Shock Doctrine

I can't wait to get into more of The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein.

I've listened to her interview on the CBC by the radio program the current (which can be found in two parts here.) She is quite articulate and I think a lot of her arguments have merit. She also recognizes the limits of some parts of her argument. When asked directly whether for example torture is required to implement the economic program her response was not directly. She did note however that in many of these countries violence was used to suppress dissent of the policies and that in many of the examples torture did occur. I think that gives credence and marks her out and somehow who has actually taken the time to really think through these issues. Now I may not end up agreeing with her, but it was in marked contrast to the tone of her critic (who was on the show. I'm sure there are more intelligent critiques of her book that will surface, I will also grant that she was given more time and that the expert brought in to criticize actually didn't have the same amount of time)

It was interesting also to note the criticisms of her critic on the show. He merely said she was a "conspiracy theorist " that her analysis lacked depth and that she conflated different arguments. He never really attacked the substance of her argument. He also jumped into random tangents and sidestepped the issues often. He ended up talking about random things about Iraq which didn't address really the question or Naomi Klein's argument.I thought that was the most fascinating part of the response part of the segment.

I have a feeling she will be attacked and dismissed, I just truly hope that people will actually take the time to read it rather than dismissing it out of hand. The connections she brings out are not necessarily new, but do provide a new platform and highlight the connections that remain between the economic fundamentalists of today and their predecessors and the impact they have had.