The Secret History of the American Empire: The Truth About Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and How to Change the World (John Perkins Economic Hitman Series)

In order to assess this new volume I have looked at notes on John Perkins' autobiography, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." I have read it, but needed a refresher course, and am appalled all over again at its contents.([...])

Perkins was recruited by the international consulting firm of Charles T. Main. He was an economist, with two primary objectives: justify huge loans for countries for huge engineering and construction projects to be carried out by American companies (think Haliburton, Bechtel et al.); after the companies had been paid, he was to help engineer the debtor's bankruptcy so that country would remain indebted to their creditors and remain pliable when the US wanted `favors' like military bases, access to natural resources, etc.

Starting in Indonesia in 1971, a time when Indonesia was believed to be a key to Southeast Asian stability, he made economic forecasts that won him further projects. In 1972 it was Panama. Later, Saudi Arabia came under his spell, and a deal between it and the USA was consummated. With it came a relationship between the American government and the House of Saud, the bin Laden family, and the Bush family, to the immense financial benefit of the latter.

His conscience bothered him since he felt that, by following Main's directives, he was causing much harm to the client states. Iran was his breaking point. As what Perkins called the "corporatocracy" supported the Shah, which led to class wars and hatred of the American companies, and the American government which it blamed for all its woes, especially the rampant corruption and despotic government. After the turn of the year in 1979, the Shah fled the country; less than a year later the American hostages in the Embassy were taken. He quit his job at Main in 1980.

"The Secret History of the American Empire" is another product of his reflections on his past and the changes in his work life. He talks a lot about American influence in Latin America, and the rise of home grown opponents to the Unite States with respect.

As I learned a long time ago, every one is said to have his price; United States employees were outstanding at saving skeletons from other's closets. In fact, after learning of the trap set for President Clinton, he has that information confirmed by a retired CIA officer.

Not unsurprisingly, the chickens came home to America to roost. Our policies in the Middle East blew up in our faces. Those in the Middle East caught on to our lust for oil as we established the Shah of Iran, the House of Saud, the ruling families in Kuwait and Jordan, and a friendly dictator in Egypt, and we supported Israeli militarism. They named America and the West as the enemy as the mullahs gained force, al-Qaida grew, and radical politicians replaced moderate ones, exacerbated by the hero worship of the martyrdom of suicide bombers.

Here are the roots of our current political crises internationally. Moving to the continent of Africa, Perkins addresses the problems we have inherited from the European colonial expansion. Again, once there was a crack in the system, America rushed in, knowing that it was time to expand its influence. The stories are fascinating, and appalling. A letter he cites at length tells the effects of westernization seen through the eyes of an educated young woman, employed by a NGO.

She balances the good that NGOs appear to do against the western influences that attack the fiber of their civilization. In sum she concludes that the bad outweighs the good and calls for a total change of system.

Finally, he outlines and discusses briefly the questions essential to making the change the world needs. There are things each and all of us can do, not only in the face of global warming, but also the inequalities we see around us, not only here in the Americas, but also world-wide. Furthermore, he talked to university students who had been told, and believed, that they were America's future.

I was most deeply moved by the mission statement of two high school students from Seattle who had established Global; Awareness and Change [GAC]. Perkins reduced several lines of type into this: "We commit to creating a stable, sustainable, and peaceful world far all peoples everywhere." Would that we ll could commit to this.

I really urge you to get and read this book and resolve to follow at least some of the suggestions at the end. Bear in mind that if you are not to be part of the problem, you must become part of the solution.

More of the same rant from the first book, but with more self-pity: America and capitalism is bad, anyone who opposes America or capitalism is good. No personal responsibility admitted, just throw rocks at those you disagree with. I could not make it through to the end, I can't find it in me, to embrace that much hate. Does the world need more of this hate-filled crap? Save your money (if you must spend your dough, buy something that will evoke good feelings).

Only three stars because I don't find him to be a particularly good writer.....but the content is 'SO IMPORTANT'.....it's a great review of some 'slimy' US history....questionable US military and CIA decisions and the geo-political quagmires we continually find ourselves in. Corporations need 'scruples' and we as U.S. Citizens need to demand that they become more transparent. I am a pilot with American Airlines and also read "Retirement Heist" after retirement was taken away from us......I Also recommend that book as a supplement to John Perkins books because both talk about core issues that effect ALL of us everyday. Does 'K' Street run this country? And do Corporations run world economics?

The great value of this book by John Perkins as well as of his Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, is that, through a series of concrete and dramatic anecdotes, he gives us a feel for how our corporations (quite aptly called the "corporatocracy"), aided by "economic hit men" (IMF, World Bank, etc.),"jackals" (CIA), and the military, work to plunder the third world and working people in the first world to our material, cultural, and moral detriment.

The part of this book I must question is the last section in which Perkins deals with what we can do to make things better. He evidently believes that capitalism is reformable without losing its character as capitalism. It is true that under capitalism some good reforms do take place, perhaps attenuated or watered down over time, and generally restricted in scope, and it is equally true that in spite of the usual insufficiency of many of these reforms, earnest pursuit of reform by our citizens is generally worthwhile, in fact essential if we are not to lapse into an unhappy impoverished brain-dead police state, for in the course of participating in a reform movement we gain much of the experience, knowledge, and skill we need to work collectively for the genuinely radical political, economic, cultural, moral, and spiritual change we must bring about if we are to save ourselves and the planet we live and have our being on..

