Confessions of an Economic Hitman - John Perkins

Wikipedia: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a book written by John Perkins and published in 2004. It provides Perkins' account of his career with consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston.

John Perkins official site
Amazon Book Page

Selected Excerpts:

[Preface]

Economic hitmen are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. The funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign 'aid' organisations into the coffers of huge corportions and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.

...

Some would blame our current problems on an organised conspiracy. I wish it were so simple. Members of a conspiracy can be rooted out an brought to justice. This system, however, is fuelled by something far more dangerous than conspiracy. It is driven not by a small band of men but by a concept that has become accepted as gospel: the idea that all econmic growth benefits humankind and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits. This belief also has a corollary: that those people who succeed in stoking the fires of economic growth should be exalted and rewarded, while those born at the fringes are available for exploitation.

This concept is, of course, erroneous. We know that in many countries economic growth benefits only a small portion of the population and may in fact result in increasingly depserate circumstances for the majority. This effect is reinforced by the corollary belief that the captains of industry who drive this system should enjoy a special status, a belief that is the root of many of our current problems and is perhaps also the reason why the conspiracy theories abound. When men and women are rewarded for greed, greed becomes a corrupting motivator. When we equate the gluttonous consumption of the earth's resources with a status approaching sainthood, when we teach our children to emulate people who live unbalanced lives, and when we define huge sections of the population as subservient to an elite minority, we ask for trouble. And we get it.

In their drive to advance the global empire, corporations, banks, and governments (collectively the corporatocracy) use their financial and political muscle to ensure that our schools, businesses and media support both the fallacious concept and its corollary. They have brought us to a point where our global culture is a monstrous machine that requires exponentially incresing amounts of fuel and maintenance, so much so that in the end it will have consumed everything in sight, and will be left with no choice but to devour itself.

[Chapter 34]

... I remembered what the Shaurs had told me... "The world is as you dream it", they had said, and then pointed out that we in the North had dreamed of huge industries, lots of cars, and gigantic skyscrapers. Now we had discovered that our vision had in fact been a nightmare that would destroy us all.

"Change that dream", the Shuars had advised me.

...

The Prophecy of the Condor and the Eagle... states that back in the mists of history, human societies divided and took two different paths: that of the condor (representing the heart, intuitive and mystical) and that of the eagle (representing the brain, rational and material). In the 1490's, the the prophecy said, the two paths would converge, and the eagle would drive the condor to the verge of extinction. Then, five hundred years later, in the 1990's, a new epoch would begin, one in wich the condor and the eagle will have the opportunity to reunite and fly together in thes same sky, along the same path. If the condor and eagle accept this opportunity, they will create a most remarkable offspring, unlike any ever seen before.

[Epilogue]

Things are not as they appear. NBC is owned by General Electric, ABC by Disney, CBS by Viacom, and CNN is part of the huge AOL Time Warner conglomerate. Most of our newspapers, magazines and publishing houses are owned - and manipulated - by gigantic international corporations. Our media is part of the corporatocracy. The officers and directors who control nearly all of our communications outlets know their places; they are taught throughout life that one of their most important jobs is to perpetuate, strengthen and expand the system they have inherited. They are very efficient at doing so, and when opposed, they can be ruthless. So the burden falls on you to see the truth beneath the veneer and to expose it. Speak to your family and friends, spread the word.

I could give you a list of practical things to do. For instance, cut back on your oil comsumption. ... The next time your are tempted to go shopping, read a book instead, exercise, or meditate. Downsize your home, wardrobe, car, office, and most everything in your life. Protest against "free" trade agreements, and against companies that exploit people in sweatshops or that pillage the environment.

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I could encourage you to take specific actions that will impact the institutions in your life...