The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
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Book Overview
The bestselling author of No Logo shows how the global "free market" has exploited crises and shock for three decades, from Chile to Iraq
In her groundbreaking reporting, Naomi Klein introduced the term "disaster capitalism." Whether covering Baghdad after the U.S. occupation, Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, or 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. Klein argues that by capitalizing on crises, created by nature or war, 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.Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsGrimly, still relevant
This breaks down a common, state-level psychological warfare tactic used to distract ordinary citizens from their own organizing power together. The contextual examples of the practice come mostly from the George W. Bush years in the U.S. with their shock and awe campaigns with propaganda at home and abroad.
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Rated 5 starsShockingly Powerful
The late Milton Friedman, the renowned economist, believed that democracy and a free-market economy went hand-in-hand, that the greatest threat to both was nationalization, government regulation, and social spending. He preached this philosophy to his disciples at the University of Chicago School of Economics, and they would go forth spreading the Gospel according to the Book of Milton. There is also the International Monetary...
4Report
Rated 5 starsTo the negative reviewers
To those who rated this as a bad book and then go on to say the book faults capitalism is missing the point. The world is not black or white or pure capitalism versus total dictatorial communism. For capitalism to really work there needs to be regulations so that the playing field is fair. For a free country to really be free the people must have an opportunity to be part of it (i.e. free quality public education, health...
18Report
Rated 5 starsEasily one of the top ten on the death of the American dream
I read this book while crossing the Atlantic. The author has done something extraordinary, the equivalent of Silent Spring for industrial-era capitalism as an immoral form of human organization. This book is unique but also tightly linked to the books that I list below. The conclusion of the book focuses on how Wall Street has discovered how to profit from mega-disasters and financial melt-downs, and contrary to popular...
8Report
Rated 5 starsIncredible Insights!
Klein's book is a solid and invaluable study of "economic shock therapy" (sudden privatization removal of all trade barriers, accompanied by drastic reductions in taxes and social spending) over the past three decades. She concludes that economic shock therapy (originally formulated by economist Milton Friedman) cannot be implemented without a preceding crisis (eg. hyperinflation (eg. Chile, Bolivia), weather disasters (eg...
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