My Unrequited Love for the Business Press
On a recent visit to Calgary, Alberta, I was taken aback to see my book on disaster capitalism selling briskly at the airport. Calgary is ground zero of North America's oil and gas boom, where business suits and cowboy hats are the de facto uniform. I had a sudden sinking feeling: did Calgary's business class think The Shock Doctrine was a how-to guide -- a manual for making millions from catastrophe? Were they hoping for tips on landing no-bid contracts if the U.S. bombs Iran?
When I get worried about inadvertently fueling the disaster complex, I take comfort in the response the book has elicited from the world's leading business journalists. That's where I learn that the very notion of disaster capitalism is my delusion -- or, as Otto Reich, former adviser to President George Bush, told BBC Business Daily, it is the work "of a very confused person."
Many publications have seen fit to assign business journalists to review the book. And why not? They are the experts. Unabashed fans of the late free-market evangeliser Milton Friedman, these are our primary purveyors of the idea that ballooning corporate profits are on the verge of trickling down to the citizens of the world in the form of freedom and democracy. So in the Times, for instance, the book was reviewed by Robert Cole, who writes the paper's personal investor column and is author of the volume Getting Started in Unit and Investment Trusts (Chapter 7 -- Taxing Questions: Pepping up Your Prospects). Cole was none too pepped by The Shock Doctrine, which disappointed him as "too easy to dismiss as a leftist rant." In The New York Times, the task of explaining why "it's all a grand capitalist conspiracy" fell to Tom Redburn, author of its Economic View column. "That's a lot to lay on poor Milton," Redburn sniffed.
No one took it quite as hard as Terence Corcoran, the business editor of Canada's National Post. Disaster capitalism is apparently my "fevered creation." And how could I have said those things about Friedman, a man Corcoran has described as "the last great lion of free market economics"? In the Financial Times, the unbiased dissection was carried out by John Willman, the paper's UK business editor (who, on the side, advocates shifting healthcare costs to families in Britain and tuition increases in Scotland). Willman declared the book "a polemic" and warned "impressionable readers" not to be fooled by my 60 pages of endnotes. While Cole claims I rely on "partisan contributions from the cuttings library," Willman accuses me of a far greater crime: relying on cuttings from the FT. "She quotes the Financial Times when it suits her, for example, but not when it would be inconvenient."
It's true. I do, in fact, quote the FT when it suits me. In The Shock Doctrine, I cite the paper 26 times. And this is what hurts most about the attacks from the world's business editors: even as they find new ways to dismiss me, I remain a devoted reader of their pages. Sure, financial editors have to do PR for capitalism. Their reporters, however, have a crucial market role. Investors require reliable information, and it's their job to supply it. Without this honest reporting, I would never have understood how economic shock therapy programmes relied on external disasters -- the very disaster capitalism I now learn, from these same pages, does not exist.
It was from the FT that I learned of the so-called Davos Dilemma. Columnist Martin Wolf describes it as "the contrast between the world's favourable economics and troublesome politics." He explains that, in recent years, the economy has faced "a series of shocks" -- from the dotcom crash to September 11 to chaos in the Middle East. And yet the market is in "a golden period of broadly shared growth."
A great deal of light is shed on the Davos Dilemma by the FT. For instance, it reported that Lockheed Martin -- the biggest single winner from the economy of disaster -- has begun "buying companies in the $1,000bn-a-year healthcare market". It's just one glimpse into the exploding economy of privatised disaster, with Lockheed poised to profit not only from making weapons but also from treating the people injured by them -- a new era of morbid vertical integration.
The FT has long explored how politicians harness disasters to push through unwanted economic policies. In 1998, for instance, the FT published an article by Jeffrey Sachs outlining how the IMF took South Korea's democracy hostage, withholding a desperately needed loan until all presidential candidates committed in writing to a harsh austerity plan. Some months later, Hurricane Mitch swept Central America. I learned from the FT that, with countries still knee-deep in rubble, foreign lenders were demanding privatisations.
In the first months after the U.S. "shock and awe" attack on Iraq, the FT reported on U.S. envoy Paul Bremer's shock therapy programme. The paper stated his decrees "make Iraq one of the most open economies in the developing world and go beyond even legislation in many rich countries." It's a concise summary that I often draw upon.
But now, after all these years of fruitful (if one-way) collaboration, the FT calls my thesis "ultimately dishonest." Stinging as this may be, I stand behind the honesty of the FT's reporting, which has been so very helpful in the evolution of my world view.
