I’m reading, for the second time, “Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein.  I’ve long felt the book should be required reading for American adults who wish a better insight into the TRUTH about who America’s REAL government has functioned for since the end of World War II.  Additionally, last week I watched the movie “The Butler” which was an additional riveting look at what many of us in America have been shielded from by our “liberal media.”  The spike in overt racial hate since the election of Barrack Obama is nothing new, I’m sure, from the perspective of Black Americans who are “mature” adults (that is, around my age or older – I’m a “baby boomer”).  For me, being the natural optimist that I am, it is deflating and discouraging.  However, in reading Klein’s great book, my eyes are opened (re-opened in this case – evidently, I’ve got to read things more than once) to the very real THREAT posed by the right wing cabal that is motoring the republican party toward domination of our political system in a way that defies the original intent of our founders (and, our voters).  The “Shock Doctrine” clearly points out how, with the help of America’s CIA, American corporations and the economists known as the “Chicago boys” enabled vicious dictators to overturn several democratically elected governments in the southern part of South America in the 60’s and 70’s – with the result being imprisonment, torture, and murder for tens of thousands of “leftists” in the countries of Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, and Uruguay.

These atrocities were not limited to this “Southern Cone” of South America; the CIA orchestrated the overthrow of the democratically elected leader of Iran in the 50’s for the “Shah of Iran” – who was a brutal dictator that killed and tortured Iranians en masse and led to the bitter hatred of the United States continuing in Iran to this day.  Additionally, the “Shock Doctrine” was the “philosophy” behind the ousting of Saddam Hussein in Iraq orchestrating the disastrous “free market” experiment there.  I will attempt to gather my thoughts in a way that isn’t too scatter-brained to get my point of this post across, but if you’re having trouble making sense of what I’m trying to say, please read that book.  I believe what is happening in America today is the result of the “Shock Doctrine” – which had its “testing” done in Chile and Argentina (and other “third world” countries – I forgot to mention Indonesia) – being turned on an unsuspecting American public.

Now, there are many besides myself who recognize the threat people like Charles and David Koch, the Coors family, the DeVoss family, the Walton family – these are some of the people with the unlimited funds (sometimes referred to as ” the top one tenth of one percent”) – and their mouth pieces who will say anything for their bloated salaries (like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Lars Larsen, and many other right wing “talkers) – pose for Americans who believe in a “bottom up” government designed to help “The least of these” (in the words of Jesus Christ).  The “New Deal” instituted in the years of Franklin Roosevelt, followed by the “Great Society” of the Lyndon Johnson years led to America’s great middle class.  The aforementioned people (the infamous Koch’s and others) have been committed to the abolishment of every aspect of these great programs since their inception.  It has been a long process for them and I’m finally realizing the depth of their commitment which “turned the corner” with the election of Ronald Reagan and has stealthily been picking up “steam” since.  Prior to that, the Kochs and the rest of their “ilk” were marginalized extremists who were on the outside of American politics.  As I’m reading Klein’s book it’s becoming apparent to me that the American public had better take notice of this threat, because their core beliefs are scary.  The Koch brothers, for example, come from the heart and soul of the John Birch Society and Koch Industries has an annual income in excess of ONE HUNDRED BILLION dollars.  They are spending hundreds of MILLIONS to push their philosophy on the unsuspecting American public.  This is the Ayn Rand “The rich should rule” philosophy.  (another “must read” to better understand this “cabal” is “The Family” by Jeff Sharlett).

The people behind this movement use the phrase “free market” to shield their REAL intentions.  For some reason when you throw the word “free” into the conversation Americans seem to think that must be a good thing.  Well, when you find out what their real FREE MARKET really is, you begin to understand the true motivations of those who worship at the alter of Milton Friedman (the “free market” guru) and Ronald Reagan (the president who turned this movement from a fringe element of our society into mainstream “thought”)  Recently I was listening to the Thom Hartman radio talk show and Thom was debating someone directly from the free market philosophy – I believe it was someone from the Heritage Foundation.  The person (I didn’t catch his name) based his entire argument in defending “trickle down” economic theory (which is based on Friedman’s philosophy) by saying that during the years of Reagan and GW Bush “more wealth was created than at any other time in America’s history.  I have no idea if what he said was factual (Hartman didn’t respond as I would have) – but, the fallacy of his argument, to me, lies in the REALITY that during this time whatever wealth has been produced has become entrenched in fewer and fewer hands.  During the years he was talking about, real wages of the workers in America have dwindled while the wealth of the top 1% has skyrocketed.  No matter how you look at the “free market” argument, if you’re an average person, it should cause you to gag.  It’s almost as if they’re using the same philosophy used to sell lottery tickets – if there’s even a chance you can get filthy rich, the system is “good.”

