A Must Read: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (you will understand)

[cthrumatrix]

Economic Hit Man

John Perkins, the founder of Dream Change Coalition, shared the story of the time he spent as an international 'economic hit man' after being recruited by the National Security Agency. He defined an 'economic hit man' as someone who assists in cheating developing countries and US taxpayers, by funneling money from the World Bank to the wealthy in the private sector.

In his capacity as chief economist for the firm Chas. T. Main, Perkins said he traveled the world, arranging for developing countries to take out huge loans to pay for companies such as Bechtel and Halliburton to build infrastructure on their land. But then in order to pay off the debt, the countries were cajoled into signing away rights to their valuable resources, he detailed. The assets then became part of what Perkins termed the "corporatacracy," a global empire, largely based in the United States, that encompasses the highest echelons of corporations, banking and government. In what could be considered an unethical but not illegal manner, such countries are taken over without any military action, he noted.

Perkins left this line of work and now strives to reform the system. After Sept. 11, 2001, he decided to ignore the bribes he'd been offered to keep silent, and publish his expose, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, with the goal of raising consciousness about what is going on and bringing America back to its original goals.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2005/02/15.html

You will then understand how the "global elite" take advantage of "countries" for the benefit of specific corporations, banks & the US Govt.

You can catch an interview with John Perkins on Democracy Now. The above link is his interview on Coast to Coast last night.

The basic premise is "flood countries with debt"...debt/money goes to US corp for massive build programs....country can't payback....and the US then owns thier resources, UN Votes or other.

This was all be design..this guy and his company did it for decades.

[EFerrari]

1. Did you catch Perkins on BookTV over the weekend?

He's also a wonderful speaker. After watching his segment, we both want to read this book.

He was asked the question, do you think this is what is now happening in this country? He didn't deny it, seemed to strive to stay nonpartisan but did give the question a real answer. I really enjoying watching this man speak.

[Vickers]

2. This is why the average American doesn't think US debt is so bad

So many Americans are up to their armpits in debt, so I think they find it almost "normal" for the country to be in severe debt.

Hey, we're all gonna get Raptured-up anyway!

I also think some of the same methods used on an international scale are used to push personal debt. Everywhere I look there are credit card offers, creative financing for houses, etc. etc.

Used to be credit cards were used for emergencies, and now folks put their groceries on there (and don't pay it off at the end of the month).

[K-W]

19. There was a time when all human beings knew why debt was bad.

But back then reality wasnt so obscured.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Yeah, those home equity loan ads are really disturbing

Got a bazillion dollars in credit card debt? Just take out a home equity loan (and possibly lose your house, although they don't say that.)

[AG78]

3. That's all fine and good

But how does Jeff Gannon control this global empire? That's the important question. He is the magic bullet that will take the empire down afterall.

But seriously, it's humans vs. profits. I don't know who's going to win, but I'm sure it'll be pretty finding out.

[UL_Approved]

4. Debt society

Get people to owe everything they own to somebody that has all of the money.

This was done back in the day with mines. The workers were given wages that were just below the amount that they needed to get basic supplies. They were even given company currency instead of real money in order to keep them under wraps.

The wealthy elite have got us under their thumbs. They keep us under debts, which is their ultimate control. This is all bullshit, but we accept it.

[Donailin]

15. I dont accept it

I'm getting my passports this weekend. I really am at the breaking point. I've learned more truth in the last four years than in the rest of my previous 38 years. This country hasn't a clue what the government has been up to in the last fifty years and most folks still think the Indigenous people of america, the "Indians" were the bad guys. The racism, the greed, the fact that we're the biggest producer of and seller of weapons on the planet, the poisoned food and contaminated water, and the corruption that puts the mafia to shame. It's all too much to bear. My tax dollars are used to exlpoit, if not kill some poor soul on the other side of the planet so I can have cheap gas and a comfortable home and a weeks owrth of food in the fridge.

My conscience cannot shake this, I just don't know what to do. I don't want a part of this. I just think there's no way to reverse the course. We are headed for the worst, I see no light. Does anyone seriously see the light?

[librechik]

17. where are you thinking of going?

because I can't think of anyplace that's free of that sort of thing.
People from all over the world come here to escape dictators worse than Shrub. I know how you feel, so I wonder if you have any ideas...?

