by
John Perkins
Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2004)
Book Review by Joan Brunwasser
January 8, 2007
Fairly recently, I started
listening to books on tape while driving. I figured I needed a break
from all the heavy stuff I do in my "free time," and listening
to the news did not fit the bill. The process is pretty painless
- I go regularly to my local library to get a stack of discs and
leave them in my car so that I can listen while driving between
work, carpool, and errands. I've succeeded in spending a lot of
pleasant moments with my new "friends," particularly Bill
Bryson, Julia Child, and Peter Mayle. This has done wonders in leavening
my spirits. But lately, for some reason, I have been drawn to heavier
material. It started with Blindsided by Richard Cohen, about his
life with MS. Now, it's Perkins' Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man. This book is my every nightmare
come true. When I speak about it, the first thing most people ask
is, "It's fiction, right?" Wrong. And, I'm sorrier about
that than I can say.
I can't wait to finish
it, and yet I'm fascinated in the ghoulish way that people pick
at their scabs, or slow down on the highway to gaze at an accident
scene. This book exposes the underbelly of American foreign policy
and makes me understand in a very visceral way why so much of the
world thinks poorly of us, to put it delicately. This type of behavior
did not just begin when W took office. While I wish I could blame
the whole thing on him, it predates his presidency by quite a bit
and did not limit itself to one party or the other.
Most of the time, the
average person doesn't know much about the things I want to talk
about - voting machines, supposed "glitches," HAVA, various
secretaries of state, elected officials and local boards of elections
doing amazingly egregious things. If anything on this topic makes
its way to the mainstream media, it's generally hidden on an inner
page somewhere or it's slanted in such a way that you'd swear it's
not even the same story that appeared on the Web. Things have started
to change of late, but it's been a long hard slog for those of us
trying to break through.
This book is more bad
news, big time, on an entirely different front. But to my surprise,
when I've wanted to talk about it, people had either heard of the
book or had no problem believing its basic premise. I find that
heartening, in a way. I highly recommend that you read this book,
as knowledge is the first step to action. We need to know what our
government is doing in our name. And, if we object, which I suspect
the majority of us do, we need to demand an accounting and a change
of course. It's as simple as that.
In the spirit of full
disclosure, I admit that I have not finished the book yet. I'm in
the middle of the seventh of eight CDs. But I have a burning need
to get this up and out. I already know that Perkins has left his
evil ways behind and is doing what he can to atone for his past
behavior. Besides, this isn't a review in the typical New York Times
manner, nor has it any pretensions to be. It's more of a modest,
"This is something I think is worth reading, and here's why."
John Perkins worked for
private company Chas. T. Main from 1971-1981. His assignment formed
a little understood, but critical, arm of the government and its
foreign policy. Initially recruited by the N.S.A., "the nation's
largest and least understood spy organization," his status
as chief economist cloaked the project with maximum government deniability.
The concept of "economic hit man" was based on the early
'50s success of the C.I.A.'s Kermit Roosevelt in toppling the democratically
elected leader of Iran in order to install the more amenable Shah.
So, at that point,
the decision was made to use organizations like the C.I.A. and
the N.S.A. to recruit potential economic hit men like me and then
send us to work for private consulting companies, engineering
firms, construction companies, so that if we were caught, there
would be no connection with the government...If I hadn't lived
this life as an economic hit man, I think I'd have a hard time
believing that anybody does these things. And that's why I wrote
the book, because our country really needs to understand, if people
in this nation understood what our foreign policy is really about,
what foreign aid is about, how our corporations work, where our
tax money goes, I know we will demand change.
That is the goal of my review as well.
Perkins outlines the
American thirst for globalization, privatization and what he terms
"corporatocracy" in its quest for global empire. The old
adage, "What's good for GM is good for America" has become
both a narrower and a broader concept. What's good for a few, very
large corporations and private consulting firms - Bechtel, Halliburton,
and others that are not household names - drives American foreign
policy, and benefits only its ultra-rich citizens. Ethics, social
conscience, and the social welfare of the countries we seek to plunder,
corrupt, and ensnare play no part in the equation. The cost to them,
and to the world as a whole, is as unforeseen and disregarded as
it is onerous.
I'll try to concisely
describe the three prongs used in implementing this policy. The
first is the "chief economist" (actually, not a trained
economist at all) Perkins, who was dispatched to whatever third
world country had something America wanted - oil, natural resources,
or strategic geographic location (like Panama). His instructions
were to spend several months in the country, getting to know the
lay of the land, and to then craft a proposal that included grossly
inflated projections regarding the benefits of building specific
infrastructure, like a power plant or oil pipelines. The multi-million
or -billion dollar contract cost would be covered by loans by the
ever-ready and complicit I.M.F. and World Bank. All work would be
channeled through American firms, who would supply the plans and
labor, thereby receiving mammoth contracts and huge profits.
