USA And The Future Of The World -II

[Husky]

Apparently, the first book in the list to follow was already discussed years ago on IF. But perhaps the subsequent ones weren't (?) Whatever.

Amazon reviews for the books.

Note I haven't read any of these (I'm back to reading fiction, phew). Don't know if I'm likely to either. Just found the titles by accident. Imagined they might be relevant somehow.



1. Confessions of an Economic Hitman

by John Perkins

Publication Date: November 9, 2004

Editorial Reviews

This is the inside story of how America turned from a respected republic into a feared empire.

"Economic hit men," John Perkins writes, "are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder."



John Perkins should know; he was an economic hit man. His job was to convince countries that are strategically important to the U.S., from Indonesia to Panama, to accept enormous loans for infrastructure development and to make sure that the lucrative projects were contracted to Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. Saddled with huge debts, these countries came under the control of the United States government, World Bank, and other U.S.-dominated aid agencies that acted like loan sharks, dictating repayment terms and bullying foreign governments into submission.



This extraordinary real-life tale exposes international intrigue, corruption, and little-known government and corporate activities that have dire consequences for American democracy and the world.





Book Description

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. And Perkins should know. For many years he worked for an international consulting firm where his main job was to convince LDCs (less developed countries) around the world to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructure projects and to see to it that most of this money ended up at Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. This book, which many people warned Perkins not to write, is a blistering attack on a little-known phenomenon that has had dire consequences on both the victimized countries and the U.S.



Amazon.com Review

John Perkins started and stopped writing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man four times over 20 years. He says he was threatened and bribed in an effort to kill the project, but after 9/11 he finally decided to go through with this expose of his former professional life. Perkins, a former chief economist at Boston strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main, says he was an "economic hit man" for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence agencies and multinationals cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business. "Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars," Perkins writes. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an extraordinary and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Think John Le Carré, except it's a true story.John Perkins's sensational New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (more than 300,000 sold) revealed just the tip of the iceberg of the secret world of economic hit men and the web of global corruption. Now more economic hit men and investigators tell the whole shocking story.



Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was, Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies, perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led. --Alex Roslin





From Publishers Weekly

Perkins spent the 1970s working as an economic planner for an international consulting firm, a job that took him to exotic locales like Indonesia and Panama, helping wealthy corporations exploit developing nations as, he claims, a not entirely unwitting front for the National Security Agency. He says he was trained early in his career by a glamorous older woman as one of many "economic hit men" advancing the cause of corporate hegemony. He also says he has wanted to tell his story for the last two decades, but his shadowy masters have either bought him off or threatened him until now. The story as presented is implausible to say the least, offering so few details that Perkins often seems paranoid, and the simplistic political analysis doesn’t enhance his credibility. Despite the claim that his work left him wracked with guilt, the artless prose is emotionally flat and generally comes across as a personal crisis of conscience blown up to monstrous proportions, casting Perkins as a victim not only of his own neuroses over class and money but of dark forces beyond his control. His claim to have assisted the House of Saud in strengthening its ties to American power brokers may be timely enough to attract some attention, but the yarn he spins is ultimately unconvincing, except perhaps to conspiracy buffs.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

2. A Game as Old as Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption

Steven Hiatt (Editor), John Perkins (Introduction)

Publication Date: February 28, 2007

Book Description

John Perkins's sensational New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (more than 300,000 sold) revealed just the tip of the iceberg of the secret world of economic hit men and the web of global corruption. Now more economic hit men and investigators tell the whole shocking story.



From the Publisher

Review by Common Ground Magazine

March, 2007

Written by Adrian Zupp

In 2004, John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hitman created waves, spoke the unspeakable and became a New York Times bestseller. In it Perkins came clean about how he'd helped US intelligence agencies and multinationals exploit the economies of Third World nations. A Game As Old As Empire - for which he wrote the introduction - is the follow-up, and this time a wide variety of in-the-know authors corroborate and expand upon Perkins' story. And it's frightening stuff.



In plain language - and providing sufficient historical background - we are shown how First Word countries have used "economic hit men," institutions like the World Bank and IMF, coercion and even outright strong-arm tactics to steal from the developing countries - often in collusion with the elites of those countries who are happy to hide their ill-gotten gain in offshore accounts.



