Naomi Klein believes the population will respond better than in the 2008 crisis
- Canadian journalist Naomi Klein is known for her in-depth research work, including the book Shock, which she wrote in 2007. In it he explained how the crisis resorted to capitalism to further disperse the culture of the private, impoverishing the poorest and enriching the rich. In the middle, Vice has been asked how he analyzes from this point of view the coronavirus crisis. The interview can be read in Spanish on the EITB Rebellion website.
Klein begins to explain what “catastrophe capitalism” in his view: “It basically describes how private industries emerge to benefit from major crises.” It says it is not new, but it does say that after 11 September the Bush Administration went a long way into this strategy, especially when it described this type of crisis as “an unending security crisis” and privatized the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.
In response to the journalist's questions, Shock explains where the concept of doctrine comes from: “It was Milton Friedman’s response to the US New Deal program. This neoliberal economist thought that in New Deal everything had gone wrong” and that that situation had to be reversed. “The political and economic elites take advantage of these moments of crisis to push forward those policies that citizens do not want, and with them the wealth in this country and throughout the world is polarized even more.”
Klein explains how he sees the coronavirus crisis in the Shock doctrine scheme: “The virus itself is shock and as it has been used, the disorder is dispersed and disregards protection. He does not believe that “behind this there is any kind of conspiracy”, but that the United States and Trump have handled this crisis very badly, using it more as a problem of perception than as a public health problem and also as “a problem for their reelection”.
Klein expects a delicate situation in the United States, where there is no national health program and because "the protection workers have is very bad." It also announces that this crisis will be used to rescue industrial sectors in previous crises such as airlines, gas and oil industries, and cruise ships, among others.
As for the capacity to respond to the current crisis, he looks forward to this situation, as unlike 2008 “we now have real political alternatives to respond to the crisis in another way” and the political movement that supports it “is much broader”. Klein has supported Bernie Sanders, who is increasingly less likely to be the candidate of the White House Democratic Party.
With the insistence of the world elites to take advantage of this crisis to protect their interests, Klein calls on the citizens to avoid the individualistic response. In their opinion, the winners’ economy introduces into our brain: “I will take care of myself and mine, we can get the best safe health and if you can’t, surely it’s your problem, it’s not my fault.” In his view, “a crisis like this shows us that we are truly more united among ourselves than what makes us believe our savage economic system: if we do not take care of ourselves, none of us will be sure, we will be trapped.” And he stresses that it is time for solidarity: “Keep this in mind, instead of thinking about what to accumulate, or just thinking about yourself and your family, think also about what you can share with your neighbors and how you can help the most vulnerable.”
