Naomi Klein: Super Storm Sandy—A People’s Shock?

[marmar]

from The Nation:


Super Storm Sandy—A People’s Shock?

Naomi Klein
November 5, 2012


[font size="1"]Rockaway resident Christine Walker walks along the beach under what is left of the boardwalk in the borough of Queens, New York, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)[/font]


Less than three days after Sandy made landfall on the East Coast of the United States, Iain Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute blamed New Yorkers’ resistance to big-box stores for the misery they were about to endure. Writing on Forbes.com he explained that the city’s refusal to embrace Walmart will likely make the recovery much harder: “Mom-and-pop stores simply can’t do what big stores can in these circumstances,” he wrote.

And the preemptive scapegoating didn’t stop there. He also warned that if the pace of reconstruction turned out to be sluggish (as it so often is) then “pro-union rules such as the Davis-Bacon Act” would be to blame, a reference to the statute that requires workers on public-works projects to be paid not the minimum wage, but the prevailing wage in the region.

The same day, Frank Rapoport, a lawyer representing several billion-dollar construction and real estate contractors, jumped in to suggest that many of those public works projects shouldn’t be public at all. Instead, cash-strapped governments should turn to “public private partnerships,” known as “P3s.” That means roads, bridges and tunnels being rebuilt by private companies, which, for instance, could install tolls and keep the profits.

Up until now, the only thing stopping them has been the law—specifically the absence of laws in New York State and New Jersey that enable these sorts of deals. But Rapoport is convinced that the combination of broke governments and needy people will provide just the catalyst needed to break the deadlock. “There were some bridges that were washed out in New Jersey that need structural replacement, and it’s going to be very expensive,” he told The Nation. “And so the government may well not have the money to build it the right way. And that's when you turn to a P3.” ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/article/171048/super-storm-sandy-peoples-shock

[NYC_SKP]

1. Fuck that shit, toll roads and minimum wages.

K/R

[Chakab]

2. These people are disgusting.

n/t

[fasttense]

3. The sad part is that disasters can be used in a positive way.

They can be a catalyst for preventing future disasters. They can be used to strengthen communities and governments. Instead of using them to steal from the poor and funnel more money to the filthy rich, they should be used to prevent future similar problems from ever occurring. You know, like actually doing something about global climate change.

[limpyhobbler]

4. Post of the day!

Naomi Klein for President! (of something)

[adirondacker]

5. I want to say UnF*ing believable, but ...

I know better. Thanks for posting.

[myrna minx]

6. Such vultures.