Customer Reviews

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Regardless of your current beliefs regarding free-market capitalism, I believe that most people who actually read this book, (which many of the previous reviewers clearly haven't) will find it to be an important and well-researched book.

This book can be seen as the alter-ego book to Thomas Friedman's 'The World is Flat', covering many of the same issues and specific case studies. Friedman is clearly approaching free-market globalization from an optomistic and appreciative perspective, Klien clearer believes that neo-liberal economics have been imposed on countries around the world against their will, and to great detriment to human well-being.

Whatever your political persuation, anyone who has thouroughly read both books will recognize that the 'Shock Doctrine' boasts far more supportive research, to go along with the journalistic interview that form the bulk of the actual text, than Friedman's. Additionally, Klien display's a much more accurate understanding of the technicalities of capitalism than Friedman, probably due to her education at the London School of Economics. Furthermore, whereas Friedman's book reads as a summary of the ideas the have graced the cover of many large newspapers and television shows (Friedman himself works for the New York Times) Klien perspective is novel.

Clearly, this book is a polemic, it contains strong language and makes a strong argument for a particularily damning evaluation of the role of American Academics, the American Government, and many American Foundations in the forced undercutting of democracy around the world for the purpose of creating unpopular neo-liberal make-overs.

But, beyond the political arguments, which I believe are very strong, Klien rings a perspective on such historical events such as the Fall of Communism in Russia, the Dictatorship in Argentina, the Currency Crises in South East Asia that are unknown in North America. Not only does she tell, and rigurously support through documentation, an incredible behind the scenes exposition of past events, she also provides quotes of the status-quo account, including writters such as Friedman, from major news sources and goverment officials.

As a history student who has studied many of these events, and has spent years learning how to evaluate historical source material, I must say I was shocked by the amount of information that I did not know. I went so far as to look into some of the source material Klien uses and found that most of it stands up to the highest academic standards. Of course, as with any journalistic book, some of the details of the accounts come from single interview sources, and must be taken with a grain of salt.

Overall, Shock Doctrine is an incredible book that is easy to read, if stylistically reduntant at times, captivating and incredibly important as an alternative to the corporate media that supplies most of the information that North Americans recieve about world events and history. The documentation of the privatization of the American Security and rescue industry after September 11th, 2001; as well as the mess of corperate misconduct in Iraq is worth the price of the book times ten all in itself. Importantly, many of the statistics and figures that Klien quotes, and there are many, are directly from Government sources, (burried in the middle of a Congressional Hearing, official contract or thosand page restructuring document), while many of the most candid guiding statements are from such people as George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Bremmer, Donald Rumsfield...and the list continues.

A stunning book that reads with the energy of a murder mystery and will shake up the way you think about the history of free-market capitalism, as well as the history of CIA funded torture, a major milestone of which took place in Montreal and McGill University.

Even if you believe in free-market capitalism, you can still enjoy this book. More than an argument against a particular system, it is a call for democracy, justice, and fair debate in all forms of political change.

And a note to anyone turned off by a previous reviewers commentary about "leftist only hating capitalist dictators and so on..) Klien spares none of her viciferous anger when discussing the crimes of Stalinist Russia, Mao, or any other leftist dictator. But, the point is that these figures are a) known to the public for their crimes, and b) do not represent a idealogy that is continuing to do violence to people around the world.

That is what makes this book so relevant, all the issues she discusses are important right now.

Depending on where you sit on the political spectrum, this is a book you are going to love or hate. Personally, I think Naomi Klein does an excellent job providing a historical lens on some high level political and economic decisions that are being made (largely) behind closed doors. She brings these ideas to the surface where they can be openly debated and I applaud her for that. After all, that is what makes for healthy democracy.

Having living in Korea during the "Asian flu" of 1997-98 I can honestly say that her synopsis of what happened there was exceedingly accurate; and there was no doubt in my mind that the West genuinely took advantage of a country in need to create "trade advantage", force public downsizing, and to force open borders to foreign investment. No matter what you think of her politics, this is definitely worth reading, and I for one, am the better informed for it. Thank you Ms. Klein!

Economics is the bed-rock of society, and has precipitated more than a few political ousters. But what if economic shock therapy and regimes the world around were inherently linked?

This is the subject of Naomi Klein's latest novel.