A Game As Old As Empire is well referenced, very readable and perversely entertaining. Hard data is combined with first-person narratives and the machinations of international economics are made accessible for the layperson. And the book goes one step further by offering hope and practical advice. The chapter "Global Uprising: The Web of Resistance" by policy-analyst Antonia Juhasz sheds light on how people can change the corruption and help create a better world. There is also an appendix: "Resources for Hope."



With chapters such as "The Human Cost of Cheap Cell Phones" and "Hijacking Iraq's Oil Reserves," Game has a conscience-pricking currency.



This is an important book that should be read by anyone who wants to know how the world is run to the advantage of the wealthy few and the malicious disadvantage of the many poor.





About the Author

3. Another book (or 3 books?) with slightly different titles (see title portion in cursive) that may refer to one and the same book or 3 different ones. (2007/2008)



a. The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Corporate Corruption

John Perkins (Author)

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.



From Publishers Weekly

Having made a splash with Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Perkins offers similarly entertaining but disturbing accounts of the American government wreaking havoc around the world in support of American business. In Perkins's view, American presidents willingly comply with their CEO masters, distributing foreign aid to corrupt Third World leaders who keep a share and return the rest to U.S. business for major projects, leaving their nations poor and massively in debt, and requiring more loans and slavish obedience to U.S. policy. If any leader objects, the CIA destabilizes his government, by assassination if necessary. [color="#800080"](In the Indian KKKangress case that's not even necessary. They're already of the Troo religion and paid servants of aliens anyway, plus there's even that alien tyrant Sonia in charge of them. The US govt does not need to threaten the Indian politicians to fall in line, they'd have formed the line without being asked to.)[/color] Gathering evidence is not Perkins's strong suit. Typically, a shadowy figure pulls him aside, insists on anonymity, then reveals all. Critics will rightfully accuse Perkins of dreadful journalism and a taste for conspiracy theories. Yet economists admit that loans and "expert advice" to poor nations are often harmful. Few deny that America has ruthlessly undermined uncooperative governments and supported dictators including Saddam Hussein. Perkins's assertions that the U.S. assassinated Ecuador's reformist president and connived at genocide in Timor and Sudan are not absurd, merely unproven. This book's greatest value may be to encourage a competent journalist to cover the same ground. (June 5)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

A sweeping, bold assault on the tyranny of corporate globalization, full of drama and adventure, with devastating stories of greed run wild. But Perkins is undaunted, and offers imaginative ideas for a different world. -- Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States



John Perkins' new book is both an eye-opening expose of global corruption and a fascinating story of adventure and intrigue. This devastating indictment of current economic policies also offers hope by showing the power of the growing movement toward a caring economics worldwide. -- Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and The Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations

See all Editorial Reviews

b. The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption

Publication Date: June 5, 2007

A riveting exposé of international corruption—and what we can do about it, from the author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list.

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 skullduggery of a de facto American Empire. This riveting, behind-the-scenes exposé unfolded like a cinematic blockbuster told through the eyes of a man who once helped shape that empire. Now, in The Secret History of the American Empire, Perkins zeroes in on hot spots around the world and, drawing on interviews with other hit men, jackals, reporters, and activists, examines the current geopolitical crisis. Instability is the norm: It’s clear that the world we’ve created is dangerous and no longer sustainable. How did we get here? Who’s responsible? What good have we done and at what cost? And what can we do to change things for the next generations? Addressing these questions and more, Perkins reveals the secret history behind the events that have created the American Empire, including:



• The current Latin-American revolution and its lessons for democracy

• How the “defeats” in Vietnam and Iraq benefited big business

• The role of Israel as “Fortress America” in the Middle East

• Tragic repercussions of the IMF’s “Asian Economic Collapse”

• U.S. blunders in Tibet, Congo, Lebanon, and Venezuela

• Jackal (CIA operatives) forays to assassinate democratic presidents



From the U.S. military in Iraq to infrastructure development in Indonesia, from Peace Corps volunteers in Africa to jackals in Venezuela, Perkins exposes a conspiracy of corruption that has fueled instability and anti-Americanism around the globe. Alarming yet hopeful, this book provides a compassionate plan to reimagine our world.

