Nerve 20 - Shocking

Shocking

By Jennifer Verson
Image by Wayne Blackledge

'I know who the enemy is and the enemy knows who I am too'(1)

When we are in shock we are disoriented.

In the 1960s at the University of Chicago, economist Milton Friedman, the ideological force behind free market capitalism, began half a century of economic teaching that would utilise these moments of disorientation to bring in radical changes in economies.

Friedman advised governments in economic crisis to follow strict austerity measures, combining radical cuts in social services with the full-scale privatization of their more lucrative assets. Many countries in Latin America auctioned off everything standing - from energy and water utilities to Social Security - to for-profit multinational firms, crushing unions and other dissenters along the way.(2)

Long sentences handed out after the riots last year do not quite make the UK Chile under Pinochet, but it is critical that a society under attack from an unelected government understands the enemy and begins the process of inoculating our population to help them build immunity to the disease that is Shock Therapy. There have now been over 40 years of evidence about the utilisation of these moments of cognitive confusion to introduce free market capitalism.

With the experience of historical and more recent precedents of Shock Therapy we should be able to recognise that the actions and language of the current government are intended to heighten stress, shock and disorientation rather than calm it.

When the populace feels angry and fearful because of social unrest then disproportionately long jail terms for people involved in protests or riots become acceptable. The use of the repetitive, affirmative language of propaganda enables governments to sell ideology disguised as inevitability: hence, 'We have no choice with an aging population'. Similarly, politicians urging people not to panic-buy fuel guarantees a diversion from the real issues at stake. All you have to do is use the Language of Crisis and people will accept drastic measures such as sudden cuts to jobs and public services. Currently in the UK this looks like healthcare delivered by Bupa and not the NHS, 'Defence' by Blackwater and not the RAF, trains by Virgin and not British Rail, and the privatisation of education with academies or 'Free Schools'.

We should understand that a government that arms itself against the poor is critically in a state of trouble. The first thing that the coalition government did was to change the rules about calling an election and redrawing electoral borders thus making it substantially more difficult to get rid of them. All this while the population is in a state of confusion and crisis. But being able to see the politics behind the actions can help everybody battle the staged disorientation and become more resilient. They've done their homework, but what are we going to do?

References

Sergio Tomasella quoted in 'Shock Doctrine' by Naomi Klein
www.naomiklein.org/articles/2011/07/guest-blog-milton-friedmans-little-shop-horrors

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