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As I was writing 'The Shock Doctrine', I was covering the Iraq War and profiteering from the war, and I started to see these patterns repeat in the aftermath of natural disasters, like the Asian tsunami and then Hurricane Katrina.
Naomi Klein
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights how patterns of profiteering and exploitation reemerge in times of crisis, whether in war or natural disasters.

In this quote, Naomi Klein reflects on her experiences while writing 'The Shock Doctrine', elucidating how the same economic and social patterns of exploitation emerge during various crises, including the Iraq War and natural disasters like the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Klein suggests that the disruption caused by these events is often exploited by those who seek to profit, revealing a troubling cyclical nature of human behavior in the face of catastrophe.

Themes

ProfiteeringCrisisExploitationWarNatural DisastersPatterns

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech addressing economic reforms, one might mention this quote to illustrate the dangers of exploiting crises.

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