|
Confessions of An Economic Hit Man Rating: 10 on a scale of 10 Review This is a fascinating book. Recently, both of our children were home for a week. We were having the kinds of fascinating discussions you have when people of different generations interact. My children are quick to talk about the evils of "empire". I must confess I am not accustomed to thinking about the United States of America in terms of "empire". I know what an empire is, but I don't have enough experience with the United States as an empire to comprehend what they are so worked up about. They go so far as to espouse some anarchist views, which seems a little over the top to me. I concluded talking with them that it was easy for them to criticize the United States, but much more difficult for them to articulate effective solutions for the country. My children are highly intelligent and capable young people, so I wondered more about this idea of "empire". I asked them what books I should read to understand "empire" better. They both quickly said this was the book to begin with. This book is well written and delightfully easy to read. My daughter noted its style of short concise chapters as a real plus for reading it, and I have to agree. She said it would read more like a spy thriller and she was correct. The author claims to have been an "economic hit man". He begins by describing his early years completing a major in business administration at Boston University. It is during the Vietnam War and he wanted to avoid the "draft", so he talks with his uncle who suggests interviewing with the National Security Agency. He does, he worries they won't like him, but they do like him. Then he hears a talk by the Peace Corps, and decides this sounds more interesting. He discusses it with his uncle who assures him this would also be an excellent choice, especially if he went to South America, learned Spanish, learned a couple indigenous languages, and learned how to survive and work in these countries. He would be good corporate material when he finished, especially because of the future of oil business in Ecuador. Toward the end of his three year Peace Corps stint, an American fellow comes along and asks him to begin sending him reports of his observations about Ecuador. He seems a bit naive about all of this, complies with the request, and then toward the end of his stay is asked if he would like to join an engineering consulting company as an economist. He points out that he is not really an economist, but is reassured this is not a problem. He begins his consulting work by going to the Boston public library to study up on Indonesia, to learn everything he can about the country. In the process one day, a very attractive well dressed woman shows up and tells him they need to talk. She explains to him that she has come to be his "teacher", to educate him on all of the things he really needs to know, to "complete his education". She introduces him to the concept that he is going to be an "economic hit man". The concept turns out to be fairly simple. He will be asked to make economic projections for developing countries with regard to their need for infrastructure, in his case it will be electricity principally. She explains that he will need to make projections of electrical growth on the order of 17-20% per year. Of course, these projections will be completely unrealistic. The initial goal is to create conditions where the country will be able to take the projections to the World Bank or International Monetary Fund and request large loans and be successful getting them. Now, since these countries are poor and the projections are unrealistic, the countries will not be able to make good on the loan repayments, this is the ultimate outcome that is desired. It will be best if they default on the loan. Then, the United States government will step in and use this vulnerable condition in the country to extract concession from the country; such as rights to locate military bases, ports, exclusivity for American contractors, etc. If he can accomplish all of this he will be doing his job very well. As it turns out he was excellent at it. He begins in Indonesia and moves on from there to country after country. Over time though he begins to develop a conscience about what he is doing. He portrays himself as someone who can see what he is doing, but goes ahead with it anyway. He realizes there are are moral and ethical reasons to question their activities, but they are so successful he rapidly moves up in his company as they grow larger and larger. Soon, he is the head of his own department with many people working under him, all participating in this same activity. Their goal seems to be quite clear, to create empire for the conjoint enterprise he calls the "corporatocracy", the joint interaction of the government, banks, and the corporate consulting/engineering realms. He describes the same nexus of operations they described to me back in the 1970's in my Sociology classes in college, with regard to how people at the top of the economic food chain move rather seamlessly between government, banking and corporate America. Things do not change much in these realms over time. Administrations come and go, but folks on the top keep doing what they do. Significant portions of what he does seems morally and ethically contemptible when they basically lie and cheat there way to bankrupting a nation. However, when he approaches countries like Saudi Arabia or Iran, the goal is not to bankrupt the