The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Book

Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine is based on painstaking research and evidence to support her assertion that the spread of globalisation and free market enterprise is being developed by economists specialising in disaster capitalism. In market theory developed by Milton Friedman that runs counter to Keynesian economics underlying drivers to create a good society, disaster capitalism does exactly what it says on the tin; it thrives on the misfortunes of citizens recovering from oppression or natural disaster. Not merely an operation underpinned by the IMF, World Bank and the UN, Klein explains how disaster capitalists actively seek and create opportunities to buy state assets at massively undervalued rates at the point when states and countries are in shock and focused on trying to survive. These shock doctors see profit turnarounds from these previously thriving enterprises within short periods of time, whilst enforcing austeritory measures that leave hundreds of thousands without labour protections, with poorer terms and conditions, and an economic situation driven by the need for financial aid that creates unnecessary high unemployment and the inability to provide basic services.Naomi Klein states clear categorical examples of how this operates from the rise of Latin American dictatorships; to the fall of communism in Poland; the USSR and China; the ending of Apartheid and rise of the ANC in South Africa; post invasion Iraq and much more. This is a very important book that any thinking person should read. The Shock Doctrine will challenge the way ordinary people view capitalism in its current form and should leave us asking many questions about how modern societies are now structured in a way that undermines the very democracy that capitalism has previously sought to serve. Be under no illusion - this book is not a leftist rant but a piece of history that is hidden from view because of the way that politics and business are no longer distinct entities. Read More