The Shock Doctrine is a whirlwind look at history through the eyes of a dominant school of economic thought, the University of Chiacgo. It goes from South America to Europe, eventually returning home to America in cataloguing the effects of the Chicago School. By extending the Nobel-prize winning Amnesty International Human Rights report on General Pinochet's Argentianian torture regime, it adds necessary context that North Americans have lost out on.

It all came down to a flood of funding to free market think tanks from companies opposed to FDR's Keynesian New Deal, and from the lack of competition from the fall of Communism; she talks about the lack of funding and lack of a Marshall Plan for post-Soviet Russia and post-Saddam Iraq. As any free market-er knows, competition is the foundation for a healthy and innovative market.

Klein happens upon an important idea called the "Davos Dilemma", which contradicts the idea that global trade would bring world peace. She ties this in to the lack of progress in peace between the Israelis and Palestinians since the 1990s, linking that to the burgeoning homeland security bubble that Israel now offers the world with the slogan, "it's our birthright".

In the end, she says no conspiracies are required. It all comes down to companies doing their jobs, to profit their shareholders. The problem is in governments relinquishing their jobs to act in the public interest to companies with countervailing interests.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book for linking . There are many reviews here from people who seemed to only read the back cover of the novel and think of it as an attack on Milton Friedman, rather than what the book really is: an enticing journalistic examination of the Chicago school and it's fruits. Simply put, 30 years of free market history shows that imposing solutions on people is not democratic and is not even pragmatic. What does this book tell us of human nature? Whatver we choose, goes.

It's been many years since I have read such an original argument about the global economy. Most recent mainstream writing on the subject seems to merely rehash the old debates over globalization that Ms. Klein contributed to so insightfully in No Logo seven years ago, debates that were effectively sidelined by the clamor over 9/11 and the Iraq War. In The Shock Doctrine, Klein brilliantly points out that corporate globalization is at the core of the "War on Terror," and indeed, of a 30 year string of attacks on left-of-center governments around the world. The Shock Doctrine is a must read for anyone who wants to understand how a far-right economic agenda became the global norm and what we can do to fight back.

I had never heard of Noimi Klein before this book was released, and had certainly never read anything written by her. Naomi Klein has delivered an astonishing book; a brilliant piece of research, written with power and excellence; graceful, elegant and eloquent; full of heart and intelligence; insight, understanding and compassion. This book is a must read for all; for anyone who may be put off by its sheer size and volume, fear not, it is a riveting and fulfilling experience; can't put it down! It should be required reading for all students: under-graduates, graduates, and post-graduates. This book is an extraordinary wake-up call; and if she never wrote another word, Naomi has, with this book alone, done more than most in fulfilling service to all of humanity. Thank you Naomi!

Klein has written a rare piece of economic analysis. It is not often a book of this depth and insight is written from the perspective of a true critic. Most books looking at economic and political dynamics are of the Right and not based on fact but rather fantasy. This is a refreshing and startling analysis of "free" market capitalism as it really is. Capitalism cannot last long feeding on disaster and depending upon amoral economists to show the way.
Naomi Klein is a national treasure of the first order. Her brilliance is much appreciated. This is a MUST read for anyone wanting to understand who is doing what to whom in a world dominated by finance. Read it and arm yourself with understanding and knowledge. You can't really make intelligent observations of the world as it is without the information contained within this wonderful book.

I absolutely loved Klein's No Logo, and while I did not turn it into a personal bible and start attending anti-WTO protests, I was intrigued enough by her conclusions that her geopolitical book on post-Katrina/Iraq relations was an easy purchase.
I score the book 3/5 for the following reasons:

1) Klein paints a fantastic narrative here, going from the US-sponsored electroshock experiments, through Latin America in the mid 20th century, to South Africa, Poland, Russian, Iraq, and finally landing "home" in Southeast USA. The problem is, she spends MUCH too long with the Latin American case studies, and worse again, she tends to REPEAT many of her points/conclusions regarding this area in LATER sections to the point that some of the interesting chapters end up being more about COMPARING Israel, Iraq, etc to the Latin cases then exploring them to the same degree.

2) As a result of the aforementioned repetition, the book is far too long. I have no problem reading a long book, when each page is roughly equally weighted, or at the very least justified. In this case, it *feels* like Klein is "padding" the length a little.

3) Related to #1, Klein really doesn't go nearly deep enough into her case studies of Israel, Katrina, or Indonesia. These cases would have been better left out then hurried through.

