John Perkins: Economic Hit Man

A Frickin' American a.k.a. Deep H meets author John Perkins at Transitions Book Place in Chicago, IL on Friday February 3rd, 2006. Mr. Perkins is the author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. A new edition is now out in paperback.

Friday February 3rd 2006 approximately 3:30pm: While in the midst of paying a cashier for some Cliff bars I feel my phone vibrate. I never fail to receive a call when my hands are completely occupied. It was my friend and fellow blogger Deep H a.k.a. A frickn.' American. I told him to hold on while I finished the transaction. I left the store a little flustered and put the phone to my ear. "Guess what," he said. John Perkins is going to speak tonight at Transitions..." I was confused. Why do I know that name...? I mumbled. "You know, the Economic Hitman," he reminded me. "Of course!" I exclaimed as I ran down Lake Street to the stationary store. "I've got to buy a little notebook!" I had read Mr. Perkins book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman. I had borrowed it from the library about a year before. But I had forgot many important details so I had just 3 days prior ordered the new paperback from Amazon.com. I felt bad that I couldn't have it autographed because it was still in transit. Maybe I could buy one of his earlier books at the store. I jumped on the bus to go home to get my camera. It's old but it still had some film in it from Thanksgiving weekend.
By the time a got to Transitions Bookplace it was packed. Some people were still milling around but most were already seated. I spotted Mr. Perkins right away. Tall slim and handsome, he looked at least 15 years younger than his 61 years.
There were no seats left so I had to sit on a table full of magic pebbles, crystals and other divination tools. Gambling Buddha was not too happy with me when I displaced his funky little fountain.
Below is summary and interpretation of what was said.
Perkins began with World War II. Since this time an empire of corporatocracy has been running things. But recently people around the world are getting wise to the corporations running and often ruining their lives. Because of the Internet and other improvements in technology, communication is simpler and ideas and information flow to more people. The world is getting smaller more intimate and interdependent. More and more the electorate know what is going on. They fear and distrust the USA. Perkins then asked what can we do about this situation and how can we make the world more stable for future generations?
But before we could begin to look to future we had to understand the past and present. He summarized his book and explained the job he did in order to write it.

Economic Hitman, a job description:
1. Identify a country's resources that corporations covet.
2. Arrange a huge bank loan to said country.

The loan money goes to US corporations to build huge infrastructure projects that serve the rich. The poor suffer from this because the country has to pay back the loans. All the profits and resources the country has go towards debt instead of education, health care and other necessities.
The Economic Hitman goes to the country's ruler and says that the US will help ease the pain if they will sell them their resources cheaply, for example. If the ruler doesn't agree, "Jackals" are sent in by the C.I.A. The ruler's life will then end or not be worth living. Yesterday, on Democracy Now! John said he was originally recruited by the National Security Agency.
Please read the Democracy Now! transcript linked below for a detailed summary of the book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman.

Other Books by John Perkins:
Shapeshifting : Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation
Psychonavigation: Techniques for Travel Beyond Time

On the Web:
Democracy Now! transcript:
Self-Described Economic Hit Man John Perkins:
“We Have Created the World’s First Truly Global Empire”
Wednesday, February 15th, 2006

FRONTLINE/World episode#103
Iraq, Truth and Lies in Baghdad & Colombia, The Pipeline War
Airdate: November 7, 2002

Transitions Bookplace
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