The Shock Doctrine with Extortion and a side of Chicken Little

The Shock Doctrine, in its late-20th-century form, is attributed more or less to Milton Friedman, who advocated facilitation of greed at any cost.

The Shock Doctrine itself is simple: prepare for, then manufacture, an extremely shocking event. Then, in the ensuing disarray, facilitate even more egregious concentrations of power and wealth. In Friedman's world view, bolstered by his Ayn-Rand-certainty, those who rise to the top in these Machiavellian situations, deserve to.

But what happens if The Shock itself isn't sufficient to install your "new order"? You call Chicken Little, of course, to whip up hysteria.

But, this too may not work. What's next?

Well, how about extortion? "If you don't accept the new order, we will bring down the global financial system."

The general population is not invited to do more than nod their heads, and try to believe that, somehow, phenomenally powerful people like Bush and Paulson are really just interested in helping the average Jane and Joe. Just like Bush and Cheney were interested in helping "the people of Iraq" ... by colonizing them.