After reading the chapters about Panama in John Perkins's Confessions of an Economic Hitman and watching The Panama Deception, what is your initial reaction? Also, what similarities are there between US actions towards Panama in the 1980's and American foreign policy today?You should leave one comment of your own and then follow up by commenting on two other commentator's posts.
44 comments:
it seems like corporations only survive if they are cheating somebody out of money to mae a lot for themselves. it dosent set a goo exxample when we are taught not to cheat and steal but corporations use that as away to make money. It also seems the US shows the most intrest in a developing nation that has natural resources, we can make a lot of money at, for a little work. I think the government contros a lot more than we know about. and what they do control that dont need to.
After reading the chapters about Panama in John Perkins’s Confessions of an Economic Hitman and watching The Panama Deception, my initial reaction is Wow! Big Business takes from the poor and utilizes the resources. Why would they ruin the lives of others just to serve self interests? Don’t they care about innocent lives? The government uses propaganda for reasons to let the corporations do as they wish, treating them like people. Are corporations actually people? Controlling the media is oh so selfish, I think.
In response to honda.rider, I wanna say,"I agree 100 percent"
Your right, corporations should not cheat, and steal. Instead I believe they should seve in the intersts of those working in the country's that are taken advantage of. Also they should restore the country's they took resources from and give them a percencetage of the resources back. This I think would help make better relations with these developing countries.
These are just two examples of how corruption and hipicritical groups there are in the U.S we here paint a picture that america is perfect when it really isnt when we have examples of corporations taking advantage of others and robbing the people.U.s having control of the pananma canal is far from benefitial to the people of panama.
in the book that we read Confessions of an economic hit man made it very clear that the only way you can really get ahead of the game is to cheat others out of there own money or black mail them... in other words the big business takes from the poor to make there pocket book bigger and thats wrong we also only steel from the people that have alot of what we want and we can get it next to nothing
in response to J.H i agree with u that its clearly a unethical way to do things. if the U.s and the corps. are going to be in a country sure as heck makes sure the get to profit from it.
in my response i have to agree with honda rider and hendricks because we both share the same views on what is being done john makes good points about propaganda and the controlling media and honda rider makes good points about corporations steeling from the little people so i agree 100%
i agree in the fact that if we are going to be over there that we need to make it profitable for the people and our selfs so i also agree with ericmusa
i agree with u ackerman that we in the U.S not everyone but a nice sized handfull have this idea that the only way to better yourself is to rob from others and do the very things we have laws against.
I site in a very diverse postion on this topic ! You cant only be a critasizer when you making an apoinen you also have to point out good and bad points in things !!!!! I mean yes there wrong for screwing over the poor working people but yet there also doing wat the bissness is designed to do and that is to make profit ! mabe i seee difrentlyt because i want to be wealthy and succes full some day but i can also admit they shouldnt srew the working people over just to make a bigger check ! yes do wat its designed to do and make profit but dont hurt the ones that can barley make it as is be fare about it and onest ! i see it from BOTH sides !
I agree with "Fat ass" in that we do need to see the positive side of things. An example of a positive thing is that although the corporations are messing up other countries economies to serve self interest they also are making products that are made overseas sell for less in the U.S cheaper. I believe that benefits the consumer big time because products made in the U.S seem to be more expensive.
After watching The Panama Deception and Confessions of an Economic Hitman all I can think of is I can't beleive this is happening. Even in the US. When I was in elementary school we were always made to believe that the US is right and democracy is the only way to go. In the attack on Panama many civilians died. Don't they care about innocent people? All the mass graves that the US troops dug up and put Panamain civilians in there was horrible. They kept the media from going into these places so the American people had no idea that this was happening. Just like in Iraq to day. We don't get the whole story they may tell us some and not the rest. The US needs to change its foriegn policy we can't keep on bullying countries around like this.
