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A review by calarco
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
5.0
For quite some time I solely understood Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine to be a critique of Bush era economic policy. In actuality, this was a mere launch point for what would truly be an in-depth, thoroughly researched criticism of how the powerful exploit the weak in times of crisis.
I have long been weary of mass privatization and deregulation, and Klein's work is good because she provides numerous historical examples of how Friedman-esque policies lead to the erasure of the middle class. On top of this, what makes this book great is Klein's articulate argument for how the process of implementing such policies erodes the democratic process, more often than not.
In Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom, he argues that capitalism is synonymous with freedom. Klein rails against this assertion, providing numerous historical examples from Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile, to communist China's implementation of such economic policies. The only way to make this ideology reality in its purest form, is to dispel democracy. She breaks down Friedman's argument so thoroughly, you could read this book as an A-grade diss-track, but with academic citations.
She likens the implementation of disaster capitalism to shock therapy, in that to implement such policy the existing slate must be whipped "clean." Klein further examines how the "cleaning" and erasure of dissenters (actual people), is necessary in instating unpopular policy that takes from the poor and gives to the rich.
What Klein proposes is truly horrifying, but even more scary is that once I started to read her arguments, I began to see real-world manifestations of the shock doctrine in the present day news. I write this review in 2018, six months after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico (a tax-paying U.S. territory), where significant portions of the population are without electricity and in dire need of aid. Instead of help, there are talks for privatization to generate immediate funds. People seeing how this will result in the long term loss of jobs, money, and access to public services are rallying against these proposals; but there is no denying that disaster capitalism is alive and thriving today.
Overall, due to the wide-reaching scope and in-depth analysis of history and policy, I would argue that The Shock Doctrine is essential reading. It altered my own outlook on economic power structures, and left me shook (terrible pun intended).
I have long been weary of mass privatization and deregulation, and Klein's work is good because she provides numerous historical examples of how Friedman-esque policies lead to the erasure of the middle class. On top of this, what makes this book great is Klein's articulate argument for how the process of implementing such policies erodes the democratic process, more often than not.
In Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom, he argues that capitalism is synonymous with freedom. Klein rails against this assertion, providing numerous historical examples from Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile, to communist China's implementation of such economic policies. The only way to make this ideology reality in its purest form, is to dispel democracy. She breaks down Friedman's argument so thoroughly, you could read this book as an A-grade diss-track, but with academic citations.
She likens the implementation of disaster capitalism to shock therapy, in that to implement such policy the existing slate must be whipped "clean." Klein further examines how the "cleaning" and erasure of dissenters (actual people), is necessary in instating unpopular policy that takes from the poor and gives to the rich.
What Klein proposes is truly horrifying, but even more scary is that once I started to read her arguments, I began to see real-world manifestations of the shock doctrine in the present day news. I write this review in 2018, six months after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico (a tax-paying U.S. territory), where significant portions of the population are without electricity and in dire need of aid. Instead of help, there are talks for privatization to generate immediate funds. People seeing how this will result in the long term loss of jobs, money, and access to public services are rallying against these proposals; but there is no denying that disaster capitalism is alive and thriving today.
Overall, due to the wide-reaching scope and in-depth analysis of history and policy, I would argue that The Shock Doctrine is essential reading. It altered my own outlook on economic power structures, and left me shook (terrible pun intended).