[Donailin]

27. North or south but ,

it's not because I plan to move or want to move, I will get them in the event that we have to leave because there is no other choice. I want to get passports now so that we can leave on short notice. I can think of quite a few scenarios that wuld prompt me to make this choice. One would be the sign of an escaltion to another war. Or the theft of the 2006 election. Or the economic downturn that will be the first clear sign of a depression. Or simply, a terrorist attack here in DC. I have two teenage sons and I didn't raise them to kill another mother's sons.

I'm inclined to go south,south america, that is. if we're going to be poor, I'd rather be poor where it's warm. But Canada is also an option.

If it were just me, I'd stay and fight, but I won't let anyone take my kids.

[K-W]

20. The only light can be hope, history just isnt pretty.

Always romanticised, never pretty.

Behind all progress has been unending and deep injustice.

We can only hope that the slow social progress of mankind produces tangible results for our time and do everything in our power to make that more likely.

[LdyGuique]

21. We're kindred spirits

I, too, have learned a whole lot more than I ever knew. I go way back to all of the crap of VietNam, the demonstrations, etc. I was a liberal but unwilling to do jail time or get my head beat in as I babies and such. Then, my cowardness was just "set in stone." I didn't believe a lot of the rhetoric from the left about fascists, etc.

I WAS WRONG!

I've done a lot of research on these issues and am sick to my soul as I feel the monied ones have indeed taken over -- that they not only are "imperialist pigs" for their stealing of resources from around the world -- but that they buy elections and election fraud.

I don't see a lot of light unless people start hitting the streets in huge numbers.

[Donailin]

28. I am tired

The last four years has taken so much out of me. Physically, emotionally. Financially. Spiritually. My spirit is willing to hit the streets, but they count the votes. It all comes down to who counts the votes.

[Mika]

5. Fidel Castro has been saying this for over ten years

No IMF for Cuba.


Viva Cuba!

---

[txaslftist]

10. UGH! Can we puhleazze stop quoting Castro as authoritative?

D'you wanna completely marginalize the democratic party?

UGH!

[Mika]

11. How is agreeing marginalizing?

Don't buy into the rightwingnut propaganda.

But, if you must buy into rightwingnut propaganda, go ahead - feel marginalized. :shrug:

[Donailin]

14. Castros crimes dont come this close to even being in the same

ballpark as America's. Wake up! Everything you know is a lie.

[leesa]

23. Please get over your irrational Castro paranoia

He's done many things wrong but a lot more right. You have fallen for the US anti-communist propaganda.

[hector459]

29. Why does quoting Castro marginalize the Dems? He's more honest

than Bush. That hasn't marginalized the Republicans. Besides, what did Castro ever do to the US except SURVIVE?!!

[HuckleB]

30. Logic has nothing to do with it.

Which is something we must remember when discussing with those who've fallen for the RW propaganda.

[Al-CIAda]

6. Audio-

----------
Audio-
Guest: John Perkins, author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"
Fri., December 10, 2004
Deadline Live w/Jack Blood

mp3's-
pt1- Interview starts approx. half way through
http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Blood/0412/20041210_Fri_JackBlood1.mp3
pt2-CIA sequence of Empire (economics, assasinations, torture, vote rigging, etc.) Naming names...vote rigging!
http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Blood/0412/20041210_Fri_JackBlood2.mp3

Realplayer RAM-
http://mp3.rbnlive.com/Blood/0412/20041210_Fri_JackBlood.ram

======
Democracy Now!
Tuesday, November 9th, 2004
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: How the U.S. Uses Globalization to Cheat Poor Countries Out of Trillions
Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3      
Watch 128k stream       Watch 256k stream  
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We speak with John Perkins, a former respected member of the international banking community. In his book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man he describes how as a highly paid professional, he helped the U.S. cheat poor countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars by lending them more money than they could possibly repay and then take over their economies.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Perkins describes himself as a former economic hit man - a highly paid professional who cheated countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars.

20 years ago Perkins began writing a book with the working title, "Conscience of an Economic Hit Men."

Perkins writes, "The book was to be dedicated to the presidents of two countries, men who had been his clients whom I respected and thought of as kindred spirits - Jaime Roldós, president of Ecuador, and Omar Torrijos, president of Panama. 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 CIA-sanctioned jackals who were always right behind us, stepped in.

John Perkins goes on to write: "I was persuaded to stop writing that book. I started it four more times during the next twenty years. On each occasion, my decision to begin again was influenced by current world events: the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1980, the first Gulf War, Somalia, and the rise of Osama bin Laden. However, threats or bribes always convinced me to stop."


Excerpt:
AMY GOODMAN: John Perkins joins us now in our firehouse studio. Welcome to Democracy Now!

