Confessions of an Economic Hit Man | Book Summary

Confessions of an frugal Hit Man Book SummaryConfessions of an Economic Hit Man is an autobiography by John Perkins.It tells the story of how the protagonist, Perkins, experienced a series of withalts that are astonishingly influential to the world that we make love in today. It tells the story of how edacity for currency and power creates a weathervane of deceit, traitors and shockingly murderers. It portrays how one country bear exploit others, rob their inhering resources, ca exercise environmental disasters, poison their rivers and guide their politics. Perkins exposes the truth behind his proclaim countrys administrations and its leading role models in the corporate world The United States of America.Perkins begins this throw by introducing both concepts Economic Hit Man (EHM) and corporatocracy. EHMs are a group of people who encourage world leading to become explode of a vast network that promotes U.S commercial interests (p ix). This results in the world draw s becoming trapped in a web of debt and providing the U.S with support politically, militarily and stintingally. In turn, the world leading cause airports, power plants and industrial pose to their people and therefore guarantee their thr testify. John Perkins provides a precise translation of EHMs that they are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe bulge out of trillions of dollars using techniques such as fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, wind up and murder (p ix).The protagonist was an EHM for the international consultancy firm MAIN and its scheme is to bespeak and persuade poorer country leaders to accept enormous development loans for projects which were to be contracted with U.S companies. They cheat leaders with false economic projections, Your forecasts de experimental conditionine the order of magnitude of the systems they design and the size of the loans , an EHM is the key (p 17). This form of diabolic use, in their calculate a strategic investment, proved to be successful in countries such Ecuador, bluejacket and Saudi Arabia but if the leaders do non agree with the offer for loans and economic growth then the country and their leaders suffered, all the akin murdered. EHM failure was not acceptable.The term corpratocracy as Perkins explains is a collective term describing corporations, banks and governments that work for the progression of the global empire using financial and political muscle to ensure that our schools, businesses and media support the concept of the system that is motivated by the illusion that all economic growth serves for the prosperity of mankind and the large the growth, the further extended the services and that the impoverished are convenient for exploitation. Perkins to a fault take ins us an insight of the impact of corporatocracy on us as we are organism exploited by the economic engine that creates an insatiable appetite for the worlds resou rces and results in a system that fosters slavery. This quote emphasises what we impinge on everyday in our lives in banks, governments, Nike and Wal-Mart and nearly every other corporation in the world and that we are convinced by this economic engine and induced to consume, consume, consume (p cardinal -xiii).A key question is why did John Perkins become an EHM? He implies that his choice of this career path was due to two events in his keep his loyal friendship with Farhad, a son of an Iranian general and his encounter with Anne, his ex-wife (p 5). His parents also played a role in his layer of look on since he grew up as a poor puritan among so umteen wealthy. According to the protagonist, living a life of frustration liking sex and money generated a pivotal role in establishing his intent to live the good life, which was the lure that MAIN adopted to mould him into an EHM (p 7). save the more vital question here is how was such a deist in the corporatocracy become ens nared in its web of deceit?The answer is the manipulative dodge of exploitation. Perkins wife introduced him to an executive at the NSA (National Security Agency). Perkins then undergone a series of NSA assessments were focused on his frustrations, his upbringing and his relationship with his friend Farhad. This repre move how seducible the protagonist was and he was later further lured indirectly to be prepare as an EHM (p 9). When he began to realize the true nature of EHMs, he became juxtapose betwixt becoming one and living the good life or walking away. He often questioned if what he was round to engage in was right and suspected he was not but finally greed and the appealing opportunities MAIN offered won and he dependableified his decision by presupposing that he will expose the corporatocracy after he advanced deeper (p 17).EHMs corroborate been involved Panama, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Ecuador. In each case the writer describes unhomogeneous strategic tactics they emp loy and their various outcomes to the countries leaders, politics and people. Panama was promise by its hero Omar Torrijos at the time Perkins was sent to make his economic forecasts (or in reality an economic hit). Torrijos believed in his countries right to rule its own Panama Canal with no U.S intervention (p38). In 1972, Perkins established a relationship with Torrijos where it appeared that the he knew MAINs true agenda to contendds Panama as he implies, I understand that your company wants more work and usually gets it by inflating the size of projects.. This time is different Give me whats best for my people .Ill give you all the work you want. It was obvious that this man was solely concerned for the benefit of his country and to benefit the poor as rather than himself and which in my point of gain proves that not all leaders are corrupt. Perkins also portrays that Torrijoss selfless attitude would be seen as a threat but Torrijos show his k instanterledge openly that at anytime the U.S could assassinate him and that he will not be destroyed easily, We have the Canal The CIA will have to wipe out me (p 72-75).His expectations came to life on July 31st 1981. His death, which my mother described as a bass plane crash, was a result of his true devotion to Panama rather than the U.S dollar. He renegotiated the Canal Treaty with the U.S President Jimmy Carter to tumble the Canal to the Panamanians and later refused to renegotiate it with President Reagan. The U.S wanted sole control over the Canal. When anything came in their way, the words CIA assassination are heard (p158-159). This is their dodging, all comply with their strategic exploitation game and fail your beliefs for dollars and power or they send in their jackals or the CIA to intervene. After the tragic assassination of Panamas hero, his replacement, Manuel Noriega, followed in his footsteps particularly with the project of building a new canal financed by the Japanese. This make up a threat to U.S firms they could lose billions of dollars. During the George H. W. scrub administration a new strategy emerged to deal with Noriegas intentions. It was through loss