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A review by colin_cox
No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need by Naomi Klein
5.0
No Is Not Enough is a persuasive diagnosis of neoliberal politics and economic principles and a prescription for moving beyond a global neoliberal regime. Like The Shock Doctrine, No Is Not Enough explores how the contours of shock tactics create the conditions for abuse, degradation, and profiteering by the established order. Like the Bush administration two decades ago, the Trump administration is not unique. Instead, as Klein argues, the Trump administration is the signifier for neoliberalism's most abusive and destructive tactics. No one embodies all that is wrong with neoliberalism like Trump (from exploitative labor practices to hetero-patriarchial white supremacy). If lucky, the Trump administration is neoliberalism's zenith and twilight.
The climate crisis features heavily in No Is Not Enough. As Klein suggests, we cannot fully reckon with the abuses of neoliberalism unless we unpack the illogic of environmental degradation in the pursuit of profit. This follows the logic of an old joke about capitalists: if you say to a capitalist, "I want to shoot you," they will respond, "just wait, I have a gun to sale you." But as Klein details, this illogic is far from surprising. What we see or saw with Trump was skepticism regarding climate change, which makes complete sense when profit motives are someone's primary drive. Despite what many of its adherents might say, this suggests that capitalism is far from logical, natural, reasonable, or ethical. Instead, unyielding adherence to neoliberalism is profoundly unnatural; otherwise, how might we explain the dramatic shifts in our planet's climate?
While the solutions Klein describes are robust and multi-faceted, the broader contours are best understood as an intersection of collective action, conservation, and ethical consumption. Of course, moving beyond capitalism requires more than this, and the fruits of this labor may come long after my lifetime. Still, Klein's analysis offers an enduring assessment of how we can and should move beyond neoliberalism.
The climate crisis features heavily in No Is Not Enough. As Klein suggests, we cannot fully reckon with the abuses of neoliberalism unless we unpack the illogic of environmental degradation in the pursuit of profit. This follows the logic of an old joke about capitalists: if you say to a capitalist, "I want to shoot you," they will respond, "just wait, I have a gun to sale you." But as Klein details, this illogic is far from surprising. What we see or saw with Trump was skepticism regarding climate change, which makes complete sense when profit motives are someone's primary drive. Despite what many of its adherents might say, this suggests that capitalism is far from logical, natural, reasonable, or ethical. Instead, unyielding adherence to neoliberalism is profoundly unnatural; otherwise, how might we explain the dramatic shifts in our planet's climate?
While the solutions Klein describes are robust and multi-faceted, the broader contours are best understood as an intersection of collective action, conservation, and ethical consumption. Of course, moving beyond capitalism requires more than this, and the fruits of this labor may come long after my lifetime. Still, Klein's analysis offers an enduring assessment of how we can and should move beyond neoliberalism.