Confession Of An Economic Hitman

I initially choose this book because Mr. Kropf recommended it as an easy ready. I am new to the study of political science and find much of the information difficult to grasp, but yet still very intriguing. I continued reading the book and enjoyed it because it was compelling. I became involved and interested in the life Perkins and wanted to know what was going to happen to him in the end. This story spoke to me because out of all the theories that we have studied I am most in tune with the class theory. This may be because I am an African American living in the United States and I have a tendency to view many things in my life through a tinted lens, or in the words of W.E.B. Dubois (1903) “It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. . . . One feels his two-ness - an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” (p. 5) Confessions of an Economic Hit Man seemed to validate and explain many of the situations that I have experienced in my life. I and everyone that I grew up with want to believe that with enough hard work, determination and will power we can all achieve the "American Dream". Unfortunately, the color of my skin and those that I grew up with can attain many of life's luxuries, but our dream has a definite glass ceiling.

Perkins opens his book with the boogie man theory that many of us believe to exist today "A large part of your job is to encourage world leaders to become part of a vast network that promotes U.S. commercial interests. In the end, those leasers become ensnared in a web of debt that that ensures their loyalty. We can draw on them whenever we desire-to satisfy our political, economic, or military needs (Perkins, p.21). This section sets the tone for the book and confirms all my worst fears about the government having ulterior motives that are duplicitous in nature. The fact that Americans are the last to realize this, or rather unwilling to accept that we have elected and tolerate a government that engages in this behavior is just as disturbing. However, Perkins deftly describes how the Indonesians not only understand the political antics of the U.S. but also parodies them in a manner that a child could understand. "I was surprised, however, to see that his next selections did not include the domino nations of Southeast Asia. Rather, they were all Middle Eastern countries - Palestine, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. After that, he turned to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Each time, the Nixon doll screamed out some epithet before dropping the country into his bucket, and in every instance, his vituperative words were anti-Islamic: "Muslim dogs," "Mohammed's monster," and Islamic devils."........"Doesn't your government look at Indonesia and other countries as though we are just a bunch of...." She searched for the word. "Grapes," one of her friends coached. "Exactly. A bunch of grapes. You can pick and choose. Keep England. Eat China. And throw away Indonesia." (Perkins, p.51). Perkins was incapable of feigning injury, surprise or anything other than acceptance of the truth. History has shown that the United States government has perfected the practice of destroying cultures and people for the procurement of land and resources since the founding of this country.

The English major looked me directly in the eyes. "Stop being so greedy." she said, "and so selfish. Realize that there is more to the world than you big houses and fancy stores. People are starving and your worry about oil for your cars. Babies are dying of thirst and you search the fashion magazines for styles. Nations like ours are drowning in poverty, but your people don't even hear our cries for help. You shut your ears to the voices of those who try to tell you these things. You label them radicals or Communists. You must open your hearts to the poor and downtrodden, instead of driving them further into poverty and servitude. There's not much time left. If you don't change, you're doomed" (Perkins, p.53). This clear message of how the underclass is exploited in the world is on that we hear practically everyday. I may donate to my favorite charity, put money in the bucket for the Salvation Army at Christmas time or even give a dollar to the dirty homeless guy begging for change a couple of times a month. These small, insignificant acts of charity are feeble attempts to assuage the nudges of my conscious and to attempt do something to compensate for my greed.

Perkins journals, probably in an effort to relieve his conscious, how our greed has an adverse affect on the countries that we exploit. "The resources and cheap labor that feed nearly all our businesses come from places like Indonesia, and very little ever makes its way back. The loans of foreign aid ensure that today's children and their grandchildren will be held hostage. They will have to allow our corporations to ravage their natural resources and will have to forego education, health, and other social services merely to pay us back. The fact that our own companies already received most of this money to build the power plants, airports, and industrial parks does not factor into this formula. Does the excuse that most Americans are unaware of this constitute innocence? Uniformed and intentionally misinformed, yes-but innocent?" (Perkins, p.56) I really do believe that most Americans are uniformed and intentionally misinformed but not innocent. By definition in Merriam Webster innocent means free from guilt or sin especially through lack of knowledge of evil. Lack of knowledge of evil I can accept but not free from guilt of sin because it is the common man and woman in the U.S. that are ultimately responsible for not raising up to challenge the deceptive practices of the government.

Perkins proceeds to discuss an idyllic alternative approach for the U.S. to take as the leader of the world. “I wondered what sort of a world we might have if the United States and its allies diverted all the monies expended in colonial wars-like the one in Vietnam-to eradicating world hunger or to making education and basic health care available to all people including our own. I wondered how future generations would be affected if we committed to alleviating the sources of misery and to protecting watersheds, forests, and other natural areas that ensure clean water, air and the things that feed our spirits as well as our bodies. I could not believe that our Founding Fathers had envisioned the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of