin America - where military dictatorships were largely in place back in the 70s and 80s. Friedmanites' ideas have mostly aligned with the interests of multinational corporations and over the past fifty years, we have witnessed an upheaval of economic systems all over the world and particularly in global south. The repercussions of disaster capitalism have been overwhelmingly devastating - an ever-widening chasm between the rich and the poor, enormous debt accumulations, enormous private wealth accumulations, irreversible damage to the ecological and environmental system, widespread poverty, destitution and hunger.
I read this book over one month in October during which I also read a large number of reports on pandemic profiteering from all over the world. In India, billionaire and corporatist Mukesh Ambani's net worth grew by Rs 2000 crore per day since March 23, 2020 while nearly 40 crore Indian workers are projected to sink into poverty due to covid-19. Nine Indian billionaires have as much wealth as 50% of the Indian population. Globally, the top 25 billionaires increased their wealth by 255 billion dollars between mid-March and May and 32 of the world's most profitable companies are together expected to make 109 billion dollars more than the average of their profits in the last four years. Also, the 'pandemic profits' of these 32 companies could be redeployed in funding global covid-19 testing needs (estimated at 6 billion dollars) and delivering vaccines to everyone on the planet (estimated at 71 billion dollars.)
Klein's book is extremely important and now more than ever. It is a must-read.
The Chicago boys were a group of Chilean economists prominent around the 1970s and the 1980s, and the majority of them were educated/trained at the Department of Economics of the University of Chicago. Although I am not well acquainted with the theory, from what I have gathered, Friedman advocated developing "alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable" during or immediately after a crisis. Friedmanites stockpile free market ideas and impose them swiftly after a crisis so that they are mostly irreversible.
The first laboratory for Friedman school of economics was Latin America - where military dictatorships were largely in place back in the 70s and 80s. Friedmanites' ideas have mostly aligned with the interests of multinational corporations and over the past fifty years, we have witnessed an upheaval of economic systems all over the world and particularly in global south. The repercussions of disaster capitalism have been overwhelmingly devastating - an ever-widening chasm between the rich and the poor, enormous debt accumulations, enormous private wealth accumulations, irreversible damage to the ecological and environmental system, widespread poverty, destitution and hunger.
I read this book over one month in October during which I also read a large number of reports on pandemic profiteering from all over the world. In India, billionaire and corporatist Mukesh Ambani's net worth grew by Rs 2000 crore per day since March 23, 2020 while nearly 40 crore Indian workers are projected to sink into poverty due to covid-19. Nine Indian billionaires have as much wealth as 50% of the Indian population. Globally, the top 25 billionaires increased their wealth by 255 billion dollars between mid-March and May and 32 of the world's most profitable companies are together expected to make 109 billion dollars more than the average of their profits in the last four years. Also, the 'pandemic profits' of these 32 companies could be redeployed in funding global covid-19 testing needs (estimated at 6 billion dollars) and delivering vaccines to everyone on the planet (estimated at 71 billion dollars.)
Klein's book is extremely important and now more than ever. It is a must-read.
December 29, 2013
"Everything under heaven is in utter chaos; the situation is excellent."
~ Mao
I read it once, and I couldn't believe it.
I tried reading it again and I believe it even less.
I want to, honestly. And I feel as strongly as the author that The Shock Doctrine is changing the world. But it runs in the face of all economics I have been taught and I find myself scorning and muttering 'alarmist' to some of the more provocative paragraphs.
Thesis: The history of the contemporary free market was written in shocks. Some of the most infamous human rights violations of the past thirty five years, which have tended to be viewed as sadistic acts carried out by anti-democratic regimes, were in fact either committed with the deliberate intent of terrorizing the public or actively harnessed to prepare the ground for the introduction of radical free-market reforms.
Žižek's take: The imposition of a full market economy is thus rendered much easier if the way to it is paved by some kind of trauma (natural, military, economic) which, as it were, forces people into shaking off their "old habits;' turning them into an ideological tabula rasa, survivors of their own symbolic death, ready to accept the new order now that all obstacles have been swept away. And one can be sure that Klein's shock doctrine holds also for ecological issues: far from endangering capitalism, a widespread environmental catastrophe may well reinvigorate it, opening up new and hitherto unheard-of spaces for capitalist investment.
I will now read Seth Godin to recover.
June 24, 2022
“Spread the truth—the laws of economics are like the laws of engineering. One set of laws works everywhere.”
—Lawrence Summers, chief economist of the World Bank, 1991
A big focus of my studies in college was the study of ideologies in their historical context, sometimes referred to as “’intellectual history.”
One of the main takeaways is that none of these ideologies are scientific, no matter how many equations are written on a white board.
Economics is not a science, but an ideology that takes different forms.
But Milton Friedman and his “Chicago Boys” thought otherwise. They had a religious belief in unfettered capitalism and its ability to radically transform economies and countries overnight. The so-called shock doctrine.
At the core of this doctrine, is the use of cataclysmic events to advance radical privatization and to move as quickly as possible to impose change. ("Move fast and break things")
It proved disastrous wherever it was applied.
In March 1975, Milton Friedman flew to Santiago, Chile, at the invitation of a major bank to help save the experiment. Friedman was greeted by the junta-controlled press as something of a rock star, the guru of the new order. Each of his pronouncements made headlines, his academic lectures were broadcast on national television and he had the most important audience of all: a private meeting with General Pinochet.
In speeches and interviews, he used a term that had never before been publicly applied to a real-world economic crisis: he called for “shock treatment.” He said it was “the only medicine. Absolutely. There is no other.”
By 1988, thirteen years later, when the economy had stabilized and was growing rapidly, 45 percent of the population had fallen below the poverty line. The richest 10 percent of Chileans, however, had seen their incomes increase by 83 percent. Even in 2007, Chile remained one of the most unequal societies in the world—out of 123 countries in which the United Nations tracks inequality, Chile ranked 116th, making it the 8th most unequal country on the list.
Chile under Chicago School rule was offering a glimpse of the future of the global economy, a pattern that would repeat again and again, from Russia to South Africa to Argentina: an urban bubble of frenetic speculation and dubious accounting fueling superprofits and frantic consumerism, ringed by the ghostly factories and rotting infrastructure of a development past; roughly half the population excluded from the economy altogether; out-of-control corruption and cronyism; decimation of nationally owned small and medium-sized businesses; a huge transfer of wealth from public to private hands, followed by a huge transfer of private debts into public hands.
This “medicine” fostered the rise of autocrats and oligarchies.
The rest of the book, which I read carefully, is numerous case studies of how such havoc was wreaked in numerous countries.
China, for example, became an obvious case of where capitalism could be co-opted without the rise of democracy. In 1989, the shock of the Tiananmen Square massacre made that clear. China became the sweatshop of the world. And at the time, 90 percent of China’s billionaires (calculated in Chinese yuan) were the children of Communist Party officials.
At one point, Harvard economist, Jeffrey Sachs, drank the kool-aid and began parachuting into countries in distress, without any knowledge of the history or culture of these nations.
Wherever Sachs went, and shock therapy was applied, the masses of the poor got much larger, often doubled. Vulture capitalism at its best.
Sachs was not above cheating. In Bolivia he derived the average income by adding up the country’s total income and dividing by the number of people in the country.
A leader of the peasants’ union explained that “the government’s statistics don’t reflect the growing number of families forced to live in tents; the thousands of malnourished kids who get only a piece of bread and a cup of tea a day; the hundreds of campesinos who have come to the capital in search of work and end up begging on the streets.” That was the hidden story of Bolivia’s shock therapy: hundreds of thousands of full-time jobs with pensions were eliminated, replaced with precarious ones with no protections at all. Between 1983 and 1988, the number of Bolivians eligible for social security dropped by 61 percent.
Sachs eventually saw the light, but Milton Friedman went to his grave deluded as ever.
Yet one more ideology, treated as religion, had wreaked destruction.
======
Friedman's Cruel Legacy
https://www.thenation.com/article/arc...
=====
BTW...
Friedmanites like to invoke The Wealth of Nations, but at some point someone removed a chapter from the original book that defends government intervention when needed.....
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
==============
—Lawrence Summers, chief economist of the World Bank, 1991
A big focus of my studies in college was the study of ideologies in their historical context, sometimes referred to as “’intellectual history.”
One of the main takeaways is that none of these ideologies are scientific, no matter how many equations are written on a white board.
Economics is not a science, but an ideology that takes different forms.
But Milton Friedman and his “Chicago Boys” thought otherwise. They had a religious belief in unfettered capitalism and its ability to radically transform economies and countries overnight. The so-called shock doctrine.
At the core of this doctrine, is the use of cataclysmic events to advance radical privatization and to move as quickly as possible to impose change. ("Move fast and break things")
It proved disastrous wherever it was applied.
In March 1975, Milton Friedman flew to Santiago, Chile, at the invitation of a major bank to help save the experiment. Friedman was greeted by the junta-controlled press as something of a rock star, the guru of the new order. Each of his pronouncements made headlines, his academic lectures were broadcast on national television and he had the most important audience of all: a private meeting with General Pinochet.
In speeches and interviews, he used a term that had never before been publicly applied to a real-world economic crisis: he called for “shock treatment.” He said it was “the only medicine. Absolutely. There is no other.”
By 1988, thirteen years later, when the economy had stabilized and was growing rapidly, 45 percent of the population had fallen below the poverty line. The richest 10 percent of Chileans, however, had seen their incomes increase by 83 percent. Even in 2007, Chile remained one of the most unequal societies in the world—out of 123 countries in which the United Nations tracks inequality, Chile ranked 116th, making it the 8th most unequal country on the list.
Chile under Chicago School rule was offering a glimpse of the future of the global economy, a pattern that would repeat again and again, from Russia to South Africa to Argentina: an urban bubble of frenetic speculation and dubious accounting fueling superprofits and frantic consumerism, ringed by the ghostly factories and rotting infrastructure of a development past; roughly half the population excluded from the economy altogether; out-of-control corruption and cronyism; decimation of nationally owned small and medium-sized businesses; a huge transfer of wealth from public to private hands, followed by a huge transfer of private debts into public hands.
This “medicine” fostered the rise of autocrats and oligarchies.
The rest of the book, which I read carefully, is numerous case studies of how such havoc was wreaked in numerous countries.
China, for example, became an obvious case of where capitalism could be co-opted without the rise of democracy. In 1989, the shock of the Tiananmen Square massacre made that clear. China became the sweatshop of the world. And at the time, 90 percent of China’s billionaires (calculated in Chinese yuan) were the children of Communist Party officials.
At one point, Harvard economist, Jeffrey Sachs, drank the kool-aid and began parachuting into countries in distress, without any knowledge of the history or culture of these nations.
Wherever Sachs went, and shock therapy was applied, the masses of the poor got much larger, often doubled. Vulture capitalism at its best.
Sachs was not above cheating. In Bolivia he derived the average income by adding up the country’s total income and dividing by the number of people in the country.
A leader of the peasants’ union explained that “the government’s statistics don’t reflect the growing number of families forced to live in tents; the thousands of malnourished kids who get only a piece of bread and a cup of tea a day; the hundreds of campesinos who have come to the capital in search of work and end up begging on the streets.” That was the hidden story of Bolivia’s shock therapy: hundreds of thousands of full-time jobs with pensions were eliminated, replaced with precarious ones with no protections at all. Between 1983 and 1988, the number of Bolivians eligible for social security dropped by 61 percent.
Sachs eventually saw the light, but Milton Friedman went to his grave deluded as ever.
Yet one more ideology, treated as religion, had wreaked destruction.
======
Friedman's Cruel Legacy
https://www.thenation.com/article/arc...
=====
BTW...
Friedmanites like to invoke The Wealth of Nations, but at some point someone removed a chapter from the original book that defends government intervention when needed.....
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
==============
July 25, 2022
حين أغلقت الكتاب خطرت ببالي مقولة كافكا :
على الكتاب أن يكون كالفأس التي تحطم البحر المتجمد في داخلنا، هذا ما أظنه🎀.
هذا الكتاب يعتبر اهم ما قرات في حياتي و حطم ليس البحر المتجمد فقط بل أيقظ تسونامي من الأفكار في عقلي
هذه لمحة منها 😊
🖇منذ شهور و انا أسمع رئيس الحكومة يتحدث عن إجراءت يجب اتخذها بسبب قرض صندوق النقد الدولي.
ففي عهد بن علي لم يكن يسمح لشعب بمعرفة حتى
متى أخذنا القرض و كم و ممن .رغم اننا منذ سنين
عرفنا طريق صندوق النقد الدولي .
و لم أرى أين إشكالية في إجراء بعض التعديلات كما يقول
التي أكتشف بعد القراءة انها موش تعديلات لكنها تغيير كامل لمعالم البلاد :
فهذه تغيرات تشمل : الخصصة و الغاء الحيطة الاجتماعية و فتح سوق الحرة التي لن تكون مشكلتها منافسة الشرسة مع سلع أكثر جودة من سلعنا بل سوف تخلق :
منطقة خضراء و أخرى حمراء في تونس مثل ما عبر عنها الكاتبة :
بدأت هذه مناطق بالظهور لكن بشكل محتشمة و تأكلت الطبقة الوسطى لكن سيتعمق الوضع .
بعد قراءة كتاب انتبهت للقرارات التي اتخذتها الدولة .
إثر ازمة كورونا صدمة الشعب بترفيع في تسعيرة الكهرباء امام شعار عجز ميزانية
ثم صدمة ارتفاع في تسعيرة الماء
و الغاء تعاقد مع صندوق تأمين على المرض
و نحن مازلنا نستوعب امر تأتي صدمة استقالة الحكومة .
