factotum's Full Review: John Perkins - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man:...
John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man was ostensibly written to pull back the curtain on how the world works. It is partly a history of the post WWII era in American politics and partly a memoir of the author's by all appearances overstated role therein. In practice, this middlingly written book seems unlikely to change many people's minds; Perkins' revelations will either provide confirmation of a worldview you already hold or seem like conspiracy minded ranting. I am in the former group, but the book's whiny and self-centered tone inspired in this reader something other than complete sympathy.
Not to say that there isn't some substance to this story. Though I'm not quite convinced that it's all literally true--"Caludine," the woman who supposedly initiates him into the role of Economic Hit Man smells an awful lot like a composite, to cite one example--the contours of the story seem believable. The author's thesis, that the world is essentially run by a massive "corpratocracy" susperceding local governments, is an oversimplification but nonetheless argued somewhat persuasively.
To oversimplify the matter yet further, Perkins describes a world where the US dominates the global order not so much through military might as by the financial might of private corporations working ostensibly independently but with some coordination with the government. He documents, for example, how figures like George HW Bush, George Schultz, Robert McNamara and others flow between important positions in private, multinational enterprises and powerful positions in government. He shows how 'development aid' to third world countries is used to saddle the recipients into a lifetime of indebtedness to the first world, benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the poor. Recounting his career as a global energy consultant in countries like Indonesia and Ecuador, he shows his role in the process and--in some ways like McNamara with his autobiography--he tries to offer a mea culpa.
That much is good. Though there are other titles that give a more detailed analysis of the post-war era in global politics, the insider account is nonetheless welcome. Less worthy is the recount of the author's inner turmoil and private life. Boo hoo hoo, pal. He writes with an awareness of his role impoverishing others on the one hand, meanwhile he describes his life of boating around the world and being with exotic women on the other. He wants to seem brave in finally blowing the lid off the secrets of the global empire, but ultimately comes across as a conflicted figure lacking the courage of his convictions. No doubt he sees himself as a tragic hero, but to me he seems more pathetic than anything.
Confessions of An Economic Hit Man is a maddening sort of a book. It holds your interest, but only just. For every interesting anecdote--encounters with Omar Torrijos and Graham Greene in Panama, for example--there are just as many whiny passages about the author's troubled conscience or bitterness about his upbringing. These things are simply not interesting. It's worth a cursory read, though, and using the sources in the footnotes to follow up on anything you might find yourself wanting to know more about.
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