Many of the reform movements now under way are often subverted or derailed by agents of the corporatocracy in all three branches of our government as well as in our principal media, in our churches and fraternal organizations, and in our educational systems. Agents of the corporatocracy spend many millions in a form of lobbying that amounts to bribing, more millions in propaganda, propaganda usually quite effective, stoking and playing on fear or anger, increasing the ability of the corporatocracy to manipulate public opinion. The corporatocracy and their agents are good at giving the impression of supporting a reform with only some "minor" modifications, going so far at times as to advocate "red herring" reforms to distract us from what is really needed, and to make sure that whatever executive agencies are involved in instituting or managing a good reform shall be understaffed, incompetent, untransparent, and/or underfunded.

While competition among individual capitalists for markets often leads to efficiency and publicly beneficial outcomes, the long-term result of unfettered competition is the formation of monopolies and combinations of monopolies that lead to the ruthless and destructive exploitation of people, resources, and environments. On an international level, acting as more or less national blocs through their governments, these combinations form the economic bases of their respective governments. A ruthless competition among these governments, now imperial powers, develops in competition for markets, for cheap labor, and for cheap raw materials that leads inevitably to fascism and world war, a massive destruction of capital values, and a repeat of the same dreary boom-and-bust cycle-- or, if the masses are properly won over and organized, leads to revolution. Both scenarios are frightful, but one, if acted out in history, promises a better future for humanity and the earth. Still, one may ask: Is there another choice?

The immediate future, if the two scenarios I describe are the only realistic options, is not pretty. One must think through these matters. Perkins' books should definitely be included among your study materials.

READ IT AND YOU WILL DISCOVER FOR YOURSELF WHY AMERICA NOW HAS GONE FROM THE MOST LOVED NATION IN THE WORLD AFTER WORLD WAR TWO, SINKING DOWN TO THE MOST DESPISED WITH HYPOCRITICAL AID THAT ENRICHES FAVORED U.S. CORPORATIONS AND THAT IMPOVERISHES THE POOR OF OTHER NATIONS BY SADDLING THEM WITH EXCESSIVE DEBT BURDENS WITH SKIM FROM INFLATED CONTRACTS USED TO ENRICH THE POWERFUL IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES - THE PANAMA PAPERS IS LIKELY AN OUTCROPPING OF SOME OF THESE PRACTICES

This is a very scary book, it tells how big business is gaining political influence and access to oil and other natural resources around the world. You should read Perkins other book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, as well to make you more aware of what trade agreements are all about.

Hint, you can use goo-gone to remove stickers from used books.

This follow-up to Confessions of Economic Hit Man is short on detail and retreads most of the territory of the first book. Found myself skimming through this because I heard or read it all before, especially with the dirth of complementary material that has come out on EHM stuff since the first book. Like the idea, but felt a bit taken for having purchased an epilogue described as a book.

more than interesting read. finally someone who was in the system telling the rest of us about how it was done. (for those who were or are wondering why all those resource rich countries are so poor and also why things in our own country are getting worse) warning, you might be stunned into silence at the magnitude at what has been and is happening. how did i not know about this book earlier? thank you for writing it, even after all the damage done. i know that this is not a proper "review' - but one thing for sure, this book will have an impact (if you read it)

Perkins' is an entertaining storyteller, and this book weaves together a multitude of entertaining stories to create a narrative of a system that facilitates corporate exploitation of the developing world. However, the book suffers from the author's flaws.

Perkins often morally condemns corporate actors based upon overly simplistic assessments of their actions and consequences flowing therefrom. It's not necessarily that he has come to the wrong conclusion, but the evidence he often provides gives short shrift to the actual complexity of the issues.

The book, when taken as a loose guide to historical events, is quite interesting. However, Perkins would seem to have a penchant for exaggeration.

Perkins also seems to be a self-aggrandizer. He has a way of couching any self-criticism within a revelation about some great quality he possesses. For instance, in chapter 12, he discusses how the World Bank and IMF pushed Structural Adjustment Policies that demanded that a Bolivian water utility begin charging all customers contrary to local customs. He then says that he felt guilt as he had helped formulate such policies in the late 1970s. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but he goes further, he throws in a line about how such policies were innovative at the time. So, in essence, despite admitting to creating something bad, the author has told us it was innovative-- let's all marvel at how smart he is! He does this repeatedly throughout the book despite the fact it's irrelevant to the particular topic of the chapter at hand.

In the end, I just can't get past Perkins' oversimplifications, self-aggrandizement or his penchant for exaggeration.

Perkins once again tells it like it is. We are part of the problem. Our addiction to cheap clothing and exercise equipment (put together in tropical sweatshops by people living only marginally better than inmates of Nazi prison camps) fuels the system. We have to change, to live sustainable lifestyles. Read the book. Once you understand the problem, you will want to be part of the solution.