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July 23, 2008 at 13:20:25
Promoted to Headline (H2) on 7/23/08: by Amy Fried Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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I’m less than a third of the way through Naomi Klein’s brilliant book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, but it’s already giving me a new perspective on my years of graduate work in business school. Klein talks about the argument made by Nobel-prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, that free-unfettered capitalism is the key to bringing all economic indicators in line, leading to a humming economy. Part of the allure of all economic theories, of course, is their ability to express their theories in terms of mathematical formulas. We have a tendency in the West, to think that numbers bestow reality on assertions. But Klein points out that Friedman implied that his free market theories had the strength of natural law. In the early 1980’s, I was seduced by that very argument. As the daughter of a biologist, in my early 20’s, it was an especially appealing one for me. I was further pushed towards the search for such a comforting world view, by my experiences in the world of social work and government funding. Coming straight out of a very (in both senses of the word) liberal arts college, and armed with the latest psychological theories, it was a rude awakening to my idealistic sensibilities. My journey to business school started with my training in Gestalt theories of psychology and therapy. The Gestalt method applied principles of learning and perception, as well as some Eastern notions of mind-body integration, to group dynamics and self-actualization. Some Gestalt-types were applying their Gestalt training to Organizational Development, so I followed their example by pursuing graduate degrees in business schools. 
When I began to take the required Economics courses, the elegance and security provided by the likes of Friedman was like a breath of fresh air. Finally, a sense of order, in the wake of my messy experience in the real world. I was hooked.
I’ve long since become critical of my economics lessons, as they - as the “dismal science” is famous for - were based on some stringent assumptions. To my mind, the most important assumption was the free and equal access to information by both sides of a supply-demand negotiation. Obviously, that never happens - consumers and employees in particular never have as much information as the large corporations that hire them and sell them goods and services.
What Naomi Klein made me realize, was the fallacy of the “natural science” analogy. It’s so tempting to think about natural laws as applying to the economy, and Friedman convinced the world that he, alone, had the secret for managing those laws. Of course, like televangelists who reserve for themselves the power to interpret scripture, Friedman reserved for himself the power to determine which inputs and outputs would be acknowledged, and which would be invisible. As Klein emphasizes, the pain of the vast majority of people in a host of countries was given short shrift. More broadly, as RFK famously pointed out:
"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.
"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."
Similarly, Marilyn Waring has made the astute observation that so many of the most crucial inputs into our economy - the work done by the women of the world - are not counted in economic models, and treated as somehow not work.Lofty and elegant theories are attractive to those of us who have spent much time in academia. Klein makes a good argument that Keynesian economics - which reigned supreme after the Great Depression and had so much influence over FDR - is a practical mix of private enterprise and government responsibility, that minimizes the pain of the masses.
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Too many miss it
Thanks for this. Ms. Klein's work is too often overlooked. The time is well upon us to start looking more closely at many of the assumptions we have been making and using for too long. I thought the same thing, but you said it much better. by Ivan Hentschel (12 articles, 0 quicklinks, 10 diaries, 302 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008 at 6:10:09 PM  (0+)
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Reply: Thanx
Thanks. Klein is more brilliant and eloquent than I can ever hope to be. by Amy Fried (45 articles, 127 quicklinks, 77 diaries, 247 comments) on Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008 at 6:13:17 PM (0+)
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Shock doctrine karma
Ms Klein exposé of American disaster capitalism also reveals another truth: That the Bush administration took advantage of the disaster of 9/11 and apply their version of shock doctrine policies to the US itself. Hence we see implementation of totalitarian regimes in economics, in fiscal/monetary policies that created trillions out of nothing, a deregulation in banking and finance so extreme that it has become unregulated, massive taxation reduction for the rentier class, unquestioned trade policy support for corporate led global trade and the destruciton of core domestic industries that have brought in tremedous profits for the controlling interests. Not to mention a military-security-industrial complex tripled in size. This regime have led to huge profits for the elites - a transfer of wealth not only from the middle class, but a plundering of the nation's pension savings using off-balance-sheet Trojan Horse financial techniques. Such a totalitarian regime is simply not possible before 9/11. The Shock Doctrine has worked well, even when applied to the US by Americans. Interestingly, Amerians are now tasting the same consequences when its Shock Doctrine was applied to various parts of the world. A well-deserved karma. by TomK (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 330 comments [22 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Jul 23, 2008 at 11:41:15 PM (0+)
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Respectuflly
before Naomi Klein was Karl Marx. His historical materialism explains capitalism perfectly and all too good. Everything after him is just pathetic, sorry. Now, we have to understand that there is only one twist:economics does not rule. People rule. Those in power support those theories which keep them in power. That simple. They will change the Pi if they need to. People are the ones which make it happen: good or bad. by Mark Sashine (72 articles, 19 quicklinks, 269 diaries, 4102 comments [131 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 8:14:42 AM (0+)
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Amy, if you want to venture further
into the realities that are hidden, get hold of Naomi's earlier book, No Logo. Excellent reading. by Jim Freeman (108 articles, 53 quicklinks, 227 diaries, 386 comments) on Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:01:59 AM (0+)
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The Shock Doctrine
I haven't read the book, but I did find this review of it from a libertarian economist. Now let me run 'cuz I know the lynch mob's coming! LOL by Darren Wolfe (15 articles, 402 quicklinks, 141 diaries, 1032 comments [84 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:12:40 AM (0+)
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Academia redux.
