Shock Doctrine

Naomi Klein’s thesis regarding the shock doctrine refers to a critical tool utilized by the neoliberal economic system to take advantage of catastrophic events--natural, or human-made to foster the intended outcomes of privatization. Shock doctrine, stemming from the neo-liberal school of thought brought upon by economist Milton Friedman, is presented as an opportunity for a “fresh start”; where enterprises can either discreetly or forcibly attain new revenues for wealth generation. To better illustrate shock doctrine in action, we will focus on demonstrating the effects which Friedman's system had in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and the 1973 Chilean coup.
The coined term “disaster capitalism” refers to the set of specific events consisting

Given the enormous loss in life and property, private entities were able to efficiently catch local communities “off-guard” in the midst of a disaster which allowed for Friedman's imposition of privatized schools, among many other sectors such as public housing within New Orleans.The effects of privatization of a critical public commodity (in this case public schools) is described as leading to the inequitable consequences such as polarization of social classes and ethnicities (particularly African-Americans).In the aftermath of the devastation, African Americans, among other more impoverished communities not only had to contend with having to rebuild their lives but had to do so in a more unjust system.Hence, the new charter school system using public funds adopted under the leadership of Freidman left more impoverished communities deprived of equitable educational opportunities. The results of such deprivation equate to a further entrapment in a cycle of poverty, all in the name of private entities who under the neoliberal system arguably attained wealth acquisition and contracts faster than any long-term mobilization efforts to help disaster victims in Louisiana

The initial overthrow which consisted of televised bombings of the national palace and the immediate imposition and the imposition of a police state, regarding Klein's literature, represented the initial “shock” of confusion, vulnerability, and chaos. Hence, the coup represented the first intended goal highlighted by Milton Friedman's primary steps in ensuring the conversion to privatize the government. Soon after the initial coup, “Friedman advised Pinochet to impose a rapid-fire transformation of the economy--tax cuts, free trade, privatized services, cuts to social spending and deregulation” (Klein 8). What followed after Friedman's recommendations took action resulted in hyperinflation for the Chilean people and suppression of civil liberties. Once public commodities such as education, communications, and resources controls, were now in the hands of foreign enterprises which sought to exploit the Chilean economy into a profit-making system aimed to benefit foreign corporations and the interests of the United States. As would be later seen in New Orleans, public properties, schools, and other public commodities were privatized in Chile as well. The swift economic