The Secret History of the American Empire : Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption »
Posted By dissent 4 months, 3 weeks ago in NewsAMY GOODMAN: Well, before we go further, “economic hit men” -- for those who haven’t heard you describe this, let alone describe yourself as this, what do you mean?
JOHN PERKINS: Well, really, I think it’s fair to say that since World War II, we economic hit men have managed to create the world's first truly global empire, and we've done it primarily without the military, unlike other empires in history. We've done it through economics very subtly.
We work many different ways, but perhaps the most common one is that we will identify a third world country that has resources our corporations covet, such as oil, and then we arrange a huge loan to that country from the World Bank or one of its sister organizations. The money never actually goes to the country. It goes instead to US corporations, who build big infrastructure projects -- power grids, industrial parks, harbors, highways -- things that benefit a few very rich people but do not reach the poor at all. The poor aren’t connected to the power grids. They don’t have the skills to get jobs in industrial parks. But they and the whole country are left holding this huge debt, and it’s such a big bet that the country can't possibly repay it. So at some point in time, we economic hit men go back to the country and say, “Look, you know, you owe us a lot of money. You can't pay your debt, so you’ve got to give us a pound of flesh.”
AMY GOODMAN: And explain your history. What made you an economic hit man?
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dissent
we live in a culture of war.
let's make it a culture of peace.
"my country is the world. and my religion is to ...
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AnteUp4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Seems something wicked has been coming for longer than I knew.
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How utterly frightening. Have the powers that organize these
events chosen the USA to always be on top? Are we assured of
our position as instigator - and NEVER victim? Maybe someone
here would give a damn about these policies if they felt we
might someday be on the receiving end - who knows.
We're running out of resources - we have severe economic
distress - our work force wants way too much in return for their
labors, as compared to other nations......right? Which nation
might this cabal switch their loyalties to?
Is that possible?-
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Natureboy4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Have the powers that organize these events chosen the USA to always be on top? Are we assured of our position as instigator - and NEVER victim?"
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A good question.
The U.S. has historically taken top because capital, wealth, was not terribly mobile. But beginning in the '70s, wealth became increasingly mobile, and half of the world's largest economies are not nations but rather corporations.
As long as large numbers of the weathy and their means of production were essentially stuck here, there was a need to keep American workers comfortable.
But no more. Now the jobs can go to Mexico, or Thailand, in a wink. U.S. workers are no longer so important to the oligarchy.
And so you see the rollback of civil rights, the erosion of earnings, and it will only get worse here.
We are nearing the point at which the show is over, the curtains part, and we get to see the brick wall at the back of the theater. -
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