I was shocked to see what our country did for money and resources. Lieing to other countries and it makes me think about other things. If they lie about that what else are they lieing about. In Panama we wanted access to oil and a way to get it, this is also why we are in Iraq. The government wanted us to believe that we were sending troops over there to fight terrorism and to stop them from using weapons of mass destruction. Do you think that if we left them alone to begin with would the attack on the Twin Towers have happened?
I don't agree with "Fat Ass", sorry to say but I don't. It seems to me that he is saying it's okay for businesses to make a profit and screw with their employees. Many of us have had jobs that we have had problems with and wanted changes done and maybe the employers have had to make changes in the way they do business that effects us. Living in Allegany county we aren't full of resources that everyone is crossing the border to get and if we get hours cut or get laid off we feel pissed off and that it isn't fair. I think if I were in business I would feel bad cheating my customers and employees out of money. I wouldn't feel good about screwing with the lower class because I feel that is where most of us have started from. Shouldn't we be making it better? Just cuz we don't agree it doesn't mean that I don't luv ya bro'
In response to Kristina,i agree with you. I also grew up as a little kid with the image that our country is the best and that we only do the right things. The older we get the more that we realize that no country is really perfect including the US. It kinda makes me wonder how bad other countries have it when people from there are always trying to get in here. It still is pretty good here than it is in other countries, I think we should get back to the way it used to be and not decieve other countries and the citizens of the US.
After watching The Panama Deception and reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman I realized why they don't show or talk about what goes on there on the news. They just sweep it under the rug. Its disturbing to know that the US is trying to keep the citizens uninformed of whats going on across the world. The only thing that the big corporations care about is making a buck, its pathetic. While theres people starving aroung the world all they care about is themselves.
I agree with Jonathan and Kristina, when we were little they taught us that the United States was the best and that we were so helpful to other countries. As I grow up the only thing that I see us doing now is trying to take resources from other countries using our army.
The US is a Bully, Panama and other smaller countries are the poor little kids everyone picks on... The US will do whatever it takes to get it's way no matter how much brute force it takes even if its overkill. In Both John Perkins Confessions of an Economic Hitman and The Panama Deception you see The US going in and doing whatever it takes to be in control. The US bombed Panama ruthlessly killing large amounts of innocent people. The same thing is happening in Iraq today... We went there to "help" them yet we've helped ourselves to their resources, yeah we might have done some good but there's a fine line.
After reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman and watching the Panama Deception, I was shocked to find out how corrupt our government is. It it is sad how all the government cares about is making money and not about taking care of the people.
I was also shocked when I read a chapter in Confessions of an Economic Hitman, that talked about how the CIA assasinated two Panama presidents but made it look like an accident, just because they wouldn't give into their demands. I would have never thought that the U.S government could be capable of such a thing.
Confessions of an Economic Hitman shows the grit,filth and corruption of US foreign policy. After reading much of it, I felt betrayed by the US because of the horrible things done to make a few wealthy elites happier. Trampling over other countries to fill our own pockets is wrong. John Perkin's book gave the US foreign policy a personal effect, while The Panama Deception showed how the people of the US have been twisted into believing outlandish ideas that are far from the truth. We can learn from this that we must be cautious in what we believe because US foreign policy of today is much the same. The government still twists and falsifies information just as it did in Panama.
Just like Kristina, I also grew up thinking that the United States of America was right in everything that it did, like a superhero. Prejudices were ingrained into me during my early years and only now are they fading away. I wish that we were taught the whole picture instead of a tainted view of the world.
My initial reaction is to disappointed with the government. They continually lie to the American people, and it's just wrong. It seems bad enough that they did it in the first place, but lying to cover it up makes it worse. I feel like the US has done the same thing with foreign policy today. They tell us that there is some reason like terrorism or weapons of mass destruction that they need to go to war over. Really they are just trying to cover up the fact that they have economic interests in that particular country. I think that the US could be a good country, but we just never use our power for good, and it's disappointing to see example after example showing how we use it for evil.
