Predictions of an
Economic Hit Man
By John Perkins
01/13/06 "AlterNet"
-- -- Most people in the United States know that a transit strike
crippled New York City. Fewer are aware that seven South American
countries, representing over 80 percent of the continent's
population, recently elected presidents with anti-American
sentiments. The former has an immediate effect. The latter will
impact our children for decades to come.
In December 2005, Evo Morales buried seven challengers -- taking
54 percent of the vote -- in what the New York Times referred
to as "the most important election since Bolivia's transition from
dictatorship to democracy a generation ago." His platform appealed
to the poor, including farmers whose main source of income, coca
plants, caused them to suffer brutal treatment at the hands of U.S.
drug agents. Although U.S. politicians and the media have denounced
coca because it is used to produce cocaine, the fact is that it is
extremely important in the Andes as a legal remedy for altitude
sickness, digestive problems and other illnesses.
Evo Morales is the latest in a long list of democratically
elected Latin American presidents whose primary appeal is their
opposition to U.S., IMF and World Bank policies that favor foreign
corporations with reputations for exploiting natural resources and
local labor. Bolivia joins the ranks of previously pro-American
countries that have recently turned against Washington and Wall
Street, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay and
Venezuela.
Argentina's President Kirchner recently announced what has been
hailed as an "anti-IMF rebellion." He paid off nearly $10 billion in
IMF debt in order to get out from under a burden that, he said,
"caused poverty and pain among the Argentine people."
Venezuela's President Chavez has become a popular spokesman for
anti-U.S. sentiments around the world.
Ecuador's President Gutierrez was thrown out of office by a
popular grass-roots uprising when he capitulated to economic hitman
threats and bribes, and went against his campaign promises to force
U.S. oil companies to pay more to the Ecuadorian people for
Ecuadorian oil. An Ecuadorian friend told me, "If a democratically
elected official does not honor his campaign promises, democracy
demands that we replace him."
In the past year, a rising tide of people throughout the world
has been rebelling against policies they see as unjust. This has
occurred in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East,
as well as in the United States, where New York transit workers
fought to defend their economic well-being. As one transit worker
told me, "We're sick of being told that our families must sacrifice
while huge corporations and their executives receive tax breaks."
This rebellion is facilitated by the internet, cell phones and
satellite dishes. People in places once considered remote are
increasingly aware of statistics such as these:
- Transnational corporations have taken control of much of the
production and trade in developing countries: For example, 40
percent of the world's coffee is traded by just four companies;
the top 30 supermarket chains control almost one-third of
worldwide grocery sales.
- A trade surplus of $1 billion for developing countries in
the 1970s turned into an $11 billion deficit by 2001.
- The income ratio of the one-fifth of the world's population
in the wealthiest countries to the one-fifth in the poorest went
from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 74 to 1 in 1995.
- Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are
corporations; of those, 47 are U.S.-based.
- The overall share of federal taxes paid by U.S. corporations
is now less than 10 percent, down from 21 percent in 2001 and
over 50 percent during World War II; one-third of America's
largest and most profitable corporations paid zero taxes -- or
actually received credits -- in at least one of the last three
years (according to Forbes magazine).
- Back in 1980 the average American chief executive earned 40
times as much as the average manufacturing employee. For the top
tier of American CEOs, the ratio is now 475:1 and would be
vastly greater if assets, in addition to income, were taken into
account. By way of comparison, the ratio in Britain is 24:1, in
France 15:1, in Sweden 13:1.
- Pre-Civil War slaves received room and board; wages paid by
the sweatshops that today serve many U.S. industries will not
cover the most basic needs.
Unrest in New York and Latin America, as well as in Africa, Asia,
Europe and the Middle East are harbingers of the difficulties that
will haunt future generations -- unless we take heed. They serve
notice that if we want a peaceful and prosperous future for our
children, we must recognize basic human needs; we must insist that
all people -- not just those at the top -- have the right to justice
and dignity. Bolivian voters, NYC transit workers and democratically
elected presidents of other countries are warning us that the bottom
line of the corporate balance sheet is not the final statement upon
which our society will ultimately be graded.
John Perkins is the author of "Confessions
of an Economic Hit Man." His website is
johnperkins.org.
© 2006 Independent
Media Institute. All rights reserved
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