Redemption of an Economic Hit Man

John Perkins, the self-confessed and apparently redeemed former Economic Hit Man, has been popping up on my radar frequently in the last few weeks, most recently in the September 2005 issue of The Sun, from which much of the following is drawn. His story is disturbing and compelling. Getting out of the Peace Corps in 1971, Perkins joined the international consulting firm Chas. T. Main (or MAIN). His job was to persuade third world leaders to agree to large scale development projects in their countries. The projects would be funded by the World Bank, and built by American companies, so there was no meaningful benefit to the normal inhabitants of the target countries. The people would, of course, be saddled with a huge debt, and punishing austerity measures which would ensure the country's resources could be exploited for the benefit of the elites of the country and their American masters in perpetuity.

In the 1980's Perkins quit MAIN, and founded his own alternative energy company, Independent Power Systems (IPS). However, he remained silent about his former activities. In the 1990's Perkins began to advocate for rainforests and indigenous peoples, and founded the Dream Change Coalition, which aims to raise our consciousness, and form a grassroots movement to "create a more compassionate and just world." Perkins has also studied the shamanic teachings of indigenous peoples around the world, and has led workshops and expeditions to share this knowledge. All of which sounds very cool, in my opinion.

Apparently he began writing about his experiences as an economic hit man 20 years ago. However, it was the 9/11 attack that compelled him to tell his story to a wide audience "because what happened on 9/11 is a direct result of what the economic hit men are doing." The result was Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. I haven't read the book, but it sounds like a good read.

I want to leave you with a story from the Sun interview that I found inspirational and funny. Perkins is responding to a question about what regular people can do against these incredibly powerful corporations,

One lesson the environmental movement has taught us is that corporations are vulnerable. A couple of years ago a major environmental group went up against a multinational corporation. The group launched a boycott of the corporation, and the corporation eventually came around. Not long after that, I was at a conference attended by both the leader of the environmental group and the head of the corporation, and one night the three of us wound up in the hot tub. I was extremely interested to see how these two would interact. To my surprise the corporate executive said to the activist, "Thank God you did what you did. I knew what we were doing was wrong, but I couldn't do anything about it for fear of losing my job. After the boycott, I could go to our board and push for us to do the right thing. (John Perkins, quoted in The Sun, September, 2005)

So, let that be our call to organize and continue putting pressure on governments and corporations to do the right thing!

Peace,