Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins

Summary:

In Confession of an Economic Hit Man, author John Perkins describes his experiences working for a company known as Charles T. Main.  Perkins began writing his book in 1980 but was unable to publish until 2004 because of the multiple treats he received.

In the first chapter, Perkins begins by describing his early life. Perkins grew up attending an all-boys school in New Hampshire where his father taught. He describes his family as not poor but not wealthy enough to live comfortably.  Attending the wealthy all-boys school made Perkins feel out of place.  Perkins filled up his loneliness by succeeding. He was an honors student, editor of the school newspaper and the captain of two varsity teams.  His succession led to receiving a scholarship to Middlebury. Once he reached college Perkins noticed a change in him self. In college, Perkins met his first girlfriend Ann and his Iranian friend Farhad.  Farhad had a negative influence on his life and persuaded Perkins to drop out of school.

 Perkins then decided to join the peace core, which took him on his first trip to the amazon. Perkins was unsure of this trip but his uncle encouraged him to go, continuously mentioning “the company” and the potential for the use of the oil that was there. This trip inspired him to continue traveling. The next place Perkins traveled was Ecuador in 1968. Perkins was drawn into this job as a consultant that would recommend that Ecuador invest with the World Bank who would send billions of dollars to them so that they could build hydroelectric plants. It was ironic, however, that the job that was originally designed to help indigenous tribes ended up providing the basis to exploit them.

In chapter two, Perkins begins to talk about his first years at Chas. T Main. This company taught Perkins to manipulate statistics to advance other countries interest in working with them. Claudine, a consultant of the Charles T. Main Corporation, began working with Perkins and would try to temp him with physical seduction and verbal manipulation.  She acted as his mentor but would use these techniques to draw him in. Perkins main job as a consultant for Charles T. Main was to forecast the effects of sending billions into countries, predict economic growth, and compare benefits of investing money in different places for different things. However, underneath Perkins job description was a hidden agenda. Perkin’s charismatic attitude and people skills were merely a tool for the company. He would help persuade other countries to take loans from them and then make these countries forever in debt to the U.S. 

After making many foreign friends and being promoted to status of partner, Perkins finally came to the conclusion that he would quit the firm and create his own nonprofit to assuage his guilt. The many years he worked for MAIN he was conflicted with his involvement but didn’t know how to end this relationship. Perkins then attempted to publish books about his experiences but was stopped each time because of treats against him.  Finally, in 2004, Perkins was able to publish his most famous novel, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

Analysis: 

While reading this book I was surprised by many things. Perkins, although professing a good morality, cannot overcome his drive for material objects and prestige. Throughout the book, Perkins explains that he is torn between promoting his company’s interest and doing the work he committed to, and living a more conscious and ethical life. However, it takes Perkins about 20 years to act upon his moral misgivings. 

This book also surprised me because of the insight I gained into the way corporations actually function.  I believe that it is astonishingly unfair that the general public has no knowledge of what is being done with their tax dollars.  Perkins gave a peek behind a black curtain that would not have been disclosed without his book. The government is so secretive, especially with respect to their involvement with large corporations such as MAIN. It’s frightening to think about how much impact these corporations have on major political designs and decisions  that affect not only the United States, but also every other country that has ever been involved with the U.S. 

Before reading this book, I had never really even thought about the relationships between the government and corporations. I trusted that our elected officials were ethical and were doing what they believed was best for the people, not what would benefit the wealthy few. I feel like the media, such as MSNBC, CNN or Fox news, would never highlight on the perspective of books like these because they, themselves, are major corporations, owned by wealthy individuals or politicians. They are merely part of the system of corporatocracy.