▫️لو لم أقرا هذا كتاب لقلت هذا افضل الم يتهم بفساد.
لكن الآن اصبحت اكثر ترقب و سؤال كبير يؤرقني.
ما الثمن الذي سندفعه ؟ .
🎀تغاضيت عن صدمة حرب على الارهاب في جبل الشعانبي الذي يأتي حسب رغبة و توقيت الدولة
و على صدمة الإغتيالات و التفجير الفندق في سوسة
و على صدمة المدرسة القرآنية فذلك وَضعت ضمن
ثقافة النباهة و الاستحمار التي قال عنها الشريعتي.
🎀كم اتوق أن أقرأ مراجعة متعمقة لقارئ تونسي
ملم أكثر مني بوضع سياسي اقتصادي.
هذا الكتاب يجب أن يُقرأ رغم الالم الذي فيه و الصعوبة
لكن يجب أن يقرأ و ارشحه للجميع
فالوعي يحتاج ألم كما قال صديق لي.
مراجعة الصديق فايز تعتبر أفضل تلخيص لمحاور الكتاب.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
22/juillet/20 🌸
على الكتاب أن يكون كالفأس التي تحطم البحر المتجمد في داخلنا، هذا ما أظنه🎀.
هذا الكتاب يعتبر اهم ما قرات في حياتي و حطم ليس البحر المتجمد فقط بل أيقظ تسونامي من الأفكار في عقلي
هذه لمحة منها 😊
🖇منذ شهور و انا أسمع رئيس الحكومة يتحدث عن إجراءت يجب اتخذها بسبب قرض صندوق النقد الدولي.
ففي عهد بن علي لم يكن يسمح لشعب بمعرفة حتى
متى أخذنا القرض و كم و ممن .رغم اننا منذ سنين
عرفنا طريق صندوق النقد الدولي .
و لم أرى أين إشكالية في إجراء بعض التعديلات كما يقول
التي أكتشف بعد القراءة انها موش تعديلات لكنها تغيير كامل لمعالم البلاد :
فهذه تغيرات تشمل : الخصصة و الغاء الحيطة الاجتماعية و فتح سوق الحرة التي لن تكون مشكلتها منافسة الشرسة مع سلع أكثر جودة من سلعنا بل سوف تخلق :
منطقة خضراء و أخرى حمراء في تونس مثل ما عبر عنها الكاتبة :
بدأت هذه مناطق بالظهور لكن بشكل محتشمة و تأكلت الطبقة الوسطى لكن سيتعمق الوضع .
بعد قراءة كتاب انتبهت للقرارات التي اتخذتها الدولة .
إثر ازمة كورونا صدمة الشعب بترفيع في تسعيرة الكهرباء امام شعار عجز ميزانية
ثم صدمة ارتفاع في تسعيرة الماء
و الغاء تعاقد مع صندوق تأمين على المرض
و نحن مازلنا نستوعب امر تأتي صدمة استقالة الحكومة .
▫️لو لم أقرا هذا كتاب لقلت هذا افضل الم يتهم بفساد.
لكن الآن اصبحت اكثر ترقب و سؤال كبير يؤرقني.
ما الثمن الذي سندفعه ؟ .
🎀تغاضيت عن صدمة حرب على الارهاب في جبل الشعانبي الذي يأتي حسب رغبة و توقيت الدولة
و على صدمة الإغتيالات و التفجير الفندق في سوسة
و على صدمة المدرسة القرآنية فذلك وَضعت ضمن
ثقافة النباهة و الاستحمار التي قال عنها الشريعتي.
🎀كم اتوق أن أقرأ مراجعة متعمقة لقارئ تونسي
ملم أكثر مني بوضع سياسي اقتصادي.
هذا الكتاب يجب أن يُقرأ رغم الالم الذي فيه و الصعوبة
لكن يجب أن يقرأ و ارشحه للجميع
فالوعي يحتاج ألم كما قال صديق لي.
مراجعة الصديق فايز تعتبر أفضل تلخيص لمحاور الكتاب.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
22/juillet/20 🌸
December 16, 2019
It's 2007 and Naomi Klein builds a rather convincing argument about modern governmental/corporational trends.
I've personally never seen it laid out so baldly, but after having read several dozen of political books, perhaps an equivalent number of documentaries, and a lot of otherwise independent research into the topics herein, I'm willing to concede that she has a very valid point.
What is the point?
Modern economics theories are used to lay out a rather obvious plan of mass looting. They're constructed as laissez-faire Chicago School of Economics, which looks great on paper, letting the invisible hand of Adam Smith regulate all markets. In practice, putting it into effect, under the heading of Democracy or Liberation or whatever they want, the big heads of the Chicago school are backed with the CIA, big corporation interests, and a single additional theory that makes the whole thing gel together.
What's this extra theory? It's simple. They believe, as they have learned from their lessons in briefly earlier psychology research, that the best way to heal a patient is to first break their minds and bodies, starting them out on a tabula rasa, and then rebuilding from the rubble. So many have quoted the belief that the only way to get real change is after a disaster.
Never mind that the original torture victims in McGill college that underwent sensory deprivation, LSD, PCP, punctuated with ECT and blaring noise did not come out of the experience quite sane. Most of them never recovered. But THIS was the original study that they based their first great experiment on. Export the school of thought to Chile, and when it didn't quite take, destabilize the government, assassinate Allende, and install Pinochet. On Sept. 11, 1973. They used shock and awe, destroyed infrastructure, and people went hungry and were terrorized.
Guess who got a Nobel Prize in economics?
It's worse. The dictatorship was atrocious, but the big corporations were given leave to move in and rape the economy, loot anything of value, while allowing Pinochet to take the lion's share, turning him into an Oligarch, overnight. A decade later, Chile, once sporting one of the most impressive resumes of a growing and happy populace, could barely stand on its own. But the corporations got RICH.
Jump ahead to Russia right as Communism is going defunct. The same Chicago school economics of Free-Market offers them a deal. Businesses will loan expertise and open market doctrines and massive loans, but be sure to destabilize everything first. When enough blood is on the ground and people are terrified, starving, and giving up everything they ever owned, then offer them a deal they can't refuse. Capitalism on a plate that promises everything that the European nations and America has to offer since Communism is dead.
When democracy is offered but capitalism is competing, capitalism beats anything. Enter a capitalism-backed coup, corporate sponsorships everywhere, and a promise that our new leader will be able to make himself and a handful others into some of the top 30 ranked richest people in the world, opening up Russia to free trade on a scale never seen before, the only way to keep it going is by looting the population. And it did. What was the number? 14 million homeless children? Think about that. At least under communism there WAS something like a middle class. Now it's only the super rich and the survivors.
CLEARLY, this is an AMAZING outcome for the Chicago School! Companies got rich. The stock market had a field day supporting the victors. Everyone was shaking everyone else's hands. Except for the rest of the 99%, of course. They went hungry. A reported 50,000 AIDS victims exploded into 1.5 million over the space of a couple of years. Clearly, everyone was having a party.
But the rich got richer.
Remember what happened during the Iraq War, part 2? Privatized war, with every single aspect of the war delegated to private companies except for the troops, themselves. 90% of every contract went into overhead, contractors subcontracting up to four times until there was no longer any money left for doing the work. And easily, if you look back on the actual work for the reconstruction, either it was not completed in 85% of the cases, or what did get finished was at half capacity after a year. ALL work and workers were brought in from the outside. Corporations tried to set up McD and Walmart, unloaded big screen TVs on the streets that were lined with rubble.
Shock and Awe. Come on. The purpose is to drive them all into a permanent state of helplessness or create an environment of terrorism. Against them. But heck, as long as we can brew terrorists this way, each one wanting to get revenge or at the very least, JUSTICE for this travesty. 650,000 dead. For Oil. For the free market. For the freedom of a hoard of corporations to come swooping in and install a Free Trade Zone, where profits just kept coming.
Let's ignore for a moment that every cabinet member in the presidency at that time had vested and current interests in the very same corporations that made the most money on Iraq. Or that America inflated its debt many times over to pay for the graft, looting, and amazing incompetence, while leaving the door open to keep ALL of the contractors out of the legal crosshairs of ANY country, while walking away with astounding paychecks.
Ignore the fact that most invasions, if they're NOT there to loot, will actually set aside troops to protect national heritage. There is a lot of proof that the national museum holding artifacts thousands of years old was specifically excluded from that protection list, which is why troops sat by and watched as so many truckloads of priceless artifacts were spirited away. Later, even now, only 20% have ever been recovered.
We can add Hurricane Katrina to the list. The same contractors for Iraq came in to help out, taking more government money, pulling the same exact crap, and then leaving the job almost completely undone. We're talking BIG money, too. But look on the bright side! All that land can now be cleared out to build new condos! Tons of companies swooped in to reclaim the land. And they did. And a lot of them were linked, intricately, to the SAME people who were supposed to REBUILD for the original inhabitants.
Sorry, folks, couldn't do the job. You're gonna have to find a new place to live. My brother here wants the land for his new McD!
Yep, first you need to have a disaster. If you don't have a disaster, make one. If you can, build compounds and Green zones and make sure you give enough fodder to create a simmering cauldron of hate that you can regularly call on to rise up and smash down with your brand new war machine. And make sure it keeps on simmering, too, right, ISIS? We need a reason to keep getting the latest equipment to protect our super-rich bunkers.
It's great economics as long as your real intention is to get extremely rich. It's not good economics if you want long-lasting, sustained prosperity. It's the looter's creed. Make situations you can profit from. Make sure you always negotiate from the ultimate position. If that means making sure the rest of the world has a foot on its neck, then that's all for the best. That's GOOD NEGOTIATION TACTICS.
Laissez-faire, to these guys, means taking away all the safety nets. They're the same ones gutting social security, social protections, and basic food and health for the poorest people in our first-world nations. They want no government, or to turn all governments into shells with no power to do anything. They've stated this creed a million times. They want social darwinism at its worst. Keep everyone so shock and awed that they can take everything. Absolutely everything.
Let's judge an idea not on its stated ideal. Let's judge an idea based on its actual practice. If this wonderful ideal says it works best after a disaster, flawlessly re-establishing the free hand of the market, then by their own writings, we should have seen a flowering of cooperation, self-interest coinciding with everyone else's self-interest, and a natural growth of blanket prosperity that effects everyone involved. It's pretty. I've read many great books on the Chicago Style of Economics and loved them. But let's look at the ACTUAL FACTS of its implementation.
There has never been a free hand of the market. The big banana corporation pressured America to secure its economic freedom. America got it's most famous laissez-faire economists to embark on a campaign, assisted with a ton of money, integral CIA support, and a bunch of extra vultures hanging in the wings, smelling blood in the water. When the blood splashed and buildings with the elected government were murdered, all the looters moved in. Of course, back in the day, it was all ideological garbage. Sticking it to the communists, bringing in democracy. Ignore the fact that they just bombed a democracy and Pinochet the dictator came in, got rich, and entered a very profitable loot cycle with the outside vultures.
It begs the question. If, each and every time, they bring in the Chicago School of Economics, they always bring the same result, then maybe we ought to question their motives. Maybe.
I'm just waiting for other enemies of this paradigm to get their own shock and awe. Left-leaning college campuses? Gay bars? All they need is a disaster. They can wait for it and exploit it like with Katrina, but they're perfectly willing to orchestrate them, too. And give you wonderfully idealistic reasons why you should let them murder you, too.
Dark, right? But real. You've seen these looters in the housing bubble. The banking crisis. It's big. Very, very big. You can complain about transgenders in bathrooms all you like, but the really scary bits are right here. And they can take us all down. Equally.
I've personally never seen it laid out so baldly, but after having read several dozen of political books, perhaps an equivalent number of documentaries, and a lot of otherwise independent research into the topics herein, I'm willing to concede that she has a very valid point.
What is the point?
Modern economics theories are used to lay out a rather obvious plan of mass looting. They're constructed as laissez-faire Chicago School of Economics, which looks great on paper, letting the invisible hand of Adam Smith regulate all markets. In practice, putting it into effect, under the heading of Democracy or Liberation or whatever they want, the big heads of the Chicago school are backed with the CIA, big corporation interests, and a single additional theory that makes the whole thing gel together.
What's this extra theory? It's simple. They believe, as they have learned from their lessons in briefly earlier psychology research, that the best way to heal a patient is to first break their minds and bodies, starting them out on a tabula rasa, and then rebuilding from the rubble. So many have quoted the belief that the only way to get real change is after a disaster.
Never mind that the original torture victims in McGill college that underwent sensory deprivation, LSD, PCP, punctuated with ECT and blaring noise did not come out of the experience quite sane. Most of them never recovered. But THIS was the original study that they based their first great experiment on. Export the school of thought to Chile, and when it didn't quite take, destabilize the government, assassinate Allende, and install Pinochet. On Sept. 11, 1973. They used shock and awe, destroyed infrastructure, and people went hungry and were terrorized.
Guess who got a Nobel Prize in economics?
It's worse. The dictatorship was atrocious, but the big corporations were given leave to move in and rape the economy, loot anything of value, while allowing Pinochet to take the lion's share, turning him into an Oligarch, overnight. A decade later, Chile, once sporting one of the most impressive resumes of a growing and happy populace, could barely stand on its own. But the corporations got RICH.
Jump ahead to Russia right as Communism is going defunct. The same Chicago school economics of Free-Market offers them a deal. Businesses will loan expertise and open market doctrines and massive loans, but be sure to destabilize everything first. When enough blood is on the ground and people are terrified, starving, and giving up everything they ever owned, then offer them a deal they can't refuse. Capitalism on a plate that promises everything that the European nations and America has to offer since Communism is dead.
