Presis on "confessions of an economic hit man"

Summary and themes of the “confessions of an economic Hit man”

“Confessions of an economic Hit Man” written by John Perkins, depicts the truth about the corrupt motifs and methods of the American government and international consulting firms. John Perkins was an American Hit man, who trapped poor nations into contracts that made countries lose their fortune. This confession depicts how his work has affected the American involvement in Panama, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iran. This novel describes battle between rich and poor, the greed and personal motifs of people and unjustifiable governments.

Indonesia:
John Perkins began to work for a company called MAIN, whose aim was to ensure American power in Indonesia with an electrification project. John Perkins job was to adapt Indonesia to new technologies such as electricity, pipelines, ports and companies. Nevertheless, this industrialization was not made to support the poor people of Indonesia. On the contrary Indonesia was only industrialized to enable American oil companies to have better working conditions in the country itself. American firms settled into Indonesia and therefore, created more American power in Indonesia. Consequently, some Indonesian people became very wealthy, however, on the long term Indonesia became more and more dependent on American firms. Although John Perkins performed his task well, he observed, that his job was not a support to the people of Indonesia. However, he only became aware of the truth when his partner accused him of underhand dealings.

“…You’ve sold your souls to the devil. You’re in it for the money…” (page 37)

John Perkins did not acknowledge the truth, but continued his greed and personal motivation, money and power. The more he communicated with the poor people of Indonesia, he began to realize that the American government gains its control by force.

“Yet, the more time I spend with these men, the more convinced I became that I was an intruder, that an order to cooperate had come down from someone, and that they had little choice but to comply.” (page 46)

According to this passage John Perkins depicts what misleading power the American government and firms used to corrupt other nations for their own benefits. He has to understand that his work is destroying the living standards of whole families. His job influences the government of other nations to such an extent, that it is impossible for these governments to assist its citizens. Due to the greed of nations and powerful people, like John Perkins, other people need to abdicate to their needs. This automatically creates a clash between poor and rich social groups. Such a clash can cause the government and the nation to separate and make it impossible for advancement to a solution.
John Perkins continued writing manipulated economic predictions about Indonesia. He succeeded with his false statements and was promoted to Chief economist of MAIN, although he had no experience with economical studies. This once again proved that American companies acted irresponsible to other nations welfare, since they are not hiring well educated economists, but people who write what the firm wants to hear. With such corrupt partnerships and employment, the decline of the nations and their population is no surprise.

Panama:
John Perkins was sent on a business trip to Panama in 1972. During this time period Panama was ruled by Omar Torrijos, who became very popular among the population for his liberal aims and ideas. Torrijos was fighting for liberal rights of Panama and also for the Panama Canal. While Torrijos was not interested in popularity or power, John Perkins aim was gain a greater income and influence through this mission. John Perkins was sent to Panama to introduce a development plan for the World Bank, Inter – American Development Bank and USAID. In addition, during this mission he began to introduce the Markov method for econometric modeling made by Dr. Nadipuram Prasad. This new modeling plan enabled John Perkins to make better predictions about a countries infrastructure. This was an extraordinary development among economic hit men, since it made it easier for them to per sway countries into deals with better information. Although this plan seemed as though it would assist the nation’s economy, it only cheated Panama into huge amounts of debts. This was a great profit to the American government and firms but it created a decline of wealth in Panama.
John Perkins met Omar Torrijos during his stay in Panama. Although they both had contrary aims concerning their businesses they agreed to make a contract.

“By the time I left him we both understood that MAIN would get the contract for the master plan, and that I would see to it that we did Torrijos bidding.” (page86)

Once again two powerful men were able to decide over the lives of millions of people. If this system would be liberal and beneficial for the population, then such agreements and actions would not be able to be made. This situation also depicts how powerless the people who live in poverty are. As they do not have any possibility to speak up, they have to live with the results greed and self interested people around the globe have made.

“…it’s band of EHM’s, and the jackals waiting in the background would never allow the little guys to gain control”. (page 89)

Similar to his previous task, John Perkins had used the unfair and irresponsible working methods of his firms. Due to his greed and self interest he continued manipulating countries in order to gain benefits for himself and his country.

Saudi Arabia:
1974, John Perkins was ordered to find a solution to the oil crisis. He quickly found a solution and his new victim, Saudi Arabia. This country had not been developed and industrialized and was the perfect target for John Perkins. He predicted the infrastructure of Saudi Arabia would increase if firms would begin to invest into the country. Although he knew that this new system was not beneficial for the population, he established a development plan.

“I simply put my imaginations to work and wrote reports that envisioned a glorious future for the kingdom” (page 99)

Since this development plan only assisted the American firms, Saudi Arabia became dependent on American support. Therefore, Saudi Arabia agreed to give their oil income to America, in order to become a modernized nation. With money and sex, John Perkins convinced Prince W. to agree to the industrial development plan. However, the relations between America and Saudi Arabia quickly became tense, after Arabia realized that they were fooled into a false deal. This disagreement eventually resulted in the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001.
Nevertheless, John Perkins continued influencing other nations and per swaying them that America would accomplish positive change in nations. On a mission in Iran, he also aimed to make a profitable deal with Iran for America. However, soon after Perkins communicated with poor people from Iran, he understood how much the American government controlled and influenced the Iranian government. Although many people try to convince John Perkins, to stop his business, he continuous and creates even further dramatic changes in other nations.
Nevertheless, John Perkins plans for America began to get out of control when Iran and Saudi Arabia rebelled against these industrial involvements.

“I helped create a covenant that guaranteed continued oil for America, safeguarded the rule of the House of Saud, and assisted in the financing of Osama Bin Laden and the protection of international criminals like Uganda’s Idi Amin.” (page 160)

John Perkins understood that his influence had not created better nations, but brought the world into war. Only after the firm MAIN had corrupted since one of their development plans had failed, John Perkins decided to resign and back up form work of an economic hit man.
Perkins changed his profession to an expert witness, who approved the building of new power plants. From a distance he watched as many other economic hit men grew successful with their jobs and tasks. However, he also understood the impact of the death of Omar Torrijos, a human rights fighter. For him it was clear that this death was not an accident, however, organized by the American government.
After a request from the company SWEC, John Perkins agreed to become an adviser of industry practices on a legal basis. In his new job John became aware of how America pushed Iraq into submission, by their influence in Panama. However, America underestimated Saddam Hussein and believed that he would agree to the deals of the economic hit men. The United States of America lost control over Saddam’s power and therefore, the economic hit men prepared America for an invasion.
Conclusively, the development plans John Perkins had made for Panama, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iran were so destructive that they led these countries into poverty and war.