February 1, 2009

Shock Doctrine Stimulus

By: David Donadio

Reading the back and forth between Ross and Yglesias about the stimulus, I’m struck by something. Writes Matt:

Second, with a lot of this stuff whether or not it really “belongs in the stimulus” seems irrelevant to me. If you have a program that actually is worthy, then funding it will make the country better, whether or not it truly “belongs” in the stimulus.

Unless my reading is way off–and it could be–Matt’s basically saying that Democrats should use the economic emergency to pass bills they want to solely because they can at the moment, and not because it will stimulate the economy. Where have I heard this before?

Oh right. Seriously, who does Matt sound like if not Naomi Klein espousing her theory of the way capitalism works? Is the stimulus bill we’re seeing the Rise of Disaster Socialism?