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Recent articles by Randy
There’s No Hope Above Us, Only Amongst Us Nov 22 12 Lo sciopero degli insegnanti di Chicago e la privatizzazione di una ge... Sep 27 12 The Chicago Teachers Strike and the Privatization of a Generation Sep 26 12 Connecting the Privatized Dots north america / mexico |
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review
 Tuesday February 19, 2008 00:18 by Randy - Capital Terminus Collective supporter
 a review of Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine During the late 1990's, Canadian Naomi Klein labored in relative obscurity as a newspaper columnist covering the rise of anti-corporate activism. Sales for her book about this burgeoning movement, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, were expected to be modest. Then in November of 1999, protestors shut down a meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle, Washington. Newscasters breathlessly wondered, "Who is this new generation of radicals? What do they propose, and what are they against?" A scant two months later, No Logo hit bookstore shelves, and quickly scaled the bestseller lists. Klein's follow up, Fences and Windows, was disappointing. It struck this reviewer as a collection of disparate articles and essays, cobbled together to capitalize quickly on her initial success. But with her third book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Klein's many strengths are once again in evidence. A single narrative connects familiar, but seemingly unrelated topics (such as right wing authoritarianism in Latin America, the resurgent popularity of "free market" economics globally, and the return of aggressive US militarism) in a manner that illuminates their commonality. Her thesis is that the "Chicago School" economics of Milton Friedman have not only served as the ideological underpinnings of an anti-working-class offensive during the era of globalization, but that Friedmanites (and even Friedman himself) were physically on the scene for most of capital's significant--and often bloodiest--assaults, from Pinochet's brutal coup of the 1970's, to the World Bank's subversion of Solidarity's electoral victory in Poland during the 1980's, to Iraq of today. Policies that to the casual observer may appear simply wrongheaded, or at worst mean-spirited, from New Orleans to Sri Lanka to the Middle East, are brought into focus as a deliberate course of action whose goal is to reverse the gains of the 20th century labor movement, and restore "free markets" to their former iconic position. The Friedmanite's efforts, of course, are loaded with contradictions. Politicians under the sway of Chicago School theory are as apt to embrace totalitarian regimes that routinely torture, as electoral "democracies" supposedly characteristic of a "free" society. Also, in the quest for lucre, market religion is something to impose on communities in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. It was never intended to serve, and does not serve, to constrain the actions of multinational corporations: these giants manipulate markets with protectionist measures, even as they insist that the wages of workers must be allowed to freefall. As Klein ably illustrates, "freedom"- -whether of markets or people--is simply a token buzz word: the ultimate aim is profit. The Shock Doctrine is not without problems. To begin with, given the cost of the hardcover Metropolitan Books edition, I expected a better job of editing: the anarchist publisher AK Press routinely produces works with fewer distracting typos and formatting errors. More significantly, I found Klein's analogy between actual physical torture on the one hand, and economic "shock therapy" on the other, to be strained. (She posits that, just as an interrogator seeks to wipe clean the slate of the subject's mind via means such as sensory deprivation or electroshock, so Chicago School economists look for societies in turmoil and crisis--the social blank slate-- on which to conduct their experiments.) The use of torture by government thugs and freelance agents does appear to have increased during the epoch in question, but causality between laissez faire economics and this brutal practice, was not demonstrated to my satisfaction. Finally, when Klein laments the lack of democracy on the global agenda, I suspect her of romanticizing elections, rather than championing a directly democratic system of community assemblies. (She is less than specific on this point.) Nevertheless, taken as a whole, the book is a useful tool for understanding the world of today. In addition to connecting the known in a logical manner, Klein's research unearths new understandings: though I was aware that mercenaries carry guns in Iraq, previously I had not realized the extremes to which the making of war has been privatized, encompassing food preparation and distribution, automobile maintenance, ad infinitum in a dizzying array of contracts financed from government coffers, and bestowed upon wealthy players with the right connections. For such details, and also for the overarching narrative, progressives--even those who already have a revolutionary perspective--will do well to peruse Klein's latest. From the pages of Anarchist Atlanta #7, currently being distributed. http://nefac.net/~ctc/pdf/AnarchistAtlanta7.pdf
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John Jacobsen reports on developements in the contract negotiations between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union in the context of public school closings and the rise of charter schools. [Italiano] The UCL wishes to salute the courage of all those people, radical or not, who dared to challenge the climate of terror created by the State and who took part in the protests against the G20 Summit in Toronto. [Français] On 1 April 2010 some 15,000 people filled the business district in Montreal at the invitation of more than 95 organizations of unions, feminists and students. Was this was the first stage of a unified response against the Liberal budget ? Only time will tell. In any case, it was a beautiful demonstration of the great popular procession type, very diverse , unified and combative (at least at the level of rhetoric...). We are going through one of the worst economic crises in the history of capitalism and the answers provided by the state and its lackeys are illusory. In addition, faced with this impasse, our leaders are trying to shift the entire burden of the crisis to workers and their communities. We are going through one of the worst economic crises in the history of capitalism and the answers provided by the state and its lackeys are illusory. In addition, faced with this impasse, our leaders are trying to shift the entire burden of the crisis to the workers. On August 20-21 Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets in secret with George Bush and President Felipe Calderon of Mexico at Montebello, Quebec as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP). The SPP has as a goal the elimination of differences on standards between the USA, Canada and Mexico. Under this process Canada is already raising the quantities of pesticide residues that are allowed to be on food
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, unskilled and non-unionised workers got $7.89 per hour in today's money. In other words, the Republican politicians have decided that America's workers should get a minimum wage 35% lower than workers 70 years ago
With the recent re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, many are rejoicing and breathing a sigh of relief. There’s a widespread belief amongst those who elected him that he is looking out for us and will fight for us. Unfortunately, besides a few token gestures that may occur during the next four years, his tenure in office is likely to be both a disappointment and one in which the interests of the elite classes are served at the expense of the popular classes. As described below, this has to do with structural, historical and social factors that have been ensuring, and continue to ensure, that this is the case regardless of who is in office. However, there is hope; we’re just looking for it in the wrong places.
The official business union strategy of supporting the Democratic Party falls flat on its ass... again. [Italiano]
A family member of mine recently sent me an article from Vanity Fair by economist Joseph Stiglitz about the problem of elite control within the United States. While it's refreshing that the article is talking about the problem to a mainstream audience, it stops short of delving deep enough the problem at a systemic level, and perhaps more importantly: doesn't address the need for complete systemic change. The broader points that Stiglitz brings up are also supported by the Economic Policy Institute - an economics resource that has some great research reports on the topic of how government policy has favored the elite - including: a report showing how the budget cuts proposed in comparison to the tax cuts given and another showing how recently all economic gains have gone to the top 10% (with over 75% of those gains going to the top 1%).
Continuing in the tradition of watered down, pro-corporate legislation that the Obama administration is becoming infamous for, new reports are surfacing that banks and financial institutions may continue to get away with the same risky trading and investment practices that landed us in a recession.
There’s a reason American workers aren’t paying much attention to the new financial regulations.
The UCL wishes to salute the courage of all those people, radical or not, who dared to challenge the climate of terror created by the State and who took part in the protests against the G20 Summit in Toronto. [Français]
We are going through one of the worst economic crises in the history of capitalism and the answers provided by the state and its lackeys are illusory. In addition, faced with this impasse, our leaders are trying to shift the entire burden of the crisis to workers and their communities.
We are going through one of the worst economic crises in the history of capitalism and the answers provided by the state and its lackeys are illusory. In addition, faced with this impasse, our leaders are trying to shift the entire burden of the crisis to the workers. |
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