The Shock Doctrine. The Barbarism and Primitivism of Deregulated Capitalism

History is an entangled topic. It also is a multi-layered one. Historic events may seem linear with clear cause-and-effect chains at first glance, but beneath there are other layers that shape and influence them.

For one reason or another, canonic history, that is taught in schools and universities is presented in a very one-sided, shallow way, that is incomplete on the least and plain deceiving on the most. Unfortunately, it is history that has been used as one of the major instruments of propaganda and manipulation, by distorting and editing it, so that it suits the ideology and views of governments and regimes.

American history books have been revised more than a dozen times in the last century. And our history, for the Bulgarian people, is a subject of debates, controversies and much uncertanties, as it has also been distorted by manipulative regimes in the past for centuries in a row. History in the span of centuries and millenias back could be a tricky subject to stitch and unearth, for obvious reasons. However, the extent of distortion of the very recent history just shocks the observer.

I am rendered speachless and stunt at the depths of propaganda and manipulation that is infused in our knowledge of events that have occurred just in the last half a century. Every official version is a load of manipulation, everyone is hypocrite, cynicism is the norm and all complex variations of human behavior stemming from the basic instincts are cultural standards even for the most "advanced".

It is a pitty that the present is never able to see itself as incomplete and backwards from the viewpoint of the future. So that is why "advanced societies" throughout history have always thought that they were at the top of cultural perfection and people continue to think like this today.

I want to share a video and the book, that it is based on. The book is titled The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. Here is the official website. It explores the barbarism, cynicism and primitive ways of imposing change to societies.

Change that does not benefit "ordinary" people, but corporations. Change, that presents itself as advanced and freedom-bringing, but in reality, it has a degrading effect and reverts societies back into feudal-like models of highly uneaqually distributed super-rich and super-poor. These are the effects of deregulated capitalism. It is barbaric simply because humans are too primitive still and are unable to regulate themselves rationally. That is why a deregulated "free" market of pure capitalism is a highly unhealthy model that has a highly erosive effect on its host society. As we can very well see this in practice all over the world.

The more I live, the more I realize that this world is guided not only by primitivity, but unbelievable doses of irrationality. Not to mention that the very definition of "sanity" gets more and more doubtful all in regards to the extent of irrationality that world leaders implement in their actions. And actions driven purely out of selfishness are also irrational, because you cannot be selfish in a system that is interdependent and where if one element is unstable, all other elements will suffer from it. And so on. It is a crazy world. Not just playfully crazy, but seriously insane. It can be seriously argued against the current standards of "sanity", as well as the current standard approaches in "curing" "sanity" divergences. It is all business. RX generation, manipulated, abused and stupified.

I highly recommend watching the documentary and the book must be at least twice as good, in terms of an "eye opener" for all those other hidden layers behind the official façade of history. The very recent history. The history of Capitalism and in parts experimental psychology. In this line of thought, as complimentary for yet more layers and perspectives, I recommend watching

• The Century of the Self (2002)
• The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear (2004)

Here are two previous articles in this blog, with more videos provoking thought and convention, conventional propaganda that is. Do browse through the "Recent Posts" section on the right side bar for more.

• Freedom or Delusion? The Feudal Elements in Modern Capitalism
• The Invisible Enslavement Of Debt Economics..

And here is the Shock Doctrine documentary:

So, am I the only one who holds the opinion that all these economists, experimental psychologists and dictatorship-training agencies should be declared psychopatic, inhumane and be held accountable for crimes against humanity?

There is Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Those three are all beautiful in theory and highly distorted in practice. It seems that neither alone is the best, maybe the best version would be a syncretic one between them all. A Social Democracy with rationally balanced state regulation and free market policy. Rationality and other higher cultural values are missing from the picture so far.

In this barbaric world of freaks and sub-human creatures, filled with lies and hypocricy. Nothing is true, everything is permitted.

Observe. Think. Make your conclusions. Wake up.

In a Free Society, We Are Supposed to Know the Truth. In a Society Where Truth Becomes Treason, We Are In Big Trouble. Wikileaks and the Post-Cablegate Geopolitical Scene

Today the truth about the dominant policy of western and eastern, northern and southern governments alike became obvious. Societies are being manipulated, abused, deceived and ruled by dictatorship-oriented totalitarian governments, whether openly or disguised as democracies. The revealed diplomatic documents by Wikileaks were supposed to create outrage in leaders concerned and serve as an awakening slap in the face for all slumbering societies. Instead, the leaders are either silent or outraged in condemnation, not for the highly cynical US diplomacy and politics, but for the whistleblower themselves, who dared to expose the truth as it is.