So, in conclusion, I cannot in good faith give this book an 80%, however, it is certainly better than a 60%. So I will give it 3 stars, though I would consider it a 3.5. Definitely a good read, especially for multidisciplinary students who can tolerate the repetition.

I've enjoyed Naomi Klein's writing ever since No Logo, but I must admit that I find that she can be hit and miss. In this book, she scores a straight-out hit. What I enjoy so thoroughly is that she manages to do so with a fascinating thesis: comparing the effects of electric shock on the human mind and body with the effects of disasters upon the collective social psyche, and how the unscrupulous attempt to use this vulnerability to their advantage. Indeed, in some cases, as Klein points out, the people doing the electroshocking are the same people trying to massively alter economic structures.

Reading this book has its own shock value; the section on how tsunami relief money was used to force the victimized fishing villagers out of their homes so that beachfront resorts could be built was particularly hard to take. I can see how some readers can interpret what I see as moral outrage as provocative vitriol. Personally, I see this as true big picture journalism.

This book by Naomi Klein is truly shocking and frightening to which the true nature of the American government is revealed. I found myself having a hard time reading this book because of the dark nature behind the today's world politics and the tortures which is currently been in use by the government. I found it to be saddening to see how our leaders are using human beings for their own benefits, and how they favors money over human lives...that freedom or democracy is only a disguise or empty word to justify their unethical evil actions.

With her intense research and profound discovery, Klein exposed the evil nature behind the politics of American wars both in the past and present, and of course the future. This book is also an excellent account of how disaster capitalism came to be and how long this been going on. It is very informative book, which will impact readers everywhere. No one is safe. Klein has written well-documented and extensive researched work that would certainly open one's eyes to see the "man behind the curtain."

I humbly give much appreciative and thanks to Ms. Klein for bringing forth this important and an eye-opener work. I truly highly recommend this book.

Naomi Klein demonstrates that in totally unconstrained capitalism, the richest and least scrupulous do best. Why? They are able to eliminate government restraints and taxes and establish monopolies by pushing aside those with fewer resources and more self-restraint to make huge profits from charging everyone more and paying poor people less. This result has occurred consistently in Latin America, Asia, and now Iraq whenever a country needs an international loan from the United States or the international agencies that it dominates.

As demonstrated in this book, the policy of the U.S. government has been to provide such an economic environment wherever possible. This result is often accomplished by subverting democratic governments to put military dictators in power, supporting the dictatorships with the latest military toys and training in torture, and making the economic changes be permanent so that later democracies cannot change them.

With the Bush administration, the policy has been accelerated to include direct invasions such as occurred in Iraq. The effect of these policies has been worsened by the Bush doctrine of outsourcing as many military and government functions as possible to high-priced private firms without holding them accountable for results.

The effect has been to subject nation after nation to widespread murder and abuse of citizens who don't agree with the economic policies, sale of valuable businesses and resources at way below market rates to rich companies and people, and to reduce economic activity levels by depression-standard amounts for 10-20 years.

Only recently have people interested in placing democratic interests above those who wealthy companies and people begun to strike back by refusing to accept U.S. policy when it comes to requiring unfettered capitalism.

The latest application of this U.S. policy is to use natural disasters to produce similar results as we observed after the Asian tsunami and hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

The intellectual fig leaf for this doctrine belongs to Milton Friedman and his academic heirs from the University of Chicago and the University of California at Berkeley. The economic analysis behind these ideas seems to have never considered the way to implement the ideas. Instead with each new powerless country or group, the limits of rapid change are pushed harder. Why? It's really a class war of the ultra rich who can buy politicians and put them in office who need something to tell everyone else about why it's all a good idea. Naive economists make good front men for this effort.

When democracies work well, there's pendulum of public opinion that eventually swings well away from any extreme. Well, we are at such an extreme now in favor of letting the powerful grab whatever they want . . . as demonstrated in this fine book. I hope the pendulum swing will begin soon!

The main weakness of this book is in repeating its arguments a little too much without providing enough new evidence each time. The evidence is there, but the better stories are actually in the second half. If you feel in the beginning that Milton Friedman is being run down too much, wait. You'll eventually be convinced that Friedman's ideas had all of the appropriateness of Marx's on how to run a country to create a healthy society for all. Save us from theorists!