LC Meridian

Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

The United States is one of the major superpowers in the world. Consequently, the nation's role in international relations is crucial. Yet this power is often intimidating to developing nations as well as other major superpowers.

In "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," a New York Times Bestseller, John Perkins shares his experience as an economic planner for an international consulting firm where he advised underdeveloped nations in the 1970s. His position required him to study a country and provide statistics that projected the rate of success and the benefit of technologic advancements to their economies.

Perkins writes "Confessions" as a remorseful measure in order to compensate for the damage he caused to present and future generations. "Economic Hit Man" is the term Perkins uses to describe his position. In the book, he explains how he was hired to target underdeveloped nations with expensive projects to improve their infrastructure. He was responsible for convincing the political figures of those countries to accept these projects under the promise of a flourishing economy.

Perkins discredits the integrity of these projects and the intentions behind them, claiming that although the projects may seem to create more jobs within that population, facilitate daily life, and boost the economy, in reality all that happens is that the nation becomes indebted to the American government. The firms assigned to the projects are American and the money that finances all operations is borrowed. Not surprisingly, the United States is the lender.

Over the course of his years in the business, Perkins implicates the American government and the CIA; finance and architectural firms, who executed the projects for the globalization that has expanded at an exponential rate in the recent decades; as well as the assassination of many prominent figures who opposed the American politics. Perkins contextualizes the politicians' decisions in two categories: the exploitation of weakness and the fear of loss. The exploitation of weakness includes the nation's exploitation of money, power, and women; while the fear of loss includes their power, their popularity, and their life.

Perkins often goes off on a tangent, but gives a descriptive account of his activities in relation to moments marked in history. He provides enough detail to compel the reader to believe him. He also analyses the growth of corporations as the aftermath of this globalization, tries to raise awareness about the rate of consumption, and the destructive results on our society as a whole.
Although "Confessions" may contain some fiction, it is an eye-opening text that holds a key to understanding the maneuvers behind today's politics. It is a wake-up call to the destructive effects of heavy consumerism and the basic human instinct of always wanting more.

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