The way the loan agreement
was written made it impossible for the country to keep up with payments,
leading to its defaulting on the loan. The American companies had
already received their funds when the loan was made, putting the
ensnared country in a lose-lose situation. They had saddled their
population with debt for generations to come, had only further enriched
a tiny crust of the local elite, and now, their sizable debt left
them beholden to America. They could only repay it by becoming America's
puppet, through various key U.N. votes, or allowing us to take over
their coveted natural resources.
In order to achieve this
domination, there were back-up plans if the economic hit man's salesmanship
wasn't sufficiently persuasive. The next step involved calling in
the "jackals" to foment civil unrest, either via general
strikes or a coup. If these methods of "gentle persuasion"
were unsuccessful, fatal accidents could always be arranged. Perkins
cites Ecuador's Jaime Roldos and Panama's Omar Torrijos as paying
the ultimate cost of standing up to American demands. If even the
jackals couldn't bring about the desired results, it was time to
bring in American troops. Does anyone remember the invasion of Panama
in 1989? Understood within this context, it takes on much more ominous
overtones. The world roundly condemned our actions. The American
press blackout that prevented on-the-ground coverage during the
invasion, not to mention outside criticism, presaged the muzzle
that W has used so effectively this time around.
Perkins wants us to grasp
the way this philosophy of global empire has taken over our foreign
policy, and understands the war in Iraq within this context. Saddam
Hussein was intended to be another example of the prototype used
in Saudi Arabia, America's biggest, yet untold, success story. Building
all of those cities from scratch in the desert did more than rake
in billions of dollars for private contractors. It cemented a relationship
between the two countries that pictures of W and Saudi leaders holding
hands only hint at. It's not only oil that brought us to Iraq, according
to Perkins. It's the presence of water, a big issue in the Middle
East, as well as Iraq's strategic geographic location. It's been
said that whoever controls Iraq controls the Middle East. Perkins
buys into that theory, and in the coming months, we will see how
the story plays out.
Here is Perkins explaining
what happened if he failed at his job. This is from an
interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! Referring
to the fates of Roldos and Torrijos, Perkins says:
Both had just died
in fiery crashes. Their deaths were not accidental. They were
assassinated because they opposed that fraternity of corporate,
government, and banking heads whose goal is global empire. We
Economic Hit Men failed to bring Roldós and Torrijos around,
and the other type of hit men, the C.I.A.-sanctioned jackals who
were always right behind us, stepped in... Basically what we were
trained to do and what our job is to do is to build up the American
empire. To bring - to create situations where as many resources
as possible flow into this country, to our corporations, and our
government, and in fact we've been very successful. We've built
the largest empire in the history of the world. It's been done
over the last 50 years since World War II with very little military
might, actually. It's only in rare instances like Iraq where the
military comes in as a last resort. This empire, unlike any other
in the history of the world, has been built primarily through
economic manipulation, through cheating, through fraud, through
seducing people into our way of life, through the economic hit
men. I was very much a part of that.
The interview continues, and Goodman asks, "How closely did
you work with the World Bank?"
(I work) very, very
closely with the World Bank. The World Bank provides most of the
money that's used by economic hit men, it and the I.M.F. But when
9/11 struck, I had a change of heart. I knew the story had to
be told because what happened at 9/11 is a direct result of what
the economic hit men are doing. And the only way that we're going
to feel secure in this country again and that we're going to feel
good about ourselves is if we use these systems we've put into
place to create positive change around the world. I really believe
we can do that. I believe the World Bank and other institutions
can be turned around and do what they were originally intended
to do, which is help reconstruct devastated parts of the world.
Help - genuinely help poor people. There are twenty-four thousand
people starving to death every day. We can change that.
I applaud Perkins's coming
forward now, although his scruples didn't prevent 20 years of silence
when disclosure might have been timelier. I urge everyone to read
this horribly fascinating view of our recent history and trade policies
masquerading as foreign policy.
I would like to draw
a link between the unseemly alliance between Big Business and the
highest echelons of our government and the need for meaningful reform
on various fronts. While the 2006 elections were surely a repudiation
of W's policies and administration, the loving embrace between corporations
and our government continues to affect us indirectly every day.
I'm referring to the corporate media and its inability or unwillingness
to cover stories of crucial importance to its public. If you are
confident that major outlets are giving sufficient attention to
the issues of the day, go to Project Censored at www.projectcensored.org.
Distorted election coverage was #3 on the top 25 censored stories
of 2006. Not only do we need media reform, but campaign finance
reform as well. Corporate influence is like a tapeworm in the heart
of our democracy. The body might still be upright, but this hidden
menace can kill while remaining out of sight.