When democracy is offered but capitalism is competing, capitalism beats anything. Enter a capitalism-backed coup, corporate sponsorships everywhere, and a promise that our new leader will be able to make himself and a handful others into some of the top 30 ranked richest people in the world, opening up Russia to free trade on a scale never seen before, the only way to keep it going is by looting the population. And it did. What was the number? 14 million homeless children? Think about that. At least under communism there WAS something like a middle class. Now it's only the super rich and the survivors.
CLEARLY, this is an AMAZING outcome for the Chicago School! Companies got rich. The stock market had a field day supporting the victors. Everyone was shaking everyone else's hands. Except for the rest of the 99%, of course. They went hungry. A reported 50,000 AIDS victims exploded into 1.5 million over the space of a couple of years. Clearly, everyone was having a party.
But the rich got richer.
Remember what happened during the Iraq War, part 2? Privatized war, with every single aspect of the war delegated to private companies except for the troops, themselves. 90% of every contract went into overhead, contractors subcontracting up to four times until there was no longer any money left for doing the work. And easily, if you look back on the actual work for the reconstruction, either it was not completed in 85% of the cases, or what did get finished was at half capacity after a year. ALL work and workers were brought in from the outside. Corporations tried to set up McD and Walmart, unloaded big screen TVs on the streets that were lined with rubble.
Shock and Awe. Come on. The purpose is to drive them all into a permanent state of helplessness or create an environment of terrorism. Against them. But heck, as long as we can brew terrorists this way, each one wanting to get revenge or at the very least, JUSTICE for this travesty. 650,000 dead. For Oil. For the free market. For the freedom of a hoard of corporations to come swooping in and install a Free Trade Zone, where profits just kept coming.
Let's ignore for a moment that every cabinet member in the presidency at that time had vested and current interests in the very same corporations that made the most money on Iraq. Or that America inflated its debt many times over to pay for the graft, looting, and amazing incompetence, while leaving the door open to keep ALL of the contractors out of the legal crosshairs of ANY country, while walking away with astounding paychecks.
Ignore the fact that most invasions, if they're NOT there to loot, will actually set aside troops to protect national heritage. There is a lot of proof that the national museum holding artifacts thousands of years old was specifically excluded from that protection list, which is why troops sat by and watched as so many truckloads of priceless artifacts were spirited away. Later, even now, only 20% have ever been recovered.
We can add Hurricane Katrina to the list. The same contractors for Iraq came in to help out, taking more government money, pulling the same exact crap, and then leaving the job almost completely undone. We're talking BIG money, too. But look on the bright side! All that land can now be cleared out to build new condos! Tons of companies swooped in to reclaim the land. And they did. And a lot of them were linked, intricately, to the SAME people who were supposed to REBUILD for the original inhabitants.
Sorry, folks, couldn't do the job. You're gonna have to find a new place to live. My brother here wants the land for his new McD!
Yep, first you need to have a disaster. If you don't have a disaster, make one. If you can, build compounds and Green zones and make sure you give enough fodder to create a simmering cauldron of hate that you can regularly call on to rise up and smash down with your brand new war machine. And make sure it keeps on simmering, too, right, ISIS? We need a reason to keep getting the latest equipment to protect our super-rich bunkers.
It's great economics as long as your real intention is to get extremely rich. It's not good economics if you want long-lasting, sustained prosperity. It's the looter's creed. Make situations you can profit from. Make sure you always negotiate from the ultimate position. If that means making sure the rest of the world has a foot on its neck, then that's all for the best. That's GOOD NEGOTIATION TACTICS.
Laissez-faire, to these guys, means taking away all the safety nets. They're the same ones gutting social security, social protections, and basic food and health for the poorest people in our first-world nations. They want no government, or to turn all governments into shells with no power to do anything. They've stated this creed a million times. They want social darwinism at its worst. Keep everyone so shock and awed that they can take everything. Absolutely everything.
Let's judge an idea not on its stated ideal. Let's judge an idea based on its actual practice. If this wonderful ideal says it works best after a disaster, flawlessly re-establishing the free hand of the market, then by their own writings, we should have seen a flowering of cooperation, self-interest coinciding with everyone else's self-interest, and a natural growth of blanket prosperity that effects everyone involved. It's pretty. I've read many great books on the Chicago Style of Economics and loved them. But let's look at the ACTUAL FACTS of its implementation.
There has never been a free hand of the market. The big banana corporation pressured America to secure its economic freedom. America got it's most famous laissez-faire economists to embark on a campaign, assisted with a ton of money, integral CIA support, and a bunch of extra vultures hanging in the wings, smelling blood in the water. When the blood splashed and buildings with the elected government were murdered, all the looters moved in. Of course, back in the day, it was all ideological garbage. Sticking it to the communists, bringing in democracy. Ignore the fact that they just bombed a democracy and Pinochet the dictator came in, got rich, and entered a very profitable loot cycle with the outside vultures.
It begs the question. If, each and every time, they bring in the Chicago School of Economics, they always bring the same result, then maybe we ought to question their motives. Maybe.
I'm just waiting for other enemies of this paradigm to get their own shock and awe. Left-leaning college campuses? Gay bars? All they need is a disaster. They can wait for it and exploit it like with Katrina, but they're perfectly willing to orchestrate them, too. And give you wonderfully idealistic reasons why you should let them murder you, too.
Dark, right? But real. You've seen these looters in the housing bubble. The banking crisis. It's big. Very, very big. You can complain about transgenders in bathrooms all you like, but the really scary bits are right here. And they can take us all down. Equally.
December 20, 2018
كتاب رائع ترجمة سهلة وبديعة أفكار واضحة وبسيطة عمل رائع فى مجمله
يتحدث الكتاب عن سيناريو متكرر فى أعقاب الحوادث والازمات والكوارث الكبرى سواء أكانت انقلابات او او مذابح او حتى كوارث طبيعية السيناريو يتمحور حول صدم الشعب بقرارات اقتصادية ذات اثار سلبية كعمليات الخصخصة وبيع شركات الدولة واسناد بعض مهام الدولة لشركات الخاصة ورفع الدعم وتحرير الاسعار وبيع ممتلكات الدولة بأقل من قيمة اصولها الحقيقية بغية تحقيق مكاسب سريعة ورفع معدلات النمو
أضف الى ذلك
اضف الى ذلك كله سياسة الاقتراض والاقتراض المشروط التى تتحقق من خلالها ارباح هائلة للشركات والموسسات الخاصة على نحو تشرحه نعومى كلاين بشكل رائع وبادلة دامغة
احد الادلة الرائعة على عمليات الصدم ماحدث فى التشيلى ٧٣ والارجنتين وبوليفيا والعراق فى اعقاب ١١ سبتمبر
وتشبه كلاين هذه العمليات من الصدم والتى تؤدى الى ارتفاع نسبة التضخم ووالبطالة والفقر تشبهها بعمليات الصدم الكهربائى اثناء التعذيب حيث يتم تخويف الضحية واضعافه نفسياً وبعدها يتم تعذيبه جسدياً وفصله حسياً عن كل المدخلات بشكل يجعل قواه تنهار امام اول محقق استجواب
كتاب رائع اتمنى من جميع اصدقائى قراءته وكم كنت اتمنى ان يكون لدى الوقت لكتابة مراجعة افضل من هذه لكتاب يستحق.
يتحدث الكتاب عن سيناريو متكرر فى أعقاب الحوادث والازمات والكوارث الكبرى سواء أكانت انقلابات او او مذابح او حتى كوارث طبيعية السيناريو يتمحور حول صدم الشعب بقرارات اقتصادية ذات اثار سلبية كعمليات الخصخصة وبيع شركات الدولة واسناد بعض مهام الدولة لشركات الخاصة ورفع الدعم وتحرير الاسعار وبيع ممتلكات الدولة بأقل من قيمة اصولها الحقيقية بغية تحقيق مكاسب سريعة ورفع معدلات النمو
أضف الى ذلك
اضف الى ذلك كله سياسة الاقتراض والاقتراض المشروط التى تتحقق من خلالها ارباح هائلة للشركات والموسسات الخاصة على نحو تشرحه نعومى كلاين بشكل رائع وبادلة دامغة
احد الادلة الرائعة على عمليات الصدم ماحدث فى التشيلى ٧٣ والارجنتين وبوليفيا والعراق فى اعقاب ١١ سبتمبر
وتشبه كلاين هذه العمليات من الصدم والتى تؤدى الى ارتفاع نسبة التضخم ووالبطالة والفقر تشبهها بعمليات الصدم الكهربائى اثناء التعذيب حيث يتم تخويف الضحية واضعافه نفسياً وبعدها يتم تعذيبه جسدياً وفصله حسياً عن كل المدخلات بشكل يجعل قواه تنهار امام اول محقق استجواب
كتاب رائع اتمنى من جميع اصدقائى قراءته وكم كنت اتمنى ان يكون لدى الوقت لكتابة مراجعة افضل من هذه لكتاب يستحق.
August 9, 2010
A very disturbing book indeed. I can't decide whether I feel that her paranoia got out of control, or whether it is indeed a fair representation of US foreign policy over the last 30-40 years. A lot of it rings true. Though I hope that the links between torture and economic theory are not as clear as she paints them... that was the part I had the hardest time swallowing. Maybe we will learn more now that the Neo-Cons are going to lose control of the US.
___________________________________
I can't help thinking of The Shock Doctrine when I see the daily headlines here in Britain about the drastic changes our new government intends to make. Klein argues that the standard tactic the right has used is to wait for a crisis of some kind, and then use it as an excuse to rush through policies which they've prepared for this eventuality. In some cases, they engineer the crisis intentionally.
Okay... I can see that some of the government's policies can be defended as as a rational response to Britain's enormous debt. And then you have things like reducing the number of MPs from 650 to 600. This is very advantageous to the Conservatives. But the official justification is that it will save £12M.
Now, people are often bad at comparing big numbers. We owe something around £900B, largely as a result of having to bail out the banks during the credit crunch two years ago. Let's divide by ten million and try to relate it to something we can actually understand. So, I'll suppose that my cousin somehow persuaded me to invest in his business venture, which sounded sensible but actually turned out to be a pyramid scheme that collapsed catastrophically. To our horror, this has left us saddled with a personal debt of £90,000, which we're slowly trying to pay off.
Not surprisingly, my partner is all over my case, and is taking the opportunity to get her way on a number of issues while she has the moral upper hand. But when she uses this argument to motivate not buying a copy of a Sunday newspaper that I like and she doesn't, and which costs £1.20, I feel she's gone too far. A saving this small makes no real difference. It's just exploiting the situation.
Well, as I see it, that's roughly what our government is doing now.
___________________________________
I can't help thinking of The Shock Doctrine when I see the daily headlines here in Britain about the drastic changes our new government intends to make. Klein argues that the standard tactic the right has used is to wait for a crisis of some kind, and then use it as an excuse to rush through policies which they've prepared for this eventuality. In some cases, they engineer the crisis intentionally.
Okay... I can see that some of the government's policies can be defended as as a rational response to Britain's enormous debt. And then you have things like reducing the number of MPs from 650 to 600. This is very advantageous to the Conservatives. But the official justification is that it will save £12M.
Now, people are often bad at comparing big numbers. We owe something around £900B, largely as a result of having to bail out the banks during the credit crunch two years ago. Let's divide by ten million and try to relate it to something we can actually understand. So, I'll suppose that my cousin somehow persuaded me to invest in his business venture, which sounded sensible but actually turned out to be a pyramid scheme that collapsed catastrophically. To our horror, this has left us saddled with a personal debt of £90,000, which we're slowly trying to pay off.
Not surprisingly, my partner is all over my case, and is taking the opportunity to get her way on a number of issues while she has the moral upper hand. But when she uses this argument to motivate not buying a copy of a Sunday newspaper that I like and she doesn't, and which costs £1.20, I feel she's gone too far. A saving this small makes no real difference. It's just exploiting the situation.
Well, as I see it, that's roughly what our government is doing now.
November 23, 2016
واحد من أهم الكتب التي قرأتها وسأقرؤها في حياتي!
كتاب ضخم وصعب أيضاً كون هذه المرة الأولى التي أسبر فيها غور الاقتصاد السياسي.
تشرح الكاتبة نظام عقيدة الصدمة المرتبط بحدوث الكوارث -بكافة أشكالها-، فظائع النظام الرأسمالي، تحرير الأسواق، الخصخصة، مدرسة شيكاغو وميلتون فريدمان.. وقد أخذتنا في جولة في العديد من الدول التي تعرّضت للصدمة؛ تشيلي، الأرجنتين، البرازيل، بوليفيا، روسيا، جنوب إفريقيا، الصين، بولند��، العراق وانتهاءً بالولايات المتحدة نفسها! الكتاب مليء بالمعلومات التاريخية والاقتصادية وحالات وشهادات متنوّعة حول العلاج بالصدمة..
بالرغم من صعوبة وثقل الكتاب لكنني استمتعت به، ودُهشت لما يحصل في عالمنا.. قد فتح هذا الكتاب عينيّ على حقائق وأمور لم أكن أدري عنها شيئاً أو حتى لا أفمهما..
شكراً نعومي كلاين، لكم نحن بحاجة لأمثالك
*لا تعتبر هذه مراجعة
March 20, 2008
I just finished The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, by Naomi Klein. It came out months ago, and I would’ve read it sooner had it not cost $45 dollars in Canada.
