NYT Krugman: Shock Doctrine, U.S.A...

[YvonneCa]

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/opinion/25krugman.html?smid=tw-NytimesKrugman&seid=auto

Excerpt:

Which brings us to Wisconsin 2011, where the shock doctrine is on full display.

In recent weeks, Madison has been the scene of large demonstrations against the governor’s budget bill, which would deny collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. Gov. Scott Walker claims that he needs to pass his bill to deal with the state’s fiscal problems. But his attack on unions has nothing to do with the budget. In fact, those unions have already indicated their willingness to make substantial financial concessions — an offer the governor has rejected.

What’s happening in Wisconsin is, instead, a power grab — an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy. And the power grab goes beyond union-busting. The bill in question is 144 pages long, and there are some extraordinary things hidden deep inside.

[snagglepuss]

1. bang on>>>>'Madison, Wis., isn’t Cairo after all...it’s Baghdad in 2003'

snip


The story of the privatization-obsessed Coalition Provisional Authority was the centerpiece of Naomi Klein’s best-selling book “The Shock Doctrine,” which argued that it was part of a broader pattern. From Chile in the 1970s onward, she suggested, right-wing ideologues have exploited crises to push through an agenda that has nothing to do with resolving those crises, and everything to do with imposing their vision of a harsher, more unequal, less democratic society.







:kick:

[Bozita]

2. Naomi's book is still MUST READ stuff!

And I LOVE Paul Krugman.

[rufus dog]

3. What Bozita said!

I was always worried that the Shock Doctrine would be like a Noam Chomshky book, valid but very hard to get through. It is actually an easy read and spot on.