So, there it is. The truth about the lies finally surfaced definitively. And the reaction of US and world governments proved what their true policy is. It is a policy of manipulation and deception, not one of truth and freedom. There is no democracy in our world, there is capitalism, communism, dictatorship and various hideous political mixes of those three.

Today's politics is a dirty game of propaganda and wealth-accumulation that has nothing to do with creating a better world for the average person. Governments work for corporations and not for the people. The only democratic element that blinds people into thinking they have power to choose – voting – is another deception, because political campaigns are sponsored by corporations, not tax-payer money, as people may think. And the source of the biggest propaganda and political hypocrisy in the world, it seems, is USA. The censorship there turns out to be rivaling that of China and old totalitarian regimes, like the USSR. Yet, the American public is turning a blind eye to all this, still believing they live in a free country. A willful ignorance, silently supporting its own slavery. But, do they have a choice? What can be done? Can anything be done at this point? Can people reclaim their true freedom? Are people able to tell apart freedom from enslavement at all?

"In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, we are in big trouble" is a recent remark of Ron Paul regarding the unfolding events around the Wikileaks scandal. 

Congressman Ron Paul who had no chance of reaching the final rounds of the last presidential elections in USA, don't wonder why.

Governments and corporations take actions into closing down the whistleblower website. This act alone is quite evident as to the lack of true freedom in our modern "democratic" world. Some US politicians have even called for the assassination of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, because he is such a treat for freedom and justice. We are witnessing live a huge censorship on truth and liberty in front of our eyes. An act, that some people thought unthinkable in western democratic societies.

About the leaked documents:

"The cables show the extent of US spying on its allies and the UN; turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuse in "client states"; backroom deals with supposedly neutral countries; lobbying for US corporations; and the measures US diplomats take to advance those who have access to them. This document release reveals the contradictions between the US’s public persona and what it says behind closed doors" 

Find the documents here, until this location lasts.

The truth is, we live in a deeply messed up world today, very much resembling scenarios like the ones portrayed in literature like "1984" and "Brave New World". And it is up to people, at large, to wake up and change the course of history. Together, united by reason, honesty, moral, solidarity and humanism. 


Here are two interesting articles surrounding the Wikileaks scandal:

•  What Wikileaks Really Reveals by The Regressive Antidote
•  Wkileaks Hounded? by Reporters Without Borders. For Press Freedom 

Update:

• Interactive Map w/ released Wikileaks diplomatic cables by Guardian.co.uk

There is also a section in their website keeping track of the newest released documents here. 

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act" 
George Orwell

"None are more enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free" 

Goethe

"We live in a mentally challenged world" Oh, yeah, the blatantly obvious truth. One of the many.

(R)evolution!

Freedom or Delusion? The Feudal Elements in Modern Capitalism. Enslaved by Debt-Based Economics. A Wake Up Call on the Verge of a Revolution and/or Total Collapse

Shilled into Capitalistic ideology. We, modern people, tend to think that Feudalism is a thing of the past. That today in our advanced societies we enjoy freedoms and rights, not accessible to our unfortunate predecessors. Yes, today individuals in modern societies do enjoy new-found freedoms that were unthinkable before. Like gender equality, right to assembly and public protests, freedom to express your opinion, to trade and generally live your life the way you feel like living it. Of course, all those freedoms and rights do come with certain clauses and prepositions attached. The truth is, that all of the above are still emerging and although constitutionally accepted, those rights are not fully applied in practice. They are more or less fictional and formal, even though the average consumer may not see it this way. Perhaps, the biggest illusion in today’s world is that there is a Democracy. When in reality, there is Capitalism, which is the modern form of Feudalism.

History is a complex and entangled topic. But in history are the roots that laid today’s world. Due to a complexity of reasons, USA, with its economic ideology of Capitalistic prosperity and the American Dream, has placed itself as a world standard for social advancement, serving as an example for emerging economies. And despite all of its numerous flaws, a lot of governments do strive to follow in its footsteps, including ours, here in Bulgaria. Which I find a wrong thing to do. Indeed, whether due to a lack of alternatives or because of the short-sightedness of people in power, American Capitalism and US society had established as a world role model. But, hasn't this role model proved to be wrong?