Much of the information meticulously detailed in the book was already available in Harper’s Magazine and DemocracyNow!, though never put together so throroughly. She begins her book with a discussion of a canadian woman who endured several years of experimental psychiatric work under the authority of David Cameron, working in a Canadian Hospital under contract with both the American CIA and the Canadian Defense Department to discover the ways in which the human mind breaks down under electro-shock, regression, and general mind-fucking (lightless cells, limited outside contact, meals served at odd times--oatmeal for dinner, soup for breakfast, all announced as appropriate to the time of day to disorient the patient). She checked in for anxiety--discharged with memory loss, incontinence, and regression to a toddler-mind-set.
Most of these experiments were part of MKUltra (most well-known for the use of LSD, less well-known as the foundation for all present "interrogation" tactics in the War on/of Terror). The tactics show up again in every country where the US has, in some manner, been involved in training police or military people to combat first communism, than leftism (See: Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, Columbia, Mexico).
She ties this, both metaphorically and literally, to the Chicago School (the group of economists and theorists, taught by Milton Friedman, who believe in the "free-market" as the only scientific/natural system for human trade/relations). Friedman believed that the free-er a market is (no government regulations, no consumer protections, no corporate taxes), the more-free the people in that market will be: Democracy and Self-Rule are synonymous, then, with limitless profit-taking, no minimum wage, no state-services, etc.
But there was a problem, one that he himself admitted. Time after time, people kept demanding from their governments, or forming their own, that there be a minimum wage, there be an 8-hour work-day, that water be cheap or free, that electricity and infrastructure be state- or people-run. Democracy kept tending towards "mixed-economies" (state or community controlled electricity, oil, water, schools, etc., as well as worker-protections and land re-distribution and more numerous small-businesses, rather than corporate conglomerates). So, then, what to do?
Milton found an effective answer: Shock the fuck out of them. Already we knew that pain, applied correctly, will disorient people. Disoriented people don’t fight back, nor can they even quite understand what’s happening around them until they regain their footing.
At least 4/5ths of the book are devoted to the history of "shocking" local and national movements into disorientation. Some of the shocks were manufactured (violent coups, international currency manipulation), some were hijacked revolutions (South Africa, Russia, Poland), and some were natural disasters (the Tsunami a few years back, New Orleans), but with always the same result: foreign companies buy up everything in sight, plunging already impoverished and disoriented people into further pain and poverty.
? Chile: Salvador Allende, democratically elected to be President of Chile, was assassinated by a US-supported coup by Augusto Pinochet on Sept 11, 1973. Pinochet’s economic advisors were all from the Chicago School, and when he came to power, he began selling off national resources (the mines, the banks, the infrastructure) to foreign companies. To take care of the pesky problem of people fighting back, he (with CIA trained soldiers) arrested and tortured thousands of "enemies of the state," stealing children from prisoners and adopting them out to supporters of the coup.
? Argentina and Uruguay: Similar situation. Some highlights included burning universities (and killing professors), destroying copies of books by Marx and Neruda. Ford Motor Company took out adverts in Argentinian newspapers to support the coup, ("Ford commits itself to the struggle to bring about the great destiny of the Fatherland.")--they were quite happy with the end of unions in their factories (many union leaders were actually tortured in the factories themselves).
? Poland: I’m old enough to remember the strikes in Poland by Solidarity (a workers’ union led by Lech Walesa), but it isn’t surprising I didn’t actually know what they stood for. I assumed, just as the media suggested, that all those polish workers were striking for democracy and capitalism. Wrong. Their platform was "Socialism--yes; Corruptions of Socialism--no": they wanted worker-control of the state-run factories and businesses, not a free-market economy. But when they won, no government would forgive the former communist state’s debts, and they had no money. Enter Jeffrey Sachs (Bono calls him "my professor"), who offered a massive infusion of international cash with a slight catch (a do-or-die proposition, actually): take the money and privatise everything, or don’t take the money and have your new people’s government topple. Lech Walesa took the first (and faced massive revolt from the supporters of Solidarity, losing the next election to a proto-fascist party who promised to kick out Jeffery Sach’s and the IMF/World Bank but instead started expelling immigrants, arresting gays, etc.)
? South Africa: The African National Congress (Mandela, etc.) ended Apartheid with promises to re-distribute land, give ownership of the gold mines and other resources to workers. But just as they were negotiating their relatively bloodless coup, the white south-african government negotiated economic policies with the IMF and World Bank ensuring that such a thing would never happen. When the ANC came to power, they suddenly found that there was no money to even turn on the electricity in the black ghettos, because almost all of their budget had to go towards paying down international loans the white government had taken out (and taken with them) when they lost power.
? Sri Lanka: Images of the tsunami that destroyed thousands of shanties on the beaches led millions of people to give money to the relief effort. But much of that money was channeled into the tourism industry. If you gave money, there’s a damn good possibility you helped re-build a surfer-hotel. Indigenous fishers aren’t allowed on the beaches anymore ("for safety,") while hotels got a lot more beachfront to build on (they’re exempt from the 200-meter buffer zone).
? Iraq: Another created shock (it was called Shock and Awe, remember?). Paul Bremer (the viceroy of Iraq’s "provisional" government) sold off every Saddam-era industry he could find, barring Iraqis from buying them. The "de-baathification" (barring Baath-party members from jobs) didn’t affect many of the high-level party leaders (former generals were appointed to mayorships by Bremer) but did keep thousands of teachers, doctors, professors, and soldiers from working. The opposition to the oil-law is depicted in the media as an ethnic squabble, though every group agrees--they want no foreign companies owning their oil. That, however, is not an option the US will tolerate. Oh, and remember the purple fingers? Iraq had already held elections (spurred on by Bush’s declaration that he was bringing democracy to Iraq). Those elections were annuled (sometimes violently) because the US wanted to pick the candidates. Wonder why there wasn’t sectarian violence until Paul Bremer started passing laws? Look at the laws he passed.
? New Orleans: A natural shock turned into the perfect laboratory for free-market ideals. Schools were privatised, hospitals closed permanently. Neighbourhoods that had already begun rebuilding were bulldozed to make room for private developments. Reconstruction companies (including Bechtel and Halliburton) refused to hire locals, can’t account for most of the money we gave them, and in many cases brought in immigrants from Mexico and didn’t pay them after they did the work.
This is all, of course, a very short summary. 466 pages of indictments over one of the most absurd games that has ever been played (and one that we didn’t get dealt any cards for, and we’re not even certain why we’re sitting in the casino)--Capitalism is not a natural system, is not the same thing as Democracy, and doesn’t make everyone’s life better. Why the think-tanks and the Freidmanites, why Jeffery Sachs and Bono and Ayn Rand and all their ilk are given prominate discussion places within newpapers, radio and television without once having to answer for the immense suffering their policies have caused while a bunch of black folk watching their jobs and homes destroyed are just being "lazy," why Morales and Chavez and Correa in South America are all dangerous dictators to be overthrown and the people who vote from them, who know intimately the history of the American Alternative (torture, poverty, drug wars) are dangerously misled----all of this is to keep us complicit in Capitalism’s war against people’s movements everywhere.
Much of the information meticulously detailed in the book was already available in Harper’s Magazine and DemocracyNow!, though never put together so throroughly. She begins her book with a discussion of a canadian woman who endured several years of experimental psychiatric work under the authority of David Cameron, working in a Canadian Hospital under contract with both the American CIA and the Canadian Defense Department to discover the ways in which the human mind breaks down under electro-shock, regression, and general mind-fucking (lightless cells, limited outside contact, meals served at odd times--oatmeal for dinner, soup for breakfast, all announced as appropriate to the time of day to disorient the patient). She checked in for anxiety--discharged with memory loss, incontinence, and regression to a toddler-mind-set.
Most of these experiments were part of MKUltra (most well-known for the use of LSD, less well-known as the foundation for all present "interrogation" tactics in the War on/of Terror). The tactics show up again in every country where the US has, in some manner, been involved in training police or military people to combat first communism, than leftism (See: Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, Columbia, Mexico).
She ties this, both metaphorically and literally, to the Chicago School (the group of economists and theorists, taught by Milton Friedman, who believe in the "free-market" as the only scientific/natural system for human trade/relations). Friedman believed that the free-er a market is (no government regulations, no consumer protections, no corporate taxes), the more-free the people in that market will be: Democracy and Self-Rule are synonymous, then, with limitless profit-taking, no minimum wage, no state-services, etc.
But there was a problem, one that he himself admitted. Time after time, people kept demanding from their governments, or forming their own, that there be a minimum wage, there be an 8-hour work-day, that water be cheap or free, that electricity and infrastructure be state- or people-run. Democracy kept tending towards "mixed-economies" (state or community controlled electricity, oil, water, schools, etc., as well as worker-protections and land re-distribution and more numerous small-businesses, rather than corporate conglomerates). So, then, what to do?
Milton found an effective answer: Shock the fuck out of them. Already we knew that pain, applied correctly, will disorient people. Disoriented people don’t fight back, nor can they even quite understand what’s happening around them until they regain their footing.
At least 4/5ths of the book are devoted to the history of "shocking" local and national movements into disorientation. Some of the shocks were manufactured (violent coups, international currency manipulation), some were hijacked revolutions (South Africa, Russia, Poland), and some were natural disasters (the Tsunami a few years back, New Orleans), but with always the same result: foreign companies buy up everything in sight, plunging already impoverished and disoriented people into further pain and poverty.
? Chile: Salvador Allende, democratically elected to be President of Chile, was assassinated by a US-supported coup by Augusto Pinochet on Sept 11, 1973. Pinochet’s economic advisors were all from the Chicago School, and when he came to power, he began selling off national resources (the mines, the banks, the infrastructure) to foreign companies. To take care of the pesky problem of people fighting back, he (with CIA trained soldiers) arrested and tortured thousands of "enemies of the state," stealing children from prisoners and adopting them out to supporters of the coup.
? Argentina and Uruguay: Similar situation. Some highlights included burning universities (and killing professors), destroying copies of books by Marx and Neruda. Ford Motor Company took out adverts in Argentinian newspapers to support the coup, ("Ford commits itself to the struggle to bring about the great destiny of the Fatherland.")--they were quite happy with the end of unions in their factories (many union leaders were actually tortured in the factories themselves).
? Poland: I’m old enough to remember the strikes in Poland by Solidarity (a workers’ union led by Lech Walesa), but it isn’t surprising I didn’t actually know what they stood for. I assumed, just as the media suggested, that all those polish workers were striking for democracy and capitalism. Wrong. Their platform was "Socialism--yes; Corruptions of Socialism--no": they wanted worker-control of the state-run factories and businesses, not a free-market economy. But when they won, no government would forgive the former communist state’s debts, and they had no money. Enter Jeffrey Sachs (Bono calls him "my professor"), who offered a massive infusion of international cash with a slight catch (a do-or-die proposition, actually): take the money and privatise everything, or don’t take the money and have your new people’s government topple. Lech Walesa took the first (and faced massive revolt from the supporters of Solidarity, losing the next election to a proto-fascist party who promised to kick out Jeffery Sach’s and the IMF/World Bank but instead started expelling immigrants, arresting gays, etc.)
? South Africa: The African National Congress (Mandela, etc.) ended Apartheid with promises to re-distribute land, give ownership of the gold mines and other resources to workers. But just as they were negotiating their relatively bloodless coup, the white south-african government negotiated economic policies with the IMF and World Bank ensuring that such a thing would never happen. When the ANC came to power, they suddenly found that there was no money to even turn on the electricity in the black ghettos, because almost all of their budget had to go towards paying down international loans the white government had taken out (and taken with them) when they lost power.
? Sri Lanka: Images of the tsunami that destroyed thousands of shanties on the beaches led millions of people to give money to the relief effort. But much of that money was channeled into the tourism industry. If you gave money, there’s a damn good possibility you helped re-build a surfer-hotel. Indigenous fishers aren’t allowed on the beaches anymore ("for safety,") while hotels got a lot more beachfront to build on (they’re exempt from the 200-meter buffer zone).
? Iraq: Another created shock (it was called Shock and Awe, remember?). Paul Bremer (the viceroy of Iraq’s "provisional" government) sold off every Saddam-era industry he could find, barring Iraqis from buying them. The "de-baathification" (barring Baath-party members from jobs) didn’t affect many of the high-level party leaders (former generals were appointed to mayorships by Bremer) but did keep thousands of teachers, doctors, professors, and soldiers from working. The opposition to the oil-law is depicted in the media as an ethnic squabble, though every group agrees--they want no foreign companies owning their oil. That, however, is not an option the US will tolerate. Oh, and remember the purple fingers? Iraq had already held elections (spurred on by Bush’s declaration that he was bringing democracy to Iraq). Those elections were annuled (sometimes violently) because the US wanted to pick the candidates. Wonder why there wasn’t sectarian violence until Paul Bremer started passing laws? Look at the laws he passed.
? New Orleans: A natural shock turned into the perfect laboratory for free-market ideals. Schools were privatised, hospitals closed permanently. Neighbourhoods that had already begun rebuilding were bulldozed to make room for private developments. Reconstruction companies (including Bechtel and Halliburton) refused to hire locals, can’t account for most of the money we gave them, and in many cases brought in immigrants from Mexico and didn’t pay them after they did the work.
