Shock Doctrine Essay

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The movie Shock Doctrine revolves around the concept of the same name. The film begins by discussing psychological research on the effects of shock therapy. It is evident that a person under extreme stress and anxiety commonly experienced during a crisis functions and performs inadequately. It is noted that the studies are conducted by a man by the name of Milton Friedman, from the University of Chicago; the studies took place in the past, and some of the subjects are still recovering in the aftermath. From this research, interrogation techniques were learned and the concept of the shock doctrine was formed. Essentially through causing a crisis, the population of a country can be shocked into complying with accepting laws that favors the United …show more content…

In the book Capitalism is described as “an economic system in which property and goods are primarily privately owned” (Dalton Conley 539). In the film, countries such as Chile or Argentina after undergoing an economic crisis change their countries economic system from either socialism or communism. In adopting Capitalism, privatization occurs on markets previously run by the government, such as the banking market. In Chile, private companies begin running the banks, and acting often in ways that suit the company and the higher-ups. The results are that the countries experience an increase in poverty as the corporations begin benefitting the upper class and violence due to rioting and protests taking place in response to the problems brought by capitalism. As the video mention in Chile and Argentina, rioting is often caused by unions, and corporations react through union busting. Unions are intended for a group of workers to unite to have a better chance of negotiating with the corporations, for things such as worker rights or better working conditions. Union busting is the act of disbanding unions, through direct conflict or dehumanizing union workers. Many of the unions, such as the one for miners in Chile, were either attacked/interrogated or called lazy and corrupt. Union busting is essentially

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