In reality, USA was a land of prosperity and freedom, in the past. Today, it has turned into a highly exploitative system that completely excludes the “social” element and a global military aggressor. United States sits on old glory, because today’s reality is much different than the image they still project onto the world. In fact, USA is the world leader in hypocrisy and cynicism. Reprimanding corrupt foreign governments, when the US government works for corporations, instead for the people. Speaking against terrorism and military aggression, when the US foreign policy is one of the most terror-oriented and aggressive in the world. Talking about Global Warming and environment preservation, when US corporations are some of the major pollutants and destroyers of environment both on US territory and abroad.

Abusing non-renewable resources, as if the end of the world is just around the corner. Producing enormous amounts of waste, both organic and synthetic, that spill into rivers, oceans and all nature. The entire concept of perpetually expanding economic growth is wrong and unsustainable. A virtual economic prosperity, that still remains unexposed, but will not remain like this forever. Why virtual? Because, it is debt-based.

It is a strange thing that USA imports much more, than they export. Yet, Americans can afford a rather higher standard of life on the average. This is a controversy. And this is where the American credit system comes in the scene.

The land of the debt, where the average citizen has 8 credit cards and about a thousand dollars of debt on each one of those plastics. Americans are spending beyond their means and this situation puts American economy ahead of its actual GDP, thus this higher standard of living is somewhat artificially created with a lot of blink. The average American has higher rate of spending, than making money.

There are much unhealthy elements in the way US society ended up being set. Not to mention high rates of obesity, probably highest in the world, and GMO food treated with highly toxic chemicals (produced by Monsanto, the same Monsanto who produced Agent Orange for the Vietnam war) with side effects yet to be established, such as endocrine disruptive ones, both for humans and animals alike.

It may seem a great thing to be American, but is this only the façade? Behind the glamour there are shady mechanisms at work. Liberty, it seems, has been lost somewhere on the way.

Americans, today, are enslaved by corporations and banks. Banks lure people in taking credits with overwhelming advertisements, great offers and discounts, counting on the average person’s ignorance. Terms and clauses are intentionally complicated and written so that contracts be as less clear to the consumer as possible. Government, on the other hand, makes sure it keeps propaganda up, motivating society to be good consumers. However, the average American doesn’t make enough money to be that good a consumer, that is why they need to spend on credit, in order to fulfill the consumer-quota required from them. Modern consumerism, on the whole, is based on deception and misleading. A legalized fraud. Unfortunately, this model propagates itself overseas as well. For instance, here in Bulgaria, six years ago there were no mortgage credits, there were no credit advertisements on TV and on street banners. And today, already there are lots and lots of people in debt, caught in the spider web of banks and debt economics.

Banks use various strategies to keep their customers well in debt. They gladly would refinance your mortgage, so that you may fail to pay it off this time. They would even reprimand you, if you pay off your credit too fast. They don’t like you when you pay on time, thus avoiding interest. Ideally, banks want you to make minimal monthly payments forever. And, don’t worry, you can always go bankrupt and balance out your credit bills.

While, I’m not sure if all that bank credit system is such a bad thing after all. Since, if there were no credits available to the average working individual, the whole consumer-based society wouldn’t be possible. Not at these rates at least. But, what about the social side-effects of this aggressive Capitalism? What about the continuing and growing trends of inhumane practices of corporations, like sweatshops and death salaries? And what about the complete lack of care about the environment? What about taking responsibility for future generations yet unborn? What legacy are “we” leaving to them? A shattered and poisoned world? Why sustainable economy and renewable production is kept only in theory? Why are corporations waiting for the last drop of oil to dry out, in order to really invest in those new technologies? Greed is a great barrier to social advancement. Among other primitive behavioral patterns of human beings.

What about the growing inequality between rich and poor? Is the middle class diminishing? Where will that lead? Isn’t it time to officially declare Capitalism a mistake and move forward? Or is it that people must change their mindset first, in order that we move forward.

The presumption of constantly expanding economy is just irrational, not to mention unsustainable, and it will inevitably turn into a black hole, crushing down under its own weight

In one speech of his, J.W.Bush says that “Americans enjoy economic independence” Wow, I was truly stunned by this outlandish conclusion, what’s more, the sitting crowds in front of him actually clapped their hands joyfully. Amazing. It is amazing how much appreciation empty words can bring about. Of course, manipulative governments all around the world knew that effect long ago Bush was even born.

