Friday, January 27, 2017

Resisting the Trumpublican Shock Doctrine Blitzkrieg

Resisting the Trumpublican Shock Doctrine Blitzkrieg

"The Trumpublicans are intent on manipulating the shock of Donald Trump’s victory to roll back much of the New Deal and Great Society; ram through unvetted Cabinet appointments intent on undermining the legal mandate of the very Departments they are charged with leading; legitimize unprecedented conflicts of interest; and intimidate opponents, professional civil servants, and the press, in a rapid Blitzkrieg, before the opposition even knows what hit them. This is a classic case of what Naomi Klein termed “The Shock Doctrine” in her 2007 book of the same title. A quick tutorial on The Shock Doctrine: In times of political, economic, or social crisis (including wars, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, economic panics, coups and other dramatic political upheavals) oligarchic forces push through otherwise unpopular “free market” and neoliberal reforms—including deregulation, privatization, tax cuts for the elites, and massive cuts to the social safety net, in the hope that that the resistance won’t have time to organize."