I can make you very, very rich" or "I've got a gun with a bullet with your name on it"

[NotGivingUp]

Taken from an interview by Amy Goodman with John Perkins, author of a very excellent book "The Secret History of the American Empire."

JOHN PERKINS: Well, I started off as economist, became chief economist, and my job really – I had a staff of several dozen people. My job was to get them, and for me to convince these countries to accept these very large loans, to get the banks to make the loans, to set up the deal so that the money went to big U.S. corporations. The country was left holding a huge debt, and then I would go in or one of my people would go in and say, “Look, you know, you owe us all this money. You can't pay your debts. Give us that pound of flesh.”

The other thing we do, Amy, and what's going on right now in Latin America is that as soon as one of these anti-American presidents is elected, such as Evo Morales, who you mentioned, in Bolivia, one of us goes in and says, “Hey, congratulations, Mr. President. Now that you're president, I just want to tell you that I can make you very, very rich, you and your family. We have several hundred million dollars in this pocket if you play the game our way. If you decide not to, over in this pocket, I've got a gun with a bullet with your name on it, in case you decide to keep your campaign promises and throw us out.”

Here's the link: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/05/149254&mode=thread&tid=25

[givemebackmycountry]

1. I heard Randi Rhodes interview this guy several times -

Fascinating and very scary stuff -
Never hear this kind of thing on RW radio.

kicked and rec'd and nom'd

[NotGivingUp]

6. I saw him on book tv a couple of weeks ago and ordered his book right away...definitely a must-read!

[John Q. Citizen]

12. Nor do we hear much of this stuff at all on the House or Senate floor, or in their

hearings. Occationally we might hear a little bit, but then it just all goes away. Kind of like the BCCI investagations and the Iran/Contra investigations.

What's up with that?

[Greyhound]

26. What do you think? They chose the pocket without the gun.

Haven't you ever wondered how people of moderate means when they are elected, manage to become multi-millionaires after a few years in an office that pays $150,000?

Show me an honest politician and I'll show you a poor one.

[John Q. Citizen]

28. I see a poor and honest one pictured at the bottom of your post!

I thought the rest just won the lottery or something.....Or you know, they give real good inspiring speeches, or write fascinating books that then naturally become best sellers, or at least the publisher thought they would.

;)

[Greyhound]

31. Honest = "unelectable"

:hi::rofl::hi:
:kick:

[John Q. Citizen]

34. They have to let a couple slip through, on occasion, at least into the Senate or the House,

just to keep up the pretense.

Of course, if they look like they are making real headway, they kill them.

Paul Wellstone was my one and only political hero. Bobby Kennedy was on the brink of overturning the apple cart, when another lone nut for some strange reason, one day just went over the edge... If Martin King had lived to lead the poor poeple to DC and stayed, for weeks, months or years as he theatened to do, camping out enmasse around the tide pool...

Your joke is pretty good, but only because it's true!

[NotGivingUp]

47. "...keeping up the pretense." ...that's exactly what it is. nt

[NotGivingUp]

35. Great answer! nt

[Aviation Pro]

2. So, basically....

...the United States, or at least the alpha leadership, is a macro version of Tony Soprano. Nice. (Abrupt fade to blac).

[TahitiNut]

3. No need for fiction. Meyer Lansky is the model for political 'leadership' in the U.S.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyer_Lansky

[Cooley Hurd]

13. Don't stop believing...

I know Michael Corleone was fictional, but the most profound line to come out of the GF was:

Michael: My father is no different than any other powerful man -- any man who's responsible for other people, like a senator or president."

Kay: "You know how naive you sound...senators and presidents don't have men killed."

Michael: "Oh, who's being naive, Kay?"

[NotGivingUp]

18. Oh...wow! I'd forgotten about that. Great lines!

[misanthrope]

43. Or in Godfather II...

...when Michael tells Senator Geary, "We're both part of the same hypocrisy, Senator."

[John Q. Citizen]

14. Yep. The US, at it's top echalons, is a racket I'm sorry to say. That's why

stolen elections get so little coverage, and so little outrage among the elites, for instance. No matter who's doing the stealing. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, so to speak.

[EFerrari]

15. Yes, precisely. See "Hugo Chavez". n/t

[KG]

4. this process is called 'spreading democracy and freedom'

[NotGivingUp]

10. it's enough to make me want to puke! nt

[brentspeak]

5. The link doesn't work

It says, "No such story exists."

[NotGivingUp]

7. Oops! Here it is:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/05/149254&mode=thread&tid=25

[NotGivingUp]

8. I also fixed link in original post. nt

[brentspeak]

9. Thanks

:)

[Cooley Hurd]

11. "...Economic Hit Man" is a MUST READ!

:kick: and R!

[EFerrari]

16. It is. I was a little uncomfortable with Perkins comfort level

about his former occupation. There's something sort of freaky about the way he tells the story. But, he provides excellent insight into US foreign "policy" and how corporations run this joint.

[Cooley Hurd]

17. He grew up among such people - I guess you can say he was "naturalized..."

It was a very important story to tell, and thank god he told it. It opened my eyes...:(

[EFerrari]

19. Mine, too. I knew pieces of it but he arranged them

into a coherent picture for me.

For example, in 1932, the government of El Salvador massacred 1/10 of its population -- so the Marines offshore had no excuse to invade to "restore order", and the government there ended an experiment in open elections and went back to staged elections and indentured servitude to (American) corporate interests. :(

Perkins helped me understand the result (a massacre) as that country's struggle to avoid military invasion and as a signal to the US that El Salvador would play ball.

