An investigation of "disaster capitalism", based on Naomi Klein's proposition that neo-liberal capitalism feeds on natural disasters, war and terror to establish its dominance.
Ben Schwartz of Night School plays our voice-over challenge, impersonating Don Corleone, James Bond, and Pennywise.
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Title: The Shock Doctrine (2009)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Ewen Cameron | ... | Himself (archive footage) (as Dr. Ewen Cameron) |
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Janine Huard | ... | Herself |
| Naomi Klein | ... | Herself | |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | ... | Himself (archive footage) (as Franklin Delano Roosevelt) | |
| Milton Friedman | ... | Himself | |
| Salvador Allende | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
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Donald O. Hebb | ... | Himself - Doctor (as Donald Hebb) |
| Richard Nixon | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
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Edward Korry | ... | Himself - Former US Ambassador to Chile |
| Augusto Pinochet | ... | Himself (archive footage) | |
| Margaret Thatcher | ... | Herself (archive footage) | |
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Orlando Letelier | ... | Himself (archive footage) |
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Michael Townley | ... | Himself |
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Arnold Harberger | ... | Himself |
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Jorge Rafael Videla | ... | Himself (archive footage) (as Jorge Videla) |
Naomi Klein gives a lecture tracing the confluence of ideas about modifying behavior using shock therapy and other sensory deprivation and modifying national economics using the "shock treatment" of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School. She moves chronologically: Pinochet's Chile, Argentina and its junta, Yeltsin's Russia, Bush and Bremer's Iraq. A trumped-up villain provides distraction or rationalization: Marxism, the Falklands, nuclear weapons, terrorists; and, always, there is a great shift of money and power from the many to the few. News footage, a narrator, and talking heads back up Klein's analysis. She concludes on a note of hope. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
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This is a movie you should check out. Aristotle said that "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Well, going back to the start of the review, even if you think that what Naomi Klein is talking about is pure nonsense, "The Shock Doctrine" is a movie to watch, precisely even more if you don't agree with the ideas it presents.
Basically the movie talks about how capitalism aliments itself on conflict and shocks, meaning that it is very good at distracting the attention from the important to some event that is terrible, but not the most terrible. For example, it talks about how the United Kingdom got into the Falklands War, and how that distracted public attention from the strikes and the civil unrest that was ongoing in the country. Does it all sound a little bit conspiratorial? It does, but it is also true that when something like a war happens, people's attention will be centered on that event, and it will become a situation of "us" vs. "others". Even if you don't believe that happens on purpose, it is true that systems, being it capitalism or other, may take advantage of those situations.
But that's for a politics or international relations class. Going back to the documentary, "The Shock Doctrine" presents its ideas in a very clear and easy to understand way, and it gives enough examples to see why they say what they say. In that respects it does a very nice job. It also does a good job in making the viewer think and analyze situations. And it is very interesting to try to see things in a different light from the "official" view of things.
As Aristotle said, you don't have to accept it. Or agree with it. But it doesn't hurt to think.