by David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
October 3, 2008
from
RawStory
Website
On Thursday's edition of The Colbert Report, bestselling author
Naomi Klein argued that the Bush Administration creates crises in order
to "enrich themselves and their friends," drawing parallels between the
torture of prisoners and the economic bailout being provided to Wall St. by
US leaders.
Previously, Klein called out the sprawling economic crisis as just another
example of the Bush 'shock doctrine,' a key component to the ruling regime's
corporate agenda.
"Now, the name of your book is 'The Shock
Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,'" said host Stephen
Colbert. "Okay now, what is the 'shock doctrine'? 'Cause, that
sounds like a great way to get information out of a prisoner."
Amused, Klein responded,
"Well, there really is a parallel. If you
really want to get information out of a prisoner, you have to put them
into a state of shock, and when they're in that state, they'll kind of
do whatever you want."
"Exactly!" exclaimed Colbert. "So, you agree that we should be torturing
prisoners. You just said that. Those are your words, madam."
Laughing, his guest played off the satirical
remark.
"Whole societies also go into states of
shock when there's a crisis, like when there's a terrorist attack, or a
huge natural disaster, or a huge economic crisis," said Klein.
"Something happens, people don't know what's going on, and they'll kind
of do whatever people in authority want them to do."
Klein continued:
"They use shocks to enrich themselves and
their friends... People are becoming shock resistant, which is
wonderful because they remember the way this administration used the
shock of
Sept. 11 to build the Homeland Security
industry; how Rudy Giuliani went into that industry himself as soon as
he left office. They remember how the war in Iraq was used to privatize
the government."
This video is from Comedy Central's The
Colbert Report, broadcast October 2, 2008.
The Shock Doctrine
Naomi Klein
More on 'The Shock Doctrine':
Reviewing Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine"