description: 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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
language: English
title: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
titlecomplete: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
characters: Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Milton Friedman, Augusto Pinochet, Jeffrey Sachs, Mikhail Gorbachev, Vladimir Lenin, Hajji Suharto, Ewen Cameron, Thabo Mbeki, Boris Yeltsin, Lech Wałęsa
genres: Political Science, Society, Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Social Justice, Economics, Sociology, Business, History
ratings_count: 46359
places: Indonesia, Russia, United Kingdom, New Orleans, Louisiana, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Chile, Brazil, Iraq, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay
awards: awardedAt: 1230796800000
name: Warwick Prize for Writing, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award
category: Non‐Fiction Book, awardedAt: 1199174400000
name: British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction
publisher: Macmillan Audio