The Shock Doctrine documentary

[Edward theurj Berge]

Both Archive Fire and Integral Options blogs have recently linked to the documentary made from Klein's book of this title. It is timely, given the conservative, totalitarian takeovers of government we've been seeing in the US recently. The film provides a fascinating history of the Chicago School of Economics and how it was implemented, by Fridman's own admissions, on the shock doctrine. It is an ideology that does not mix at all with actual democracy, the later in fact being antithetical to its narrative.

The case of Pinochet's military coup in Chile a fine example, backed by the US and Friedman's ideology. It shows how Marxism and socialism had to be made into a bogeyman, a strategy we still see echoed today in conservative rhetoric. And all part of creating the fear necessary to suspend critical judgment and accept the likes of bullshit takeovers of local governments as in MI. All of today's conservative agenda is part and parcel of Friedman's economic shock strategy and this film helps us to understand its rotten roots.

Make no mistake, the conservative autocrats and their corporate masters only want to continue our enslavement under their catastrophe capitalism and will do anything, including deliberately creating crises like the recent financial meltdown, to get us to continue to buy their bullshit through fear, intimidation and poverty. Two years later, who is still making all the money and who is still suffering? You think this is by "the invisible hand?" It is invisible all right, again intentionally hidden by the shock mongers behind a glorious sounding free market democracy when it is not free or democratic in the least but manipulated by power for its own interests. That the likes of Klein makes its agenda and operation visible makes her an enemy of the State, but also makes here a friend of the people.

This makes the US "war on terror" all the more ironic and ludicrous, since it accepts this very real economic policy of terrorism on its own people.

[Edward theurj Berge]

In the film we can also see why unions have to be crushed, since they don't go along with this program against the people's democracy. Yet another point in the continuing conservative totalitarian...I mean free market capitalist...agenda.

[Edward theurj Berge]

How funny, Al Gore saying we support Yeltsin in Russia as the best hope for democracy right after he suspended democracy.

[Edward theurj Berge]

Klein's concluding remarks (made in '09), that the people have to make government enact democracy for the people, presaged the movements we're now seeing in the US and around the world. We see what's at stake in WI and MI and elsewhere, what the true agenda is, and it is not democracy. If we the people, either in our economic shock or economic complacency if we are lucky enough to be employed, do not get off our asses and make government do it, it just ain't gonna happen folks.

[Christophe]

Good News! Naomi Klein is still one one of the best resources to understand what's happing in our world today. But the material is from 2007, those who are interested in the topic have already read the book: So the documentary is for the illiterates or the "non-political" folks; I doubt it will have a big impact on them.

 

Still there are good documentaries to watch these days: I recently saw"Gasland" which is about a related topic: it shows the blatant ignorance of the Bush administration for the aftermath of their own Policy, in this case the Drilling for Natural Gas and its effects on the drinking water of the unsuspecting neighbors.

 

Also related, well kinda, is the docu "Freakonomics", an adaptation of a bestselling book. This one probably fails the "Leftist Political Correct" Approval, still I mention it b/c it's an innovative economic view on things. If nothing else, it shows the functioning (the blessings and curses) of our present system and highlights some interesting insights that are worth knowing.

 

Bows,

[Edward theurj Berge]

I'm looking forward to HBO's movie presentation Too Big to Fail based on Andrew Ross Sorkin's book which starts tomorrow.