country, but simply to try and capture the money being given to them for oil. They would like to create a dependency that causes petrol dollars to flow back to the United States. Trying to bankrupt a country is despicable. However, I was not so impressed with the immorality of trying to get American dollars to flow back to America. I always thought we called that "trade". His sense is we are a bit excessive and unfair about it, but the examples he gave did not impress me so much. By age 35 he has lost his wife, and is ready to quit his job. He moves on and starts his own energy consulting company. The company is successful, but he is still part of the corporatocracy, he can't seem to really escape it. Well, to be honest he is still quite attracted by the fame, money, and power. People want to have him on retainer to promote their companies, projects, and endeavors. He knows he doesn't really work for the money, but he keeps taking it. By the 1990's he sells his company to an oil company, he feels bad, but not to bad to take the money. He has spent his career manipulating governments all around the world, but especially the places we are all familiar with, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Columbia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, etc. By the 1990's he begins to feel like he has lost his soul. He begins working with indigenous people, leading eco-tours into the rain forest, writing books, and speaking about life. He is still "on the take" from companies that want his reputation to promote their business. He finds a new relationship and has a daughter. This event seems to trigger him to want to change the world or at least his involvement in the world. He makes what I feel is a seminal observation and realization after talking with friends of his in an indigenous tribe called the Shuar people. The Shuar's tell him, "The world is as you dream it", and finally he begins to wonder why his dream has been such a nightmare? It is 911 that is the final straw on the camels back. In his heart, he knows these events occur because of the work he and the other economic hit men have been doing for decades. In many ways this is a book about a young man growing up into mid-life and being confronted with the necessity to change himself into someone he can actually live with comfortably. In Arthur Kleinman's book, What Really Matters, he tells the story of a Chinese physician who grows up in China before World War II, lives through the communist takeover, believes in the revolution, helps build the country, survives the cultural revolution, then lives to see it all fall apart as China moves toward a more market based economy. Eventually, he comes to the United States with his daughter, old and somewhat depressed I would say. He tells Kleinman that what makes America different is its laws and legal system and the spirituality of its people. I contend our economic hit man lacks both of these characteristics. He flaunts moral and ethical law as well as national and international law. He clearly has no spiritual side. He is the epitome of the morally bankrupt spiritually undeveloped corporate mentality. Sometimes it seems to me corporate mentality is no different than crowd psychology and mentality. A group can do things an individual would never do, and corporate culture and law will stand by to protect them. To be fair, he is beginning to "get it" by the end of the book. He displays a truly inspired effort to try and resolve his spiritual conundrum. He is unhappy with who he is. His shadow has been assailing him and came close to winning. He heads into the jungle to find himself, deep into the unconscious realms I would say. He needs a new dream. I would be willing to bet his unconscious was screaming this at him. His discussion of the south American "Prophecy of the Condor and the Eagle" was wonderful, but he has a limited comprehension of the deeper meanings. He is headed where we all need to head. He knows he and we need greater awareness. In the epilogue he tells us we must "hear the wisdom of the prophecies, open our hearts, and minds to the possibilities, become conscious, and then take action." He tells us this book does not contain the answers but is most purely his confession. Confession is a part of his waking up and redemption process. I hope and trust this is true. This exact metaphor has been recently unfolded before us in James Cameron's movie Avatar. All the issues he discusses in this book are seen displayed in this cultural metaphor. It is shocking to realize we are continuing to displace thousands of indigenous people routinely so we can have enough oil and resources. After thousands of years of history we have learned very little. The interesting issue to me in this book, in the Prophecy of the Condor and the Eagle, and in the movie Avatar is this: how do we resolve the conflict between the feminine and masculine forces in the world? How do we resolve the conflict between the psychological functions of thinking and feeling? How do we come to value the masculine and the feminine for the great worth God sees in both of them? How do we come to realize they are both equally God's image. Unfortunately, this book does not have the answers, the prophecy does not have the answers, and the movie Avatar also gives us no idea. We are left to find new dreams, to the encounter with the one who made us, to hear what God would have us do. All opinions are those of Curtis Climer, MD Copyright 2010 |
|
[botom.htm] |