October 18, 2007
Naomi Klein on capitalism.
...across the planet, "some of the most infamous human rights violations of this era...were in fact committed with the deliberate intent of terrorising the public to prepare the ground for the introduction of free-market reforms". Where this über-corporate vision has not been imposed by force, it has been imposed by blackmail at a time of crisis. One of the ugliest examples Klein exposes is the use of the tsunami - an almost biblical wave that washed away 250,000 people - as a pretext to impose a Friedmanite vision.
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Capitalism looooooves disasters. Capitalism is a disaster?
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This looks, from the excerpts I've read, to be an important work. One interesting point is that she rejects the "fascism" label for the Bush administration saying that the corporate involvement behind the wrongs the administration wreaks is not fascism as traditionally defined. Obviously we need a new term to describe the particular brand of horror perpetrated by these asshats.