I wish disaster capitalism were a product of my fevered imagination. I have recently, however, come across more evidence to support its existence. It comes from Paul B Farrell, author of publishing sensations such as The Millionaire Code and The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing. "Hot tip: Invest in 'disaster capitalism'," begins his review in Dow Jones Business News. Farrell acknowledges that an economy built on disaster "is a hot-button political issue. But for the moment, let's put aside partisan politics ... Let's look at this strictly as investors and briefly consider what may also be a guide for aggressive investors." Many unmentionable stock tips follow.
It is just as I had feared -- The Shock Doctrine as a how-to-guide. At the end, however, Farrell shows some misgivings. "Is 'Disaster Capitalism' merely a hot short-term investment opportunity for you? Or is it a national 'crisis,' a warning bell, a 'shocking' call to ... rein in the 'military-industrial complex' mindset that's pushing America into a disastrous, self-destructive future?"
Moral confusion in the business pages? Where am I supposed to get my news now?
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How interesting that the very words used by them to describe how they do business, when used by you to describe how they do business, are refuted when you use them.
Reminds me of how Media Matters and Olbermann are castigated for repeating what the right wingers say, word for word. Then those that say them say they didn't say that when it's ON RECORD that they did.
Do you think they EVER LISTEN to themselves? Sounds like they would be appalled at what they themselves say if they did. Are they on automatic pilot, or are they sufferers of multiple personality disorder, where they don't realize what they are doing and saying part of the time?
How strange. What kind of mental illness IS that?
Naomi,
Pay no attention to business journalists. Their God is Milton Freidman and their semi-God is Alan Greenspan. Their mantra is "free market capitalism". Your new book is heresy to them. Since I invest in the market, I watch and listen to the CNBC pundits, and most of them are laughable as are their guests. About the only business person who makes sense is Warren Buffett. The business types are also obsessed with lower taxes to the exclusion of almost any other subject. They have a very narrow focus of life tied around the investing class and the richie rich's of the world. If you question any of their free market capitalism shortcomings, you are considered anti-American or worse. Layoff, offshoring, and outsourcing are good news events to them. They hate unions with a passion second only to their hatred of the Clintons. They look the other way on George W. Bush's incompetence, so long as the Pentagon continues to award no-bid contracts to their friends. They think the 15% tax rate for hedge fund trader's is a good thing of course, as are government subsidies to big business. A wonderful group of people!
When will the public and the pundits give up the now obsolete terms of liberal, conservative, democrat, republican, and independent? There are now only two viable political forces operating in the Unites States, the corporatist owned right wing opportunists, and everyone else who are divided by all the obsolete labels to which they cling in abject futility.
The evidence shows that, beginning with the election of 2000, under the shield of the "big lie," a slow motion coup d'etat has been unfolding in which our government's focus on the rights and needs of the American public has steadily been replaced by overpowering and unaccountable corporate control made possible and assured by election fraud. Corporate control and national governments grow to equal each other!
Why do the public and the pundits remain fooled?
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the [fascistic] State."
Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister, Hitler's Third Reich.
thank you for speaking truth to power, even when those in power whom you respect remain in denial of that truth.
Naomi,
I just started Shock Doctrine. I was shocked to find out that Blackwater was contracted by the US Govt. to police New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. In light of the recent fires in California, isn't it interesting that Blackwater again is within sniffing distance. Keep up the good work and if I were a religious type I would say "God Bless", thanks for all your efforts.
Naomi,
Along with many other Americans, I have become increasingly cynical about absolutely every move by the Bush Administration. I have not read your book yet, but I did watch your interview with John Cusack posted on this website. You discussed the response to 9-11 and Iraq quite a bit. Beyond that, do you think it is beyond the realm of possibility that the government is deliberately allowing our country's infrastructure to deteriorate so to incorporate disaster capitalism here at home? I'm thinking of bridge collapses, wildfires, slow response to Katrina.
Knowing the truth is of little use without the power to effect change. Your book is a good start but things are truly much more dire. I only wish I could tell you a little true story of Corp. Greed and Murder staring Bush-Bush and Cheany. Start by reading (To Profitable To Cure,by Dr. Brent Hoadley.)
Naomi Klein is right on target about "disaster capitalism."
When the "masses" cannot or refuse to purchase all the garbage produced by "capital," then the only alternative for those "in charge" is to prey on the population with Disaster Capitalism.
As the only "industrial country," we are now left with preying on the sick and the dying in dealing with our failed economic efforts...
It could be called, "Darwinian Capitalism."
