Is there a doctrine in the house?

摘要

I approached The Shock Doctrine as I would a Michael Moore film: prepared to be outraged by Naomi Klein's revelations but equipped with a large pinch of salt to temper the drama. Activist and author Klein's previous book No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies was an international best-seller and downright manifesto against capitalism and corporate culture. Follow-up The Shock Doctrines stark title, weighty dimensions and red and black colour scheme are the only perceivable nods towards theatrics; inside it's fact after devastating fact. What I really needed was a spoonful of sugar to help the bitter medicine go down. Klein reframes the major world events of the past 35 years in terms of'disaster capitalism'-her name for Milton Friedman-inspired economic policies that exploit human trauma to spread the free trade mantra. Friedman, professor of economics at the University of Chicago until his death in 2006, believed that in an open, competitive global market, the sole role of the state was to enforce national and international freedom.