The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

by Naomi Klein

Rumsfeld was convinced that the U.S. Department of Defense needed an equivalent makeover; as Fortune said when he arrived at the Pentagon, “Mr. CEO” was “about to oversee the same sort of restructuring that he orchestrated so well in the corporate world.”8 There were, of course, some necessary differences. Where corporations unburdened themselves of geography-bound factories and full-time workers, Rumsfeld saw the army shedding large numbers of full-time troops in favor of a small core of staffers propped up by cheaper temporary soldiers from the Reserve and National Guard. Meanwhile, contractors from companies such as Blackwater and Halliburton would perform duties ranging from high-risk chauffeuring to prisoner interrogation to catering to health care. And where corporations poured their savings on labor into design and marketing, Rumsfeld would spend his savings from fewer troops and tanks on the latest satellite and nanotechnology from the private sector.