Bush-led 'disaster capitalism' exploits worldwide misery to make a buck

Once oil passed $140 a barrel, even the most rabidly right-wing media hosts had to prove their populist cred by devoting a portion of every show to bashing Big Oil. Some have gone so far as to invite me on for a friendly chat about an insidious new phenomenon: "disaster capitalism." It usually goes well - until it doesn't.

For instance, "independent conservative" radio host Jerry Doyle and I were having a perfectly amiable conversation about sleazy insurance companies and inept politicians when this happened: "I think I have a quick way to bring the prices down," Doyle announced. "We've invested $650 billion to liberate a nation of 25 million people. Shouldn't we just demand that they give us oil? There should be tankers after tankers backed up like a traffic jam getting into the Lincoln Tunnel, the Stinkin' Lincoln, at rush hour with thank-you notes from the Iraqi government ... Why don't we just take the oil? We've invested it liberating a country. I can have the problem solved of gas prices coming down in ten days, not ten years."

There were a couple of problems with Doyle's plan, of course. The first was that he was describing the biggest stickup in world history. The second, that he was too late: "We" are already heisting Iraq's oil, or at least are on the cusp of doing so.

It's been ten months since the publication of my book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, in which I argue that today's preferred method of reshaping the world in the interest of multinational corporations is to systematically exploit the state of fear and disorientation that accompanies moments of great shock and crisis. With the globe being rocked by multiple shocks, this seems like a good time to see how and where the strategy is being applied.

And the disaster capitalists have been busy -- from private firefighters already on the scene in Northern California's wildfires, to land grabs in cyclone-hit Burma, to the housing bill making its way through Congress. The bill contains little in the way of affordable housing, shifts the burden of mortgage default to taxpayers and makes sure that the banks that made bad loans get some payouts. No wonder it is known in the hallways of Congress as "The Credit Suisse Plan," after one of the banks that generously proposed it.
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Those conspiring behind closed doors are not Democrats or Republicans to me. They aren't even real Americans. They are globalist elitist Fascists who use misery and tragedy to profit and to subjugate the weak and poor. That is not how a Democratic society built upon liberty and equality exists. I have thought for quite some time that the climate crisis was not being addressed properly because those in power want it to get worse so they can push their genetically modified seeds, milk, and other franken products on farmers...so they can take our water to commoditize it... so they can invade the Arctic to get its resources.... and so they can use war and environmental devastation to continue their march to global domination while weakening civil rights.

For in a truly Democratic society, pre-emptive war would not be waged against countries that had not attacked us. Climate change would be addressed properly as the urgent crisis it is for our survival. All people would have an equal voice in this process. Media conglomerates would not be owned by the governments and those associated with governments pumping out only what they want us to hear and other distractionary bs in lieu of telling truth and educating the populace. But that isn't what we have. What we have is global Fascism subtle as it may be, and if the people do not stand up to this now we will lose it all.