JOHN PERKINS: Thank you, Amy. It’s great to be here.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Okay, explain this term, “economic hit man,” e.h.m., as you call it.

JOHN PERKINS: 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.

Con't-
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/09/1526251

[SoCalifer]

12. Thank You Al-CIAda

For the links.. By the way.. I love your name :) sadly though, it's so true isn't it...

[ElsewheresDaughter]

7. it's my next read after i'm done with "don't think of an elephant"

[cthrumatrix]

8. I read it ...it really gives you a whole new perspective....it's all

about the "corporations".

He call's it "corparatocracy".

[ElsewheresDaughter]

9. i am finding it very enlightening & i considered myself apolitically savvy

person but boy did the first chapter popped my eyes RE: James Dobson and the neocon mind set. the analogy of the "strict father model"(conservative) and the "nuturing and care model"(democrat)

these people (conservatives) are scary and are NOT Christian in any sense of the New Testament way :scared:


:7

[Donailin]

13. caught it today on Democracy Now

and I spent the rest of the morning utterly depressed. America is the cancer of the planet.

[BeFree]

16. Welcome, Donailin

Yes, this is the world we live in. Have for a long time. There isn't much we can do about it either. What we can do is not support it by living very simply and as far away from the corporate superstructure as one can.

The American empire wasn't built overnite. Pawns such as this Perkin fellow play bit pieces in the big show of American acquisitions.

'Tis a bitter pill to swallow, but now that you know, you can make moves to delete your support.

[chlamor]

18. War is a Racket-Brig. Gen. Smedley Butler

You can google "War is a Racket" and read the tale straight from another who knew he was just a hit man for the Corporation. Butler was involved in many international "escapades" in the early 1900's and states it all quite succinctly. Here a few words from some other folks.

The relentless approach of global feudalism:

"In addition to these pragmatic goals, the powers of financial capitalism had
another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of
financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of
each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be
controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting
in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and
conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International
Settlements in Basle, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by
the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations."

Prof. Carroll Quigley (Tragedy & Hope)

The interests behind the Bush Administration, such as the Council on Foreign Relations, The Trilateral Commission - founded by Brzezinski for David Rockefeller - and the Bilderberger Group, have prepared for and are now moving to implement open world dictatorship within the next five years. They are not fighting against terrorists. They are fighting against citizens."

Dr. Johannes B. Koeppl, Ph.D., former German defense ministry official and advisor to former NATO Secretary General Manfred Werner (2001)

"The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities."

Zbigniew Brzezinski.

[shance]

Another terrific ( short*) book told by the highest ranked Marine General

that shows how war is indeed a business and a money making racket for the very wealthiest, while everyone else pays dearly.

Its a short book, very easy to read, and a great book to give to friends and family. Probably the most confirming and important books Ive ever read, and validating because it comes from a man who lived it and for years he helped the big businesses benefit like Mr. Perkins did.

[WeHoldTheseTruths]

24. From an email I received today

I'm sorry I have no time to wrap words around this, but it can stand as it is pretty well. I just want to share it as food for thought or discussion.

--------

In an article dated February 10 published in New Federalist newspaper, Jeffrey and Michele Steinberg say the activities of Condi Rice on her maiden foreign trip, and other recent moves by the Bush Administration, show that "there are no signs the Bush Administration has, in any substantive way, broken from its policy of perpetual war in Southwest Asia and other raw-materials-rich parts of the planet."

What is going on with the targetting of Iran, and Syria, is coming right out of the pages of the July 1996 "Clean Break" document, which has been adopted as policy by the ever-more-assertive inhouse controller of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney.

The political blowup around the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri (if not the act itself) falls right within this pattern, as the U.S. predictably moves to blame Syria, recalls its ambassador, and demands international action through the UN. It is not necessary, and is even distracting, to look at all the back-and-forth and fingerpointing here. We are looking at a scenario, orchestrated at a higher level, in which most players are merely pawns in the Cheney-Shultz drive for world domination within genocidal chaos.

To stop the mayhem, we have to succeed in destroying this duo in the United States, and pulling together an alternative power-policy…

The introduction to a new pamphlet--which features the photo of Shultz, Arnie, and Milton Friedman on the cover--identifies Shultz's historical role in pushing fascism in the United States, since at least the late 1960s. But don't think for a moment that Shultz is "at arm's length" from the current process. He is, as reported in the current pamphlet, a board member of the Republicans' House Policy Committee's "Social Security Working Group," which is leading the push for privatization (and undoubtedly working Republicans over as well). He is also on the board, as reported below, of one of the leading brokerage firms campaigning for the theft of the Social Security funds, Charles Schwab. This is a "grey eminence" who wants to have his hand in your pocket.

