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About This Show

This is a show about how the world works, the behind-the-scenes process that keeps the corporations in control of the world's resources. The main body of the show is an interview with self-confessed economic hit man, John Perkins.

You can find the entire interview at

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/09/1526251.

His Wikipedia biography is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perkins

Greg Palast knew him back in the day. He writes about it here:

http://www.gregpalast.com/john-perkins-jerk-con-man-shill/

You can buy his book here:

http://www.amazon.com/ Confessions-Economic-Hit-John-Perkins/dp/0452287081

Track 1:

The Show begins with a clip from "Blood Diamond." Leonardo DiCaprio's character sums up everything in a sentence. Then this view from the bottom shifts to the top as the representative of the Spacing Guild orders Emporer Shaddam to get the situation in Arrakis under control. With the dramatic setting complete, John Perkins explains the reality behind the decision to invade Iraq. There is an article on Counter Punch that gives the details:

"What had previously been reported was that Rumsfeld had a cozy meeting with Saddam in Baghdad in December 1983. In the past, the focus was on whether or not he had raised the issue of Saddam's use of chemical arms against Iran. But what the actual memoranda show is that a big part of Rumsfeld's discussion with Saddam Hussein was this new proposal from Bechtel to build a pipeline form Iraq to Jordan. I mean Rumsfeld was executing the marching orders of George Schultz, who was the Secretary of State, but who came directly from the presidency of Bechtel to the Reagan administration.

... he was there sort of as a bagman for Bechtel. And then there were documents I found in the government's National Archives that showed the extensive involvement of Reagan officials and the very close relationship they had with Bechtel officials, in pursuing this pipeline over the next two years...

In the end, Saddam decided that Bechtel was trying to charge too much for the project, and so he killed the project and instead went with a pipeline connecting into pipelines in Turkey and into Saudi Arabia, but avoiding the Straits of Hormuz...

Schultz worked at Bechtel. So did (Reagan Defense Secretary) Caspar Weinberger. There were a lot of Bechtel people in the government in the '80s at the same time that the Iraqi's were gassing the Iranis. The same people are now formulating the plans for a coming U.S. occupation of Iraq, and in turn, the same people will be given the spoils of war--whether it's Parsons and Halliburton or Bechtel. ...Bechtel was also listed by Iraq in its report to the U.N. weapons inspectors as one of the companies that helped supply Saddam with equipment and knowledge for making chemical weapons. Bechtel in the 1980s was prime contractor on PC 1 and 2, two petrochemical plants constructed in Iraq which had dual-use capacity. So I guess the bottom line is that the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld squad are now holding Saddam Hussein accountable for chemical weapons of mass destruction--the same weapons which these same officials ignored in pursuit of the Aqaba pipeline project. And now we are going to reward the pipeline promoter with massive contracts for reconstruction resulting from this policy...

Q: You made the point in your paper that US relations started to tank with Iraq after the rejection of the oil pipeline.

A: That's true. There was a shift away from Iraq to Iran right at that time...it's been quirkier than that. But certainly the end of the pipeline destroyed oil relations..."

You can read the full article here:

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff04092003.html

You can find out more about "Blood Diamond" here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450259/

and "Dune" here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087182/

Track 3:

Almost everyone will recognize the famous "board room scene" from "Network." You can view this scene here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AI8mC8XucY

Film writer Paddy Chayefsky was one of the first to warn of the dangers of corporate control of news sources. Great film. The imdb link is here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074958/

As for the John Perkins clip: Have you ever wondered "why do they hate the WTO and World Bank?" It's because they are a multibillion dollar loan sharking operation.

Track 5

The "South Park" clip introduces us to the "good, decent" background of John Perkins. Then "Monk" gives his famous "Here's what happened" as Perkins explains that he was seduced by money, power and sex. Well, this kind of work takes a certain "moral flexibility." This clip comes from "Thank You For Smoking," a clever and morally challenging film about a tobacco lobbyist. An ad executive from "Mad Men" explains that the years have been good to us because they have been good to the corporations. "Mad Men" is an AMC series about advertising executives in 1960. It is a flawless period piece, featuring the clothing, social mores and ubiquitous smoking and drinking of that time. They even show someone offering his friend a "drink for the road." The "Imperial conditioning" clip added near the end of the "Searing I" song is from Dune.

