Disaster Capitalism

After the First World War, in Westminster a brilliant orator by the name of Oswald Mosley looked across the Commons and talked of the men who had "had a good war". An unlikely source of morality I know, but a similar - super-sized and institutionalised version is to be seen in America.

The concept of 'disaster capitalism', a term coined by Naomi Klein, is now being applied to the United States itself. Klein wrote:

Last summer, in the lull of the August media doze, the Bush Administration's doctrine of preventive war took a major leap forward. On August 5, 2004, the White House created the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, headed by former US Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual. Its mandate is to draw up elaborate 'post-conflict' plans for up to twenty-five countries that are not, as of yet, in conflict. According to Pascual, it will also be able to coordinate three full-scale reconstruction operations in different countries 'at the same time,' each lasting 'five to seven years.'

Now, with Halliburton, Bechtel, and Fluor and all of our favourite companies fattened off the war in Iraq circling like the rapacious bastards they truly are disaster capitalism is in full swing. Joe Allbaugh, the former director of FEMA, is lobbying for Halliburton, and another winner of the Katrina windfall, Shaw Group Inc. is making big bucks.

For many, Katrina is simply a great opportunity to make lots of dough.

Perhaps surprisingly for the deeply predictable New Statesman, there’s a great article this week on Katrina and her aftermath, which is increasingly looking like a watershed moment, on the scale of – say - the Darien Scheme, Kristallnacht or the Berlin Wall coming down. Andrew Stephen suggests there are deeper explanations for the New Orleans catastrophe than anyone has dared suggest.

“But nobody, as far as I can see, has dared to suggest that there are deeper explanations for so disconcerting a shambles, explanations that transcend political parties or individuals. The self-image of America, now largely adopted in Britain, too, is that of a nation of uniquely hardy and resilient people predestined by God to be omnipotent in the world, be it against the forces of nature or of bogeyman dictators."

This is certainly part of the English mindset (what else does the lusty renditions of Jerusalem suggest?) and is the frequently hinted-at subtext from Blair.

Stephen continues: "Because, in reality, the reverse is so often true - present-day Americans, after all, are the most pampered human beings in history - the myths, fostered by popular culture and especially Hollywood, have given rise to a complacency that is increasingly dangerous not only for the rest of the world but for Americans, too. Hardship is only momentary and can always be overcome, hard work will always be rewarded, and other such uniquely American traits, will result in a society that is matchlessly efficient and soars to ever greater triumphs: it ticks over so smoothly that even after the 11 September 2001 atrocities, Bush is still free to go off to bike, Cheney to fish, Rice to shop.

Yet Katrina showed the fragility of the US and this belief that there is little need for strong collective leadership or institutions of the kind that European civilisations have come to value. The feelings date back to victory over the British in the American revolution: a distrust of government and a belief in the righteousness and inevitable prosperity of the little guy, equipped only with his gun, his initiative and his own humble patch of land. This culture of so-called private entrepreneurship blended with a disavowal of collective responsibilities actually gained under Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr and then Bill Clinton - leading to growths in gated communities, armed sentries and further class/racial divisions.”

Read the full article here.