Re: Kristina
I agree with Kris when she says how she grew up learning the US was so great. You can see that even as children in the US we are led to believe that we are perfect and that we only have war for good reasons. We are taught that the other countries are bad, so we have a right to kill their people. As kids we are told that we should be proud to be Americans and that our country is most concerned about freedom, equality, and justice for all. We're never told that Columbus killed all the Indians for their "gold", and now George Bush Sr. and son are going to continue the tradition by killing everybody else for whatever they may have.
i agree with emachamer aka turtle. the whole oil crisis deal is getting out of hand. and i also think if we wld have left them alone in the first place that the attack of the Twin Towers on 9-11 would have probally had a less chance of happening..
sami brings up an excellent point.. all this country truly cares about is money and how we stand as a country. i really think they dont give two shits about us as people. the government is corrupt in many multiple ways.. and probaly many more than we know about. also were she talks about the assassination of 2 panama presidents in the book "Confessions of an Economic Hitman". that most likely happens more than we hear or know about.. so long run if the government had a choice between helping the citizens of the U.S., or lets say 10,000 dollars per person what would they chose???? ( the money)
i do agree with honda.rider that its not fair to cheat the small pepole out of there hard enered money but he also has to relise that the business is doing wats its designed to do ! but they also have to learn that they have to limit there profits to a resonable point !
john hendricks has to learn the same thing i said to honda.rider ! but also john has to relise lots off the people doing the damage is to just earn there pay check from the next guy up telling him wat to do just think wat would you do destroy some elsees life or lose your job and destroy your life ? i have a very diverse out look on this situation ... its many peoples faults i belive even the poor people getting fed in this sitation !
i just want to put thius out there for elliot ! that isnt wat i was saying all im saying is its doing wat its designed to do ! but wat i forgot to say is there has to be limits so people arnt getting hurt or crushed but so things get better . . . limits and restrictions is wat is needed ! ! ! i fully agree that wat there doing is WRONG ! i still love you to bra just had to make my side sound better then the way i left it !
I agree with emachamer when he says that he wonders what else the government is lying about. It makes me wonder if we can even trust our government anymore. Should we really belive that they are fighting terrorism in Iraq?
I also agree with Kristina because I too was taught to believe that the U.S was the best country and I have always belived this untill I saw how many innocent people that were murdered in Panama by the U.S. government.
After watching The Panama Deception and reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman I realized that our country doesn't always let us know what's going on. It's like our government wants us to think we're perfect. They try to hide everything they do wrong. It's scary to know that we don't know what goes on in our own government. All our country thinks about is making money. Businesses will do whatever it takes to get their fair share. They take from the poor and don't think twice about it. So while there's poverty all over our country, the "big guys" running the show enjoy their money.
I agree with Kristina when she says that we can't keep bullying countries and hiding things from our own citizans. The Panama Deception is just like what's goingon in Iraq right now. No one knows the whole story and it's really aggrivating when your an American citizan.
I agree with Sami when she talks about how the CIA assasinated two Panama presidents but made it look like an accident, just because the presidents were'nt doing what our country wanted them to do. It's embarassing what our country does to get what it wants. I also agree with everyone talking about how we all grew up being taught that we should love our country and our country is the best, etc. As we're all getting older we're learning new things about the U.S and it's secrets. And the U.S doesn't seem so great anymore.
After watching the Panama Canal I have learned that all countries do is screw each other over for their own benefits and that trait about people and businesses piss me off! If Businesses and corporations were fair to one another then the world and the economy wouldn't be the way it is now...we wouldn't have any idea how it would be because we've never lived in a fair and equal atmosphere. For the last hundred years businesses have been and always will steal from the poor. The lower class people have always worked their ass off to even survive and no one else cares as long as their pockets and wallets are filled. Governments have used propaganda and the controlling media for their benefits...screwing everyone lower on the scale.
