EN BG

Problem-Reaction-Solution (Hegelian Dialectic)

The solution was ready before the problem even happened. That should bother you.

Problem-reaction-solution is a pattern where a crisis emerges — sometimes manufactured, sometimes simply allowed to escalate — and the public reacts with fear or outrage. Then a pre-prepared solution is offered that the public would never have accepted under normal circumstances. The crisis creates the emotional conditions for people to welcome measures they'd otherwise resist.

This doesn't require a grand conspiracy. It requires opportunity and preparation. A financial crash happens, and emergency legislation transfers billions to the institutions that caused it. A security threat emerges, and surveillance powers expand in ways that were already drafted before the threat appeared. The pattern repeats because it works: frightened people trade long-term freedoms for short-term safety, and the trade rarely gets reversed once the fear subsides.

Naomi Klein documented this as the "shock doctrine" — the systematic use of crises to push through policies that serve concentrated interests while the public is too disoriented to push back. The shock can be a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or an economic collapse. What matters is what happens in the window of confusion that follows.

When a crisis produces a suspiciously polished solution overnight, it's worth asking how long that solution was sitting in a drawer.

References