Naomi Klein

Real Change Depends on Stopping the Bailout Profiteers

By Naomi Klein, November 4, 2008

To understand the meaning of the U.S. election results, it is worth looking back to the moment when everything changed for the Obama campaign. It was, without question, the moment when the economic crisis hit Wall Street.

Up to that point, things weren’t looking all that good for Barack Obama. The Democratic National Convention barely delivered a bump, while the appointment of Sarah Palin seemed to have shifted the momentum decisively over to John McCain.

Then, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed, followed by insurance giant AIG, then Lehman Brothers. It was in this moment of economic vertigo that Obama found a new language. With tremendous clarity, he turned his campaign into a referendum into the deregulation and trickle down policies that have dominated mainstream economic discourse since Ronald Reagan. He said his opponent represented more of the same while he stood for a new direction, one that would rebuild the economy from the ground up, rather than the top down. Obama stayed …

Naomi Klein

The Halliburton-ization of the Treasury

$700 Billion Bailout: The Halliburton-ization of the Treasury
<http://www.rollingstone .com/issue1065>  Don’t miss Naomi’s Rolling Stone feature article, “The Bailout Profiteers.” Naomi examines how the Bush administration’s $700 billion plan for Wall Street is starting to mirror Iraq’s Green Zone, with private contractors running the show and conflicts of interest run rampant. On newsstands this Friday.

In the meantime, those looking for analysis of the bailout and the financial crisis can listen to Naomi on The Brian Lehrer Show <http://www.w nyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2008/10/22> . She lays out how the US Treasury bailout is vastly inferior to the deal struck in the UK 97and listen up for her recommendation for the next U.S. Treasury Secretary.

You can also watch Naomi’s recent appearance at the Commonwealth Club <htt p://fora.tv/2008/10/16/Naomi_Klein_Disaster_Capitalism>  in San Francisco. In this onstage conversation with author Stephen Elliot, Naomi discussed how the financial crisis will impact the next U.S. president, and what people can do now to get ready for the next dose of the shock doctrine. After next Tuesday, Naomi says, “what 92s going to happen is we are going to be asked to sacrifice the dreams of actually moving to a sustainable ecological model on the altar of this crisis.”

Sandy Springs: You Read About It, Now See It!

 <http://www.youtu be.com/watch?v=dOI9yrKGAV4>  Readers of The Shock Doctrine …

Diary, Influences

Naomi Klein

I’ve been a fan of Naomi Klein (fellow Canadian) I’ve read - NO LOGO and I’m reading her new book- THE SHOCK DOCTRINE- I’m also watching a film she was involved in called THE TAKE- tonight- She and another favorite of mine-Naomi Wolff (THE BEAUTY MYTH) are fantastic, insightful food for thought/people authors, minds_- to say the least- I’ve always loved politics or fascinated anyway- The world is our children’s- and there is a way to make it a better place- it’s overwhelming the information and the perceptions- but in the end its bottom line and simple- what is best for our kids? Lets do the right thing.