This is the second part of a three-part book review of Naomi Klein's best seller, The Shock Doctrine. In the first part, I reviewed the definition of Shock Doctrine as presented by Naomi in the book and what its two major components look like. I identified the timeline in question as well as the parameters in which she presents her ideas. I also discussed her definition of the doctrine that those who promote it along with the ingredients necessary for such a plan to take place.
In this section I will review the evolution of Shock Doctrine over the time period in question, mainly the 1970s onwards, and review its impact in the specified regions. I will present a before and after analysis as required in order to highlight her main points and show the effectiveness of this program. I will also tie in the various major proponents of this doctrine and their roles to date. I have also included a small critique of those parts I feel are missing, but necessarily affect the overall understanding of the impact of Shock Doctrine when applied.
In the final article I will show where we are with Shock Doctrine today according to Naomi, and expand out beyond her book, given the recent developments that have occurred since its publication. I will perform a global review of the major salient points of her book and present her conclusion, as well as my personal comments on it. We must, however, always keep in mind that her entire thread reviews Shock Doctrine and its effects on other nations, the so-called third world. Up to the publishing of her book, that is where the majority of this doctrine has been applied. The industrialized world had been spared these disasters until very recently. In all fairness, it would have been near impossible for Naomi to anticipate the events that have unfolded since its release, yet the same parameters and the same essential results should be, and are, expected. The main difference is, we are now seeing the Shock Doctrine being applied to the industrialized world as well.
The beginnings of Shock Doctrine
Naomi Klein is correct to point out that Milton Friedman, the godfather of Shock Doctrine, was not the first to implement its strategies on a global basis. In fact, these principles are nothing but modern versions of age old ideals encapsulated in the time-honored doctrine, "To the victor belongs the spoils." This well-known maxim can be easily identified throughout history and indeed, even Columbus, and those who followed him, showed how ruthlessly this postulate can be played out when the victors hold all the cards and the spoils are theirs for the taking. The genocides in both North and South America are testimony to the Western world's never-ceasing desire to rape and pillage men and land of the New World in the name of their respective homelands, be they Spain, Portugal, France, England or the United States.
In the post-WWII world, the first to succumb to the impatience of Western pillage would be Iran, though Ms. Klein doesn't mention it. When Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran tried to implement Mexican-style nationalization of its oil industry in 1951, the US and Great Britain created a modern putsch that removes him and returns monarchical power to the country, thus ensuring decades of unwavering Western support and ruthless totalitarian rule over the citizens of Iran.
The first moment that Ms. Klein brings in modern Shock Doctrine is in Indonesia where President Sukarno had been despised by Western powers since his rise to power at the end of WWII. He was a champion of worker's rights, the poor, equality for all, and fiercely loyal to his Indonesian roots, all of which made him a detested figure in the West. Naomi is right to point out that the CIA, fresh on its victories in putsches in Latin America, looked to continue its reign of terror in the Pacific in a country that was teeming with natural resources and ripe for the taking. But here it would be Berkeley economic professors, not the Chicago boys led by Friedman, who would initiate the Shock Doctrine method made famous by Milton years later. The purges, the list of Communist sympathizers, the mass killings and the peasant revolt over ethnic domination lead to around one million needless deaths, the takeover of the mineral wealth by the West, the complete domination of the country by Western powers to the exclusion of all things Indonesian, and the misery and abject poverty of the great majority of the Indonesian people for over five decades. Their suffering continues to this day.
Milton Friedman's introduction into the camp of Shock Doctrine is rightly placed by Ms, Klein as Chile in 1973. Her presentation of the entry of the Chicago School of Economics, and Professor Friedman in particular, is well done and extensive. She tends to minimize the effect of the violence of the crowds who sometimes acted in concert with the Doctrine, and sometimes on their own, but her presentation here of the usefulness and efficacy of it is spot on. The one critique I will insert here, and it's not a major one, would be the lack of disclosure of all the businesses that profited handsomely from such endeavors, here and throughout. It is time that we flood the newsnetosphere with their past deeds and high crimes.
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