This is all, of course, a very short summary. 466 pages of indictments over one of the most absurd games that has ever been played (and one that we didn’t get dealt any cards for, and we’re not even certain why we’re sitting in the casino)--Capitalism is not a natural system, is not the same thing as Democracy, and doesn’t make everyone’s life better. Why the think-tanks and the Freidmanites, why Jeffery Sachs and Bono and Ayn Rand and all their ilk are given prominate discussion places within newpapers, radio and television without once having to answer for the immense suffering their policies have caused while a bunch of black folk watching their jobs and homes destroyed are just being "lazy," why Morales and Chavez and Correa in South America are all dangerous dictators to be overthrown and the people who vote from them, who know intimately the history of the American Alternative (torture, poverty, drug wars) are dangerously misled----all of this is to keep us complicit in Capitalism’s war against people’s movements everywhere.
April 21, 2016
"الخوف والفوضى هما المحفزان لكلّ قفزة جديدة إلى الأمام"
العظيمات هنّ العظيمات
وثائقي عقيدة الصدمة
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRDDQ...
تبدأ الكاتبة بمشهد من إعصار كاترينا في الولايات المتحدة تصف فيه حال المنكوبين وقتها. .لتشرح بعد ذلك استغلال ميلتون فريدمان -الأقتصادي الحائز على نوبل ، مؤسس مدرسة شيكاغو- للحادثة في تغيير النظام التعليمي في نيو أورلينز من مدارس حكومية لمدارس خاصة ممولة بقسائم نقدية.
وهنا تتجلى رأسمالية الكوارث = استغلال الكوارث لتمرير سياسات السوق الحر
ثورة مدرسة شيكاجو . .
===================
في السبعينات 1973 . . الديكتاتور التشيلي أوغستو بيونشه قام بانقلاب عنيف على الرئيس سلفادور ألليندي . .بعد ذلك اتبع سياسات اقتصادية عُرفت بـ "ثورة مدرسة شيكاغو" واللي بتعتبر التحوّل الرأسمالي الأكثر جذرية في تاريخ العالم.
نتيجة للتضخم اللي حصل بعد الإنقلاب طبق أوغستو رؤية (ميلتون فريدمان) فخفض الضرائب وخصخص القطاعات الخدمية في البلد وفتح السوق للتجارة الحرّة وخفض الانفاق الحكومي على القطاعات الاجتماعية والناس صحت الصبح لقت المدارس الحكومية بقت خاصة!
ميلتون فريدمان رؤيته في استغلال الكوارث وهي (العلاج بالصدمة) بعد أي كارثة كبيرة تستغل الفرصة لتمرير رؤيتها (اللبيرالية الحديثة) وتطبيق أفكارها الخاصة.
فالتجار بيحتفظوا باللبن والبضائع لمواجهة الكوارث إنما مدرسة شيكاغو بتحتفظ بأفكار السوق الحر.
==================
العلاج بالصدمة
في 1951 وكالة الاستخبارات الأمريكية قابلت سرا علماء من جامعة ماكجيل ودعمت أبحاث عن أثر الحرمان من الحواس . . أبتدأ د. هيب تجاربه على طلبة عنده وكانت التجربة بمنع الحركة وتغطية الأجسام لفقدان القدرة على اللمس ومحاولة عزل الفرد عن الحواسه طبعا النتائج فقدان التركيز والقدرة على التخيل وتراجع في الشخصية!
الدكتور هيب وقف الابحاث لأنها على طلبة ونتائجها هتبقى كارثية ازاي هتحرم حد من حواسه 60 يوم وكان فاكر إن ده شيء مستحيل.
الابحاث كملها د. ايوين كاميرون . . ما رحمش المرضى اللي عنده . . تحولت مصحة آلان ميموريال لمعتقل لتعذيب المرضى . . كاميرون حاول يمسح شخصية مرضاه نهائيا يحولها لصفحة بيضاء يقدر ينقش عليها اللي هو عاوزه عن طرق صدمات كهربائية عالية ومنع المريض من الحركة لمدة كبيرة وحرمانه من كل حواسه بطرق مختلفة وحبوب مهلوسة وكان بيعرض عليهم رسائل مسجلة بغرض برمجتهم!
الاستخبارات الامريكية استغلت تجارب كاميرون في الاستجوابات بإضافة أنواع تانية من التعذيب واصدرت كتيب مشفر يدعى (كوبارك) وكان بمثابة الدستور للمستجوبيين قائم على أبحاث كاميرون.
غايل كاستنر إحدى ضحايا كاميرون قابلتها ناعومي كلاين وأجرت معاها حوار نقلته في بدء الكتاب ليوضح حجم المأساة لهذه الأبحاث.
==============================
تستعرض الكاتبة كيف تم تطبق عقيدة الصدمة واستخدام العنف المرتبطين بأفكار مدرسة شيكاغو الرأسمالية وتنفيذ هذه الافكار في أمريكا الجانوبية (تشيلي - برازيل - أرجنتين -بوليفيا) عن طريق دعم النظم الاستبدادية لخصخصة القطاع العام وفتح السوق لدخول الشركات العابرة للقارات.
تم تنفيذ نفس الصورة العامة في جنوب أفريقيا وآسيا التي تعرضت لأنهيار أقت��ادي شديد عرف بـ (أنهيار جدار برلين الثاني) وكيف تم تهجير المواطنين من أراضيهم بعد إعصار تسونامي وبناء الفنادق الضخمة والمنتجعات السياحية.
تم تنفيذ عقيدة الصدمة في روسيا على يد يلستن . . والذي خلفه بوتين ، وتبع ذلك هجرة الآلاف من الروسيين لإسرائيل بالإضافة لظروف التي مرت بها روسيا والممارسات التي تم تنفيذها بكل وحشية على الشعب الروسي في التسعينات وهو ما تم في بولندا بعد تخلي منظمة تدعى التضامن عن مبادئها لصالح صبية شيكاغو.
============
العراق
قبل احتلال العراق شكّل صدّام خطرا كبيرا على الاقتصاد الأمريكي بتعاقده مع شركات النفط الروسية واخرى فرنسية . . ظهر اسلوب الصدم والترهيب في احتلال العراق ، في البدء من الاعلام عن طريق الترويج للاسلحة والقنابل التي يمكن أن تستخدم في الحرب ضد العراق إلى اغراق العراق بالكامل في الظلام . .
نتجت عن الحرب خصخصة كاملة لدولة بأكملها وعقود بمئات المليارات ذهبت لشركات أمريكية مثّلت دور الحكومة في العراق.
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الكتاب مرهق وشاق ومن أهم أجزاءه كيفية ظهور صناعة الامن القومي والفساد والصفقات الخاصة بالشركات الأمريكية التي لعبت في هذا المجال . . استغرق الكتاب من صاحبته أربع سنوات . . وآلاف الأوراق والوثائق وعشرات المقابلات
كتاب عظيم بكل معنى الكلمة
الموقع الرسمي للكتاب به عشرات الوثائق الأصلية
http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine
June 4, 2020
کارل پولانی نظام سرمایهداری را یک نظام آرمانشهرگرا میداند که هرگز به آرمانشهر خود نخواهد رسید. نظام سرمایهداری در حالت ناب خود، چنان به زیست جهان انسانها هجوم میبرد و حیات اجتماعی انسانها را دستخوش بحران میکند که با مقاومت مردمی مواجه خواهد شد، مقاومتی برای تعدیل دستاندازیهای افسارگسیخته نظام سرمایهداری به حیات انسانها.
سالها بعد، نائومی کلاین در کتاب دکترین شوک، با بررسی کشورهایی که اصول اقتصادی مورد نظر میلتون فریدمن و مکتب شیکاگو در آنها به اجرا درآمد، به خوبی نشان میدهد که ادعاهای فریدمن، آرمانشهر خیالپردازانهای است که هرگز محقق نخواهد شد. در بسیاری از کشورها تا حتی ده سال پس از اجرای توصیههای فریدمن خبری از بهشت وعده داده شده او نبود. اجرای سیاستهای نولیبرالی از دهه هشتاد به بعد در کشورهای مختلف همانطور که پولانی هم پیشبینی کرده بود، و همانطور که همه تئوریپردازان مکتب شیکاگو هم میدانستند، با مقاومتهای شدید مردمی مواجه شد. مقاومتهایی که با شدت هرچه تمامتر توسط دیکتاتورهای دستنشانده آمریکا و سازمان سیا، سرکوب شد. دیکتاتورهایی که اساسا به منظور سرکوب همین مقاومتها به قدرت رسیده بودند.
کشورهایی که در روند دستیابی به دموکراسی بودند، تهدیدی برای شرکتهای چندملیتی به حساب میآمدند. دولتهای مردمی و دموکراتی که ملیسازی ثروتهای عمومی مثل صنایع و معادن را در دستور کار قرار میدادند، مثل دولت مصدق، باب تبع ایالات متحده نبودند. جالب این است که فریدمن و سایر مدافعان بازار آزاد و حتی مدافعان حقوق بشر در آن سالها ارتباط تنگاتنگ سیاستهای بازار آزاد و فجایع حقوق بشری را نادیده میگرفتند. فریدمن ارتباطی نمیدید میان توصیههای اقتصادیاش به سرکوبگر اعظم شیلی، پینوشه و جنایتهایی که پینوشه مجبور بود برای پیشبرد توصیههای اقتصادی فریدمن مرتکب شود.
افزایش آمار خودکشی، روسپیگری کودکان، فروش دختران به باندهای قاچاق انسان، رشد نژادپرستی و رشد بنیادگرایی مذهبی تنها بخشی از نتایج مصیبتبار اجرای سیاستهای نولیبرالی در کشورهای آسیایی بود که با اجبار صندوق بینالمللی پول با همکاری آمریکا به کشورها تحمیل میشد. نائومی کلاین به ما نشان میدهد که چطور صندوق بینالمللی پول با آمارسازی و دستکاری اعداد و ارقام، اقتصاد این کشورها را دستخوش بحران نشان میداد تا در اثر واکنش بازارهای مالی، این کشورها به شکل واقعی دستخوش بحران شده و محتاج دریافت وام از صندوق بینالمللی پول باشند. در چنین شرایطی است که صندوق، اعطای وام را منوط به اجرای سیاستهای نولیبرالی میکرد.
بسیاری از کشورهایی که پیروان مکتب شیکاگو از آنها به عنوان نمونههای موفق اجرای اصول اقتصادی نولیبرال یاد میکنند، از جمله لهستان، در حقیقت کشورهایی هستند که تنها پس از سرباز زدن از اجرای این اصول و ملی کردن مجدد بخشی از منابع ملی، توانستند اقتصاد خود را از فروپاشی نجات دهند.
کتاب فرم داستانگونهای دارد و بسیار خوب ترجمه شده است. بصورت مستند داستان پیادهسازی اصول اقتصادی مکتب شیکاگو را در کشورهای مختلف، از شیلی و آرژانتین گرفته تا لهستان و چین و روسیه و حتی عراق بعد از حمله آمریکا را روایت میکند. مطالعه آن فارغ از اشکهایی که بر مصیبت وارده بر ملتها خواهید ریخت، فرآیند پرکششی خواهد بود. مطالعه این کتاب از نان شب هم واجبتر است، برای اینکه بدانیم در چه روزگاری و با چه مختصاتی زندگی میکنیم و مطالبات خود را در دنیای سیاست به چه سمت باید سوق دهیم.
سالها بعد، نائومی کلاین در کتاب دکترین شوک، با بررسی کشورهایی که اصول اقتصادی مورد نظر میلتون فریدمن و مکتب شیکاگو در آنها به اجرا درآمد، به خوبی نشان میدهد که ادعاهای فریدمن، آرمانشهر خیالپردازانهای است که هرگز محقق نخواهد شد. در بسیاری از کشورها تا حتی ده سال پس از اجرای توصیههای فریدمن خبری از بهشت وعده داده شده او نبود. اجرای سیاستهای نولیبرالی از دهه هشتاد به بعد در کشورهای مختلف همانطور که پولانی هم پیشبینی کرده بود، و همانطور که همه تئوریپردازان مکتب شیکاگو هم میدانستند، با مقاومتهای شدید مردمی مواجه شد. مقاومتهایی که با شدت هرچه تمامتر توسط دیکتاتورهای دستنشانده آمریکا و سازمان سیا، سرکوب شد. دیکتاتورهایی که اساسا به منظور سرکوب همین مقاومتها به قدرت رسیده بودند.
کشورهایی که در روند دستیابی به دموکراسی بودند، تهدیدی برای شرکتهای چندملیتی به حساب میآمدند. دولتهای مردمی و دموکراتی که ملیسازی ثروتهای عمومی مثل صنایع و معادن را در دستور کار قرار میدادند، مثل دولت مصدق، باب تبع ایالات متحده نبودند. جالب این است که فریدمن و سایر مدافعان بازار آزاد و حتی مدافعان حقوق بشر در آن سالها ارتباط تنگاتنگ سیاستهای بازار آزاد و فجایع حقوق بشری را نادیده میگرفتند. فریدمن ارتباطی نمیدید میان توصیههای اقتصادیاش به سرکوبگر اعظم شیلی، پینوشه و جنایتهایی که پینوشه مجبور بود برای پیشبرد توصیههای اقتصادی فریدمن مرتکب شود.
افزایش آمار خودکشی، روسپیگری کودکان، فروش دختران به باندهای قاچاق انسان، رشد نژادپرستی و رشد بنیادگرایی مذهبی تنها بخشی از نتایج مصیبتبار اجرای سیاستهای نولیبرالی در کشورهای آسیایی بود که با اجبار صندوق بینالمللی پول با همکاری آمریکا به کشورها تحمیل میشد. نائومی کلاین به ما نشان میدهد که چطور صندوق بینالمللی پول با آمارسازی و دستکاری اعداد و ارقام، اقتصاد این کشورها را دستخوش بحران نشان میداد تا در اثر واکنش بازارهای مالی، این کشورها به شکل واقعی دستخوش بحران شده و محتاج دریافت وام از صندوق بینالمللی پول باشند. در چنین شرایطی است که صندوق، اعطای وام را منوط به اجرای سیاستهای نولیبرالی میکرد.
