John Perkins: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Any thoughts? my friend recently loaned me this book and it's quasi-marxist rant, anti-globalist - "blame America first" dogma have made my blood boil. Would appreciate if anyone can give me some solid information to refute this rubbish.

democracynow.org's Amy Goodman. Enough said right there.
John Perkins acts as if global capitalism is monolithic, and is under the control of the US.
Mossadegh was a communist who nationalized BP's investments, hard-earned investments in Iran. Russia was right next door. So why do leftists always
The Shah was fending off Islamists and KGB agents. Are you surprised that it was nasty business?
Rain forests. Hmmm, did they throw that in just for good luck?
No mention of Castro and the USSR's involvement in South America, I see. CIA hitmen were there for unjustified reasons, right?

Is the world bank a good idea? It depends. We shouldn't be loaning more money than can ever be paid back, and I think reforms are due at the IMF. I guess helping the third world western style is unacceptable to these people. Also, should we be viewing every crisis in the third world as an opportunity to salve our consciences? I don't think so. We should spend our taxpayer money wisely at all times.

My real issues with "globalism" are first with the kind democracynow.org, Hillary Clinton, Koffi Annan, and Ted Turner want: international government. It surrenders our political, environmental, and military sovereignty to a body outside of the US with no constitutional authority.

My second issue is with economic internationalism. This is something more in line with what Goodman and Perkins are complaining about, but with more faith in free markets. The argument in the RNC and on Wall Street is that free markets should be international. But when environmental law, labor law, job safety law, unions, dumping, and nationalization make foreign products less expensive, is that possible? Wasn't Ross Perot right about NAFTA, for example? You want Americans to compete with the outside world, but you also want them to have a chance. We need a happier balance.

I'm sure that Goodman and Perkins want to "balance" labor by supporting international unions and bending company labor relations policies from one shore to another to their will. That would stifle global entrepreneurialism, wouldn't it?

You said it all right here.

>>My real issues with "globalism" are first with the kind democracynow.org, Hillary Clinton, Koffi Annan, and Ted Turner want: international government. It surrenders our political, environmental, and military sovereignty to a body outside of the US with no constitutional authority.<<

I will not get on bended knee to an unelected New World Order.

End of discussion

The author is a clown. He claims some US government shadow agency assassinated the president of Ecuador over an oil dispute. If they are brazen enough to knock off a foreign leader, why isn't he face down in a river somewhere for spilling the beans on them?

You can't get away with that kind of thing with the average mafia. What makes you think anyone could reveal that kind of information for real and still be alive and kicking? He's duped all the weak minded anti-american left and they lack the critical thinking skills to figure out he is a total fraud.

"Fifty years ago, Truman and Eisenhower surrendered the West's property rights in oil, although that oil rightfully belonged to those in the West whose science, technology, and capital made its discovery and use possible. The first country to nationalize Western oil, in 1951, was Iran. The rest, observing our frightened silence, hurried to grab their piece of the newly available loot.
"The cause of the U.S. silence was not practical, but philosophical."
-- from http://www.capmag.com/articlePrint.asp?ID=2635

Because the west did NOT stand up and wrest OUR oilfields back from the thieving middle easterners, the US and UK decided to try to find other means to maintain our influence over them. I doubt Perkins' story is anything close to the truth, but the groundwork for politicians and diplomats, if not spies and double-crossings, to take over where businessmen were kicked out was laid by those first failures of will; by rights we SHOULD HAVE gone to war (over OIL!) when it was first stolen from us, and the whole mess could have been cleaned up in short order, quickly and at MUCH lower cost.

I'm opposed to world government. I'm in favor of the dismantling of the UN. I'm in favor of international TRADE, but NOT international theft. (See: http://freedomkeys.com/gap.htm )

Further info on how COLLECTIVIST PRESIDENTS screwed up the world BIG TIME:

...Fleming demolishes the claim that Wilson entered World War I to make the world safe for democracy. Wilson sided with Czarist Russia, with France which had colonies in Africa and Asia, with Britain which had the biggest overseas empire, and with Belgium which killed some 10 million people in the Congo. Wilsons allies had cynical secret treaties to grab land from defeated nations.
By the time America entered World War I, Fleming explains, it had become substantially stalemated, which would have meant a negotiated settlement. But American entry enabled vengeful allies to impose harsh surrender terms on Germany. This triggered a bitter nationalist reaction and a ruinous runaway inflation, which helped Adolf Hitler recruit Nazis. Wilson pressured Russia to stay in the war, even though it was nearly bankrupt, and the result was Lenins Bolshevik coup and 70 years of communism. Wilsons decision to enter World War I set the stage for World War II.
Fleming tells how Wilson amassed unprecedented power in the United States. He established military conscription. He seized control of whole industries. At one point, Wilson shut down all factories east of the Mississippi Riversome 30,000 factories in New York City alone. Wilson authorized the imprisonment of dissidents for criticizing him. ...

(excerpt, read the rest HERE.)

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