The film traces the doctrine’s beginnings in the radical theories of Milton Friedman at the University of Chicago, and its subsequent implementation over the past forty years, in countries and situation as disparate as Pinochet’s Chile, Yeltsin’s Russia, Thatcher’s Britain, and most recently the neo-con invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. It will expose the darker side of Friedman’s ideology, which was so unpopular it could only be implemented through the use of torture and repression.The archive material is inter-cut with new footage following Naomi interviewing key figures such as Janine Huard, a victim of Ewen Cameron’s mental health experiments in the 1950’s, the results of which formed the basis of the CIA’s torture manuals.
The film expands on the book’s arguments, showing that the need for a counter-narrative to Friedman’s theories – particularly in the current global financial crisis – is more urgent than ever. As Donald Rumsfeld has said, “Milton Friedman is the embodiment of the truth that ideas have consequences’. Given the influence of Friedman’s theories over the past half century, Naomi Klein’s alternative history needs to be heard.