بسیاری از کشورهایی که پیروان مکتب شیکاگو از آنها به عنوان نمونههای موفق اجرای اصول اقتصادی نولیبرال یاد میکنند، از جمله لهستان، در حقیقت کشورهایی هستند که تنها پس از سرباز زدن از اجرای این اصول و ملی کردن مجدد بخشی از منابع ملی، توانستند اقتصاد خود را از فروپاشی نجات دهند.
کتاب فرم داستانگونهای دارد و بسیار خوب ترجمه شده است. بصورت مستند داستان پیادهسازی اصول اقتصادی مکتب شیکاگو را در کشورهای مختلف، از شیلی و آرژانتین گرفته تا لهستان و چین و روسیه و حتی عراق بعد از حمله آمریکا را روایت میکند. مطالعه آن فارغ از اشکهایی که بر مصیبت وارده بر ملتها خواهید ریخت، فرآیند پرکششی خواهد بود. مطالعه این کتاب از نان شب هم واجبتر است، برای اینکه بدانیم در چه روزگاری و با چه مختصاتی زندگی میکنیم و مطالبات خود را در دنیای سیاست به چه سمت باید سوق دهیم.
December 2, 2007
I would seriously like to see every human on this planet read this book. I can’t think of any other book I would more highly recommend today.
The whole text was rich in the exposing of history and deep analysis. I strongly encourage anyone reading it to stick through to the end. The bulk of the book covers quite terrible things in the world, but the last chapter actually made me very hopeful and inspired.
Utterly brilliant!
The whole text was rich in the exposing of history and deep analysis. I strongly encourage anyone reading it to stick through to the end. The bulk of the book covers quite terrible things in the world, but the last chapter actually made me very hopeful and inspired.
Utterly brilliant!
January 28, 2010
Because I'm about 3 pages away from returning it to the library, I've all but stopped reading this (and a buddy has told me that there are only specific passages that are worth reading, so I'll go find them, instead). It is so full of ad hominem, straw man, "just-because-it-was-done-by-the-GOP,-free-marketists,-or-people-who-liked-Milton-Friedman,-so-it-MUST-be-bad" arguments that I am wondering what it I am supposed to get out of what feels a lot like a left-wing rant? Klien hasn't actually argued anything that has any basis in reality. It's kind of feels like I'm listening to Sean Hannity or Ann Coulter, but instead it's a liberal who hates free markets and Republicans. It's just one liberal talking point after another, sans documenation, lots of anecdotes followed by the summary dismissal of "all because of Milton Friedman and the Chicago school of economics" or "all because of shock free markets." But I'm still waiting to hear that she's even talking about the results of free markets. Her entire argument seems to be "free markets equal evil" but she neglects any type of logical connection between the two.
Example: she jumps all over charter schools, but never really says whats wrong with them or that they aren't working. The only problem she sites is that the school unions are gone and that teachers don't like them. She implies that they are keeping the poor out of schools, but does not say it, because under a voucher system, students are funded to exactly the same level as under a non-charter system; they just get to choose what school they attend. IN otherwords, the public is still paying for a free education, but now students and their parents get to choose what school....but what's wrong with that? She doesn't say. Just says "it's bad for unions and teachers who worked in public schools before hate it" (though she doesn't actually site any teachers).
Example: she jumps all over Chile because "Pinochet was there" but never really makes a connection between Pinochet and the free market, other than to say "because they both happened at the same time, it must have been the free market that lead to all those people being tortured." What she doesn't mention is that Chile is the 8th most free economy in the world today and is ranked 3rd in the Americas (behind Canada and the US) and has experience 5% growth over the years from 2004-2009...but she doesn't ever talk about that or that today, after getting rid of Pinochet, Chile is one of the strongest, free-est, and fastest growing countries in South America, to say nothing of the world. Oh, she also forgets to mention that Pinochet is not in power any more but was ousted a long time ago.
Example: she attacks free market implimentation in Iraq, but fails to mention that most countries don't have ANY economy after a war, and that implimentation of an economy in Germany and Japan after WWII and in Korea after the Korea War didn't do too bad for them...in fact, it made them three of the strongest economies in the world. Implimentation of a non-free market economy in the countries of Poland, Romania, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia, and Belarus didn't exactly work out for them...just ask the millions of people who had to live through it, then go ask the millions in West Germany, France, Italy and Japan that did benefit from the free market after WWII (as well as Korea and Singapore)
Example: she lays blame for the Asian crisis at the doorstep of the free market, but what she doesn't say is that these countries were already free markets before, and that after they have rebounded faster than those that were affected by the crisis but were not free economies.
Example: she attacks the free market for Russia's woes, but the free market was never implemented there. The Kremlin has taken over control of the media and oil companies, as well as several other large conglomerates. A list of the fifty richest people in Russia is also a list of the KGB class of 1999 and the "friends of Putin."
Example: Tienanmen Square a precursor to the free market? This is a clear case of the tail wagging the dog. It is widely credited as being the crisis that took down the then current party leadership in favor of leadership willing to open up China to allow more economic freedom, not the other way around, as she proposes (that it was the suppression of all those masses who wanted democracy, not economic freedom, silly...why would they want that?).
So, I am eager to know what redemptive qualities are in the book. It reads like liberal drivel that one only believes if it provides supporting evidence for what one already believes.
Look for it on the discount rack of second hand book stores near you soon...
Example: she jumps all over charter schools, but never really says whats wrong with them or that they aren't working. The only problem she sites is that the school unions are gone and that teachers don't like them. She implies that they are keeping the poor out of schools, but does not say it, because under a voucher system, students are funded to exactly the same level as under a non-charter system; they just get to choose what school they attend. IN otherwords, the public is still paying for a free education, but now students and their parents get to choose what school....but what's wrong with that? She doesn't say. Just says "it's bad for unions and teachers who worked in public schools before hate it" (though she doesn't actually site any teachers).
Example: she jumps all over Chile because "Pinochet was there" but never really makes a connection between Pinochet and the free market, other than to say "because they both happened at the same time, it must have been the free market that lead to all those people being tortured." What she doesn't mention is that Chile is the 8th most free economy in the world today and is ranked 3rd in the Americas (behind Canada and the US) and has experience 5% growth over the years from 2004-2009...but she doesn't ever talk about that or that today, after getting rid of Pinochet, Chile is one of the strongest, free-est, and fastest growing countries in South America, to say nothing of the world. Oh, she also forgets to mention that Pinochet is not in power any more but was ousted a long time ago.
Example: she attacks free market implimentation in Iraq, but fails to mention that most countries don't have ANY economy after a war, and that implimentation of an economy in Germany and Japan after WWII and in Korea after the Korea War didn't do too bad for them...in fact, it made them three of the strongest economies in the world. Implimentation of a non-free market economy in the countries of Poland, Romania, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia, and Belarus didn't exactly work out for them...just ask the millions of people who had to live through it, then go ask the millions in West Germany, France, Italy and Japan that did benefit from the free market after WWII (as well as Korea and Singapore)
Example: she lays blame for the Asian crisis at the doorstep of the free market, but what she doesn't say is that these countries were already free markets before, and that after they have rebounded faster than those that were affected by the crisis but were not free economies.
Example: she attacks the free market for Russia's woes, but the free market was never implemented there. The Kremlin has taken over control of the media and oil companies, as well as several other large conglomerates. A list of the fifty richest people in Russia is also a list of the KGB class of 1999 and the "friends of Putin."
Example: Tienanmen Square a precursor to the free market? This is a clear case of the tail wagging the dog. It is widely credited as being the crisis that took down the then current party leadership in favor of leadership willing to open up China to allow more economic freedom, not the other way around, as she proposes (that it was the suppression of all those masses who wanted democracy, not economic freedom, silly...why would they want that?).
So, I am eager to know what redemptive qualities are in the book. It reads like liberal drivel that one only believes if it provides supporting evidence for what one already believes.
Look for it on the discount rack of second hand book stores near you soon...
May 8, 2023
Incredibly interesting. Also incredibly depressing. Really worth the time and wish I would’ve read this a long while ago because it sets up a critical framework on how to view crises.
July 27, 2016
One of the problems with Klein's bestselling jeremiad against the progressive global implementation of so-called free market policies over the past four decades is her attempts to link them, as a calculated stratagem, to the unsavory experimentation conducted in the fifties and sixties, by the CIA and their associated medical personnel, with personality modification and torture techniques designed to harvest information from subjects after rendering them vulnerable through administering disorienting and disabling shocks. The evidence she presents is, at best, circumstantial and correlational, and it attempts to graft a veneer of evil onto the otherwise inflectionless economic policies conceived and implemented by the Chicago School under the formulative tutelage of Milton Friedman and his free market disciples.
It's unfortunate, because the case she presents—one drawing evidence from real world implementations across South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe—is sufficiently strong without such a gimmick, making illuminative associations between the onset of financial crisis within Second or Third World polities and the usage of that crisis, primarily by the IMF and World Bank, the twin arms of the market-imposing Washington Consensus, to apply the shock of harsh economic re-orderings. Such shock tactics run roughshod over democratic principles, ignoring the wishes of the afflicted populace and their elected representatives in order to enforce debt repayment and impose free trade, with a focus upon building an export economy, the doing of which entails the crushing of unions, scaling-back of wages and welfare provisions, privatizing of industry, healthcare, and pensions, and propping up/creating central banks that an ordered honoring of foreign debt might be effected. It allows her a greater leeway with stamping her Shock classification for the various state unraveling and IMF patching together in a manner conducive to transferring wealth to the banks and corporations of the already mighty West at the expense of the well-being, financial prospects, and civil rights of the struggling nations being commanded to so arrange their economic affairs.
However, painting Milton Friedman as an evil man is simply pure polemic—and for some of her case studies Klein also fails to make clear to the reader important factors such as the parlous state of affairs prior to the stepping in of moneyed interests; the agendas of incumbent or freshly installed governing parties in the afflicted nations; political, cultural, and/or ethnical strains between the demographic constituencies of that polity, etc. In other words, there were myriad currents at play during several of these crises, and such complicating elements as nuance, subtlety, and interconnectedness can be given short shrift by the author when they do not fit themselves into her more simplified, more black and white determination of causality and purpose. In consulting sources of a differing interpretation than Klein's—and particularly relevant in the South American polities, where the postwar practice of Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) had produced domestic industries rife with inefficiencies, corruption, and foreign debt—it becomes apparent that, in some instances, and in one form or another, things were plenty grim beforehand; and if there was money sufficient for a reasonable system of safety nets, it came via the liberal supply of foreign cash sent in to governments riddled with corruption and economic stagnation. Such is not a sustainable way of life—or, at least, not in the modern globalized evolution of it; and while Klein does point out how, with changes administered through governmental fiat via democratic pressure further down the line, when a measure of stability and economic strength had been maintained, several of the countries put under her microscope managed to achieve a better standard of living, she does not deem to allow that those early systemic shocks, in clearing out much deadwood and forcibly requiring governments and privatized industries to make gains in productivity and competitive prowess and adherence to accountability and the rule of law, were instrumental in setting the stage, however austerely and painfully, for those later ameliorations to be grafted onto a sturdier and more potentially enduring structure.
Some of the cases, as I noted. For others, like the Apartheid-turning of South Africa and the liberalization of Russia, Klein's critique is witheringly close to the mark. The fire sale conducted under the auspices of Western governments, with a huge proportion of former state-owned industries being transferred, for absurdly low prices, into the hands of a rapacious private industry, is simply inexcusable. And in the Iraq invasion and Hurricane Katrina, Klein presents a solid argument regarding the manner in which free market enthusiasts used such breakdowns in order to carry out a coup against one country's economy and another city's public services. Klein also raises very relevant questions about the iron-bound requirements placed upon newly liberated countries to make good for the grotesque debts run-up by previous dictators and despots: we are long overdue for a serious reworking of debt-forgiveness in such cases. It's not a simple thing to iron-out, for significant portions of that debt—at some level of the tiered flow—represents the savings of lower- and middle-class families who had no part in either the pre- or post-shock ordering of things—and it is for such reasons that I look forward to eventually tackling books like David Graeber's Debt which confront this problem head-on and with touted creativity. The Shock Doctrine is a valuable contribution to modern political and fiscal discussion—with its encompassing thematic detail, mustering of evidence (however selective in certain cases), and, most enjoyable of all, the author's superb writing. What's more, there are plenty of volumes out there proclaiming the wonders of our recently erected globalized market system; those such as Klein's are a welcome tonic, sobering in their presentation, righteous in their outrage, and compelling in their urge for readers to question exactly how manipulable these recurrent financial crises are, both in the way they are brought-about and settled afterwards.
It's unfortunate, because the case she presents—one drawing evidence from real world implementations across South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe—is sufficiently strong without such a gimmick, making illuminative associations between the onset of financial crisis within Second or Third World polities and the usage of that crisis, primarily by the IMF and World Bank, the twin arms of the market-imposing Washington Consensus, to apply the shock of harsh economic re-orderings. Such shock tactics run roughshod over democratic principles, ignoring the wishes of the afflicted populace and their elected representatives in order to enforce debt repayment and impose free trade, with a focus upon building an export economy, the doing of which entails the crushing of unions, scaling-back of wages and welfare provisions, privatizing of industry, healthcare, and pensions, and propping up/creating central banks that an ordered honoring of foreign debt might be effected. It allows her a greater leeway with stamping her Shock classification for the various state unraveling and IMF patching together in a manner conducive to transferring wealth to the banks and corporations of the already mighty West at the expense of the well-being, financial prospects, and civil rights of the struggling nations being commanded to so arrange their economic affairs.