"anti-Americanism". Gee, I wonder why...





c. The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth About Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World

John Perkins



[Editorial reviews same as above]





4. Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded--and What We Need to Do to Remake Them

John Perkins

Publication Date: November 10, 2009

Book Description

John Perkins has seen the signs of today's economic meltdown before. The subprime mortgage fiascos, the banking industry collapse, the rising tide of unemployment, the shuttering of small businesses across the landscape are all too familiar symptoms of a far greater disease. In his former life as an economic hit man, he was on the front lines both as an observer and a perpetrator of events, once confined only to the third world, that have now sent the United States—and in fact the entire planet—spiraling toward disaster.



Here, Perkins pulls back the curtain on the real cause of the current global financial meltdown. He shows how we've been hoodwinked by the CEOs who run the corporatocracy—those few corporations that control the vast amounts of capital, land, and resources around the globe—and the politicians they manipulate. These corporate fat cats, Perkins explains, have sold us all on what he calls predatory capitalism, a misguided form of geopolitics and capitalism that encourages a widespread exploitation of the many to benefit a small number of the already very wealthy. Their arrogance, gluttony, and mismanagement have brought us to this perilous edge. The solution is not a "return to normal."



But there is a way out. As Perkins makes clear, we can create a healthy economy that will encourage businesses to act responsibly, not only in the interests of their shareholders and corporate partners (and the lobbyists they have in their pockets), but in the interests of their employees, their customers, the environment, and society at large.



We can create a society that fosters a just, sustainable, and safe world for us and our children. Each one of us makes these choices every day, in ways that are clearly spelled out in this book.



"We hold the power," he says, "if only we recognize it." Hoodwinked is a powerful polemic that shows not only how we arrived at this precarious point in our history but also what we must do to stop the global tailspin.

5. This next is not a book. Just a blurb about the main author in the above.

Apparently, after helping to terrorise nations and being a curse on humanity, he thought he would make a 180. And dabble besides. Someone really needs to tell terrorists (and traitors and subversionists etc) that there can Never be any return.



Still taken from amazon too:

From the Author | From Wikipedia

John Perkins website is www.johnperkins.org. His TWITTERID is economic_hitman. John Perkins has lived four lives: as an economic hit man (EHM); as the CEO of a successful alternative energy company, who was rewarded for not disclosing his EHM past; as an [color="#FF0000"]expert on indigenous cultures and shamanism[/color], a teacher and writer who used this expertise to promote ecology and sustainability while continuing to honor his vow of silence about his life as an EHM; and as a writer who, in telling the real-life story about his extraordinary dealings as an EHM, has exposed the world of international intrigue and corruption that is turning the American republic into a global empire despised by increasing numbers of people around the planet.



This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

You'd think people who've enabled terrible crimes against humanity would have the sense to at last leave the world in peace/do the world a favour now that they've seen the "error of their ways" by offing themselves - it's what they *should* do (hey, if you do the crime...). Instead, he makes it worse: No one invited this entity to then terrorise natives even more by Dabbling in religions that don't concern him.



I seem to recall reading McCabe (was it?) on how the Hellenistic priests of the GR temples essentially told Constantine to Get Lost after the psychotic murderer came slinking to get some pardon for the serial murders he commited. So then Constantine wandered to christianism which welcomed one of their own with open arms (and gave him absolution on his deathbed IIRC - helped him in committing more crimes throughout his life, so that he was 'acquitted' by the non-existent christian gawd entity in one go at the end).



But then, I doubt the natives of the "indigenous cultures and shamanism" - in which Perkins now apparently plays an "expert" (how terribly predictable) - ever asked him to Please come dabble. It's not even his ancestral religion (whereas Constantine's ancestors' religion *was* Hellenismos..., but the Hellenistic Priests rightly sent the vile terrorist packing anyway).



Perkins' sudden seizure to Dabble in heathenism makes it all even worse than the ex-missionaries who've left christianism: those feel so smugly happy and at peace with themselves after leaving the junk behind, yet after they've freed themselves they never think to invest any of the energy (such as they had invested back when they were missionaries) in freeing the very people in heathen climes whom they missionised and enslaved to christianism. They just put their feet up and say that they realised jeebus was bunk after all and their missionising days are over. How quaint and convenient. How lucky their escape. How nice it must be for them to live with themselves after chaining others to the jeebus myth and inflicting newly-made cannibal sheep on heathens in heathen nations.