South Park: http://www.southparkstudios.com/
Monk: http://www.usanetwork.com/series/monk/
Thank You For Smoking: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/
Mad Men: http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/

Track 7:

John Perkins tells the story of how the democratically elected leader of Iran, Mossadegh, or Mossadeq, was overthrown by the machinations of CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt in 1953. This led to the installment of Shah Reza Pahlavi, an American sock puppet who terrorized his country with secret police. Eventually he was overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini, which, of course, led to the infamous ":American held hostage" incident of 1979. The clip at the end is from "Syriana," a disappointing and hard to follow film, that, nevertheless, had its moments. There is a message here: don't let the neocons convince you that war with Iran is a good idea. The two songs that follow are by Iranian death metal bands ArthimotH and Arsames.

More on Mossadegh: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Mossadegh
Shah Reza Pahlavi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi
The Shah's Secret Police: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAVAK
Kermit Roosevelt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_Roosevelt_Jr
Khomeini and the Hostage Crisis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruhollah_Khomeini
Syriana: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365737/

Track 9:

John Perkins explains a loophole in government accountability, followed by a clip from Syriana.

Track 11:

Arabia is the centerpiece of the plan for American domination of foreign governments through corruption, and the arrangement has been good to American oil companies. There is more from the "Network" "board room scene." The Idi Amin clip comes from "Last King of Scotland," which features an impeccable performance by Forest Whittaker as the infamous African dictator. The merger clip comes from "Syriana."

Last King of Scotland: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455590/
Idi Amin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin
House of Saud: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Saud
House of Saud Timeline: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saud/cron/

Track 13:

John Perkins even pimped for the cause. The clip comes from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," a brilliantly sleazy comedy series which picked up Danny DeVito in the second season.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/sunny/

Track 15:

John Perkins tells the story of Panama's Omar Torrijos. He was never actually elected to office, but was the de facto leader of the country from 1968 to 1981. He negotiated the Panama Canal Treaty with the Carter administration in 1977. Shortly before his death he was negotiating with a group of Japanese businessmen led by Shigeo Nagano to build a sea-level canal. A fatal plane crash cut the negotiations short. Manuel Noriega tried to come forward with proof that Torrijos was assassinated, but was prevented from doing so by the Classified Information law. The first clip comes from "Moon Over Parador," a comedy starring Richard Dreyfuss as an American actor posing as a Latin American dictator. It features the late, great Raul Julia in a supporting role. The last clip comes from the "Dune" scene between the Emperor and the Spacing Guild.

Omar Torrijos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Torrijos
Moon Over Parador: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095654/

Track 17:

John Perkins introduces George Schultz and Caspar Weinberger, Bechtel execs with ties to the government. This is the same George Schultz featured in the Counter Punch article about Saddam and Rumsfeld. When George Schultz became Secretary of State under Reagan he sent secretary of defense Caspar Weinberger to Panama to demand that Torrijos stop his negotiations with the Japanese. There are two clips from "Moon Over Parador" and two from "Torchwood," the BBC spin-off from the new "Doctor Who" series. It's dark and sexy, tailor-made for those who like their sci-fi bi-sexual. The clip ordering the murder is from "Dune."

George Schultz: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P._Shultz
Caspar Weinberger: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_Weinberger
Torchwood: http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/262/index.jsp

Track 20:

John Perkins tells the story of Jaime Roldos, president of Ecuador from 1979 to 1981. Shortly after he began demanding more money from the oil companies he died in a plane crash similar to the one that killed Torrijos a few months later. There is no proof that it was an assassination, of course, and many people in Ecuador believe that it was a hit carried out by the Peruvian government. There is a clip from "Turistas," a somewhat predictable slasher film about a plot to kidnap young American tourists for organ harvest. Beware of the Wikipedia article in the links. It states that John Perkins claimed the Roldos crashed was caused by an exploding tape recorder, but that allegation actually applies to the Torrijos crash.

Jaime Roldos: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Roldós_Aguilera
Turistas: www.imdb.com/title/tt0454970/

Track 22:

This is my favorite track. It interweaves the Simpsons "Monorail Song" with John Perkins description of how the Suharto government in Indonesia was hoodwinked into buying an electrical power plant they didn't need and couldn't afford.

General Suharto: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto
Simpsons: http://www.thesimpsons.com/

Track 24:

Back to Iraq. It's not only the oil. There are also vast water resources and a strategic location, now needed because the House of Saud is losing power. There are clips from "Dune" and "Moon Over Parador."

Article on politics of water in Iraq: http://www.counterpunch.org/wells05162003.html

Track 26:

A Much Worse World

is there a play list for this program?