Disaster Capitalism in China and Burma

Do see Naomi Klein at The Nation on the disasters in China and Myanmar.  Here’s a bit:

… nothing terrifies a repressive regime quite like a natural disaster. Authoritarian states rule by fear and by projecting an aura of total control. When they suddenly seem short-staffed, absent or disorganized, their subjects can become dangerously emboldened. It’s something to keep in mind as two of the most repressive regimes on the planet–China and Burma–struggle to respond to devastating disasters: the Sichuan earthquake and Cyclone Nargis. In both cases, the disasters have exposed grave political weaknesses within the regimes–and both crises have the potential to ignite levels of public rage that would be difficult to control.