At first glance, Naomi Klein’s new book, The Shock Doctrine, appears to be a gigantic conspiracy theory. The premise is that, similar to the electroshock ‘therapy’ that was experimented with during the 20th century that attempted to make people regress so their personalities could be rewritten, multi-national corporations, the IMF and neoliberal economists are attempting to rewrite certain countries so they can exploit them financially. It certainly is a lofty hypothesis but one that Klein backs up very well.
From the acknowledgments I found out that the book was originally supposed to be about Iraq. This makes sense because the section about Iraq was about three times longer than any other section and is where she provides the bulk of her evidence. She takes the reader through each step of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and connects it to a scientist testing shock therapy on a subject.
One part that struck me about that was the attempted “erasure” of Iraqi culture that happened just after shock and awe. Many people remember hearing or reading in the news about the widespread looting that happened to all of the museums in Baghdad. What Klein contends is that this could have been stopped if commanders really wanted it to but was allowed to go on because it was a systematic destruction of everything and anything of note from Iraq’s long history thus creating a blank slate. I’m not sure that it was entirely on purpose that the organizers of the war did not guard priceless artifacts but was rather a latent function of the invasion. Looters saw and opportunity and took it while the troops on the ground didn’t see any importance in protecting objects they knew nothing about.
At times I found myself cheering for Klein’s socialist message and examples but then I had to step back and look at the larger picture. Besides nationalizing Venezuela’s oil companies and bringing much needed revenue and jobs to South American citizens, President Hugo Chavez also imprisons or fires political critics from those same companies that he created, the same thing Klein was speaking against when it came to remaking the continent financially in the later 20th century.
Overall, I would recommend the book, not as a bible like No Logo is, but more as food for thought when it comes to looking at the world’s dynamics. Klein takes a different approach than that which is normally seen in current affairs books and she pulls it off quite well.
After reading your review I thought of another book you might find interesting.
“Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” by John Perkins
http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081/