of reputation and mess hall murder. In 1986, they developed a corrupt image of drug dealing for Noriega. In 1989, the U.S invades Panama with airstrike assaults on the unharmful Panamanian civilians violating international law (p 173-175).Perkins wrote about Ecuador and how the U.S petroleum company ChevronTexaco Corp contaminated rivers and open holes with four trillion gallons of toxic waste water which contained cover, carcinogens and heavy metals which poisons the Ecuadorian people and their animals (p xviii). Their democratically elected President Jaime Roldos wanted anele companies out of his country, unless they implemented plans that would abet Ecuadors people, they would be forced to leave his country. His people were frustrated and so was he. This posed a threat to their strategy of corp oratocracy, therefore a CIA assassination strategy was implemented and he died in a plane crash two months before Torrijos in 1981 (p 154-156).In 1973, an important event occurred that changed the strategy of corporatocracy, the crude Embargo. This was due to the U.Ss support to the state of Israel both politically and with contradictory aid. This caused tailfin Arab countries including Saudi Arabia to stop oil colour shipments to the U.S (p 82-83). King Faisal of Saudi Arabia played a great role in this embargo since he believed in the license of paradise and swore to pray in Jerusalems Aqsa Mosque. But like any leader that opposed U.S interests he was murdered in 1975 by his own nephew who coincidentally was just being educated in the U.S. As for their strategy for oil rich and strategically located countries such as Saudi Arabia, they sent EHMs, including Perkins team, to the stomach of Saud, with their strategic weapon, economic projections.In order to preserve their oil supply, Washington commenced a new strategy to lure the wealthy House of Saud using negotiations offering technical support, military hardware and training, and an opportunity to bring their nation into the twentieth century. This arrangement would guarantee the House of Sauds power and the U.S would bewilder large portions of petrodollars and forever making Saudis dependent on the U.S companies, such as MAIN. Perkins role was to forecast rough projections of the future of the solid ground if large sums of money were invested in its infrastructure by the aid of U.S construction and engineering companies. He described it as win-win situation (p 83-85).The author was assigned to persuade a member of the Saudi government, Prince W., of a possible new Westernised future of the kingdom in 1975. The protagonist soon realized his weakness for beautiful blondes. And he exploited that weakness and supplied him with his need of women which portrays the measures EHMs result in order to impl ement their assignment. Indeed his technique proved to be a success and Prince W. eventually relented (p 92-95).The diabolic outcome of this strategy is not the result of having a guaranteed illimitable oil support, but is the message the U.S sent If other countries such as Iran, Iraq threatened embargoes, Saudi Arabia would step in discourage other countries from even considering an embargo (p 90). The U.S can not only further corporatocracy but it can even escape with supporting terrorists for their own gain and later prosecute them as outlaws. The U.S desired the House of Saud to bankroll Osama bin Ladens Afghan war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s and they both generously habituated $3.5 billion to the mujahideen resistance movement (p 99). Washington was supporting who it now name murderers and terrorists to further its political agenda, in fact it was an excellent strategy to exploit such movements and later destroy them.Since the success of the Saudi Arabia strategy i n the 70s, the greed of the corporatocracy grew and EHMs were sent to Saddam Hussein of Iraq to exploit his oil reserves in exchange for infrastructural prosperity. Unlike the House of Saud, he did not comply. To Washington, Iraq represented oil, water and its borders with Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. It is at strike distance with Israel and the causation Soviet Union. That would have control over its neighbours some which are oil rich (p 182-184). Refusing to comply, Iraq was attacked twice breaking international law. Once by George H. W. supply in the 1990s with air strikes and aerial assaults on civilians. And second, by George W. Bush in 2003 where he deceived the world by claiming Hussein owned weapons of visual modality destruction. But people implied at that time that he planned to sell his oil for Euros which triggered the war.John Perkins ledger furthered a vast amount of friendship to my perception of world leaders. I was always sceptical abo ut many leaders but never did I know about EHMs. I was aware about corruption in governments, the U.S compliance with terrorism and its triplex standards that caused the murder of generations, the emotional scaring of orphans and the theft of dignity, resources and morals of many countries. Personal examples of this is the differenced between the Egyptian government at the time of Anwar Sadat who fought to help free Palestine and stop the Israeli genocide and now where Israelis are using chemic weapons to bomb schools and orphan children and the Egyptians are denying charities to supply those children with food. In my point of view this is also due to the U.Ss strategic exploitation as Egypt relies on billions of U.S foreign aid. I believe that EHMs were in Egypt. Another example is Saudi Arabia and how its leaders stood watching the U.S butcher Iraqi civilians in the war in 2003 and allowed U.S helicopters aerify to Iraq via Saudi Arabia.After reading this book, I also thought o f mysterious assassinations of important politicians such as Rafic Al Hariri who was a supporter of al-Jihad who protected Lebanon from Israeli occupation and Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan. Those were people of similar standards as Torrijos and Roldos and maybe I am right to now believe that those were CIA assassinations. The extent of the use of exploitation strategies by the corporatocracy was appalling and in my point of view the author was convincing and he was right to quit and expose this form of manipulation and terrorism employed by the U.S. As for a solution for corporatocracy, I believe it is in the reason of its existence, the reason why Perkins joined it, the same reason it was created greed and power hunger. If we can perhaps teach American schools the importance of the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of every country, not just theirs and about international laws, then they might realise the real terrorists. I agree with John Perkins on his strategy of spreading aw areness, using his book and the media, and his idea bountiful this book and talking about it to friends and family. I would also suggest translating this book in different languages, especially Arabic and giving it to Iraqis and Saudis so they can see for themselves the working of the corporatocracy in their everyday life.