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The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth About Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World
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List Price: $15.00
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Manufacturer: Plume
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 337.73
EAN: 9780452289574
ISBN: 0452289572
Label: Plume
Manufacturer: Plume
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2008-04-29
Publisher: Plume
Studio: Plume
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Editorial Reviews:
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In his stunning memoir, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins detailed his former role as an "economic hit man" in the international corporate skulduggery of a de facto American Empire. Now Perkins zeroes in on hot spots around the world, drawing on interviews to examine the current geopolitical crisis, and providing a compassionate plan to reimagine our world.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Comment: Read this book if you are not afraid of knowing what the Corporations are up to in the world.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Should be read in schools and colleges
Comment: Excellently written, very informative, should be read by everyone, reads like a thriller. Gives a good view behind the curtain of American history and beyond what the media wants us to believe.
Customer Rating:
Summary: No cover jacket on book sent
Comment: Just thought I'd inform fellow customers that I ordered a hardback book and received it without the cover jacket.
Customer Rating:
Summary: We must never let the military-industrial complex endanger our liberties (D. Eisenhower)
Comment: After a life of `robbing from the poor and giving to the rich' as an economic hit man, thereby pocketing his commissions, John Perkins became an environment activist and a militant for change in the policies of the corporatocracy.
Corporatocracy
The author delivers in this book many well directed punches into the face of his former employers, transnational companies which act as imperial dictatorships in the global economy.
Together with their long arms (controlled or corrupt governments, the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, intelligence services, infiltrated or outright controlled NGOs and the military) the corporations are building an empire for the wealthy few. Behind the rhetoric of `free trade', `free markets` and `free choice' the author discovers disinformation, corruption, oligopolies and market and export protection.
This empire claims to defend democracy, but ousts or assassinates democratically elected presidents like P. Lumumba, S. Allende, O. Torrijos, D. Roldós).
The corporations profit heavily from the empire's War Machine (a trillion dollar business) which invents its own enemies. After the fall of the Berlin Wall Islamic revolutionaries took the place of the Communists in order to justify bulging military budgets.
A few examples
In Nigeria, the great writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged for opposing environmental havoc in the territories of the Ogoni people.
In Diego Garcia the entire population was forced out of their country without compensation in order to build a military base.
In East-Timor, the slaughtering of the population by Indonesian troops was approved by the US government.
In Columbia, the drug war is a subterfuge for protecting oil interests.
Change
If the many want to change the world, they must force change on the corporations. The latter are vulnerable because they need us as clients and consumers. We should impose on them policies of ecological sustainability and social responsibility. Governments should be elected by `real' democracy.
The ultimate goal of all policies should be `a stable, sustainable and peaceful world for everybody.'
Although this book is sometimes too anecdotic, it is a must read for all those who want to understand the world we live in.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This book will change your view of the USA in the world!
Comment: As a former "Economic Hit Man", Perkins reveals the damage done to nations who do not yield to US demands for their resources. He shows how the usual pattern is to send in the "Jackals" (the CIA) to do the initial dirty work including assassinations, starting internal wars, and many other things. The EHMs then move in to privatise local institutions which are acquired by US interests, and set up massive loans which poor countries can never afford to repay. Among the examples given are Indonesia, Bolivia, Ecuador and, of course, Chile. The role of the World Bank and the IMF as USA-centred institutions is also discussed.
Most of the book reads like a thriller, and only moves to a slower pace when Perkins proposes solutions to reforming the practices of the American Empire. He is positive that the growing group of South American countries who are resisting the US 'invasions' may at least slow these insidious activities.
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