Our academic institutions consider all general ideas and the discussion of them to be amateurish and unscientific. (I smell a new religion.) by John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1762 comments [39 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:23:58 AM (0+)
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Klein starts and ends
Klein starts and ends here book in New Orleans, fittingly I've watched first hand the effects of what she portrays unfold. Now nearly this whole city is up for sale with few buyers other than the Brad Pitts and Angelina Jolie's of the world, and even those two are pulling-up stakes. I was asked by a women the other day how I was going to protect my wealth. I'm more concerned how I'm going to protect my dignity and my life as wealth having never have materialized in my life. I answered that wealth would be nice to have, but unless you have true wealth, as in the top 0.01% no one else is going to come out unscathed from the coming financial collapse we're about to experience. And i say this because if it were just the financial aspect that would collapse we could survive it with relatively few casualties compared to the overall effect of what these predatory policies have done to our environment. Money won't buy food when the very land is poisoned, or breath when the air is unfit, mankind will not outlive depleted uranium, nor correct itself from GMO we've unleashed turning this world into some weird version of Dr. Monroe's Island. Wealth most likely won't have any effect on people that have lost all there is to live for through our practices of thievery. A palate full of $100 bills means nothing to people who have lost their entire family to our indiscriminate bombings. We have opened Pandora's Box and what has escaped will not be put back. We have to ride this Hell-bound train straight to it's final destination. Friedman's principles seem to leave out any room for humane frailty and predatory instincts inherent in humane nature, as thought the numbers rule over base instincts. This lapse in not placing principles of humane decency and concern for those outside the profit making loop is akin to having a religion without any mention of a soul. The few wind up with grand temples of worship with nothing more. People are reduced to numbers, thereby torture becomes acceptable, lives expendable subtracted from the bottom line, a "trickle down" theory on steroids, only the only thing that trickles, or rather pours, is the blood of those not fortunate enough to be among the few who can take advantage of the looting of their own resources. So we have come to a moment where consequences of our actions are unfolding, and like Humpty-Dumpty there's no way to put things back together again, at least not before we suffer from the fall, and what comes out the other end is any one's guess. Those that have perpetrated this disaster are likely not to suffer all that much. The real culprits being international bankers and corporations, even though their institutions will suffer and may in the end be regulated to the trash heap of history, along the way many millions, if not billions of people will lose their lives to the folly that has been brought upon us. As for those that brought it, they will most likely survive behind their private armies, underground bunkers and access to unspoiled food and water only to reemerge to try their poisonous sociopath theories upon what's left of this world - indeed if there is anything left. One can only hope that this bleak assessment is wrong and that a wave of revulsion sweep these unfeeling parasites from ever reaching the heights of power ever again and mankind can, once rid of these pathological minds, find a balance between our more sinister side, our inherent quest for dignity and a livable balance with nature. But if history is to be our judge, I wouldn't bet on this happening. by Mr M (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 66 diaries, 2845 comments [654 recommended, 27 rejected]) on Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 at 11:45:27 AM (0+)
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