Destura, Joe Anna Marie S.

BPAOUMN 1-C
PUAD 20013
Confessions of an Economic Hitman – Book Review

For my nineteen years of existence, I have realized that the world we live in is cruel and
unfair. It is a hard pill for me to swallow that our economic status defines our reality. No matter
what we do, the world will always revolve around money and power. Rich and powerful people
will continue to get rich while the rest of the world will continuously drown in slumps of poverty.
Despite being exposed to this fact, still, I cannot help but feel vulnerable when I read the first
two chapters of John Perkins's Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. So far, I can say that this
book opened a new perspective for me to peek through. As I progress through the book, I slowly
begin to comprehend the reality of the situation that we are facing right now. 

         Economic Hit Men or EHMs, as Perkins and his peers would like to call it, are
professionals paid and trained to cheat the countries of the world out of trillions of dollars. They
are the people behind the success of the US Empire. Their job is to lure world leaders and make
them a part of a growing network that benefits US commercial interests. These world leaders
will then be slaves of loan contracts forcing them to be dependent and loyal to the US. As a
result, their countries are now under the US Empire. We can see the consequences of this dirty
system in our society today.  Many countries are in debt and on the brink of collapsing. Millions
of people are dying from hunger and suffering from poverty. Natural resources were being
exploited and destroyed while many animals were going extinct. All these happenings are the
aftermath of wealthy people's greed and their constant need to satisfy their desires. They are
selfish and would not think twice to sacrifice anything as long as they get what they want. 

I agree with John Perkins when he says that his confessions are not only his story, but
they are also ours. His story as an EHM is crucial for us to know because it will bring us
awareness about what is happening in the world around us. John Perkins and we are only
victims of manipulative people who will use our strengths and weaknesses against us. We
should learn from John Perkins’s mistakes and not let these people take advantage of us. 
Perkins was once a simple boy from a small town, but now he is under these selfish people who
value material things more than anything. He did not realize that working in a depraved
environment would corrupt his mind and turn him into a monster. Fortunately, he snapped back
to reality and recognized that what he did was loathsome. 
 I am glad that he made this book despite risking his own life for it. I am grateful that there
is still humanity inside of him and decided to reveal the injustices in this world. It took him
several tries to finish his book, but he managed to do it. However, I do not understand why he is
still alive right now. Not that I want him dead, but I am curious as to why the jackals or other
EHMs have not killed him for exposing such big information. Whatever the reason is, I am still
thankful to Perkins for releasing a book from which I can learn many things.                   

I have only read the introduction and the first two chapters of the book; I was already
impressed with John Perkins. I can already tell that he is a great author. His writing style was
commendable because it felt like I was watching a cut-through scene of a movie. He also knew
how to articulate himself without making the sentence intricate. Students like me will not have
difficulty reading the book because he does not use profound words. Even though I have not
finished the book, I would say that the book was an effective eye-opener. It is deserving of every
award that it has received.