[NotGivingUp]

20. Opened mine, too. nt

[John Q. Citizen]

30. My first boss in the OR. Fair Share canvass grew up in a wealthy

elite environment. He said he never gave the least thought to social or economic justice, but...he was gay. And he then saw the oppression he was subject to based on that. He put two and two together and turned into a radical activist for social and economic justice on all fronts!

So there are a lot of roads to class consciousness I guess.

[moodforaday]

36. Freaky is right!

I've read "Economic Hitman" and a number of interviews. Perkins seems credible on the surface, but there is indeed something freaky, unsettling about how he tells his story. Matter-of-factly, but with a gleeful underpinning. He's a weird character.

What's weirder is the books he'd written *before* he became an anti-globalist spokesperson, here's a sampling:

Shapeshifting: Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation: Books: John Perkins
http://www.amazon.com/Shapeshifting-Techniques-Global-Personal-Transformation/dp/0892816635/ref=sr_1_6/002-1467221-1621663?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183936276&sr=1-6

Psychonavigation: Techniques for Travel Beyond Time: Books: John Perkins
http://www.amazon.com/Psychonavigation-Techniques-Travel-Beyond-Time/dp/089281800X/ref=sr_1_4/002-1467221-1621663?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183936276&sr=1-4

Amazon.com: Dream Change: Shamanic Journeying Techniques from the Amazon and Andes: Books: John Perkins
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Change-Shamanic-Journeying-Techniques/dp/0892813946/ref=sr_1_10/002-1467221-1621663?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183936276&sr=1-10

You'd think it's a different John Perkins, but at least his Wikipedia entry says it's the very same.

[EFerrari]

37. He is very interested in shamanism, yes, it is the same Perkins.

I guess there's a kind of disturbing detachment in the way he recounts his actions that is sort of chilling, sort of like MacBeth when he says, this is the way a killer would kill a guy. :scared:

But, regardless, I appreciate the information he's brought forward. :)

/grammar

[NotGivingUp]

45. I looked up the books at Amazon. They look very interesting. nt

[Ezlivin]

22. I second that

And I dare anyone to read it and not come away with a completely different view of the world.

Follow that up with "Nemesis" by Chalmers Johnson and you're well on the way to being as cynical about our "leadership" as I am.

[formercia]

21. Every thing has its price

After two weeks at sea, the young sailor was besides himself. He just didn't know how to cope with being apart from the opposite sex for so long. He decided to seek the advice of one of the 'old salts' to learn how to deal with the problem.
"no problem, come with me" says the old sailor. He leads the youngster to a large wooden barrel in the hold and tells him: "Stick it in that open bung hole and you'll be all set."

"this is great!!" he says, "Can I do this again some time?" " Sure" the old sailor replies, "but you have to get permission from me first."

This goes well for about a Month, then one day the old sailor denies his request. "Why not?" the youngster says.

"Because, this Week, it's your turn in the barrel." comes the reply.

[yurbud]

23. yep, the sequence is bribe, support political opponents, coup, assassination, war

he said few resist to the point that war is necessary.

[EFerrari]

24. He's also said the reason we aren't in Venezuela is because

we're over extended in Iraq. :scared:

[yurbud]

40. I've heard others say that's why democracy is breaking out all over the south

no time to piss on those fires

[EFerrari]

41. That's right. In particular, the Pentagon has neglected Latin America

because the crazy bastards have been all over the Middle East. So, those relationships have eroded.

[yurbud]

46. relationship? Like a dominatrix and her gimp?

They have pulled the ball gag out, peeled off the latex hood, and are looking for the exit, before the "relationship" escalates to Jeffrey Dahmer levels of intimacy.

[file83]

25. I'm reading "The Secret History of the American Empire" by Perkins right now!!!

I saw the headline of this OP and instantly recognized it.

This book is absolutely amazing. The thing I love about it is how each story he tells builds on the next, and the result is that for the first time I see a VERY CLEAR PICTURE of how the American Empire (via the corporatocracy) has oppressed people around the world for the last 60 years.

I haven't read "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" yet, but I will as soon as I'm done with this.

I had a sketchy idea of how the "system" worked before I read this book, but now I know how much I was missing.

[NotGivingUp]

29. I'm also reading it right now, and it IS amazing! nt

[EFerrari]

38. Longer than sixty years. What year did we annex Hawaii?

:)

[Greyhound]

27. We need someone to make a film of this book so that the average

American sheeple will learn how the world works. Books are the province of the literate and therefore only reach a tiny minority of the flock.

[NotGivingUp]

42. You're right. So many people refuse to read books. It's definitely excellent movie material. nt

[KAZ]

32. 1st hand account of the mindset Zinn wrote about. KnR from me! n/t

[NotGivingUp]

48. Yes, Zinn...another favorite of mine! nt

[aikoaiko]

33. Whats that saying? The busines of America is business..

--- Calvin Coolidge

[conspirator]

39. That is the story of latin america and of africa. In my opinion these countries will only have

peace when they start developing their own weapons technologies, so that they don't depend on foreign contries to protect their own society. Look at Colombia, in order to produce and sell bananas you have to protect yourself. Where do the weapons come from? Chiquita.

[misanthrope]

44. I still find it amazing...

...how many modern Americans can't, or refuse to, see the truth about the parallels between their government and organized crime.

Coppola laid it bare in two of the greatest films of the modern era. Scorsese churned out a few masterpieces on the subject, one which expicitly stated it within the script. David Chase spent seven years of his life trying to show Americans, but still everyone wants to cling to delusions about legalities and the accepted system.