This “free market” philosophy has been “tested” all across the globe with frightening results.  The worst part is that it seems to come directly into conflict with democracy.  In each of the countries where the economic “shock treatment” has been instituted, not only have the economic results been pathetic, but millions of people have lost their lives, their property, their loved ones, etc.  Iraq is the most extreme example, as I read Klein’s book.  Hundred’s of thousands of Iraqi’s have been killed because of the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld push to turn the Iraq economy into a privatized oasis for multinational corporations.  Additionally, 4 MILLION plus Iraqi’s were displaced by the results of our providing them with “free markets.”  (Not to mention the torturing – which was entirely consistent with previous versions of the “shock doctrine” in places like Chile, Indonesia, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Poland – the theory goes something like this: if someone opposes the “free market” shock – they are removed from the scene – one way or another)  I guess you could say this “free market” philosophy, once in place, relies almost exclusively on the FEAR factor for its success.  As you can imagine, many people respond unfavorably when they realize they’re being FLEECED by corporate behemoths.

In reality, virtually every example of the “shock doctrine” has resulted in authoritarian government at the expense of elected government.  Mohammad Mosaddegh was attempting to turn Iran into a democracy (he was the duly elected prime minister) and he was ousted in a coup d’etat orchestrated with the help of Britain and the United States.  Salvador Allende was the elected leader of Chile who was ousted by a coup orchestrated from inside the CIA (and the other countries I’ve listed above have the same stories) who installed the ruthless dictator Augusto Pinochet.  The similarity in every one of these countries is the removal of a democratically elected leader for a tyrant.  (of course, the tyrant was willing to “work with” America’s corporate interests)  In Iraq, despite the FACT that Saddam Hussein was a tyrant, the American authorities quickly realized, after removing him from power, their dream of a “free market” takeover of Iraq would be impossible with a “democracy” so they imposed their own “democracy” – which fueled the insurgency that turned Iraq into “hell on earth.”

What makes this all even more obscene to me is that Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Eric Prince, and many other republican  “insiders” made HUGE profits (we’re talking in the hundreds of MILLIONS) at the expense of the Iraqi people and the unsuspecting American taxpayers.  (This reminds me AGAIN of why I consider Barrack Obama’s decision to “look forward instead of back” – allowing the Bush/Cheney criminals to walk away without even an investigation, one of the most disappointing presidential decisions of my lifetime)  Their “free market” consists of “private” corporations (friendly ones at that who gain incredible “no bid” contracts) feeding from the public trough.  That is, Halliburton employees pumping gas for American troops at TEN TIMES the cost of the troops themselves doing this.  However, in the eyes of people like Rumsfeld and Cheney, this requires cutbacks in the number of “government employees” – ie troops while, at the same time, funneling HUGE profits into the bank accounts of their crony capitalist friends.  (and, of course, themselves!)

The number of innocent people who’ve been murdered, tortured, displaced, or “disappeared” due to this movement that is centered at the University of Chicago and is pushed by the right wing of the republican party is in the MILLIONS.  That alone should, in my view, be getting the attention of more journalists in America than just Klein (although, I’m sure there’s other books out there documenting this deplorable American reality).  This goes back to what I’ve been trying to point out for several years now and that is America’s “liberal media” is anything BUT liberal!  In fact, I’ve come to believe that those in America’s media are afraid of the backlash that will result if they actually probe into the real mechanisms of our government.  Remember Dan Rather?  He had the audacity to probe into the phony military records of GW Bush, who was a drug user, a philanderer, a heavy drinker, and an AWOL Air Force “pilot” who couldn’t be trusted to fly planes and who didn’t show up for his required duty.  That was Bush’s way out of serving HONORABLY during Viet Nam – but, didn’t give him even the slightest pause as he sent thousands of Americans needlessly to their deaths in Iraq along with the aforementioned HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of Iraqi’s.  Rather was fired almost immediately and that, to me, was a part of the “shock doctrine” that’s even more subtle than the “free market” mantra they profess.  Reporters seem to have been “shaking in their boots” since.

