I could be just talking about Katrina, or the Iraq war, but I’m talking about regimes in the U.S government that doesn’t strive to provide for it’s people. Citizens have to fight for every piece of policy that works in their favor instead of some business’s favor, when in fact, it is the sole job of the government to provide for the people.

Naomi read an email from a politician whom I can’t remember. It was a wish list with all of the policies he wanted to pass in the wake of Katrina that would help out big businesses. Instead of mourning the people in New Orleans, instead of being upset and angry about the situation people now have to live in, he viewed Katrina as a blessing because now all sorts of pro-business policies will be able to be passed. Is this the attitude of the whole government? Is this the attitude of the people who are supposed to provide for me? After hearing Naomi run through example after example of the government making decisions with this train of thought, I left the auditorium in feeling incredibly furious.

In writing class, we couldn’t get Naomi to speak to just 15 of us, so we watched the short movie created by Alfonso Cuaron and Naomi Klein called The Shock Doctrine Short Film. The film used a variety of editing techniques and Naomi Klein’s message to create a powerful piece of risk communication. In the short, six minute film, Alfonso and Naomi didn’t focus so much on specific examples such as Katrina or the Iraq War, instead she dealt with the metaphor of her Shock Doctrine book. A metaphor that I thought was especially interesting, that spills over to other aspects of life. The movie said that soldiers break down the door and bust in with guns and yelling. The idea is that I prisoner should be in a constant state of shock, never let out. That was an intense thought to me. Naomi describes this as a metaphor for disaster capitalism. After Katrina, people were in shock, and that politician who sent the email, was able to keep the U.S citizens in shock as he and his cronies passed the pro-big-business legislation listed in the email.

I thought the video was really effective in getting across this message and stirring interest for the book. Although it didn’t touch much on topics like Katrina or 9/11, it didn’t really have to since that is all in the book. The combination of fast, scary visuals and intense sound track kept me on edge throughout the whole six minutes. In fact, the video stirred enough interest in me that I went to see her speak.