Naomi Klein: Free market ideology is far from finished

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK:



Free market ideology is far from finished
But with Wall Street rescued by government intervention, there's never been a better time to argue for collectivist solutions

Naomi Klein
guardian.co.uk, Friday September 19 2008 18:40 BST



Whatever the events of this week mean, nobody should believe the overblown claims that the market crisis signals the death of "free market" ideology. Free market ideology has always been a servant to the interests of capital, and its presence ebbs and flows depending on its usefulness to those interests.

During boom times, it's profitable to preach laissez faire, because an absentee government allows speculative bubbles to inflate. When those bubbles burst, the ideology becomes a hindrance, and it goes dormant while big government rides to the rescue. But rest assured: the ideology will come roaring back when the bailouts are done. The massive debts the public is accumulating to bail out the speculators will then become part of a global budget crisis that will be the rationalisation for deep cuts to social programmes, and for a renewed push to privatise what is left of the public sector. We will also be told that our hopes for a green future are, sadly, too costly.

What we don't know is how the public will respond. Consider that in North America, everybody under the age of 40 grew up being told that the government can't intervene to improve our lives, that government is the problem not the solution, that laissez faire was the only option. Now, we are suddenly seeing an extremely activist, intensely interventionist government, seemingly willing to do whatever it takes to save investors from themselves.

This spectacle necessarily raises the question: if the state can intervene to save corporations that took reckless risks in the housing markets, why can't it intervene to prevent millions of Americans from imminent foreclosure? By the same token, if $85bn can be made instantly available to buy the insurance giant AIG, why is single-payer health care – which would protect Americans from the predatory practices of health-care insurance companies – seemingly such an unattainable dream? And if ever more corporations need taxpayer funds to stay afloat, why can't taxpayers make demands in return – like caps on executive pay, and a guarantee against more job losses? ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/19/marketturmoil.usa

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. All so very, very true

[AlCzervik]

2. She's on Real Time tonight if you have HBO, if not i'm sure the vid will be available tomorrow.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Andrew Sullivan vs Naomi...... I'm betting on Naomi

He's blaming the middle class.

[AlCzervik]

6. he's being kind of a dick to her now.

[DCKit]

14. Kind of expected that when I saw the lineup.

That silly bitch can't stand not being the center of attention. And no, I'm not referring to Naomi.

Haven't watched it yet, but I'm hoping Naomi held her own and that Bill slapped the shit out of him as well.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. So when am I getting my bailout?

[roamer65]

3. Free market capitalism works great with cat toys and glass bottles.

But I wouldn't trust it with much else.:evilgrin:

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Critical line

None of this, however, will happen without huge public pressure placed on politicians in this key period. And not polite lobbying but a return to the streets and the kind of direct action that ushered in the New Deal in the 1930s. Without it, there will be superficial changes and a return, as quickly as possible, to business as usual.

[Bozita]

7. Naomi Klein, the author of the most important book of the decade -- Ignored by the MSM everyday!

Jerome "Swiftboat" Corsi lives on the MSM for a couple of weeks every time his publisher develops the courage to put his bullshit into print.

Naomi who? Is she a new novelist?

[judasdisney]

11. B - I - N - G - O

Most important book of our lifetime, along with Naomi Wolf's book.

[zeemike]

9. This one question that should be asked over and over

of the media and politicians'

"if the state can intervene to save corporations that took reckless risks in the housing markets, why can't it intervene to prevent millions of Americans from imminent foreclosure?"

Indeed WHY. We should have an answer to that, and the media should be the ones asking.

[Fla Dem]

10. These thoughts too are right on point, Great article really sums it all up..

"By the same token, if $85bn can be made instantly available to buy the insurance giant AIG, why is single-payer health care – which would protect Americans from the predatory practices of health-care insurance companies – seemingly such an unattainable dream? And if ever more corporations need taxpayer funds to stay afloat, why can't taxpayers make demands in return – like caps on executive pay, and a guarantee against more job losses? "

[JCMach1]

12. Exactly... tie the bailout to a time-table to end the war and insure universal healthcare.

and DARE Bush to veto it.

[Solly Mack]

13. K&R

[malaise]

15. Excellent read

Bravo Naomi. :yourock:

[OneBlueSky]

16. the myth of the free market has always been just that -- a myth . . .

a very powerful myth, to be sure, propagated repeatedly by government, industry, and the corporate media . . .

the truth is that capitalism works ONLY if it is strictly regulated and the playing field leveled -- something the Republicans have been fighting against for the past half century . . . without strong and effective regulation, corporate capitalism is nothing more than one huge criminal enterprise to benefit the very rich at the expense of everyone else . . .

now that their chickens have come home to roost, the free market they have touted as sacrosanct has been exposed for the fraud that it is . . . it's time to restore (and even increase) government regulation over the financial and investment industries, as well as over other crucial industries (e.g. energy) so that what's happening now can never happen again . . . the New Deal controls that have gradually been stripped away have to be restored, and new controls that address current market realities have to be added . . .

it's a huge task that will face the Obama administration come January . . . (assuming, of course, that the Repugs don't steal the election yet again) . . .