Naomi Klein: I Support the Shock Doctrine!

[Chieftain1776]

From (t)Reason (http://www.reason.com/blog/show/135596.html)

Naomi Klein: I Support the Shock Doctrine!

Michael C. Moynihan | August 21, 2009, 6:16pm

In her best-selling book The Shock Doctrine, left-wing writer Naomi Klein denounced those "free-market economists who are convinced that only a large-scale disaster—a great unmaking—can prepare the ground for their 'reforms.'" This, she says, is the "shock doctrine" or "disaster capitalism," and its greatest proponent was, of course, the economist Milton Friedman.

Let's ignore the defamation of Friedman (but make sure to read Johan Norberg's brilliant evisceration of Klein here (http://www.reason.com/news/show/128903.html) and here (http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9384)) and focus on the hideousness of the "shock doctrine"—i.e., using economic crises to impose upon a country policies they otherwise would reject. Caleb Brown flags this quote (http://www.cobrown.org/post/168198800/naomi-klein-on-capitalism-as-usual) from Klein, in this month's issue of The Progressive, advocating disaster socialism:


Do we want to save the pre-crisis system, get it back to where it was last September? Or do we want to use this crisis, and the electoral mandate for change delivered by the last election, to radically transform that system? We need to get clear on our answer now because we haven’t had the potent combination of a serious crisis and a clear progressive democratic mandate for change since the 1930s. We use this opportunity or we lose it.

I spoke to Norberg about Klein's book and her misreading of Friedman last year for Reason.tv:

YouTube - Johan Norberg vs. Naomi Klein and The Shock Doctrine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqLAYg6pDGg)

[youngbuck]

Naomi Klein = Rhodes Scholar

Needless to say, I don't trust her a bit.

[Epic]

Naomi Klein's a socialist, how do these people have any credibility?

I mean, when the Soviet Union fell, didn't these people just shrivel up and melt or something?

[InterestedParticipant]

So many of the shills are exposing themselves now. The timing is very interesting.

I remember when The Nation magazine was sooooo excited to have her coming aboard in late 2000. I imagine her career path was set long ago.

[InterestedParticipant]

Here's what I posted in September of 2008


Here's an example of controlled opposition folks.

First, Naomi is establishment, being daughter of Joe Klein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Klein) (CFR member & author for Time Mag)

Second, she limits Shock Doctrine to activities within the last 35 years only.

Third, Naomi tries to turn this into a partisan issue, saying its a tool of the right.

Fourth, no mention of how monetary policy and central banks drives all of this economic voodoo.

Fifth, she blames this economic toolset on Chicago economists, without asking the question 'who funded these Chicago academics'

Last, check out how Naomi deals with questions about 911 (extremely dismissive).

She is a great example of how the social planners insert trusted actors into the journalism mix and position them as opposition, while tightly controlling the breath of the frame that this journalist operate in.

[hugolp]

I though Naomi Klein was just wrong. After watching the video it is clear that she knew what she was doing and she did it on porpouse.