Naomi Klein responds to the economic crisis

So, yesterday I was in academia-land all day and I really wasn't keeping up with the news. In fact, I had been thinking this week that it was kind of unfortunate that EVERYTHING happens mid-September to mid-October and there's not enough time to do everything I wanna do. Specifically, watching the first Obama/McCain debate was probably not going to happen, even though I was interested in watching it. I have my first presentation for a graduate class due on Monday, my sister's coming into town tomorrow, there is apparently going to be aNOTHER Manual-Ballard football game, the Idea Festival starts today, there is a concert the Spanish Dept is sponsoring that I'm going to, etc etc. What a time to have a debate! Sheesh!

But none of that matters at this point. I arrived home last night around 9 pm, and Thomas and I briefly caught a little of Bush's fear tactics about the economy and how we Americans should just lie down and take it while Wall Street and the administration blatantly trample all over us, rather than subtly killing us as has been their m.o. in the past. As I watched I thought, "Surely no one is buying this. Do people even still think he's in charge? He's the lamest lame duck there ever was."

Then we watched part of a documentary called Crude Awakening, about peak oil and the crash. It's interesting, but not in league with the best documentaries (I say, 30 minutes into the thing. Opinions were meant to become obsolete). Anyhoo, when I woke up this morning, I'm sleepily listening to NPR and making coffee, trying to make my head stop throbbing (oh, allergies, how I love you), and I hear the report that McCain is trying to pull out of the debates! WTF! Talk about shock and awe: these Republicans are really trying to scare people. Shit.

Well, their speeches aren't scaring me, but the news coverage of economists' reactions is. I wonder if we shouldn't liquidate everything, get Jacq and Joe passports, and blow this popsicle stand while we still can. I realize this is reactionary, and I should stop buying into the panic, but it is hard. I feel really uneasy. Anyhoo, I felt a little better when my friend, Tony, emailed me Naomi Klein's 'weigh-in' on the whole mess. I encourage you to read the whole thing (it's not long, like maybe 500 words) here, but in the meantime, here is a little excerpt to whet yer whistle:

We have seen this many times before, in this country and around the world. But here's the thing: these opportunistic tactics can only work if we let them. They work when we respond to crisis by regressing, wanting to believe in "strong leaders" - even if they are the same strong leaders who used the September 11 attacks to push through the Patriot Act and launch the illegal war in Iraq.

So let's be absolutely clear: there are no saviors who are going to look out for us in this crisis. Certainly not Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, one of the companies that will benefit most from his proposed bailout (which is actually a stick up). The only hope of preventing another dose of shock politics is loud, organized grassroots pressure on all political parties: they have to know right now that after seven years of Bush, Americans are becoming shock resistant.

I certainly hope that last line is true. But racism + the election of '04 = I have almost no faith in "the American people" anymore.