I agree with elliot and fat ass because they both have good points. I would, as well as elliot, feel bad if i screwed my employers over on their pay checks even if i didn't know that they had debts and bills and children to care for. But as for what johnny said it is true that businesses are designed to make profits and they also have their own things that they need to uphold.
JOHNNY IS NOT SAYING THAT HE WANTS TO SCREW OVER PEOPLE!!!!!
I agree with Possom and ashley herkey. they both have great points. all the countries do is screw people over.
They both show the unfortunate tactics that the U.S. use to make money. It seems that the government employees that are involved with this have had all sympathy towards others beaten out of their heads. Innocent people are being killed so that the U.S. government can cheat and steal. Shame shame.
...proud to be an American...right.
Kristina's point about how we are taught that America is the best and we do nothing wrong is exactly what the government set out to do. The government buries people in mass graves and twist it around to make it a good thing.
And to Sami, can any government be trusted?
I think that what happened in the book is wrong...they shouldnt be taking money from countries who are already poor and try to "industrialize" or "help" them in a way that most likely will hurt them more. Taking the natural resources of countries and corporations cheating them out of money, land, and property thats rightfully theirs is wrong and just shouldnt happen... and im going to agree with Jon on this one WOW!!! its not right to hurt others and benefit for ourselves when were supposedly one of the most well off nations in the world...if not the most well off.
~Felisha
After reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman and watching The Panapa deception i wasn't really surprised. That kind of stuff has been happening for years and thats the sad truth. Giving fair wages is bad for business so the government lets it happen. And if our government does stuff like that to its own citizens why would they care about citizens of developing countries? It's sick and it could be solved but i think we all know it won't be anytime soon.
I agree with Elliott's point about if the government lies to us about that then what else are they lieing to us about because one lie leads to another and i thought it was a good piont. I also agree with Kyle because he made the point that the only way you can really get ahead of the game is to cheat others out of there own money or black mail them because that is sadly true too.
I hate how evil corporations, the government, and anything with power just decide they can do what ever they want and just get away with it. If more american corporations or at least the american government just took even a little time away from thinking about their money and thought about what their doing to the world these horrible situations might stop reacurring. The government needs to realize how american corporations are fucking the world and do something about it before its too late. The film The Panama Deception and the book Confessions of an economic hitman basically just angered me. I hate the fact that the american government thinks that they can just police the globe if any other country tried half the shit that ours does on a daily basis someone would have blown the fuck out of them by now, but just because america is so powerful they get away with it. I dont know about anyone else, but i sure am sick of hearing about all of this if its never going to end. Someone needs to do something about it and i hope Obama starts something (at least pointing our country in the right direction)
After reading Confessions of an EHM and watching the Panama Deception I begin to wonder how nice that 30 million dollar jet flies, and how that 200 dollar steak tastes, because obviously if you have a suit, you are impotant. Welcome to the American dream, buy a suit fuck over some poor people, call yourself great, drink yourself to sleep because your money is all you have. So when you decide that cows shouldn't be farting, everyone should agree shouldn't they? After all you are the big giant head, the almighty businessman, why wouold you lie to us, you don't need anymore money do you? Wait, am who was this question directed to, I thought i was talking to the government, but it sounds more like I'm hating on a corperation. Hmmmmm. Must be a coincidence, our founding morals are supposed to be opposed to facism. Sorry Mr. Governer, or Mr. CEO, I can never remember who's who.
In response to Fat-Ass, I disagree with you. Completley. While you do have the right to have an opinion on this I just want to shoot it down. There is no happy medium in business. Big business either tanks or grows beyond measure. I've never heard of and oil company worried about the land they steal from natives in foriegn countries for their rigs. Business is designed to make money, lots. And you cannot make lots of money without fucking over some people here and ther, this ideal works on any scale you want. From Walmart fucking over employees, and local ma and pa businesses, to whatever example you want, theres tons of them. And every example is the big fish eating the little fish, when have you ever seen a shark help some little fish find food, and if you have seen this didn't the shark eat both fish immidiatley after it discovers it will be half as hungry as it would have been had he eaten just the one? This is the way of the world, and even though it pisses me off a whole lot I'm learning to deal with it.