The job is to take Shultz out politically, just as we would have, in the 1930s, sought to take out Hjalmar Schacht as the fascist economic "brain" behind Hitler. We are dealing not with the pathetic George W. Bush, but with a bankers' cabal dedicated to saving their bankrupt system with fascism.

Our perspective echoes that which was taken by FDR and his close friend Justice Robert Jackson back in 1945, when the U.S. began the Nuremberg Tribunals against the Nazis. The U.S. prosecution team took the approach that, behind the Nazi crimes, was a *criminal conspiracy* led by bankers and industrialists, who set in motion the actions of those who committed the physical crimes. Hear Justice Jackson in his opening statement to the Tribunal:

"The case as presented by the United States will be concerned with the brains and authority in back of all the crimes. These defendants were men of a station and rank which does not soil its own hands with blood. They were men who knew how to use lesser folks as tools. We want to reach the planners and designers, the inciters and leaders with whose evil architecture the world would not have been for so long scourged with the violence and lawlessness, and wracked with the agonies and convulsions of this terrible war...."

At that time, the "men of rank" were led by none other than international banker Hjalmar Schacht, who allegedly disdained Hitler and his cohorts, but calmly proceeded to set in motion a human cannibalization economic machine that carried out both a Holocaust, and a hideous genocidal war. Today, these "men of rank" include the likes of George Shultz, Felix Rohatyn, and other bankers of like mind, who are looking for the Hitlers who will allow them to enforce the looting which saving their system demands.

We already see the Democrats in motion, and an emerging bipartisan grouping which is enraged at the immoral austerity against Veterans, not to mention the outrages against the Constitution and international law with the torture policy. …

It's a way yet to pull together both a winning fight, and the alternative policy offensive.

[WeHoldTheseTruths]

25. IMF gets another pound of flesh

Just checked email before turning off this 'puter and going to bed and thought this was too relevant to resist after having just posted the stuff above.

------

BOGOTA, Feb. 16 (EIRNS) -- IMF CHIEF RODRIGO RATO RECEIVED THE "SHYLOCK AWARD" -- A POUND OF FLESH -- FROM THE LYM HERE TODAY.

Rato spent the day today in Bogota lecturing the President and government officials about how they had not imposed sufficient austerity upon the Colombian people, but when he held his final press conference at the Banco de la Republica (the Central Bank), the synarchist Spaniard was delivered a surprise.

Five LYM'ers handed out a leaflett called "LaRouche: IMF 100 Times Worse than Hitler; A New Financial System Must Be Created" outside, while EIR's Maximiliano Londono and LYM'er Orlando Munevar entered the press conference.

Rato was accompanied at the podium by the infamous Anoop "Let Argentina Die" Singh, head of the IMF's Western Hemisphere division, and two other IMF officials, as 50-60 journalists dutifully took notes, obeying the rules. At a certain point, Orlando, who had hidden a pound of meat in his pants (!), took the microphone, as if to ask a question, and proceeded to deliver Rato the pound of flesh which Rato had extracted from the Colombian people, on behalf of the LaRouche movement.

Orlando got in a quick briefing on the state of the world financial system and what needs to be done about it, before security was about to pounce. Apparently in order to appear tolerant, Orlando was not expelled, however, and merely sat down, while Rato finished his press conference with the pound of flesh sitting there on the table, as everyone took pictures! Reuters taped an interview with Orlando after Rato concluded.

Rato travels to Ecuador tomorrow, before arriving in Lima, Peru....

-----------

It's the north americans who don't see what's happening. :)

[HuckleB]

26. Perkins' offers his concerns regarding Tsunami Aid.

Author: Tsunami aid may line U.S. pockets
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=011705a1_tsunamiaid

[hvn_nbr_2]

31. I wonder if this is the same John Perkins who wrote...

Shapeshifting: Shamanic Techniques for Global and Personal Tranformation. Sounds like it could be. It's been awhile since I read that book, but I vaguely remember he did some economic/business globetrotting during the time when he went through personal changes. BTW, the title may sound a bit flaky to some but it's not really like that. But you should know this before trumpeting this story to the world.

[HootieMcBoob]

33. it's the same one n/t

[DU GrovelBot]

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