Over the past two weeks, I have featured quite a few quotes from The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein. I share them as I work my way through this long and detailed book. I am sure I will share more of them as I progress.
I worry that some of you might think to yourself, what's the point? Sure, this stuff happens in South America, Russia, Africa and the Middle East, but it doesn't happen here in the US or, if you ain't a Yank, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain, or wherever else in the industrial western world.
Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it DOES happen here. Because of our so-called democracies, it happens to us in different and more insidious ways. A good deal of this economic sleight-of-hand takes place right under our noses -- we simply fail to recognize it for what it truly is.
The various anti-union legislation being signed or proposed in many state legislatures represents one of the many tentacles of the Chicago School of Economics monster. It may be wrapped in Tea Party symbolism, but make no mistake about it, it is pure Friedmanism.
Another good example is the bill recently signed into law in Michigan which grants the governor power to appoint an Emergency Manager to take over towns and school districts that appear to be teetering toward bankruptcy.
As you can easily see from the passage above, the supporters of this law don't even pretend to be interested in transparency. Every attempt to provide the public with more information or recourse was kept out of the bill. Consequently, it means that unelected managers will hold more power than all the citizens combined and now there is not a whole helluva lot citizens can do about it!!
If we have ANY hopes of stopping disaster capitalism from taking stronger root in this country, we need to know what it looks like in all its various forms. This is why I will continue to feature quotes from Klein's book and urge you to pick up a copy for yourself and study it.
I worry that some of you might think to yourself, what's the point? Sure, this stuff happens in South America, Russia, Africa and the Middle East, but it doesn't happen here in the US or, if you ain't a Yank, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain, or wherever else in the industrial western world.
Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it DOES happen here. Because of our so-called democracies, it happens to us in different and more insidious ways. A good deal of this economic sleight-of-hand takes place right under our noses -- we simply fail to recognize it for what it truly is.
The various anti-union legislation being signed or proposed in many state legislatures represents one of the many tentacles of the Chicago School of Economics monster. It may be wrapped in Tea Party symbolism, but make no mistake about it, it is pure Friedmanism.
Another good example is the bill recently signed into law in Michigan which grants the governor power to appoint an Emergency Manager to take over towns and school districts that appear to be teetering toward bankruptcy.
According to the law...the governor will be able to declare “financial emergency” in towns or school districts and appoint someone to fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sell assets, and eliminate services.Look familiar? This new law contains many of the same strategies employed by the Chicago Boys in Chile, Bolivia, South Africa, Russia and countless more nations!
Under the law whole cities or school districts could be eliminated without any public participation or oversight, and amendments designed to provide minimal safeguards and public involvement were voted down.
An amendment to require Emergency Managers to hold monthly public meetings to let people know how they are governing was rejected by Senate Republicans, along with proposals to cap Emergency Manager compensation and require that those appointed to run school districts have some background in education...
As you can easily see from the passage above, the supporters of this law don't even pretend to be interested in transparency. Every attempt to provide the public with more information or recourse was kept out of the bill. Consequently, it means that unelected managers will hold more power than all the citizens combined and now there is not a whole helluva lot citizens can do about it!!
If we have ANY hopes of stopping disaster capitalism from taking stronger root in this country, we need to know what it looks like in all its various forms. This is why I will continue to feature quotes from Klein's book and urge you to pick up a copy for yourself and study it.
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