The Real Rudy Giuliani
The Shock Doctrine
I found this video clip on Alternet earlier and I was well…shocked. I knew that the republicans were using September 11th to push all kinds of radical and obscene legislation through congress but I hadn’t really thought about it being used as frequently as it has. Apparently, the video is a sort of introduction to a new book called “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” by Naomi Klein. It looks like she did a lot of really great research and connected a lot of dots. Its on my gotta have book list and I’ll get paid right before the September 18th when it gets released. Well, let me shut up and you watch the video for yourselves, we’ll talk after you’re done.
In a short synopsis she has on her web page about the book, she says that she tracked this trend back 50 years. Although I’m sure that power grabs during crisis have been going on since long before man came down from the trees. It’s only in recent times that the power brokers have become so maniacal and manipulative that they began probing the physiological body for weakness and now literally threaten the entire world.
So I mean think about it. After 9/11 we could have said, “whoa, why are there people out there that hate us enough to do something like that? and how can we stop them from doing that again?”. Instead of recognizing that no one blows themselves up who has a job and a loving family, which would have lead to a more just redistribution of money and resources, it lead to a more unjust situation of war, murder, and occupations for oil, the most valuable of all resources.
Of course that scenario may seem ridiculous. It’s a sad day when the most intelligent and alert people on the planet think they are powerless in the face of really the entire corrupt capitalist system. Cynicism is just another psychological defense we use to guard ourselves against knowing more and taking real action to right to the wrongs. So, on that note I encourage you to come down Washington, D.C. on September 15th to take part in a massive march to turn things around. I’ll be there putting my blog where my mouth is.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
They don’t know it yet, but those who create and try to dominate through taking advantage of crisis, are cutting themselves off from the only trail back to sanity, security and peace.
I was fortunate to sit down with 25 other minds on September 11, 2001 and begin a 10 day silent meditation retreat about training the mind in concentration. I am so grateful to have ducked the shock and awe of those 10 days. The retreat center on August 29, 2005 was buried and severely damaged by Katrina. It is being rebuilt.
There is a great story of the personal physician to the Dalai Lama. He was captured by the Chinese and tortured every day for nearly twenty years. He emerged with a deep sense of compassion for his captors and those who tortured him. His mind is filled with warmth to all. How is this possible?
What this points to is that the human mind can be trained to transmute the effects of shock, disaster and crisis.
Another picture. When Vietnamese people were fleeing their country in boats - the boat people - many boats did not make it to safety and all drowned. Those that survived happened to have, in nearly all cases, someone or someones who confidently took a leadership attitude, got everyone to stay levelheaded and working together. It was panic and fear that were some of the deadliest threats to the boat people.
We need more people to train their minds. We need more people to face crisis with calm insight and reason. We can emerge so strong if we can triumph over this cruel tactic.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Good response, Luke. I admire your dedication to peace and reason. I hope one day our government will be led by people of like mind, or that those there now will be more outspoken in that regard. Thanks for posting the video, Tao. It was mind opening and mind boggling.