However, painting Milton Friedman as an evil man is simply pure polemic—and for some of her case studies Klein also fails to make clear to the reader important factors such as the parlous state of affairs prior to the stepping in of moneyed interests; the agendas of incumbent or freshly installed governing parties in the afflicted nations; political, cultural, and/or ethnical strains between the demographic constituencies of that polity, etc. In other words, there were myriad currents at play during several of these crises, and such complicating elements as nuance, subtlety, and interconnectedness can be given short shrift by the author when they do not fit themselves into her more simplified, more black and white determination of causality and purpose. In consulting sources of a differing interpretation than Klein's—and particularly relevant in the South American polities, where the postwar practice of Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) had produced domestic industries rife with inefficiencies, corruption, and foreign debt—it becomes apparent that, in some instances, and in one form or another, things were plenty grim beforehand; and if there was money sufficient for a reasonable system of safety nets, it came via the liberal supply of foreign cash sent in to governments riddled with corruption and economic stagnation. Such is not a sustainable way of life—or, at least, not in the modern globalized evolution of it; and while Klein does point out how, with changes administered through governmental fiat via democratic pressure further down the line, when a measure of stability and economic strength had been maintained, several of the countries put under her microscope managed to achieve a better standard of living, she does not deem to allow that those early systemic shocks, in clearing out much deadwood and forcibly requiring governments and privatized industries to make gains in productivity and competitive prowess and adherence to accountability and the rule of law, were instrumental in setting the stage, however austerely and painfully, for those later ameliorations to be grafted onto a sturdier and more potentially enduring structure.
Some of the cases, as I noted. For others, like the Apartheid-turning of South Africa and the liberalization of Russia, Klein's critique is witheringly close to the mark. The fire sale conducted under the auspices of Western governments, with a huge proportion of former state-owned industries being transferred, for absurdly low prices, into the hands of a rapacious private industry, is simply inexcusable. And in the Iraq invasion and Hurricane Katrina, Klein presents a solid argument regarding the manner in which free market enthusiasts used such breakdowns in order to carry out a coup against one country's economy and another city's public services. Klein also raises very relevant questions about the iron-bound requirements placed upon newly liberated countries to make good for the grotesque debts run-up by previous dictators and despots: we are long overdue for a serious reworking of debt-forgiveness in such cases. It's not a simple thing to iron-out, for significant portions of that debt—at some level of the tiered flow—represents the savings of lower- and middle-class families who had no part in either the pre- or post-shock ordering of things—and it is for such reasons that I look forward to eventually tackling books like David Graeber's Debt which confront this problem head-on and with touted creativity. The Shock Doctrine is a valuable contribution to modern political and fiscal discussion—with its encompassing thematic detail, mustering of evidence (however selective in certain cases), and, most enjoyable of all, the author's superb writing. What's more, there are plenty of volumes out there proclaiming the wonders of our recently erected globalized market system; those such as Klein's are a welcome tonic, sobering in their presentation, righteous in their outrage, and compelling in their urge for readers to question exactly how manipulable these recurrent financial crises are, both in the way they are brought-about and settled afterwards.
June 30, 2019
ذكر بعض الأصدقاء هنا أن هذا الكتاب هو أحد أهم الكتب التي قرأوها في حياتهم، وأنا لا أختلف معهم البتة، بل أضم صوتي إلى صوتهم. فلا تكمن أهمية هذا الكتاب بأنه يفتح ذهن القارئ على جوانب مهمة من الصراعات السياسية والعسكرية المعاصرة فحسب، بل لأنه يحمل طناً من المعلومات التاريخية والاقتصادية وغيرها. وكل تلك المعلومات مؤثرة وذات علاقة بوضع عالمنا اليوم، وليست عن قوم عادٍ وثمود.
يتحدث الكتاب عن إحدى صور الاستعمار الاقتصادي لل��ول، وذلك عن طريق العلاج بالصدمة. يتمثل ذاء الداء/الدواء بحزمة من القرارات الاقتصادية التي تزيد الأغنياء ثراء وتزيد الفقراء بؤساً، وتسلم رجال الأعمال زمام البلد. أهم تلك القرارات هي الخصخصة وإيقاف الدعم الحكومي وفتح السوق على مصراعيه للتجار والاستثمارات الأجنبية. حسب رأي الكاتبة، تلك هي ملامح الرأسمالية عندما تتوحش وتكشر عن أنيابها.
رحلتي مع الكتاب كانت طويلة وشاقة، إلا أنه استحق كل دقيقة وكل ثانية استثمرتها فيه. تتشابه القصص وتختلف من دولة إلى أخرى ومن حقبة إلى حقبة، لكنك في النهاية تجد نفسك أمام خط سير واضح يجعلك تفهم الكثير مما حصل ويحصل في عالم السياسة القبيح. الكتاب موجه ضد سياسات السوق الحرة وثقافة الاستهلاك، لذا لا تتوقع منه أن يذكر شيئاً من إيجابياتها. ستتكون لديك بعض الأسئلة مما يدفعك للمزيد من البحث، غير أن الكتاب يظل سهلاً من حيث المصطلحات والأفكار المطروحة.
هنا انتهت المراجعة، تستطيع التوقف هنا. فيما يلي بعض الأفكار المستنبطة من الكتاب مع بعض الاسقاطات المتعلقة بمشاهداتي الخاصة. قد يجدها البعض أوضح من أن تقال، وقد يختلف مع بعضها. ذلك بالتأكيد أمر طبيعي ومحمود.
1. عندما تأتي دولة ما –سواء أحببتها أو كرهتها- لتشارك بلدك باقتراحات أو سياسيات أو دعم مادي أو عسكري، أبحث عن الدافع فلن يكون ذلك حباً ولا إنسانية. تلك المصطلحات لا وجود لها في معجم السياسة.
2. الشركات الكبرى تتحكم بالعالم عبر تحكمها في سياسيات الدول الكبرى. في كثير من الأحيان، هي من تشعل وقود الحرب وهي من تنشر نداءات السلام.
3. النخب في بلداننا العربية من حكومات ومعارضة، لا يقرأون أو أنهم يقرأون وينسون. إذ كيف يمكن أن نفهم بأن ما يحدث لهم قد حدث مسبقاً وتم تحليله وتوثيقه في كتب يمكن الحصول عليها بملاليم؟ لماذا إذن يقعون في نفس الحفر التي وقع فيها الكثير من قبلهم.
4. يمكن لمناضل وطني أن يصبح خائناً، وقد يتغير حال الحريص على مصلحة البلد إلى بائع يعرض البلد في مزاد مريب. أحياناً يكون السبب بريق السلطة أو المال وأحياناً أخرى عدم الكفاءة. هذه التغيرات ليست نادرة في التاريخ.
5. احتجاج الشعوب قد يؤدي إلى نتائج وقد يفشل في مساعيه، غير أن صمتها لا يؤدي سوى إلى تدهور الأحوال. هناك طرق عديدة للاحتجاج وليس العنف أحدها.
6. يقول التغريبيون بأننا سبب كل فشل نجد أنفسنا فيه، ويقول القوميون بأن الإمبريالية هي سبب كل آفة. والصحيح هو خليط من هذا وذاك. يذكر التاريخ بأن دولاً غربية نجحت في وأد محاولات جادة للنهوض في الشرق، كما يذكر أيضاً بأن هناك دولاً تمكنت من النهوض رغم التربص والدسائس.
هذا غيض من فيض، أما الكتاب فهو ثري بقدر ماهو مؤلم. كنت أشعر بالغضب والحزن لساعات بعد قراءة بعض الفصول. حدث حتى أنني كنت أرمق الكتاب ببغض جراء كمية الحقائق الموجعة التي يذكرها. هكذا هو الأمر: من يطلب الحقيقة يجب أن يصبر على ألمها، وكما تقول أغنية جورج مايكل الرائقة التي لا علاقة لها بكل ما ذُكر:
To the heart in mind,
Ignorance is kind,
There is no comfort in the truth,
Pain is that all you’ll find.
يتحدث الكتاب عن إحدى صور الاستعمار الاقتصادي لل��ول، وذلك عن طريق العلاج بالصدمة. يتمثل ذاء الداء/الدواء بحزمة من القرارات الاقتصادية التي تزيد الأغنياء ثراء وتزيد الفقراء بؤساً، وتسلم رجال الأعمال زمام البلد. أهم تلك القرارات هي الخصخصة وإيقاف الدعم الحكومي وفتح السوق على مصراعيه للتجار والاستثمارات الأجنبية. حسب رأي الكاتبة، تلك هي ملامح الرأسمالية عندما تتوحش وتكشر عن أنيابها.
رحلتي مع الكتاب كانت طويلة وشاقة، إلا أنه استحق كل دقيقة وكل ثانية استثمرتها فيه. تتشابه القصص وتختلف من دولة إلى أخرى ومن حقبة إلى حقبة، لكنك في النهاية تجد نفسك أمام خط سير واضح يجعلك تفهم الكثير مما حصل ويحصل في عالم السياسة القبيح. الكتاب موجه ضد سياسات السوق الحرة وثقافة الاستهلاك، لذا لا تتوقع منه أن يذكر شيئاً من إيجابياتها. ستتكون لديك بعض الأسئلة مما يدفعك للمزيد من البحث، غير أن الكتاب يظل سهلاً من حيث المصطلحات والأفكار المطروحة.
هنا انتهت المراجعة، تستطيع التوقف هنا. فيما يلي بعض الأفكار المستنبطة من الكتاب مع بعض الاسقاطات المتعلقة بمشاهداتي الخاصة. قد يجدها البعض أوضح من أن تقال، وقد يختلف مع بعضها. ذلك بالتأكيد أمر طبيعي ومحمود.
1. عندما تأتي دولة ما –سواء أحببتها أو كرهتها- لتشارك بلدك باقتراحات أو سياسيات أو دعم مادي أو عسكري، أبحث عن الدافع فلن يكون ذلك حباً ولا إنسانية. تلك المصطلحات لا وجود لها في معجم السياسة.
2. الشركات الكبرى تتحكم بالعالم عبر تحكمها في سياسيات الدول الكبرى. في كثير من الأحيان، هي من تشعل وقود الحرب وهي من تنشر نداءات السلام.
3. النخب في بلداننا العربية من حكومات ومعارضة، لا يقرأون أو أنهم يقرأون وينسون. إذ كيف يمكن أن نفهم بأن ما يحدث لهم قد حدث مسبقاً وتم تحليله وتوثيقه في كتب يمكن الحصول عليها بملاليم؟ لماذا إذن يقعون في نفس الحفر التي وقع فيها الكثير من قبلهم.
4. يمكن لمناضل وطني أن يصبح خائناً، وقد يتغير حال الحريص على مصلحة البلد إلى بائع يعرض البلد في مزاد مريب. أحياناً يكون السبب بريق السلطة أو المال وأحياناً أخرى عدم الكفاءة. هذه التغيرات ليست نادرة في التاريخ.
5. احتجاج الشعوب قد يؤدي إلى نتائج وقد يفشل في مساعيه، غير أن صمتها لا يؤدي سوى إلى تدهور الأحوال. هناك طرق عديدة للاحتجاج وليس العنف أحدها.
6. يقول التغريبيون بأننا سبب كل فشل نجد أنفسنا فيه، ويقول القوميون بأن الإمبريالية هي سبب كل آفة. والصحيح هو خليط من هذا وذاك. يذكر التاريخ بأن دولاً غربية نجحت في وأد محاولات جادة للنهوض في الشرق، كما يذكر أيضاً بأن هناك دولاً تمكنت من النهوض رغم التربص والدسائس.
هذا غيض من فيض، أما الكتاب فهو ثري بقدر ماهو مؤلم. كنت أشعر بالغضب والحزن لساعات بعد قراءة بعض الفصول. حدث حتى أنني كنت أرمق الكتاب ببغض جراء كمية الحقائق الموجعة التي يذكرها. هكذا هو الأمر: من يطلب الحقيقة يجب أن يصبر على ألمها، وكما تقول أغنية جورج مايكل الرائقة التي لا علاقة لها بكل ما ذُكر:
To the heart in mind,
Ignorance is kind,
There is no comfort in the truth,
Pain is that all you’ll find.
March 1, 2009
As someone who used to consume nonfiction with the voracious appetite of a trucker at an Old Country Buffet, I find it odd and not a little unsettling that, since joining Goodreads, a solid 95% of my reading material has come from the fiction side of the bookstore. While this has definitely helped fill some dramatic gaps in my knowledge, it was with much relief that I tucked myself into Klein's The Shock Doctrine earlier this week. I'd attempted reading this in the heady afterglow of the election this past November but I was not in the mood to be depressed so soon and replaced it on my shelf.
Two months into Obama's presidency, as the economy crumbles into so many pieces which are then greedily consumed by the jackals that make up the banking industry, Klein's definitive history of Friedman economics and their entwined history with brutality, terror and disparity seems especially apt. Granted, Friedman didn't do this all on his own. Rather, as Klein's thesis bears out, this occurs through a system of shocks to the nervous system of the target country, much as electro-convulsive therapy was developed as a means to wipe its subjects mind so that it could be reformatted into a socially acceptable form.
