Friday, December 5, 2008

Obama revitalizes disaster capitalism: The Shock Doctrine receives a makeover

Klein has put disaster capitalism under the microscope as no one else ever has, but she isn't quite ready to acknowledge it is the mechanism for achieving the consummate agenda of organizations such as the Bilderberg Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission, namely the dissolution of nation states which will ultimately be replaced by global corporatocracy. For most progressive intellectuals, the mere mention of these organizations suggests "conspiracy theory" since progressives tend to minimize the role of elite organizations in international and domestic affairs. And yet, what Klein has given us in Shock Doctrine is conspiracy fact on steroids! Moreover, a number of left-liberal poster children are members of one or more of the ruling elite groups mentioned above-an inconvenient truth, so to speak, for true believers tethered to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in search of salvation from all things Republican.


So What Does It Matter If Progressives Can't Go There?

It matters because not being able to go there fosters endless displays of the definition of insanity-doing the same thing that doesn't work, over and over again, each time expecting a different result. As David Kendall writes in his December 1 article, "Surprise!":

 

Every single election -- every four years (or however frequently people participate in this fiasco) -- everybody seems "SURPRISED" by the inevitable outcome. Candidate promises "change" -- candidate gets elected -- campaign promises are discarded -- nothing changes for the better -- so the electorate writes nasty editorials in his general direction for the next four to eight years.

 

What KIND of "change" are hungry "Americans" looking for?

"Gee, I'm tired of getting screwed-over. Seems like it's time for a CHANGE"?

The liberal left perpetuates not only everyone else's denial but the false hopes and pseudo-solutions of the American political chimera, the corruption of which is consummate and which serves no other purpose than choreographing a caricature of democracy and ensuring  massive social control.

 

Chris Floyd in a post-election article "What If Bush Did It?". exposes the crux of left-liberal insanity:

 

WIBDI: What If Bush Did It?

This user-friendly analytical tool provides a quick and easy way of determining the value of any given policy while correcting one's perception for partisan bias. Simply take a particular action or proposal and submit it to the WIBDI test: If Bush did this, would you think it was OK? Or would you condemn it as the act of a warmonger, or a tyrant, or a corrupt corporate tool, etc.? The just-concluded campaign has already shown us how our hordes of our quondam dissidents have signally failed this test, excusing, countenancing, defending or even embracing the actions and positions enumerated below by Chris Hedges:

"Sen. Barack Obama's vote to renew the Patriot Act, his votes to continue to fund the Iraq war, his backing of the FISA Reform Act, his craven courting of the Israeli lobby, his support of the death penalty, his refusal to champion universal, single-payer not-for-profit health care for all Americans, his call to increase troop levels and expand the war in Afghanistan, his failure to call for a reduction in the bloated and wasteful defense spending and his lobbying for the huge taxpayer swindle known as the bailout..."

 

Post-Election Comments By Naomi Klein

Appearing on Democracy Now on November 25, Klein wasted no time taking to task Larry Summers, former Clinton Secretary of the Treasury, whom Obama has just appointed Director of the White House National Economic Council. According to Klein, Summers has embraced "the three 'ations', and those were privatization, stabilization, and liberalization. So he has been preaching the [shock] doctrine. He is by no means an innocent bystander. He is a dyed-in-the-wool privatizer and free trader."

Klein has also spoken out loudly about Obama's new Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner and Robert Rubin who, although not appointed to a cabinet post in the Obama administration will continue as an economic advisor. We shall consider the backgrounds of Geithner and Rubin below, but first, a troubling statement by Klein in the Democracy Now interview regarding the role of Clinton administration Democrats in the origins of the current economic collapse:

Part of what causes the situation that seems to be very disappointing appointments is the fact we of not been honest about the legacy of the Clinton years. So much misinformation was spread during the election campaign, because it was a nice message to present the nineties as these wonder years in contrast to the Bush years. That is exactly what created the situation where you could have Summers being presented as the wise man instead of going down with Alan Greenspan. When Alan Greenspan's reputation was raked over the coals, it should have Rubin and Summers along side him.

In an October 16 interview, Klein exposes the role of Robert Rubin standing beside Alan Greenspan in promoting the de-regulation that helped create financial meltdown. In fact, summarizing her rant, Klein blatantly states, "I want him thrown under the bus."

And so once again we must ask: What if Bush did it? And like Chris Floyd, Klein has had the courage to ask the question, albeit using different language.

University of Ottawa Economics Professor, Michel Chossudovsky's November 9 article asks "Who Are The Architects of Economic Collapse" and offers a litany similar to Klein's of the key players in Obama's economic entourage. Chossudovsky notes that:

Timothy Geithner is CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which is the most powerful private financial institution in America. He was also a former Clinton administration Treasury official. He has worked for Kissinger Associates and has also held a senior position at the IMF. The FRBNY plays a behind the scenes role in shaping financial policy. Geithner acts on behalf of powerful financiers, who are behind the FRBNY. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

Of Paul Volcker, now heading Obama's economic team, Chossudovsky states:

Paul Volker was chairman of the Federal Reserve Board in the l980s during the Reagan era. He played a central role in implementing the first stage of financial deregulation, which was conducive to mass bankruptcies, mergers and acquisitions, leading up to the 1987 financial crisis.   

Another significant player in the Obama economic team is Jon Corzine, current governor of New Jersey and former CEO of Goldman Sachs.

In summary, Chossudovsky asks:

Where are Obama's "Main Street appointees"? Namely individuals who respond to the interests of people across America.  There are no labor or community leaders on Obama's list for key positions. 

The President-elect is appointing the architects of financial deregulation. 

Meaningful financial reform cannot be adopted by officials appointed by Wall Street and who act on behalf of Wall Street.  

Those who set the financial system ablaze in 1999, have been called back to turn out the fire. 

The proposed "solution" to the crisis under the "bailout" is the cause of further economic collapse. 

There are no policy solutions on the horizon.

        What we are witnessing is continuity. 

We should not take Obama's appointments to task? We should wait until the actions of his administration demonstrate a commitment to the status quo? Such reasoning, I believe, is not only counter-intuitive but an insult to any intelligent mind. What ever happened to "if it slithers, hisses, and strikes like a snake, it probably is"?

Meanwhile, back at the 747 airliner mentioned above and the argument that only insiders know how to fly it-an absolutely valid assertion, if one is unwilling to consider alternatives to the 747 as a means of transportation. However, if one understands that the 747 has been designed to destroy everything in its path and blow up everyone on board, it is not difficult to pursue other options. Or as Richard Moore states in "Obama: Beware of Elites Bearing Gifts",

Humanity is the patient, and capitalism (ie, rule by capitalist elites) is the disease. The agenda of our leaders, and Obama will be no exception, is to sacrifice the patient so that the disease may survive. The agenda will include an expansion of genocide in the third world, assisted by the biofuel market and runaway food prices, and it will most likely include a nuclear confrontation with Russia and perhaps China. As Kissinger says, you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs. Final consolidation of global power is an omelette worth many a sacrifice, particularly if you get to eat the omelette and aren't the one making the sacrifices....


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