Required Reading: Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine

I just finished reading Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism this evening. The book is absolutely depressing; it looks at how Friedman economics has been used for private company gain, while devestating economies in South America and Eastern Europe.

Parts 5 & 6 looks at the Iraq war– including war profiteering and the explosive blowback that is to be expected.  It’s absurd that contractors refused to hire Iraqis to do the work and instead shipped Americans in.  The same happened in terms of raw materials, rather than use Iraqi companies, materials were shipped in from across country lines. When it looked as though the new government would shoot down the incredibly invasive participation by contractors, the US went on to appoint, rather than elect, a new gov’t so they could stay in control. One slap in the face after another for the country. Liberation, my ass. It’s amazing to see how different the outcome of the invasion of Iraq could have been had there been an iota of concern for the Iraqi people.

The US has aided in crippling economies globally to keep that increasingly elusive growth in the business world alive. Klein goes on to make a comparison between Iraq and Katrina contracting.  Squelching recovery isn’t just for foreigners, we’re happy to treat American citizens the same way.

It’s heart breaking and should be required reading before November.

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