The first shock is generally political upheaval- a coup, terror attack, or governmental collapse, though Klein points out that natural disasters such as the 2004 tsunami and Hurricane Katrina work just as well, that so upsets the regular routine of life that citizens are willing to invest extraordinary powers in the government and silence any dissent for the duration of the emergency. Sound familiar?
Next comes the economic shock, during which the social safety nets so despised by free-market zealots are taken away and former nationally-owned industries (oil, mineral, postal services, arms contracts, education, healthcare, pretty much everything) are "privatized," or sold at cut-rate prices to foreign investors who, through some never-explained sleight of hand will then lead the country into its bright capitalist utopia. Of course, as profit-driven enterprises are wont to do, this generally leads to corruption at unprecedented levels, currency inflation and record-bursting unemployment levels. "Relax," the economic advisers say (these well-trained theorists from Friedman's Chicago School of Economics), "these are just the birth pangs of a new economic era. Everything is under control."
Which is very true. Everything is very much under control. For, as social unrest grows, the next shock is coming. These are the state-sanctioned terror squads that quell social unrest by creating an atmosphere of unwavering brutality and terror. These are the Disappeared leftists of South America, herded into football stadiums and machine-gunned, the distraught funeral gatherings broken up with water cannons and riot police. These are electrodes under the nails, omni-present surveillance, bodies dropped from helicopters into farmer's fields, couples black-bagged during their own wedding ceremony and carted into torture facilities, in front of hundreds of witnesses who are all so very afraid to be next that they refuse to even acknowledge that the event occurred.
Klein charts the evolution of the titular Shock Doctrine from it's intellectual beginnings at the University of Chicago in the 1950s in horrified reaction to the New Deal and the Keynesian philosophy that holds that a country's economy should work to best serve the working classes that are it's lifeblood. Milton Friedman, godfather of this Doctrine, develops his economic theory of free-market systems using oh-so-precise calculations (this is the man who cried and recited Donne's "Ode to a Grecian Urn" upon seeing a geometric proof) yet lacks a real world opportunity to test them in.
Enter Chile in 1974, an alleged 3rd world country who has just elected the radical Salvador Allende who is promising further nationalization of vital industries and expanded benefits to its citizens. Obviously the man is a dangerous Marxist and must be deposed post haste, says the US-based United Fruit Company who has much to lose if these nationalizations occur. No sooner said than done. With the useful assistance of the CIA, the military executes Allende and installs General Pinochet as dictator who, with assistance from his Chicago Boys (worshipers at the fount of Friedman) dismantles the complete economy and disappears hundreds of thousands of upstart leftists.
Okay, so that was a bit too bloody for the world's tastes, but you can't argue with the profits. A few people got extremely rich, clearly the market works. Let's try that again, but this time a bit more slyly. So Klein ushers us through nearly every political upheaval of the past 30 years, from the Thatcherite Falklands War to the end of Apartheid in South Africa and communism in both Poland and Russia, illustrating in very explicit detail the cooption of movements in the name of free-markets, the economic blackmail of the IMF's structural adjustment programs, and the destruction of true freedom in order to create free markets.
What is shown is not a series of isolated events but the creation of post-nationalist systems in which the state serves as the source of endless wealth for a very few and muscle for the extortion that takes place in the name of freedom. Most effective is how, after hundreds of pages of showing how this program (or pogrom) worked overseas, Klein brings it home to the US and shows how the terror attacks of 2001, the Iraq War, and the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina allowed the Friedmaniacs to enact their policies in the states. Complete lack of oversight, no bid contracts, unregulated markets and massive speculation all ran rampant during the seven years of Bush's reign and Klein does well to show exactly how this system led to the economic armageddon that engulfs us today.
It is my only hope that Obama and his advisers have read and believed even one chapter of this book and seen Friedman's system for the massive fuck up that it is and are now looking to pull Keynes from the wilderness and enshrine his values firmly in the passages of law, finicky governors be damned.
Two months into Obama's presidency, as the economy crumbles into so many pieces which are then greedily consumed by the jackals that make up the banking industry, Klein's definitive history of Friedman economics and their entwined history with brutality, terror and disparity seems especially apt. Granted, Friedman didn't do this all on his own. Rather, as Klein's thesis bears out, this occurs through a system of shocks to the nervous system of the target country, much as electro-convulsive therapy was developed as a means to wipe its subjects mind so that it could be reformatted into a socially acceptable form.
The first shock is generally political upheaval- a coup, terror attack, or governmental collapse, though Klein points out that natural disasters such as the 2004 tsunami and Hurricane Katrina work just as well, that so upsets the regular routine of life that citizens are willing to invest extraordinary powers in the government and silence any dissent for the duration of the emergency. Sound familiar?
Next comes the economic shock, during which the social safety nets so despised by free-market zealots are taken away and former nationally-owned industries (oil, mineral, postal services, arms contracts, education, healthcare, pretty much everything) are "privatized," or sold at cut-rate prices to foreign investors who, through some never-explained sleight of hand will then lead the country into its bright capitalist utopia. Of course, as profit-driven enterprises are wont to do, this generally leads to corruption at unprecedented levels, currency inflation and record-bursting unemployment levels. "Relax," the economic advisers say (these well-trained theorists from Friedman's Chicago School of Economics), "these are just the birth pangs of a new economic era. Everything is under control."
Which is very true. Everything is very much under control. For, as social unrest grows, the next shock is coming. These are the state-sanctioned terror squads that quell social unrest by creating an atmosphere of unwavering brutality and terror. These are the Disappeared leftists of South America, herded into football stadiums and machine-gunned, the distraught funeral gatherings broken up with water cannons and riot police. These are electrodes under the nails, omni-present surveillance, bodies dropped from helicopters into farmer's fields, couples black-bagged during their own wedding ceremony and carted into torture facilities, in front of hundreds of witnesses who are all so very afraid to be next that they refuse to even acknowledge that the event occurred.
Klein charts the evolution of the titular Shock Doctrine from it's intellectual beginnings at the University of Chicago in the 1950s in horrified reaction to the New Deal and the Keynesian philosophy that holds that a country's economy should work to best serve the working classes that are it's lifeblood. Milton Friedman, godfather of this Doctrine, develops his economic theory of free-market systems using oh-so-precise calculations (this is the man who cried and recited Donne's "Ode to a Grecian Urn" upon seeing a geometric proof) yet lacks a real world opportunity to test them in.
Enter Chile in 1974, an alleged 3rd world country who has just elected the radical Salvador Allende who is promising further nationalization of vital industries and expanded benefits to its citizens. Obviously the man is a dangerous Marxist and must be deposed post haste, says the US-based United Fruit Company who has much to lose if these nationalizations occur. No sooner said than done. With the useful assistance of the CIA, the military executes Allende and installs General Pinochet as dictator who, with assistance from his Chicago Boys (worshipers at the fount of Friedman) dismantles the complete economy and disappears hundreds of thousands of upstart leftists.
Okay, so that was a bit too bloody for the world's tastes, but you can't argue with the profits. A few people got extremely rich, clearly the market works. Let's try that again, but this time a bit more slyly. So Klein ushers us through nearly every political upheaval of the past 30 years, from the Thatcherite Falklands War to the end of Apartheid in South Africa and communism in both Poland and Russia, illustrating in very explicit detail the cooption of movements in the name of free-markets, the economic blackmail of the IMF's structural adjustment programs, and the destruction of true freedom in order to create free markets.
What is shown is not a series of isolated events but the creation of post-nationalist systems in which the state serves as the source of endless wealth for a very few and muscle for the extortion that takes place in the name of freedom. Most effective is how, after hundreds of pages of showing how this program (or pogrom) worked overseas, Klein brings it home to the US and shows how the terror attacks of 2001, the Iraq War, and the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina allowed the Friedmaniacs to enact their policies in the states. Complete lack of oversight, no bid contracts, unregulated markets and massive speculation all ran rampant during the seven years of Bush's reign and Klein does well to show exactly how this system led to the economic armageddon that engulfs us today.
It is my only hope that Obama and his advisers have read and believed even one chapter of this book and seen Friedman's system for the massive fuck up that it is and are now looking to pull Keynes from the wilderness and enshrine his values firmly in the passages of law, finicky governors be damned.
November 29, 2016
'The Shock Doctrine' describes how rich men rape poor countries while supposedly saving it. It is a sickening read. The book describes how Milton Friedman's economic theories work when put into practice by admirers such as the American Republican Party, and the second President George Bush.
Friedman's ideas have consistently produced failing States. Iraq is one example the author discusses with plenty of evidence of how it is done: outsource the war to private security firms and the following plan of 'nation building' to corporation employees in place of government employees. Outsourcing promotes the theft of billions of taxpayer money through inflated billings while incompetent contractors look as if they are doing something to fulfill their contracts. Klein also shows how governments, in trying to save themselves from a variety of economic crises, have employed Friedman's horrible policies, imposed on them by various international powers and banks, end up in reality impoverishing their citizens while foreigners and homegrown elites extract most of the wealth created and deposit it to their own personal bank accounts.
What the shock doctrine is, it is forcing a country to sell off most of its assets. Rich men take advantage of natural disasters or intentionally created financial crashes which bring a country to its knees. When a country is faced with a sudden disaster where many people are suddenly out of work and governments are stunned by the suffering and fear and destruction, banks and corporations move in and rape the country while promising to fix the problems with cash (borrowed at high interest) while imposing strict limitations on social security, fuel supports or food subsidies to the poor. The banks also force the sale of publicly owned electrical grids and water and sewer plants to private foreign companies and countries, who then fire the local employees and raise the price of the heretofore affordable necessities of daily life. Poverty rates typically jump from perhaps 10% to 30-60%.
In other words, a troubled country is forced into deeper, more painful difficulties intentionally in order to force the selling at rock bottom prices of everything of value to business entities which have no interest in helping or saving the country's citizens. While people are shocked and fearful because of disasters, they meekly allow the foreign corporations to 'save' them by stealing their assets and starving them.
Friedman also promoted using the most extreme methods on any protestors who dare to fight back at being raped, robbed and starved to deepen the shock and upset, through what used to be called brainwashing methods. In actuality, it means using torture.
Friedman thinks these policies will improve the functioning of everything eventually; however, Klein demonstrates in example after real world example (Brazil, Argentina, Iraq, Indonesia, Thailand, and others) how Friedman's theories when put into practice actually destroyed the lives of millions of people and enriched only the top 1%, and as a bonus brought unbearable suffering to the 99%.
Friedman's ideas have consistently produced failing States. Iraq is one example the author discusses with plenty of evidence of how it is done: outsource the war to private security firms and the following plan of 'nation building' to corporation employees in place of government employees. Outsourcing promotes the theft of billions of taxpayer money through inflated billings while incompetent contractors look as if they are doing something to fulfill their contracts. Klein also shows how governments, in trying to save themselves from a variety of economic crises, have employed Friedman's horrible policies, imposed on them by various international powers and banks, end up in reality impoverishing their citizens while foreigners and homegrown elites extract most of the wealth created and deposit it to their own personal bank accounts.
What the shock doctrine is, it is forcing a country to sell off most of its assets. Rich men take advantage of natural disasters or intentionally created financial crashes which bring a country to its knees. When a country is faced with a sudden disaster where many people are suddenly out of work and governments are stunned by the suffering and fear and destruction, banks and corporations move in and rape the country while promising to fix the problems with cash (borrowed at high interest) while imposing strict limitations on social security, fuel supports or food subsidies to the poor. The banks also force the sale of publicly owned electrical grids and water and sewer plants to private foreign companies and countries, who then fire the local employees and raise the price of the heretofore affordable necessities of daily life. Poverty rates typically jump from perhaps 10% to 30-60%.
In other words, a troubled country is forced into deeper, more painful difficulties intentionally in order to force the selling at rock bottom prices of everything of value to business entities which have no interest in helping or saving the country's citizens. While people are shocked and fearful because of disasters, they meekly allow the foreign corporations to 'save' them by stealing their assets and starving them.
Friedman also promoted using the most extreme methods on any protestors who dare to fight back at being raped, robbed and starved to deepen the shock and upset, through what used to be called brainwashing methods. In actuality, it means using torture.
Friedman thinks these policies will improve the functioning of everything eventually; however, Klein demonstrates in example after real world example (Brazil, Argentina, Iraq, Indonesia, Thailand, and others) how Friedman's theories when put into practice actually destroyed the lives of millions of people and enriched only the top 1%, and as a bonus brought unbearable suffering to the 99%.
May 28, 2019
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism was a riveting look at the policies advocated by economist Milton Friedman and his many followers at The Chicago School of Economics. Basically, it is a deliberate and strategic use of shock therapy to implement unpopular policies, utilizing the exploitation of national crises. The thinking is that the population would be so traumatized by the crises at hand, that they would pay little attention to what was happening, nor would they have the capacity to resist. Kline begins with individual patients that were experimentally treated with increasing frequency of electroconvulsive therapy treatments to induce a regression in the patients, thinking that then they could reshape their personalities. She then moves to the early 1970's and discusses the use of the shock doctrine in South American countries focusing on General August Pinochet and the takeover of the Chilean government. The premise of the disaster capitalism complex is also explored by Kline. Her theory is that corporations have learned to profit from disasters. However, one of the most disturbing parts of the book were the events that ensued after the attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001, where country was traumatized. It was at this point that the Bush administration employed, as led by the neoconservatives, namely Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and John Bolton, in their shock and awe and in the invasion and supplemental occupation of Iraq. Kline concludes with the winners and losers of economic shock therapy and the ultimate backlash against shock doctrine and the economic institutions supportive of it. Needless to say, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding this book. It is worth the read.
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