The Shock Doctrine

One of my favourite authors over the past couple of years has been Naomi Klein, author of No Logo, among other hard-edged non-fiction. Her newest book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, including the accompanying short film (high quality version here), makes some serious allegations about the profiteering and politics associated with the natural, and unnatural, events of our global community. While I haven't yet read her book (I'm trying to frequent the library to help sustain those vital knowledge stores -- but that's for another article), her short movie reinforced an idea that has been festering in my mind, and has occassionally found it's way out of my mouth, for more than a year now. The idea is, to echo Klein, that our local economic disaster is being exacerbated by capitalists who masquarade as saviours to a city, but offer nothing more than a rich-get-richer scheme dressed up in slick marketing and spin.

A case in point -- the CocoBox bigbox development proposed for the border of Windsor and Lasalle. Though Jenny Coco has owned this land for nearly a decade, during which time she has switched from commercial, to residential, now back to commercial zoning, she has only recently settled on a project for these lands. To hear Jeffrey Slopin, her legal representation, sell it, this is the best thing for Windsor since the automotive industry. Slopin and Coco are selling this development as a well-spring of prosperity, creating 1500 jobs and generating nearly $4 million in tax revenues for the city of Windsor. It reminds me of that 80's classic from Dead or Alive, You Spin Me Round - "you spin me right round, baby, right round". The facts are meaningless when the promise of jobs and money are dangled over the heads of the unemployed masses. Let's be honest, the last thing that Windsor needs right now is another shopping centre to siphon away our dwindling paycheques. Consumption consumerism is the drug of choice for so many people. Coco, Slopin, and even city council, are spinning this development into a cure-all for the economic ailments of Windsor when, in reality, we are severing our hand to cure a hangnail.

There is a moral to this story. Information is knowledge. Knowledge is power. We have elected representation, but that does not mean that we cannot, or should not, speak out about the issues facing the community around us. More important, we must be educated, even vigilent, about the slick marketing, information spinning profiteers at all levels of business and government. The message of SDW is to reinvest in our built environment, developing sustainability and quality into our community, not just quantity. Projects like the east end arena, tunnel purchase, CocoBox, GreenLink, etc. etc. should all be examined with a discerning eye. There is no quick-fix for Windsor; only hardwork and perseverence are going to return the social and economic dividends we are hoping for. Let us all be wary of those preaching economic salvation without works. We can change Windsor, but we are going to have to pay penance for our past, and, most important, challenge the status quo of disaster economics, in whatever form it takes.