Naomi Klein’s brilliant book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise. Of Disaster Capitalism (2007) documented a systemic pattern of wealthy interests and corporations exploiting major crises to advance radical, free-market policies that would be impossible to implement under normal democratic conditions. She calls it “Disaster Capitalism” and it is operating in full force in America today.
Milton Friedman, the godfather of neoliberalism, in his 1982 book, Capitalism and Freedom, said “Only a crisis-actual or perceived-produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the action that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe is our basic function, to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable.”
Klein documented how Friedman’s followers learned to stockpile free market ideas in advance, to prepare for disasters, then move swiftly to impose rapid and irreversible changes before crisis-wrapped societies could slip back into what Friedman called “the tyranny of the status quo.” Here is a perfect example:
Yesterday it was reported that hidden deep within the Big Bullshit Bill is the sale of millions of acres of public land into private hands. This will occur with no environmental reviews, no public input or any considerations that would normally apply to such a sale. This was inserted into the bill by Senator Mike Lee of Utah and it mandates the disposal of between 2.02 and 3.04 million acres of public land. That’s the cover story. However, according to the Western Watersheds Project, over 294 million acres would be affected and available under the criteria for sale. This represent .5-.75 of all BLM and Forest Service land. It establishes a rapid-fire process for disposing of the land; invites all interested parties to apply within 30 days of the Bill’s passage—This July 4th. (For some reason Montana was excluded from the majority of Western States where these lands are located. My first intuition was so as not to disturb the millionaire’s playground that portions of Montana have become, but there may be an innocent reason.)
This would be the largest transfer of public wealth into private hands in our history. I’ll say again—there will be no public impact, environmental reviews or testimony. Once in private hands the owners can do what they wish with the lands, but they will no longer be public—this may include beloved National Parks. This is occurring under the smoke screen of the daily insults to democracy and catastrophes initiated by the Trump/Republican cabal. It’s time to flood legislators phones with objections before it is too late.