The Hour Calls For Optimism

I personally feel that everyone would be better off if they’ve read some Naomi Klein. Before recommending this book, however, I would start with her acclaimed 2007 book The Shock Doctrine. Read that first, and then read No Is Not Enough. It basically points out how Trump uses tactics laid out in The Shock Doctrine to achieve his agenda, and what that agenda really is. I haven’t read Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury yet, but from what I have heard it makes Trump and his close “advisors” seem like bumbling idiots, who don’t have a clue. No Is Not Enough touches on how, in fact, that perception could actually be a useful tool in pushing through legislation that would normally be considered extremely unpopular but benefits his bank accounts and the fossil fuel burning corporate inner circle. If you’re looking to shed some light on the confusing and seeming lunacy of the Trump Administration, this book does that to a degree.

Unlike Klein’s other tombs, No Is Not Enough is much shorter and has a more personal touch to it. She admits that unlike the six years it took to research No Logo and The Shock Doctrine, No Is Not Enough was written in a much shorter time. She writes personally about when she visited the Great Barrier Reef with her young son and how seeing the affects of climate change, there, affected her. She also spent time at Standing Rock and writes about her experiences among the leaders of the resistance movement there.

This was a quick read, and even though I am already familiar with The Shock Doctrine it did illuminate a few things about Trumps actions that before didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t know that Betsy DeVos, trumps appointment to the Secretary of Education, is sister to Erik “Black Water” Prince. That kind of blew my mind. The influence of Trump’s long term relationship with the World Wresting Entertainment, Inc and his appointment of Linda McMahon (Vince McMahon’s wife) to his cabinet was illuminating. Specifically his tendency to give opponent’s fun nicknames. Crooked Hillary, Crazy Bernie, Rocket Man, Pocahontas, Sloppy Steve, Little Marco, Lyin’ Ted, Fake News, et cetera.  I use to think that was just a childish practice unbecoming of a president; but, in fact, it is a clever and conscious choice to create a wrestling-style arena of entertainment, in which Donald is the hero. I find that frighteningly ingenious, but the difference is that wrestling is not real. Naomi Kline help us all.