Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 3rd Edition

First, competition for global dominance had shifted from the military to the economic. Second, there was a trend toward uniting the world under initiatives like China’s New Silk Road (officially the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI) and American-led global financial structures. And third, the future of life as we know it depends on ending EHM strategies everywhere and transforming a failing degenerative system, known as a death economy, into a regenerative one, known as a life economy.

strategy has focused on the same goal: the exploitation of resources to satisfy short-term materialistic consumption and increase the riches and power of a few elites. The goal of domination is cloaked in a critical factor: the perception that those being dominated are receiving benefits.

The debts are so large they can’t be repaid. The lower-income countries default on their loans. This process is sometimes referred to as debt-trap diplomacy.

four pillars of the EHM strategy: fear, debt, anxiety over insufficiency (of food, housing, etc.), and divide and conquer.

The failure of the world’s largest, best-equipped military to defeat North Vietnam, combined with the Cold War specter of a nuclear holocaust, replaced the pillar of instilling fear in others with the pillar of debt as the primary tactic.

Marketing executives, psychotherapists, and politicians know that perception molds reality.

The first and second waves of American EHMs promoted a perception that may be summarized as: “If you want your country to prosper, accept loans from the Washington Consensus, hire our companies to build infrastructure projects, and submit to neoliberal policies.”

“Deception. It’s the bread and butter of exploitation. You know that only too well.”

In Latin America, he who controls the army, controls the president and the courts.

I understood that the victims themselves could be unwitting collaborators and that taking action offered the only solution. And it worked.

If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, we demand our pound of flesh. This often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations votes, the installation of military bases, or access to precious resources such as oil. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money—and another country is added to our global empire.

I have come to understand that life is composed of a series of coincidences. How we react to these—how we exercise what some refer to as free will—is everything; the choices we make within the boundaries of the twists of fate determine who we are. Two major coincidences that shaped my life

statistics can be manipulated to produce a large array of conclusions, including those substantiating the predilections of the analyst.

As a result, their dirty work, if exposed, would be chalked up to corporate greed rather than to government policy. In addition, the corporations that hired them, although paid by government agencies and their multinational banking counterparts (with taxpayer money), would be insulated from congressional oversight and public scrutiny, shielded by a growing body of legal initiatives, including trademark, international trade, and Freedom of Information laws.2

true nature of macroeconomics: that in many cases helping an economy grow only makes those few people who sit atop the pyramid even richer, while it does nothing for those at the bottom except to push them even lower. Indeed, promoting capitalism often results in a system that resembles feudal societies.

History demonstrates that faith—soul, a belief in higher powers—is essential. We Muslims have it. We have it more than anyone else in the world, even more than the Christians. So we wait. We grow strong.”

once presented with such coincidences, we face choices. How we respond, the actions we take, makes all the difference.

The global empire, on the other hand, refutes the republic’s professed ideals. It is self-serving, greedy, and materialistic, a system based on mercantilism.

I also thought a great deal about the idea of integrity in business, about appearances versus reality.

According to some sources, SIL received funding from the Rockefeller charities. Family scion John D. Rockefeller had founded Standard Oil—which later divested into the majors, including Chevron, Exxon, and Mobil.2

How many decisions—including ones of great historical significance that impact millions of people—are made by individuals who are driven by personal motives rather than by a desire to do the right thing? How many of our top government officials are driven by personal greed instead of national loyalty? How many wars are fought because a president does not want his constituents to perceive him as a wimp?

“Fear and debt,” Uluç said. He took a sip of the strong dark coffee. “The two most powerful tools of empire.”

We have seen throughout these pages that these are the latest versions of centuries-old perceptions about prosperity that support tactics intended to colonize others through systems of domination. Their goal is the exploitation of people and natural resources to increase the profits and power of a few elites.