In America today, we’re seeing this same pattern of behavior played out with the demand for “austerity” from the republicans (they’re using the “sequester” to get their way) while continuing to allow corporate interests to pillage the American taxpayers by the BILLIONS.  Since the Supreme Court anointed the Bush/Cheney regime we’ve seen the off-shore havens become a tax avoidance “wet dream” for America’s uber rich (people like Mitt Romney) who believe paying taxes is an assault on their right to be greedy, we’ve seen MANY multinational corporations avoid ANY taxes at all and yet find ways to ream the American taxpayers for HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS in corporate WELFARE.  They don’t want the victims of their financial overreach to be eligible for food stamps, but they’ll fight to the death for their corporate subsidies.  This fleecing of the public “trough” is the same thing the “Chicago boys” have promoted in country after country around the world.  I guess that was all practice for their real goal of turning their pillaging against the American public.  And, as of this writing, I don’t think too many Americans have even a clue as to what is happening to them.  They realize things are really messed up, but they don’t understand the real cause.  (we’re busy arguing about abortion, gay rights, etc.)

What can be done to stop these people?  Well, I prefer to continue my push to urge VOTERS to remove republicans every chance they get from national and local offices.  The problem with that approach, of course, is that in our society that leaves us with the alternative of voting for democrats.  That has been a lifelong frustration for me – although more so of late.  I really was behind President Obama (and, I truly hope he succeeds) – but, I haven’t seen a move away from the “Chicago boys” philosophy in a clear distinctive manner.  To me, Larry Summers is right out of the mold of the “free market” pillagers.  Tim Geithner was another “Goldman Sachs” crony who helped to push this “non-recovery” recovery on us post 2008 meltdown.  These people were quick to find TRILLIONS to prevent Wall Street from TOTALLY ruining the world’s economy (I’m talking here about GW Bush and his Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, but Summers and Geithner – I’m convinced – were right “there’ on the bailouts). The corporations continue to flourish under Obama (despite their apparent “hate” for him) and he is running out of time to convince me he’s not simply a lessor part of the problem (yes, he’s a great improvement over a republican – but, I’m still waiting for the “change I can believe in – maybe the “tea party’s” push to “shut down” the government and/or default on America’s debt – will convince him to aggressively fight back – I’m seeing some encouraging signs of late).  It is preposterous to call President Obama a “socialist” or a “liberal.”  To me, he is a pragmatist who leans too far to the right.  (I suppose the republicans have moved so far to the right that it makes our president seem like a liberal to many)

And, furthermore, it appears the United States will be spending more on the MILITARY than the rest of the world combined for the foreseeable future, while continuing to arm brutal dictators around the globe as long as they have the resources we need in exchange for our weapons.  And, to listen to our “liberal media” you have to wonder whether they are even capable of looking at our government policy from any lens besides the one we’ve been brainwashed to believe over the past 40+ years.  The only people in the world who seem to be ignorant of the depravity of America’s CIA, for example, are Americans.  I’m still wondering how President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize.  To me, the republicans should be lauding him over his leadership of our military.  (bin Laden’s dead and Syria is about to give up their chemical weapons – peacefully, but certainly the result of Obama’s resolve to respond to their use – which I have to admit I was not in favor of)

We’ve been convinced that our military and our CIA (and our militaristic policy) are “keeping us safe.”  To me, the reality is that the United States of America is going down a self-destructive path that is headed to a disaster – that I certainly can’t predict or define – of great proportions.  President Eisenhower warned us about the “Military Industrial Complex” – and, that is what is allowing this “shock doctrine” to even be part of the discussion.  I don’t think “we the people” even begin to understand the stranglehold that corporations like Lockheed Martin, Halliburton,  General Electric, the Carlyle Group, Bechtel, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Booz Allen (of the spying fame), and I could go ON AND ON – have on our system of government.  The leaders of these entities are behind the “shock doctrine” movement (in America it’s referred to as “privatization”) and, we all know, they’ve virtually BOUGHT AND PAID FOR our congressional leaders who are NOT going to pass legislation that causes them (the legislators) to lose the “support” of these companies (there’s too many companies to list, but click here for a better idea of the magnitude of the problem).

I believe the more money we funnel to our militaristic corporations to “keep us safe,” the less safe – we in America – will be!  Keeping us safe is not the REAL objective of those behind the “shock doctrine” (or, if you will, the “free market” movement).  Their objective is to CONTROL the government and pillage the American taxpayers for every cent they can before they are “uncovered” – at which time they will do what Halliburton did – and, move their operations to somewhere in the world where they can avoid accountability.  (unfortunately, with the opposition being democrats – they don’t really need to fear accountability)