It would be great if we could blame it all on a conspiracy, but we cannot. The empire depends on the efficacy of big banks, corporations, and governments - the corporatocracy - but it is not a conspiracy. This corporatocracy is ourselves - we make it happen - which, of course, is why most of us find it difficult to stand up and oppose it.
We would rather glimpse conspirators lurking in the shadows, because most of us work for one of those banks, corporations, or governments, or in some way are dependent on them for the goods and services they produce and market.
We cannot bring ourselves to bite the hand of the master who feeds us.
- John Perkins, page 256
As much as this book is a confession, it is also an accusation. It is an accusation leveled at those of us who benefit from the American Empire and every attempt at empire before ours.
I had heard of this book in passing conversations, but really hadn’t given it any thought until it was quoted in one the best conspiracy theory movies of all time, Zeitgeist. If you get a kick out of conspiracy theories, then you have to download and watch Zeitgeist. It’s free, it fun, all the kids are doing it! Just fast forward through the first few minutes of some Indian guy rambling.
But I digress.
Perkin’s starts on in his preface defining two terms. Economic Hit Men (EHM) and Corpratocracy.
- EHMs are the men and women who help saddle massive amounts of debt on developing countries via false and unrealistic economic development forecasts, bribes, and other less than savory means.
- Corporatocracy (who) is the collective of corporations, banks, and governments who use the EHMs and other means to profit from a system designed to fail. It is made up of “a close-knit fraternity of a few men with shared goals” who move “easily and often between corporate boards and government positions. (pg. 32)”
- Corporatocracy (how it works) It starts with supplying loans to developing countries based on false economic forecasts of a particular infrastructure program, then provides the engineering and construction know-how to build said infrastructure, while also providing the support to maintain the infrastructure. Ultimately, when the country defaults on its loans because it was counting on revenue from the falsified economic forecasts, the corporatocracy swoops in to put yet another country under its thumb to do its bidding at a later date.
Perkins uses several excellent example of how these men move about:
- Robert Mcnamara’s moves between the World Bank’s presidency, Ford Motor Company’s presidency, and his position as Secretary of Defense. (pg. 32)
- George Shultz’s moves between engineering firm Bechtel’s presidency, Secretary of the Treasury, Chairman of the Council on Economic Policy, and Secretary of State. (pg. 91)
- Caspar Weinberger was Bechtel’s VP and then Secretary of Defense. (pg. 91)
- Dick Cheney was Secretary of Defense, Halliburton’s president, and then Vice President of the USA. (pg. 91)
- George Bush Sr. founder of Zapata Oil, was a U.N. Ambassador, Director of the CIA, VP of the USA, and ultimately President of the USA. (pg. 91)
As a side note of connectedness. Bush senior raised money for Zapata Oil with Bill Liedtke, who became Nixon’s and Bush’s campaign finance chairman. Bush also raised money from Eugene Meyer. Meyer had a seat on the NYSE board, was Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and was a part of AlliedSignal, which as a conglomerate, is in the defense industry.
Have some fun on Wikipedia and start following the links. You’ll see what Perkins is talking about when it comes to a “close-knit fraternity.” More importantly though is the connectedness it all has. In chapter 7, Perkins retells a story of going to see a political puppet show in Bandung, Indonesia in the early 70s. The show is decidedly anti-American-policy using puppets to show an Indonesian take on the Communist Domino Theory of Asia. Two puppets were on stage, Richard Nixon dressed like Uncle Sam, and another man in a suit carrying a bucket with dollar signs. (pg. 49) Perkins recalls on pages 49 and 50:
A map of the Middle East and Far East appeared behind the two…
…Nixon immediately approached the map, lifted Vietnam off its hook, and thrust it to his mouth. He shouted something that was translated as, “Bitter! Rubbish. We don’t need any more of this!” Then he tossed it into the bucket and proceeded to do the same with other countries.
I was surprised however, to see that his next selections selections did not include the domino nations of Southeast Asia. Rather, they were all Middle eastern countries - Palestine, Kuwait, Saudia Arabia, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. After that he turned to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Each time, the Nixon doll screamed out some [anti-Islamic] epithet… “Muslim dogs,” “Mohammed’s monsters,” and Islamic devils.”
Jump ahead to how dismal American/Islamic relations are and I wonder if Obama is trying to reconcile America to the Muslim world with his latest speech in Turkey or justify more military action in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Finally, we share the common goal of denying al-Qaida a safe haven in Pakistan or Afghanistan. The world has come too far to let this region backslide, and to let al-Qaida terrorists plot further attacks. That’s why we are committed to a more focused effort to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaida. That is why we are increasing our efforts to train Afghans to sustain their own security, and to reconcile former adversaries. That’s why we are increasing our support for the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, so that we stand on the side not only of security, but also of opportunity and the promise of a better life.
Actions speak louder than words and our increasing troop numbers in Afghanistan and bombing raids in Pakistan seem to lend a prophetic touch to the Indonesian puppet-master.
I think ending on a current event is appropriate. This should be a two-part series as I am trying to keep my word limit for each post to around 1000.
- mike
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