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THE SHOCK DOCTRINE

Hello Earth!


Indeed, the almighty important one has been missing in action for a substantial period of time. But they all say- absence makes the heart grow fonder aye? =D I'M SURE.


So here i am, attempting to, once again, resurrect and keep to the commitment of updating this place. Hopefully. =)


Anyways, I'm currently reading this book called THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, by Naomi Klein. A background on this book: SHOCK. Yes, shock is the all and everything that embodies the contents of this book. No, it's not what I'll class as fiction. It revolves around events that are occuring in the here and now of the world today. Having said that it is not fiction, i must say, that the contents of the book is about as unreal and shocking, if not more, than fiction. In fact, the reality of the situation is what enhances the sense of shock one should feel when one reads the book. She reports to us the dirty little secrets of the real world that people, or rather, I, dont pay much attention to.


As someone once said to me before- and this someone used to be a student of mine mind you- I have effectively said a lot of nice sounding words that dont carry much meaning. True. But in this case, i call it suspense! read the book to find out yourself k! =)


I'm barely at the first chapter, but I'll say it's a worthwhile read so far. Here's a short preview:


Disaster Capitalism: "He( Milton Friedman) observed that "only a crisis - actual or perceived- produces real change." [...] once a crisis had struck, the University of Chicago professor was convinced that it was crucial to act swiftly, to impose rapid and irreversible change before the crisis-racked society slipped back into the "tyranny of status quo" "


Here, crisis refers to any sort of disaster that befalls on a country, be it economic, or natural etc.


Doesn't sound too evil right? I thought so too, until things were put in perspective- think tsunami 2004, Sri Lanka.


"I(Naomi Klein) travelled to Sri Lanka, several months after the devastating 2004 tsunami, and witnessed another version of the same maneuver: foreign investors and international leaders have teamed up to use the atmosphere of panic to hand the entire beautiful coastline over to entrepreneurs who quickly built large resorts, blocking hundreds of thousands of fishing people from rebuilding their villages near the water."


"In a cruel twist of fate, nature has presented Sri Lanka with a unique opportunity, and out of this tragedy will come a world class tourism destination."


Personally, other than the loss f lives itself, i never really thought about what other troubles await after the disaster. It was a sort of assumption that things will eventually go back to normal. But apparently not.


=o.


ok, i'm not really doing justice to the book. =.= But hopefully I've ignited a tiny candlelight of interest somewhere! Just read it! I don't think you'llbe disappointed! =)


ANYWAY, I AM AN UNDERGRAD. and *(%(, i don't particularly enjoy the new system, where everything is up to you. I suppose i enjoy having a direction to follow. I've always been more of the person to set a goal and slog towards it. Now, the goal is a bit blurred, because the scope of study is so wide. Bu ah well, i suppose the ultimate is to LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN- no wait, change that to- LEARN AS MUCH AS THE SMARTEST PERSON IN YOUR COURSE CAN! yea. It's fierce competition yo!


=D you probably can tell i ran out of things to say. So i stop HERe-

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