主题：【文摘】时代人物周报：经济杀手帕金斯的忏悔 -- raindrops
时代人物周报：经济杀手帕金斯的忏悔
美国人约翰?帕金斯写的《一个“经济杀手”的自白》Confessions of an Economic Hit Man 于去年年底在美国出版，只用了一个星期就登上了亚马逊网站热卖榜榜首的位置，接着又连续一个月跻身《纽约时报》畅销书排行榜，在初版发行后的第5个星期就进行了5次重印。
帕金斯说：我知道，它正在改变人们的观念和生活。
时代人物周报：是“9?11”让你最终决定要出版这本书吗？“经济杀手”的活动和本?拉登的出现，你觉得这两者之间有什么关联吗？帕金斯：是的。因为我明白了美国人民必须知道幕后的真相，为什么世界上有这么多人怨恨、甚至仇恨我们。我认为我们在阿拉伯国家的所作所为，特别是对沙特阿拉伯的西化，深深触怒了本?拉登。
时代人物周报：在序言里，你写到“经济杀手出没在通用电气、耐克、通用汽车、沃尔玛……几乎所有的大公司里”。有多少“经济杀手”在为“公司帝国”服务？怎样识别他们？
帕金斯：我现在已经退出了那个圈子，我对这个问题的回答都只能是猜测。
时代人物周报：如果“经济杀手”规避法律制约而无所畏惧，那么该怎样阻止他们继续伤害发展中国家呢？
帕金斯：我们必须清醒并保持警觉，要求停止这样的行为。像你一样的记者们，揭露真相、呼吁改变，这是我们的第一道防线。今天人们只是刚刚开始知道这个帝国及其对世界的危害，抗议的声音还非常少。现在我们必须大声说出来，我们必须呐喊。
“好书多磨”
帕金斯曾被“劝告”不要写这本书。在过去的20年中，他四度停笔。每一次他决定重新拿起笔来，都是因为受到世界时事的影响：1980年美国入侵巴拿马；第一次海湾战争；索马里战争以及本?拉登的出现。然而，他说：“威胁和贿赂总让我被迫停止。”
时代人物周报：你受到什么样的引诱和威胁？
帕金斯：他们给我50万美元请我当顾问，但不要求我付出多少，只要我不写这本书。我所拥有并经营的能源公司得到了很多优惠，包括特殊的免税待遇。威胁是，如果我不合作我将失去所有的这些东西，没有工作，无法养家，还有……谁知道还会有什么呢？
书评摘录：
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
by John Perkins
From Publishers Weekly
Perkins spent the 1970s working as an economic planner for an international consulting firm, a job that took him to exotic locales like Indonesia and Panama, helping wealthy corporations exploit developing nations as, he claims, a not entirely unwitting front for the National Security Agency. He says he was trained early in his career by a glamorous older woman as one of many "economic hit men" advancing the cause of corporate hegemony. He also says he has wanted to tell his story for the last two decades, but his shadowy masters have either bought him off or threatened him until now. The story as presented is implausible to say the least, offering so few details that Perkins often seems paranoid, and the simplistic political analysis doesn’t enhance his credibility. Despite the claim that his work left him wracked with guilt, the artless prose is emotionally flat and generally comes across as a personal crisis of conscience blown up to monstrous proportions, casting Perkins as a victim not only of his own neuroses over class and money but of dark forces beyond his control. His claim to have assisted the House of Saud in strengthening its ties to American power brokers may be timely enough to attract some attention, but the yarn he spins is ultimately unconvincing, except perhaps to conspiracy buffs.
Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Summary
? Find out more about this important book and the worldwide movement it has spawned at www.economichitman.com
? A New York Times bestseller!
? ? Read what people are saying about this book and join the conversation--visit our Confessions blog today
? Read a transcript of John Perkins' recent interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!
? Read David Korten's review on www.dragonflymedia.com
? An extraordinary, real-life tale of international intrigue and corruption
? Reveals the hidden mechanics of imperial control behind such major international events as the fall of the Shah, the death of Panamanian president Omar Torrijos, and the invasions of Panama and Iraq, as well as providing an inside view of the corrupt U.S.-Saudi Arabian relationship
? One man's personal journey from eager servant of empire to impassioned advocate for the rights of oppressed people
Description
From the introduction of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man:
"Economic Hit Men are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel World Bank, US government, and other foreign 'aid' funds into the coffers of international businesses and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, and murder. They play a game as old as Empire but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.
"I should know; I was one."
Synopsis
In his controversial book, John Perkins tells the gripping tale of the years he spent working for an international consulting firm where his job was to convince underdeveloped countries to accept enormous loans, much bigger than they really needed, for infrastructure development--and to make sure that the development projects were contracted to U. S. multinationals. Once these countries were saddled with huge debts, the American government and the international aid agencies allied with it were able, by dictating repayment terms, to essentially control their economies. It was not unlike the way a loan shark operates--and Perkins and his colleagues didn't shun this kind of unsavory association. They referred to themselves as "economic hit men."
This is a story of international political intrigue at the highest levels. For over a decade Perkins traveled all over the world--Indonesia, Panama, Ecuador, Columbia, Saudi Arabia, Iran--and worked with men like Panamanian president Omar Torrijos, who became a personal friend. He helped implement a secret scheme that funneled billions of Saudi petrodollars back into the U. S. economy, and that further cemented the intimate relationship between the Islamic fundamentalist House of Saud and a succession of American administrations. Perkins' story illuminates just how far economic hit men were willing to go, and unveils the real causes of some of the most dramatic developments in recent history, such as the fall of the Shah of Iran and the invasions of Panama and Iraq. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which many people urged Perkins not to write, is a blistering attack on a little-known phenomenon that has had dire consequences for both the lesser-developed countries and for American democracy.
