|
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism | 
 enlarge | Author: Naomi Klein
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $9.53
You Save: $6.47 (40%)
New (59) Used (34) from $8.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  338 reviews
Sales Rank: 162
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 720
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0312427999
Dewey Decimal Number: 330.122
EAN: 9780312427993
ASIN: 0312427999
Publication Date: June 24, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you. "At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq'' civil war, a new law is unveiled that will allow Shell and BP to claim the country's vast oil reserves Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly outsources the running of the 'War on Terror' to Halliburton and Blackwater After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be re-opened." Klein not only kicks butt, she names names, notably economist Milton Friedman and his radical Chicago School of the 1950s and 60s which she notes "produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today." Stand up and take a bow, Donald Rumsfeld. There's little doubt Klein's book--which arrived to enormous attention and fanfare thanks to her previous missive, the best-selling No Logo, will stir the ire of the right and corporate America. It's also true that Klein's assertions are coherent, comprehensively researched and footnoted, and she makes a very credible case. Even if the world isn't going to hell in a hand-basket just yet, it's nice to know a sharp customer like Klein is bearing witness to the backroom machinations of government and industry in times of turmoil. --Kim Hughes
Product Description
In this groundbreaking alternative history of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman's free-market economic revolution, Naomi Klein challenges the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory. From Chile in 1973 to Iraq today, Klein shows how Friedman and his followers have repeatedly harnessed terrible shocks and violence to implement their radical policies. As John Gray wrote in The Guardian, "There are very few books that really help us understand the present. The Shock Doctrine is one of those books."
Book Description
In her ground-breaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the interest of foreign corporations. She called it “disaster capitalism.” Covering Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, and 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. By capitalizing on crises, created by nature or war, Klein argues that 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: Read 333 more reviews...
 A re-packaging of ideas expressed better elsewhere January 2, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Like Malcolm Gladwell, Naomi Klein is expert in taking well-established, complex ideas and reducing and re-packaging them as if they were her own. Brilliant marketing, but not deep thinking. Still, a decent introduction to the concept, but if you want to know more, just google "creative destruction" or look up Friedrich Nietzsche, Mikhail Bakunin, or Joseph Schumpeter. Also Werner Sombart's War and Capitalism: "again out of destruction a new spirit of creativity arises".
Read This Book If You Enjoy Malicious Drivel December 27, 2008
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book is neoliberal propaganda which libels and intentionally distorts the great Milton Friedman beyond all recognition.
The real "Shock Doctrine" is the shocking ability of libs like Klein to fabricate blatant lies to further their agenda of repressive government tyranny.
Indeed, the next crisis will be the complete meltdown of the U.S. economy resulting from the debasement of the dollar by Bush and Obama. The solution we choose will determine whether we are going down the road to serfdom, or shaking off the final grasping tenacles of socialism. I would hope we will embrace the precious freedom we inherited from our founding fathers and protected by the sacrifices of our brave service men and women.
However reading reviews by the kool-aid drinkers, I am not optimistic that we have learned the important lessons which Friedman taught. I fear we will repeat the mistakes of the past and suffer for generations. This will be most tragic for our children and grandchildren.
Milton Friedman was a kind and benevolent man who is largely responsible for the spread of freedom, democracy and free markets around the world.
It is ironic that Klein claims that Friedman's policies made Chile worse off! Actually Chile is rated as the eighth most free country in the world economically. But the reviewer faults Chile with having unequal income distribution -- just like the U.S. Never mind that the poorest folks who live in freedom are more prosperous than the richest in Marxist "utopias" like Klein adores.
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm
For a more comprehensive review see the excellent essay: The Klein Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Polemics
by Johan Norberg. http://www.cato.org/pubs/bp/bp102.pdf
 EYE OPENER FOR THOSE WHOS EYES ARE OPEN ALREADY December 24, 2008
The elegance of the presentation is matched only by the vicousness of the presented. Rarely does one book change the reality of the reader, or shatter the predispositions of ones opinions. There is much to be said to the importance and timing of such work, but one must wait till the shock wares off to articulate a clear postion. Bravo Naomi Klein. Bravo.
It All Depends on Whose Ox is Being Gored December 23, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I just finished this book--no small feat, there's a LOT of information to assimilate--and thought it was astonishing, ground breaking, and essential reading. I admit that I'm extremely liberal in my political views, but I'm NOT a fanatic, however. That is, I believe I have an open mind to the extent that I am mostly willing to listen to an opposing view. My experience is that what I fervently believe today will not necessarily be my truth tomorrow. I have killed many a "sacred cow" because I saw, in time, that I clung to them out of fear, or out of allegiance based on faulty or insufficient information.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants detailed explanations for why the world is in such a disastrous economic morass. Anyone who refutes the cataclysmic agenda/policies of the U.S. government for past 8 years alone needs some shock therapy of his own.
It seems reasonable to assume that the people who might understandably find this book abhorrent are those who have profited from the misfortune or exploitation of others. If you're not an exploiter--e.g., anyone who knowingly diminishes another man's quality of life for personal enrichment--what motivation would you have to refute what's in this book with such a vehement, vitriolic hatred? Every argument, especially an economic one, appears to boil down to two perspectives: on one side are those who are primarily interested in preserving "me and mine"; and on the other, people who believe that everyone has a responsibility for everyone else, particularly for those who can't take care of themselves or adequately stand up for their own best interests. I'm not alone in thinking that a lot of the world's current misery owes to too many who think that survival of the fittest (which includes the most ruthless methods of rooting out) is the holy grail.
Everyone who writes a book has an agenda: money, fame, or a burning need to tell a story. Most probably it's a combination of all three. Even if there are discrepancies in this book (and no one commenting here has claimed to have researched every single fact in the book with documented proof), anyone who reads history and keeps up with current events knows what's going on in the world. As has been pointed out before, much of the information here is already known, but the way Naomi Klein has connected the dots is truly original and ultimately disturbing.
Despite the erosion of U.S. Constitutional rights by the current administration (not an opinion, this is a FACT), free speech is still my right. Just a suggestion: make your own case instead of tearing down someone else's. Debate is always more educational than mud-slinging.
Good, but it Could Have Been Better. December 22, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book raises important questions concerning the increasing use of expensive contract personal by the government for both reasons of political-economic theory and personal gain. It also discusses the lack of guidance, responsiblity, and accountablity often involving these people as well as possible corruption and violence.
However, the book takes too many early and, often well worn left wing, detours into other events that could loose some readers. It might have been interesting and meaningful to discuss the decline of the US Civil Service over the last 20 years instead of dwelling on CIA MK Ultra for example.
I think it is funny how the New Left thinks how much better life would be if it wasn't for puppet masters Milton Freedman or Henry Kissinger. What happened to all the individuals who could have chanlleged or presented alternatives to these gentlemen? Also, I don't recall Freedman being in favor of violence and corruption, but I do remember his "negative income tax" which was implemented years ago. For many poor people, the only Federal taxes they pay are for fuel and FICA.
Also, using war or "the moral equivelent of war" to justifiy significant social changes is not unique to conservatives or even their invention. I suggest readers pick up a copy of Jonas Goldenberg's book Liberal Fascism.
It might also be good to read Freedman's Free to Choose and John Maynard Keynes' books if you can find them. Keynes would not only discuss the use of economic fiscal policy, but the importance of powerful groups being challenged by other powerful groups. Since 1979, the US has used methods endorsed by both men.
|
|
|
Powered By Czao Online Store | |
