The Shock Doctrine

September 7, 2007

A short film by Alfonso Cuaron, one of Mexico’s best directors, inspired by Naomi Klein’s work.

Naomi Klein writes:

“When I finished The Shock Doctrine, I sent it to Alfonso Cuarón because I adore his films and felt that the future he created for Children of Men was very close to the present I was seeing in disaster zones. I was hoping he would send me a quote for the book jacket and instead he pulled together this amazing team of artists — including Jonás Cuarón who directed and edited — to make The Shock Doctrine short film. It was one of those blessed projects where everything felt fated.” – Naomi Klein

The Guardian’s website for Naomi Klein’s new book.

Posted by m.idrees
Filed in Film, Neoliberalism, US Politics
7 Comments »

7 Responses to “The Shock Doctrine”

  1. mirth Says:

    September 8, 2007 at 3:55 am

    Unfortunately, I get a no-can-do Google page instead of the Cuaron film, The Shock Doctrine.
    But!
    Klein’s The Shock Doctrine speech at CCPA is available and it alone was wonderful.
    I’m forwarding the 6 vids to those I expect will continue the forwarding.

    Thanks, idrees.

    Reply
  3. Freeborn Says:

    September 8, 2007 at 9:02 am

    The film should be an indispensable teaching resource.

    The idea of that exploitable time lapse between event and information that explains the event is especially relevant.Where a technique of mass manipulation is necessary to galvanize the public behind some elite-managed project shock therapy as envisaged by Klein fits the bill perfectly.

    Economic shock therapy is only I think one specific form of this elite manipulation of the public.

    For example the JFK assassination was a traumatizing world event that was not linked at the time to the escalation of the Vietnam war that followed swiftly on the heels of the killing.Vast lacunae exist in the archival sources on what happened in that telling time zone between event and explanation.

    We know that LBJ reversed the troop withdrawal policy on which JFK was about to embark and escalated the war immediately he assumed office.This was a President in whose own Texas backyard the assassination took place.It was also the state where LBJ had promised vast arms contracts to weapons corporations operating there.

    Like Bush LBJ was something of a lame duck (he knew
    JFK was going to drop him before the next election)before the traumatizing event.LBJ was also the subject of Congressional inquiries into the said arms deals and another Texas-based inquiry into a murder over a land deal in which he had been involved.
    Bush’s insider-dealing was similarly soon forgotten in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

    Thus timing is all and elites with their corporate backers can engineer and precipitate new wars as they please where the state they have hijacked is already substantially corporate fascist in orientation anyway.

    Reply
  4. na Says:

    September 8, 2007 at 12:49 pm

    I saw his “Children of Men” last night! Still depressed! What a coincidence you post about Alfonso Cuaron!

    Reply
  5. Freeborn Says:

    September 8, 2007 at 7:41 pm

    I notice that Klein is a little reticent re-indicting the Bush govt.for 9/11 but feels quite free to attribute the Russian reichstag fire to Yeltsin.

    Isn’t this typical of the timidity of the establishment left?Socialists seem to have forgotten the links they always made between capitalism and war.

    If the military industrial complex is capable of plotting the overthrow of governments in Chile and Iraq,Klein’s two most telling examples of shock therapy from above,then are we really to believe they would abjure from the slaughter of innocents at the WTC because they worried about taking human life on such a scale?

    9/11 facilitated a massive shift in favour of corporate interests set on war just like the JFK assassination did.The logic of Klein’s theory leads inescapably to 9/11 being a corporate fascist take-over bid that the left could not bring itself to challenge.

    Ultimately letting them get away with it makes us complicit.We thereby do a disservice to both the victims of the attacks,and the millions who have died or who now live wasted lives as refugees and displaced persons because they were an obstacle to corporate fascism.

    Were Klein to bring her considerable talents to bear in the 9/11 Truth Movement then radical shock therapy would be the analytical and explanatory tool par excellence.

    Right now the theory of disaster capitalism will sell books and films among the cognoscenti but the war-mongers won’t lose sleep.

    Reply
  6. The Shock Doctrine at Ijtema Says:

    September 9, 2007 at 12:47 pm

    [...] has the video- The Shock Doctrine. Powered by Gregarious [...]

    Reply

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