Endorsements
"[A] gripping tell-all book..."
--The Rocky Mountain News
"This riveting look at a world of intrigue reads like a spy novel.... Highly recommended..."
--Library Journal
"As a senior economist in several development agencies and a lead economist at the World Bank over the past decade, I find John Perkins's book provocative and disturbing. With honesty, remorse and compassion, Perkins describes the motivation of 'economic hit men' (EHM) and the corporations they serve as being far more prevalent than many of us would like to believe. Moreover, Perkins makes a good case that most of us help further the agenda of EHM and such corporations by unknowingly and unwittingly doing their bidding, failing to appreciate the sinister architecture behind the global empire. The book succeeds as a wake up call because the reader cannot help but assess his or her role on a personal level, thus providing an impetus for change."
--R. Paul Shaw, Formerly Lead Economist, Currently Program Adviser, Human Development Group, World Bank Institute
"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a brave and potent book written by a man whose commitment to the truth transcends any personal concerns about revealing his own previous blindness. Perkins reveals, bears witness, lifts the veil, and talks straight about what he personally has seen and knows intimately as the dark damage that has been done and continues to be done in the name of economic development and progress. This is a stunning and groundbreaking book that is a must-read for anyone who cares about our world."
--Lynne Twist, global activist and author of The Soul of Money
"John Perkins has broken the pact of L'Omerta-the infamous code of silence in the old-style Mafia that was enforced by assassination-to reveal the inner workings of corporate empire. Written like the best crime novel, the book is a page-turner that shows the real menace of organized crime being run out of ritzy boardrooms and seedy dictatorships, using 'economic hit men' who are the murderous technicians of corporate crime as a way of doing business. A brave and timely book not to be missed."
--Kenny Ausubel, Founder and President, Bioneers, author of Seeds of Change and When Healing Becomes a Crime, award-winning film-maker of Hoxsey: How Healing Becomes a Crime
"John Perkins has written a book that shakes one's confidence in the ethics of the prevailing economic system. We are in troubling times and need to understand realistically the price we are paying for the 'free' market we enjoy. Perkins has written an extraordinary tale."
--Jim Garrison, author of America As Empire, President of the State of the World Forum
" Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a fascinating insider's view of how private multinational companies legally rob the poor of the third world , country after country .His overview of Panama is particularly edifying. As Anarchasis said 2500 years ago 'Laws are like spider webs. They trap the poor and defenseless and the rich and powerful tear them apart.'"
--Josh Mailman, Cofounder, The Threshold Foundation, Social Venture Network, and Business for Social Responsibility; entrepreneur, businessman, activist/philanthropist
"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man Is a unique book, brave because it is personal. With unflinching honesty, John Perkins narrates his moral awakening and struggle to break free from the corrupt system of global domination he himself helped to create. This book possesses an immediacy that separates it from the numerous studies we already have of American Empire. It comes from the heart. I highly recommend it."
--Michael Brownstein, author of World on Fire
"John Perkins has told a thrilling story. But what makes it even more relevant is that his tale is the true account of a deeply dedicated and courageous man who exposes information that is crucial for the survival of many people in the world. I couldn't put it down and now want all my friends to read it. Read this book!"
--Stephan Rechtschaffen, M.D., cofounder, CEO, Omega Institute and author of Timeshifting: Creating More Time to Enjoy Your Life
"John Perkins speaks for many of us-citizens in our country, citizens of the world-who are trapped in our own personal and national histories, who struggle with temptation, power and ultimately our own souls. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is his story, one that through necessity and courage offers us a way back, beyond salvation, to human justice."
--Gary Margolis Ph.D., Director, Center for Counseling and Human Relations, Associate Professor of English, Middlebury College and author of Fire in the Orchard and Falling Awake
Table of Contents
PART I: 1963-71
1: An Economic Hit Man Is Born
2: "In for Life"
3: Indonesia: Lessons for an EHM
4: Saving a Country from Communism
5:Selling My Soul
PART II: 1972-74
6: My Role as Inquisitor
7: Civilization on Trial
8: Jesus - Seen Differently
9: Opportunity of a Lifetime
10: Panama: the President and Hero
11: Pirates in the Canal Zone
12: Soldiers and Prostitutes
13: Conversations with the General
14: Meeting the Novelist Graham Greene
PART III: 1974 - 81
15: Entering a New and Sinister Period in Economic History
16: The Saudi Arabian Money-laundering Affair
17: Financing Osama Bin Laden
18 : Panama Canal Treaty Negotiations
19: Iran's King of Kings
20: Confessions of a Tortured Man
21: The Fall of a King
22: Colombia: Keystone to Latin America
23: American Democracy Vs. Global Empire
24: Ecuador's President Battles Big Oil
25: I Quit
Part IV: 1982 - Present
26: Ecuador: Presidential death - CIA Assassination?
27: Panama: Another Presidential death - CIA Assassination?
28: My Own Energy Company, Enron, and G. W. Bush
29: A New Breed of EHM
30: U.S. Invades Panama
31: Venezuela: Another EHM Failure
32: Ecuador Revisited
Epilogue