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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2017)
News Page 4 Street Roots • June 23-29, 2017 On bracing for Trump ’s shock politics while daring to dream big Portland MAX attack on Memorial Day weekend and why progressive causes should unite to demand a leap forward. BY EMILY GREEN S T A F F W R IT E R aomi Klein’s latest book offers a strong dose of clarity to counteract the chaos plaguing the country since Donald Trump won the election. Klein draws from her unique areas of expertise - almost clairvoyantly - to decipher what the hell is going on at this moment in history. The Canadian author and award-winning journalist spent much of her career researching and writing about trends that, if personified, look a lot like our current president. Her first international best seller, “No Logo,” dove into the rise of super brands, corporate marketing and globalization. She described how companies that once made products were morphing into multinational brands based on image. They would sell their name by slapping it on products increasingly manufactured under exploitative working conditions overseas. In 2007, “The Shock Doctrine” detailed how pro-corporate-agenda pushers exploit the public’s disorientation following a collective shock, such as a coup, terrorist attack or natural disaster, by implementing destructive and anti-democratic policies - think 9/11 and The Patriot Act that followed. Klein also sits on the board of the climate action group 350.org, which spans 188 countries. While Klein usually spends years compiling research and conducting interviews for each book, she felt a sense of urgency after Trump won the election. She wanted to issue the world a warning before brand Trump had a collective shock to exploit. Written in a matter of months, “No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need” is a quickly digestible read compared with Klein’s previous books, but it is no less provocative. Klein is also featured in a nine-minute YouTube video via The Intercept that offers viewers a concise version of how to resist Trump’s shock politics in five simple steps. In “No Is Not Enough,” Klein exposes the man behind the Trump-brand façade, dissects his administration with precision and offers a N E m ily Green: In your book, you suggest Trump may be well aware his anti- M uslim rhetoric could be inciting an attack on U.S. soil, and that (policy makers are unconcerned that) the repeal of Dodd- Frank could lead to another economic crash. These shocks are just what the White House will need to disorient the public and rationalize checking off unpopular items on their corporate wish list. But everyday, it seems like there is some sort of shock. How will we recognize the big one? N aom i Klein: They are dystopian glimpse of what we might be in for - it could get a lot worse, she warns. But Klein doesn’t leave readers without hope. She lays out a path forward that requires not only bold action, but even bolder expectations. She argues that in the face of forces pushing systems backward, people must demand the opposite - a giant leap forward. In Canada, that leap took the form of the Leap Manifesto, created as a platform with no party affiliation. A broad array of social movements came together and agreed on 15 demands, including a shift to 100 percent renewable energy, but ensuring that those on the front lines of pollution, such as Indigenous peoples, are first in line for their own clean energy projects. The Leap Manifesto represents an idea that can be embraced across different sectors of society or levels of government anywhere. In Canada, more than 46,000 people have signed the manifesto. On June 19, Klein stopped in Portland for a book reading and signing at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing in Beaverton. Before the event, she sat down with Street Roots in the bookstore’s Green Room to discuss her new book, what she calls the “Trump show,” the dismantling Dodd-Frank because there is money to be made - and they’re just not concerned. They’re not concerned about the bubbles that will burst because the profits are too tempting in the meantime, and they are making sure the public is going to foot the bill again for the bailout. I think Trump has already shown his willingness to exploit terrorist attacks for his own political gain. He made that clear with the Manchester attack when he immediately said that this is happening because of immigrants streaming across our borders, when in fact it was a British-born bomber. After the London Bridge attack he said: This is why we need the Muslim ban. In terms of how will we know? These shocks that Trump generates himself are pretty minor compared to what 2008 looked like or Katrina looked like or Sandy or 9/11. We will know. And part of the reason we will know is because we will see a side of this administration that we haven’t seen before when that happens. E.G.: And when that does happen, the masses will likely be fearful and inclined to support drastic anti-democratic measures in the name of safety and security. There will be a tendency to drink the Kool Aide in that respect. How should the progressive movement persist without alienating people who are having the emotional reactions that the Trump administration will be exploiting? See KLEIN, page 5