Title: Maxed Out

I do agree that people's own ignorance and lack of rational thought is the main reason to find themselves in such debt-overwhelmed situations. The banks having lied and deceived them into taking the bait is another element, but not really the main one. I mean, do live within your means people or at least close to it. Time to realize that the American Dream is not wealth that simply falls from the sky, it's about opportunities to earn. However, such opportunities are to be found all over the world today, so it's an old concept overall. And what about Liberty?

It is a strange thing that there are a lot of movies, articles and analyses over the past decades raising those issues and yet as if all of them are somehow kept on the background, shut and silenced with very little public attention drawn to them, like some kind of dissidents that are unfavorable to the ruling government, because, well, they are too objective and speak the truth. Preposterous.  Here is another documentary related to Freedom and Liberty in USA that I recommend watching, some of the regulations that it criticizes are truly disturbing. Like the ban on growing vegetable in your back yard. I mean, this is a fundamental human right to grow food on Earth, banned. Crazy world. 

Title: The End of Liberty (2010)

You can watch it here. 

And another one, examining this transition in a historical restrospection and embarking on quite a provoking trip in search of answers from some of the most notorious US institutions. Nearly a century later.. US society still walks oblivious to all this. Watch the following documentary, it is highly recommended and spread the word. Stand up and fight, for your freedom, for your rights!

Title: America: From Freedom to Fascism (2006) 


What we see in the above documentary is just gruesome. It is shocking and deeply, deeply disturbing. So ridiculous when people say that "USA is the freest country." Umh, think again. This sounds like the "Americans enjoy economic independence" line of Bush's. Utter and complete hot air words with absolutely no resonance in reality. Yeah, the truth is that Liberty in United States died at the beginning of the 20^th Century and it is up to people now to resurrect it back. Say no to self-imposed ignorance! Informed and intelligent is cool. Dumbness is dull (not to mention highly manipulative). Wake up people.

• A Personal Revelation on the IRS from Sherry Peel Jackson
• Wake Up. It's time for the FED to go, USA and the world will gradually settle to be a much better place after those highly exploitative institutions are abolished from society 
• Here's what happened with the abovementioned whistleblower, because she was not backed by society! US Society = the flock of IRS and the FED.
• Abolish the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Sign the Petition

Title: Stupidity (2003)    

"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a mad man or an economist" Kenneth Boulding

Marketing, Psychology, Politics, Manipulation and Consumerism. Enlighten Your Unconsciousness To the New Trends

Quite an insightful documentary on how theory of psychoanalysis was adopted by corporations to create the modern consumer society. The shift from products that you need, to products that you simply desire. Creating the need for products, rather than responding to a need with a product. The workings of the unconsciousness brilliantly utilized in mass marketing. Group behavior, psychology of the crowd, social engineering and commercial manipulation. It's like McDonald's former "Super size", they observed that people felt guilty buying twice the same portion, but this guilt was bypassed if the portion was enlarged. Managing the irrational judgement of the masses and guiding it to consume.

Channeling and shaping people's opinion, views and even the way they think. The birth of PR and lobbyism in modern society. Wow, stunning.

Can the individual ever be truly free? It seems that true freedom is found only outside the crowd.

And what about Equality? Are individuals truly equal or is it just a democratic bullshit? To start with, individuals can have very different starts in life. Your parents may be rich and I may be born an orphant. But, what if two individuals have the same start in life? Say two persons from two average middle-class families. The one is keen to learn, goes in university and graduates, then works and begins to make good money. And the other is lazy, not interested in studying, but just trashes around and does nothing meaningful. Can these two individuals truly be thought of as equal? Well, no, they cannot be equal. People are not equal, because they have different levels of motivation. Thus, social equality is just as an empty concept as freedom of the masses is. 
Life circumstances and family environment can make a great difference between individuals and the opportunities they may have in life, but in the end it is about motivation. About how far you want to go, in your life, in your character, in your knowledge.

However, still every individual has a right of dignity, of pursuing his or her ideals, freedom of speach and so on. And, of course, an individual can always consciously choose a lifestyle of seclusion and self-sufficiency like a hippie, not aspiring to career or making money or whatever, just enjoying the beauty of nature without bothering about nothing much and without complaining either.

