The Gospel According to John

Author John Perkins Travels the World and Encourages People to Claim Their Power

by Carl Frankel, March 25, 2010

John Perkins has led a schizophrenic life. For years he served as an officer in the global corporatocracy, peddling economic strategies to developing nations that widened the gap between the rich and poor. Then his conscience got the better of him. He switched teams and has been a tireless advocate for a just and sustainable world ever since.

Perkins’ 2004 exposé, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, spent nearly a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller list and made Perkins a star in the sustainability world. His most recent book, Hoodwinked: An Economic Hit Man Reveals Why the World Financial Markets IMPLODED—and What We Need to Do to Remake Them (Broadway Business, 2009), works the same formula that made Confessions such a huge success, combining political and economic analysis with juicy tales about Perkins’s travels and adventures.

At the end of the day, though, it’s not Perkins who’s schizophrenic: It’s our politico-economic system. The global corporatocracy presents two faces to the world. One face—the one that comes to us all gussied up by its promoters—is virtuous and benign, while the other is more menacing. It’s this latter reality, this shadow reality, that Perkins experienced and is intent on sharing with the world.

Although Perkins is delivering a very contemporary and progressive message, in conversation he comes across as a guy with bedrock, old-time values. He wants us to become a true democracy again—a democracy, in others words, in which an engaged and knowledgeable public acts wisely. Perkins sees personal empowerment—claiming and acting on our passion—as the way to make this happen. Wake up! Don’t be hoodwinked or downhearted! Together we can make America great again! This is his message.

I caught up with Perkins recently for a conversation about his views, his life, and our prospects for the future.

John Perkins will be speaking on April 22 (Earth Day) at 7pm at SUNY New Paltz, Lecture Center 100. www.johnperkins.org.