I’ve been reading a lot lately. Not as much as I used to, and that’s because of the economy (hey, everything else is being blamed on the economy, why not this?).

In any case, I’m currently rereading Naomi Klein’s The Shock Therapy (maybe you remember me mentioning it perhaps a few times in the last couple of weeks?). While waiting to figure out a way of reviewing as objectively as possible a book that makes me very angry (for all the right reasons), I can’t help but post a couple of Shock-based comments – think of it as a way for me to pave the way for a full-blown (objective) review.

The subject of privatization comes up a lot in this book; one of the many ways for Milton Friedman’s economic model of free trade to come to life, privatization is said to be good for the poor because its benefits would trickle down to them.

Yes, you read that right. It’s apparently called the Trickle Down effect.

Now that you are done laughing, I have to admit that I also laughed when I first read this (for at least five minutes, if not more). Who is the Trickle Down Effect trying to kid, us or its creators?

Seriously… How can a system born out of greed claim to be the system which will help the poor?

As Mrs. Klein herself puts it so eloquently: “Once you accept that profit and greed as practiced on a mass scale create the greatest possible benefits for any society, pretty much any act of personal enrichment can be justified as a contribution to the creative cauldron of capitalism, generating wealth and spurring economic growth – even if it’s only for yourself and your colleagues”.

I love this book. Although it has raised my blood pressure enough for me to have to cut all sodium from my diet.