However that, the biggest question of all is, can society function in any other way after all or is this the only way for things to be? (See documentaries below). Or may be the last question is born out of a lack of imagination?! Can human civilization follow any other path of development than the one it currently is on? Is there any other way and most importantly, even if there is, how can it be achieved? Is it possible? A world without military technology, without different Gods, without exploitation, a world of higher intelligence and clearer reason

Documentary title: Century of the Self.

(I cannot agree with the title though, by "Self" they mean "Ego-self").

The documentary follows and analyzes business, social and political developments in the 20th Century and the intimate entanglement of those three.

Episode 1 - Happiness Machines 1 of 6

YOU are part of "the masses", lol. Seriously.

"Understand, Neo, that most of these people are not ready to be unplugged, and many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."

Morpheus

Episode 2 - The Engineering of Consent 1 of 6

Although I do agree with the psychoanalytic notion that you can change people (to the better) by expanding their understanding. However, something went very wrong down the line with this enlightened ideal. And that was its use for social engineering and consumerism. Psychoanalysis should be practiced the Jungian way and exclude psychiatry from its methods. I think the methodology is wrong, very. But hey, how do you establish the right way to do it without going through the wrong ones first?! Lol. 

First it was "Repress the primal emotions", then it was "Free the primal emotions", now it is Be freely repressed or repressedly free or something in between with or without emotions, aah, forget it, just go to a pharmacy near you and by yourself a pack of Prozac - it's good for you and it's good for the business, thus everyone is happy and feeling good.

Now I finally understand why Freud gained more popularity than Jung, when the ideas of the latter were far more profound and potentially life-altering on the self-realization level. Because Freud's ideas were commercially applicable for manipulation of the masses, while Jung's were meant to truly bring deeper understanding and psychological clarity to the individual. And if I create a, say, popular entertainment blog, it will have far more hits than this one.

Oh well, people just don't like to think, left aside they are being taught not to. Lol. Everything in this world is about making money and nothing more, nothing less. Making money at any cost

Episode 3 - There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be Destroyed

Ah, experimental psychology. Experimenting with people and society. Now isn't that cool.

- Hey, what's your job?

- Oh, I'm a radical psychologist.

Speaking of creating trends and commercial persuasion, do you remember this Purple initiative of Yahoo!, I'm not sure when it was, two ot three years ago, when they promoted on their website that that year was "Purple year" or something like this and that everyone should have something purple, whether your sweater, or dress, socks or bike or etc. Yeah.

I just didn't understood why they encouraged people to express their ugliest emotions like aggression and hate? I mean, where is the liberation in this, without reaching to the source of these emotions, there is no realization, but only primal release of pressure?!

I guess people were pondering their new-found freedoms of public expression of their true opinion and discontents. See, one of the many negative effects of the opression of the Church, it makes people pervert and totally lacking of self-control when confronted with freedom.

And I thought the methodology of the Freudians was wrong, lol, just see all those people packed in a room screaming and cursing like crazy, so brutal. By the way, these therapeutic methods weren't invented by those radical psychologists. For instance, Aleister Crowley is known to have practiced similar with his disciples.

Anyway, I thought that the hippie movement was a natural development of sub-culture societies in USA and, this documentary suggests that it was actually driven by psychological circles?! And I also thought that the hippie movement changed the conventions of fashion, and it turns out that they didn't, Marketing did! Ah, the ignorance.

The business was thinking hard "How to appeal to this new breed of *individuals*, how to tap them in. Of course, this is it - offer them product variety!" Ingenious. A.k.a 1960s 
- Hey, you are so individualistic with this pink ipod of yours.

So, marketing is strongly connected with social research and statistics (Duh) exploring the different lifestyles of people and stereotypes that assemble in groups. "Yo, let's target that *group* with our new product line".

I long suspected there is no true individualism, lol, it's because human psyche doesn't has infinite combinations, just like our DNA. It turns out that, the concept that "Everyone is a unique person" is again a marketing concept and is by no means true. Noone is unique, everyone falls into types, lifestyles and groups. What a bleep.

Episode 4 - Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering



So, is the business flexibly adapting to new trends in society or is it creating them? Remains unclear. It is both ways around, I guess.

You can also find the documentary series here and watch it via Google video.


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P.S. Dear Reader, if you happen to find yourself overwhelmed by too much heavy to digest information, please, get a grip on yourself. You have the tools to build yourself consciously and stir your life into whatever desired direction, just take it easy, be focused, perseverant and think. And remember:

"There is no realization without pain" 

C.G.Jung