Woke up to an e-mail from iTunes offering an album of songs from the "one of the biggest events in broadcast history," which iTunes says was brought about by "the tragic events in Haiti." Who'd a thunk it?
The poorest, most miserable land in the Western Hemisphere -- the first black-majority independent republic in the world ... coincidence? -- had an annihilating earthquake just so Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and friends in New York, Los Angeles, and London could have a star-studded telethon.
So get yer tunes for only 8 buckeroos.
Oh, sure, "100% of proceeds from the sale" go to the the Clinton-Bush (or should it be Clinton-Bush-Bush?) Haiti Fund, the UN and several other nongovernment charities, including a token Haitian group, named last because no one has ever heard of it.
What are they gonna say: "This is the greatest, cheapest, career boosting promo for managers, producers, singers and distributors ever to come our way and we're doing our darndest to get our share of the limelight"?
Wait!
There's even a book out -- written before the fact -- about "disaster capitalism." Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism spells out how disaster-shocked people and countries faces with wars, coups and natural catastrophes are rapaciously picked clean and reordered into "free" market economies by corporate reingeneering.
It's happening now in Haiti.