Survival of the fittest (and the richest)
sierra
Ms.Klein I enjoyed your book and I have strongly recommended it to several colleagues.Please do not concern yourself too much with the sundry business journalist.Your book was a tour de force.
Naomi, thanks for the wake-up call; I really appreciate your ability to say what needs to be said. Most people are just scared and trying to keep their heads down (lives of quiet desperation). If you stick out your neck, you might get whacked! (Be careful out there.)
So what is to be done? Don’t buy into the insanity, don’t participate (everybody examine your stock portfolios), and raise awareness. What is there constructive to do to change the situation? Write our representatives, who are probably up to their ears in it? Becoming aware of the problem is just the first step. Is there any 12-step program to put us back on the road to recovery? Or has it gone too far?
It isn’t like we didn’t know this was coming. Remember the joke back when Bush first went into Iraq? What do you call Iraq when Bush gets done? Texaco. (Oops, wrong company name…but we knew what was up, that it would go down this road.)
You go, girl! If they are ragging at you, you know you hit a sore spot. And don’t feel like you wrote a how-to book. It isn’t like putting “how to make a bomb with fertilizer” out on the internet…anyone who would use your information that way has their own character flaws, and that is not your responsibility.
Just give us a hint on how to cure the problem. Please.
Probably anyone who is not among the extremely rich and who has a stock portfolio should take a look at it, not to make investments more moral but to question the entire notion of capitalism. And divest. Divestment is the only thing that frightens capitalism these days. And the next depression won't be fixable because of the tenets of globalization and the fix we're in because of capitalism and its proponents...all of the Congress except one socialist. Capitalism is based on exploitation of both people and the environment, and look what we've got! Capitalism up the yin yang. How fun!
We in the US apparently don't do national strikes; the country is too big and too disconnected; but we can do divestment and save our behinds before the Crash; we can stop buying corporate products as much as possible and go small and local. Not only will we be serving our own financial and political interests but you'd be surprised at the better quality coming from small enterprises that actually intend to give people what they want and need, as opposed to corporations' attitude: Take it or leave it; we skim the market to maximize profits, and strive always to give you the least (choice, quality) for the most money.
A baby step, but at least a step in the right direction.
Will we see Disaster Capitalism play out in Southern California? Or are the wealthy protected from this?
Read the following in the Bloomberg News:
"AIG's Private Fire Trucks Protect Homes of Wealthy Californians."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=af3wCbWHvK4w&refer=home
Some commentators try to compare latest fires in California to Katrina.....
Katrina victims lost most all of their "infrastructure."
California fires have not destroyed any "infrastructure" such as motels, hotels, medical facilities etc.
And, as the article above reads....wealthy Californians (who can afford) have their own private firefighters.....
The comparison of Katrina to Calif. fires is ludicrous.....
sierra
...our MARS water bomber (british Columbia,Canada)is down there helping...hope arnold pays the bill this time. Our electricity `help` not paid yet. 2001. Somethin` about free trade !!
Well I just read this blog by chance and am reminded that I've heard about the commotion stirred by the author on my periphery but it never caught my interest.
Now that I read that all these upstanding organizations are lambasting the book, I am convinced it's probably totally correct, as well as relevant and important, and will buy it today.
Good going Naomi. The ancient concept of a blade cutting both ways was born in the 3D age of swords and daggers. We are now in the 5th dimension, where the absurd has mutated into a core value, where the warning lantern has become the beacon, where the harbinger is spun into the black hole of repurposed darkness. It is difficult to manage one's movements when we find ourselves at the fulcrum of cause and effect. I guess you have documented the fact that we can, indeed, invest in our own destruction. Clipping coupons with fleshless fingers. How trendy!
Naomi,
Everytime you write you give thousands of dollars worth of advice and perception.
Thank You so much.
You are an iviting person to watch.
Even more so when read.
You are so cool.
I wish you were my neighbor, you help people feel safe and alive.
Because of you, one more person understands exactly what is going on and you drew a line which connected all the unanswered questions I had.
Please do more TV, you are inspiring to watch.
XO
Your god, Ron Paul, is a free market loving Friedmanite!
Naomi Klein's books is a plea for the return of Keyensian economics which pulled this country out of a depression, won a world war and gave the United States the wealthiest middle class in the history of the world.
Ron Paul doesn't want to end American involvement in Iraq out of any humanitarian or pacific considerations. It's just taking too many tax dollars to suppress the Iraqi people for his tastes!
The economy was slipping as Bush took office and one of the first things I was worried about was that they would act on the common idea that war stimulates the economy.
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