After watching The Panama Deception and Confessions of an Economic Hitman all I can think is wow. The government uses propaganda to let corporations do whatever they want.Its crazy to see what our country will do for money and resources. Even if it involves killing innocent people like the attack on pannama for example. I know why they don't ever let anyone know whats really going on. Because being raised in the US we are brought up under the impression that the US goes to war for good reasons and we only attack the "bad" countrys.
I agree with Kristina. We are brought up under the impression that the United States is good and right. When really our nation is a bully. Whats worse is American people are being lied to to think that everything is ok. There is always a good explanation for everthing when really the the truth is the US could be a good country but is using its powers to do bad things for some not so good reasons. Its sad. I cant help but to be dissapointed in the way the government is heading.
Its like if you dont have money corporations dont want anything to do with you. Your a nobody. No one agrees upon anything or anybody decisions. Today the government has way more control over decisions and what goes on in the american society.
I agree with Matty Bower about feeling betrayed by the US government for what they did and not telling us about it. I agree with Keren that it does seem bad enough that they did it in the first place, but lying to cover it up makes it worse.
From what I have heard about other topics this doesn't completely surprise me, but the more we looked at the topic the more malicious it all seemed. Maybe the whole thing is run in the image of people who no longer are in charge or people are forced to do their job because they assume that if they don’t someone else will so they might as well just collect their paychecks and bonuses and call it even. There is an obvious problem though when the government doesn’t keep business in check. It’s all okay as long as not enough people fight back and the right people keep getting paid, right?
I agree with MattyBower, we do have to be careful about believing everything. We should be judging everything for ourselves instead of just being spoon fed information that we can only hope is true.
Both the panama deception and Confessions of an economic Hitman uncover the dark truth about our governments foreign policy. What shocks me more than the information is the lack of knowledge Americans have about their own country's actions. It's not that the information isn't out there; too many people have chose to look the other way or, blamed it on others.
When another country takes agressive actions towards the U.S. do we as Americans hold the members of that nation accountable for those actions, even with their lives? Should we as Americans be held accountable for the actions of our country? If so, why do so many people choose to look the other way or feed false information to us? We should not oppress the citizens of another country and make them pay the price for their governments actions, as we did in Panama and are doing around the world.
After watching The Panama Deception and Confessions of an Economic Hitman I felt betrayed and a bit embarassed to say yeah I'm American. The goverment dosen't fess up to what really happens and it's crap. We get some sugared down version of what goes on... As kids were taught that when another country doesn't like us it's because they're jealous of us and all that we have. They're jealous that they're not American. After The Panama Deception and EHM it's pretty clear as to why we're so hated. We're taught that we're like a super country that helps all the little countries- little do the rest of us know that the government is really milking that little country for all that is worth. It's all so pathetic...
I agree with Eliott. If we're getting lied to about this, what else are we getting lied to about?
I just think its funny how America hides so much of their shit behind doors. The only way we can get information is if someone is involved with the business(EHM's) and gets away from it and they publish a book telling us the ridiculous shit that goes on in other countries. I dont understand how we could just shoot little kids at will. I don't know how any sick twisted asshole could possibly do that. And yet were considered an "American"? Screw that. I didn't know greed could take over someone that much to actually do the shit we do over in Panama or Iraq. America is made up of overpowered political fucks who want nothing more than money for themselves.....
...And Joey Baker is the man, read his post. It'll change your life. "Welcome to the American dream, buy a suit fuck over some poor people, call yourself great, drink yourself to sleep because your money is all you have."
...Speechless
Thank you Joey
I feel bad for all the little kids in Panama that have bullets whizz past their heads everyday, and for the families of the ones that actually get hit by them. We are currently doing similar things in Iraq and Afganistan today that we did to Panama in the 80's. We are losing lots of soldiers and a shit ton of money there too.
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