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In reply to the discussion: Brazil will not allow U.S. use its territory to invade Venezuela - vice president [View all]Judi Lynn
(164,155 posts)Here's a book which has been widely read, all over the world, for years, and quoted innumerable times, which shouldn't be too difficult for even the most determinedly stubborn to understand:
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a partly autobiographical book written by John Perkins published in 2004. It provides Perkins' account of his career with engineering consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston. According to Perkins, his role at Main was to convince leaders of underdeveloped countries to accept substantial development loans for large construction and engineering projects that would primarily help the richest families and local elites, rather than the poor, while making sure that these projects were contracted to U.S. companies. Later these loans would give the U.S. political influence and access to natural resources for U.S. companies.[1] He refers to this as an "economic hit man." Although he states that throughout his career he has always worked for private companies, and suggests a system of corporatocracy and greed, rather than a single conspiracy, he claims the involvement of the National Security Agency (NSA), with whom he had interviewed for a job before joining Main. According to the author, this interview effectively constituted an independent screening which led to his subsequent hiring as an economic hit man by Einar Greve,[2] a vice president of the firm (and alleged NSA liaison).
Content
The book heavily criticizes U.S. foreign policy and the widely accepted idea that "all economic growth benefits humankind, and that the greater the growth, the more widespread the benefits.",[3] suggesting that in many cases only a small portion of the population benefits at the expense of the rest, with the example including increasing income inequality where large U.S. companies exploit cheap labor and oil companies destroy local environment.[3] Perkins describes what he calls a system of corporatocracy and greed as the driving force behind establishing the United States as a global empire, in which he took a role as an "economic hit man" to expand its influence.
According to his book, Perkins' function was to convince the political and financial leadership of underdeveloped countries to accept enormous development loans from institutions like the World Bank and USAID. Saddled with debts they could not hope to pay, those countries were forced to acquiesce to political pressure from the United States on a variety of issues. Perkins argues in his book that developing nations were effectively neutralized politically, had their wealth gaps driven wider and economies crippled in the long run. In this capacity, Perkins recounts his meetings with some prominent individuals, including Graham Greene and Omar Torrijos. Perkins describes the role of an economic hit man as follows:
Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.
More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_an_Economic_Hit_Man
There have been many more books available on the SAME subject, so anyone who really doesn't know what has been going on all these years, and thinks it's about time to overcome the appalling ignorance, will be able to start catching up in no time at all. The answer is everywhere.