In Wisconsin, Paul Krugman sees Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" at work:
In recent weeks, Madison has been the scene of large demonstrations against the governor’s budget bill, which would deny collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. Gov. Scott Walker claims that he needs to pass his bill to deal with the state’s fiscal problems. But his attack on unions has nothing to do with the budget. In fact, those unions have already indicated their willingness to make substantial financial concessions — an offer the governor has rejected.
What’s happening in Wisconsin is, instead, a power grab — an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy. And the power grab goes beyond union-busting. The bill in question is 144 pages long, and there are some extraordinary things hidden deep inside.
Well, of course he is. As a rule, ambitious politicians use crises to pursue broader political goals. The Civil War paved the way for Abraham Lincoln to pursue legislation for education and infrastructure. The Great Depression gave FDR room to build the American welfare state, and the Great Society was propelled by Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Hell, Barack Obama used the financial collapse to push a whole host of policy reforms, as did George W. Bush after 9/11. These are all big examples, but still; Klein's alarmism notwithstanding, this is just how politics goes.
The problem isn't so much that Walker is pursuing some nefarious "shock doctrine," it's that unions are an easy, fragile target. If unionization was higher and unions were stronger, there would be far less incentive to move against them, as you'd court political damage. With or without a crisis, as long as unions are weak and the wealthy retain their grip on politics and policy, then labor will continue to face situations like the one in Wisconsin. To borrow a point from Kevin Drum's latest, the problem for workers -- middle-class and otherwise -- remains power.