This book gave me a lot
to think about. One image that came to mind was the bull in the
china shop. Indigenous peoples, delicate ecosystems, and the structure
and social fabric of each country are all in harm's way because
of America's raging greed and power. I recently saw the movie Blood
Diamond, which depicts how diamonds have created civil war,
destruction and death for the people of Africa. One of the characters
in the movie says, ironically, "It's a good thing we don't
have oil. Then, we'd really be in trouble." As he stands amidst
his burning village, filled with violence and death, it is quite
a powerful statement.
Is the West's hunger
for consumer goods the chief cause for globalization? While I think
it is definitely a factor, and recommend mindful shopping as a small-scale
antidote, I think that it is the unquenchable corporate thirst for
profits that really drives this train. (For more on this topic,
see my last Op/Ed piece on this subject entitled Crocs,
Costco and the Mindful Shopper.) Perkins, at one
point in his book, seems to place the blame squarely on American
consumers. But I think that is self-serving on his part. The most
insatiable shopper could never, in a lifetime of sprees and binges,
"accomplish" what Perkins did during his tenure as an
economic hit man. He admitted that his chief skill was that he was
a good writer and adept in the art of persuasion. In another context,
what was done to these countries could be construed as entrapment,
both morally and legally.
The N.S.A. chose well.
Perkins was the right man for the job. His father was a teacher
at a prestigious prep school in rural New Hampshire, causing his
son to be ever conscious of the social divide. When young John joined
the student body, he never felt like an equal, and it rankled badly.
The same was true when he went to college. His inferiority complex
and resulting desire to succeed made him the perfect candidate for
his ignoble profession. He was honored to be selected, to be respected,
to have such responsibility and power.
And, it was so very lucrative.
Long after Perkins' scruples were awakened, he did nothing. Even
when he had broken away and decided to write a book about his former
activities, more than 20 years elapsed before it was ultimately
published. Perkins admits that part of the delay was purely financial.
He was offered another job where he got paid excessively for essentially
doing nothing, the only caveat being that he was forbidden to write
anything that would reflect poorly on the companies with which he
dealt. He was a willing, if guilt-ridden participant. So, when he
tries to shift the blame, I understand the impulse but reject his
argument. Yes, our buying patterns need to change. But this is about
far more than that. The unspoken, unratified national priorities
carried out in our name need to change.
Several times, Perkins
alludes to sitting in front of a blank computer screen. This is
a grownup version of the tabula rasa - the blank slate that we are
at birth. We have, within reason, the ability to choose the path
we will take, and the moral compass that will direct us. The same
is true right now, at this very moment. The public can continue
to be apathetic about the sad state our country is in. It's very
comfortable to complain and whine from the sidelines, and there's
a lot to whine about. And, there are certainly many others doing
exactly the same thing - namely nothing. Or, people can choose to
rouse themselves from their stupor, choose an issue, and get busy
working on it. There are plenty of good people out there doing the
same. I happen to think that efforts for election integrity pay
the largest dividends because the health of our elections mirrors
the state of our democracy. Without fair elections, nothing else
we want will be possible. It's as simple as that.
If you want something
easy to do on your first tentative step away from the couch, send
a letter to your member of Congress to amend the Holt
Bill, HR 550, so that it can become suitable for passage.
Mark my words. Legislation will pass this session to try to deal
with the election mess we're in. Momentum and public will say so.
But, the success lies in the details. An unworkable bill will guarantee
future compromised elections, which we can ill afford. Now, right
now before Congress convenes, is the time to get a message out to
your representatives that lip service is not enough. We want free,
fair, transparent, secure, and accurate elections, and we want them
now!
Send the letter to your
members of Congress and then pass it along to everyone you know.
If you have a large network, it still shouldn't take you more than
20 minutes, tops. If you have only a few friends, relatives, neighbors
or co-workers, it won't take more than 10 minutes. You could do
it during the commercials of one TV show. You'll feel good about
it, and you'll save yourself from too many runs to the refrigerator.
Now, that's what I call a win-win situation.
www.CountEveryVote.BlogSpot.com
~~~~~~~~
Joan Brunwasser of Citizens
for Election Reform is a citizen activist working hard to restore
and preserve free and fair elections. Her main focus is distributing
Invisible
Ballots through her lending library project. Since
mid September, she has loaned the DVD to 'borrowers' in 37 states,
DC, Puerto Rico, Canada, Holland, England, Ireland and Japan. She
has now enlisted 3,004 individuals and groups in her project and
is always looking for new contacts. Her latest target is the local
press, local elected officials and other community movers and shakers.
She is the Voting Integrity Editor for Op Ed News.
|
