Summary

Klein begins her introduction with a simple word, but one to which she has devoted years of effort and research – shock. Having spent years studying “large-scale shocks to societies,” Klein admits having a “strange feeling” the night Donald Trump was elected president as she watched from Australia (1). This feeling stemmed from the idea of Trump as “Frankenstein’s monster,” sewn together out of dangerous trends like the rise of neoliberalism, the rise of multinational Superbrands, climate change denial, and the overwhelming influence of money in politics (2). To determine just how dangerous the Trump administration will be, Klein lists both Trump’s cabinet picks – which “tell us a great deal about the administration’s underlying goals” – and the main pillars of his agenda, like large-scale deregulation, a fossil fuel “frenzy,” slashing social services, and launching a “civilizational war against immigrants” (3, 5, 6). She warns the reader outright...