Linked with Dream Change, and with Global Dialogue Center. Added January 18, 2008: also linked with John Perkins on January 17, 2008, and with Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
He says: ”We are watching an empire in the throes of collapse. In Iran, Venezuela, Bolivia, Iraq, Nigeria — and so many other places — we are beginning to see leaders take stands that oppose the corporatocracy. They are trying to limit debts, are standing up to their rights to have the same weapons as their enemies, refusing to give in to oil companies (Ecuador kicked Occidental out earlier this week), and thumbing their noses at Washington. The Bush Administration has pushed people to the limit. And has proven that the empire is vulnerable. »
He says also: « We must be fully conscious. We must support oppressed people around the world. Starving and sick people. We must recognize that our grandchildren have little hope for stable, sustainable, and peaceful lives unless every child on every continent has equal reasons for hope. We do not want to see this empire simply collapse and be replaced by another. We want to insist that it transform itself into a model that reflects the highest ideals of our Declaration of Independence. We must create a world that will make future generations proud of us. » (For both see his Newsletter May 2006, and Archive Newsletters).
John Perkins – USA
John Perkins spent three decades as an Economic Hit Man, business executive, author, and lecturer. He lived and worked in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and North America.
Then he made a decision: he would use these experiences to change the world; he would devote himself to making the planet a better place for his daughter’s generation. Today he teaches about the importance of rising to higher levels of consciousness, to waking up – in both spiritual and physical realms. (See his Homepage).
He says further: « When you look at the world we humans have created you may conclude that it was created by sleeping people, because awake, aware, conscious people would manifest a very different world ».
And more: « We must commit ourselves absolutely and unequivocally to shaking ourselves and everyone around us awake. We must hear the wisdom of the prophecies, open our hearts and minds to the possibilities, become conscious, and then take action ».
He has lived four lives: as an economic hit man (EHM); as the CEO of a successful alternative energy company, who was rewarded for not disclosing his EHM past; as an expert on indigenous cultures and shamanism, a teacher and writer who used this expertise to promote ecology and sustainability while continuing to honor his vow of silence about his life as an EHM; and as a writer who, in telling the real-life story about his extraordinary dealings as an EHM, has exposed the world of international intrigue and corruption that is turning the American republic into a global empire despised by increasing numbers of people around the planet. (See his website).
John Perkins (b. 1945 in Hanover, New Hampshire) is an activist and author. His best known and most recent book is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which purports to be an insider’s account of exploitation or neo-colonialization of Third World countries by a cabal of corporations, banks, and the US government. It was on the New York Times bestseller lists for over 40 weeks (in both hardcover and paperback). Perkins attended Tilton Boys School for high school and Middlebury College during the 1960s. He spent the 1970s working for the consulting firm Chas. T. Main, where he claims he was employed after being independently screened by the National Security Agency (NSA) and subsequently hired by Einar Greve, a member of the firm (and alleged NSA liaison, a claim which Greve has denied) to become a self-described « Economic Hit Man ». He claims to have been trained early in his career by a beautiful, manipulative, older woman as one of many « economic hit men » advancing the cause of corporate hegemony. As a former chief economist at Boston strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main, Perkins says that he « was an ‘economic hit man’ for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence agencies and multinational corporations cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business. (See much more on wikipedia).
From 1971 to 1981 John Perkins was Chief Economist and Director of Economics and Regional Planning for Chas T. Main, an international consulting firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2004 he published a best-selling memoir called « Confessions of an Economic Hitman, » in which he describes his work at Main and the duplicitous means by which corporate America has prospered at the expense of many of the world’s poorest nations. (Read on Big Picture).
Listen also to his five minutes video on Big Picture.
We’ll also be honoring several environmental heroes from around the planet with World Rainforest Awards: Vandana Shiva, Gordon Roddick, John Perkins and Australian Senator Bob Brown (says RAN 2006).
Books:
- His newest book, The New York Times Bestseller, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, tells the story of his remarkable life; (book review on democracy now);
- Shapeshifting: Shamanic Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation;
- The World Is As You Dream It: Shamanic Teachings from the Amazon and Andes;
- Same as audiocassette by amazon;
- Psychonavigation: Techniques for Travel Beyond Time;
- The Stress-Free Habit: Powerful Techniques for Health and Longevity from the Andes, Yucatan, and Far East;
- Spirit of the Shuar: Wisdom from the Last Unconquered People of the Amazon;
- See also ‘books’ on his website, and book-links, and books on wikipedia;
links:
John Perkins is a recipient of the World Rainforest Award WRA;
Smedley Butler, Meet John Perkins;