9/21/2014
Shock Doctrine
Thus far in our readings, we have almost entirely focused on the inherent positives and negatives of catastrophe. The selections from Klein's book bring a fresh new perspective into discussion: The tendency of humans in power to capitalize on a terrible natural event. Klein brings up the philosophy of Milton Friedman, and systematically lays out how the United States, in recent history, has sat in waiting for natural disasters to occur in order to take advantage of the shock that such things cause. One of the most interesting points that Klein makes, is the distinction between "pre-9/11" and "post-9/11." This is something I witnessed throughout my childhood after 9/11 without thinking much of it: People had an attitude that their entire lives had changed because of this one event. "Everything is different now" some might say. Up until 9/11, the United States had not experienced this great level of shock on our home front. The results of this first brush with something so powerful resulted in a sensationalist war based on the selfish interests of those in power, and in the disorienting shock of what had just occurred, we went along with it. But all of this has already been stated in the article and elsewhere. My focal point is this: Klein touches on a very important point in her New York Times interview, "I believe that when we understand those tactics we become more shock resistant." (New York Times) If the general populous can develop an understanding of the tactics used to establish privatized capitalist control in the midst of a disaster, we can become more objective and thus more able to look out for our best interests, even in the midst of extreme shock. "When I rebuild the city I feel like I'm rebuilding myself." (Klein, 8) By becoming more shock resistance, we can combat the urge to follow those with their own self serving interests in mind, and rather than create a new beach community or dismantle the public school system, we can instead begin to rebuild what we had and what we lost.
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The pre and post 9/11 attitudes that you bring up as being so different really have affected our generation and the generations before us. For me, all I remember is the post-911 world of war in the Middle East and strict security at the airport. It is interesting that as a society we have gone along with everything that has happened and accept it as a part of life because of the shock 9/11 inflicted on our country.
ReplyDeleteI too only remember post-9/11 society. I was really too young (or maybe too disinterested) to really comprehend and be affected by the events of 9/11. One memory that does strike me, however, was walking down the jetway to board a plane with my mom when I was very young. We saw an Arab man walking near us but just out of earshot, and I remember my mom making a comment about how ever since 9/11, things like that make her nervous. I remember that even as a child I didn't agree with this sentiment, and I don't think that deep down she did either. In retrospect I think she was pointing out how we are all victims of the values that society imposes on us, even if those values are wrong. My mom is one of the most accepting people living in this world today, but still, after the fear-mongering around the attacks of 9/11, she was subjected to a feeling of insecurity just from being on the same plane as an arab man. Our best defense against these preconceptions that society places on us, is really just to be conscious of them, and make sure to disagree with them outright when we see them in others, but especially when we see them within ourselves.
DeleteWhat you bring up is an interesting point. With all that has happened to our country, we often overlook problems and don't act on them as they are part of our every day lives. Thinking of Katrina, we tried helping them for so long, but once another disaster happened, we had to shift our focus to the other problem and leave the Katrina victims to survive on their own. We expect all these bad things to happen and once they do we are so unsurprised that we don't act with our full efforts but complete them half-heartedly.
ReplyDeleteIt is also a question of whether or not intervention is necessary. The points Klein raises about how we take advantage of countries during their time of need is an important one to note: There must be some happy medium where we can provide help and assistance without robbing the cookie jar, so to speak.
DeleteGoing along with Amanda's thought, My parents always complain about the strictness of airport security and how much more relaxed it was before 9/11; their view is so much different than mine. I used to see these new technologies and scanners up until the flight out to Detroit to move in and thought nothing much of it until I read this article and realized the difference between the pre- and post-9/11 views on the word as we know it.
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