Is Obama using 'Shock Doctrine Playbook?'

by read good books 8 Replies latest social current

  • read good books
    read good books

    George Washington's Blog

    (Click Here for Part 1)

    Wednesday, February 4, 2009

    Is Obama Adopting the Shock Doctrine Playbook?

    Everyone knows that Milton Friedman advocated a kind of "disaster capitalism".

    Specifically, as explained in the Shock Doctrine, whenever a natural, economic, war-related, or other disaster strikes, the Friedmanites pounce and use the opportunity to quickly impose a brand of economic policy which benefits the elite at the cost of everyone else (by increasing unemployment, pushing the cost of essential goods through the roof, and otherwise increasing poverty), while people are still in shock and before they can react.

    Of course, the Bush administration also used the threat of catastrophe to ram through bad legislation. For example, Congressman Sherman says that Congress was warned by the Bush administration that martial law might have to be imposed if the original $700 billion bailout wasn't passed (see also this and this).

    But its not just "conservatives" who play this game.

    Obama said Wednesday the recession will turn into "a catastrophe" if the economic stimulus is not passed quickly:

    "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future," he said. "That's why I feel such a sense of urgency . . . ."

    And Obama's chief of staff - Rahm Emanuel - said recently:

    Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before.

    That is classic shock doctrine: use crises - real or imagined - to ram through your pre-packaged agenda.

    Whether that agenda is labelled "conservative" or "liberal", it is almost certain to benefit the powers-that-be, rather than the average American. For example, Obama's "bad bank" proposal will help the banks, but not the American citizen.

    Note: If any of Obama's economic plans had a chance of succeeding, I would support them (not the use of the shock doctrine, but the economic plans themselves). However, his schemes will make matters worse, just as Bush's did. Unfortunately, mainstream economists simply do not understand either the cause or the solution to our economic crisis . By attempting to save the status quo, they are exacerbating the severity of the crisis.

    More on this topic (What's this?) Martin Wolf: "This Way Lies a Catastrophe" (naked capitalism, 2/4/09) “Obama Stock” Trade for Friday — Navellier (Stock Gumshoe, 2/5/09) Obama's Executive Comp Proposals: Closing the Gate After the Horse is in the Next County (naked capitalism, 2/4/09) Read more on Presidential Policy at Wikinvest

  • snowbird
    snowbird

    Obama wouldn't be the first.

    LBJ certainly took advantage of the grief and shock over JFK's assassination to push his Great Society package through Congress.

    Sylvia

  • BurnTheShips
    BurnTheShips

    LBJ certainly took advantage of the grief and shock over JFK's assassination to push his Great Society package through Congress.

    Do you think maybe they shot the wrong guy?

    BTS

  • leavingwt
    leavingwt
    Do you think maybe they shot the wrong guy?

    OK, I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way, but that statement sounds like something that Beks would say.

    Beks, I think you and Burns are spending too much time together.

  • BurnTheShips
  • snowbird
    snowbird

    Some of the Great Society programs were quite beneficial, i.e., the Fair Housing Act, Medicare/Medicaid, Voting/Civil Rights Act, the educational reform act (I can't think of its title) that addressed the disparities in educational opportunities between the well-of and the poor.

    Neither needed shooting, Burn. Both, in their own way, tried to right the many injustices that plagued this great country.

    Sylvia

  • BurnTheShips
    BurnTheShips

    There are good and bad ways to right injustices. Coercive redistitribution is usually bad. I don't deny that LBJ did some good things.

    BTS

  • hamilcarr
    hamilcarr

    Isn't the shock doctrine about disaster capitalism or how crises are manipulated to push through democratically unpopular legislation? The American people voted for change and again the failed tax-cuts policies so the comparison is flawed imo.

  • BurnTheShips
    BurnTheShips

    "Discredit the argument": Hamilcarr's specialty.

    Rahm "God is with us" Emmanuel, Obama's Chief of Staff: Never let a crisis go to waste.

    Cheers

    BTS

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit