Bush's Economy?

Up until today, I agreed with the popular notion that George W. Bush destroyed America’s economy. Then, I started reading Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Whew! She presents a whole new way of looking at what is going on now.

After the Great Depression, most folks thought a more socialist approach would be good--government FOR the people--a Keynesian approach to economics.
This went on until the 1980s, when Thatcher and Reagan fell under the spell of Milton Friedman, a famous economist, who said that free markets, completely unfettered, were the way to go.

Since the 1980s, the major players in the economic game have been playing by Friedman's rules, gradually eroding as many publicly-supported and taxpayer-funded programs as possible. I recall some of these actions, since a field of study I got a master's degree in sorta disappeared right after I got the degree in 1981. A side effect of these same philosophical and economic changes was the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Many of the folks in Bush's administration learned at Friedman's knee, and agreed that a completely unfettered, capitalist economy was the way to go.
This is hard to implement, since so many people think that government is a public entity, and is there to serve the public.

It wasn't until 9/11 that disaster capitalism was able to really take hold in this country. People were so frightened, that, just like victims of torture, they were not able to stand up for themselves, they agreed to have many of their rights taken away, and they agreed to just about anything the government wanted to do. As Friedman himself said, "only a crisis--actual or perceived--produces real change." So, a lot of money went into Homeland Security, and away from public programs. More and more, private corporations began to provide services to the military, to prisons, etc. Just think Halliburton. Now, we have a system of corporatist rule, where much public money goes directly to corporations, who are now a sort of defacto government for-profit.

The U. S. is not the only country in which this has occurred. Remember Chile? And Argentina? Tiananmen Square, the Falklands, etc. etc. Once the populace is frightened, radical free-market capitalism steps in, for the profit of private corporations and stockholders.

Now, all around the world, disaster capitalism is the rule. A disaster like Katrina occurs, and who comes in? Corporations. Profit-making corporations. Tsunami? What a break for the corporations who wanted the beach-front property previously owned by individuals. How about a nice war in Iraq? Yup, more and more corporate involvement in every sector.

The Bush Administration just got lucky. They were able to put a cherry on top of the sundae that Reagan started scooping. Not only did they get 9/11, they used that to get Iraq, and then Katrina fell into their laps. And Sri Lanka. And now the financial crisis, which has occurred since Klein wrote her book.

Now the government is directly supporting some of the world's largest corporations, so that this doctrine does not get undermined any time soon. The U.S. government has nationalized banks, manufacturers and Wall Street. Without asking for a single word of documentation. Just by scaring us. I knew there'd be another 9/11 on Bush's watch--it has just taken me quite a long time to understand it.

This is an eye-opening book. Even if you don't want to slog through 430+ pages, just read the introduction. It all makes way too much sense.