John Perkins, author of \Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,"" lectured in Memorial Union Wednesday night about his former job as an economic hit man.
According to UW-Madison junior Adam Diederich, a friend of Perkins' on a sponsoring committee invited Perkins to UW-Madison to speak about the dark side of the United States economy, the side Perkins himself is the least proud of.
Perkins explained an economic hit man's job is to first identify a country with a coveted resource, go to the country and arrange a large loan for the country-so large that it would be impossible for the country to pay off-and take over the country's economy when it cannot pay off its debt.
When Perkins first became a hit man, he was told it was a dirty business and if he accepted the job he would be in it for life. Nonetheless, Perkins was enticed into the business and traveled to numerous developing countries to conduct business.
Perkins divulged that in the 1980s and again in the 1990s, U.S. economic hit men went to Iraq to try to win over Saddam Hussein, but failed both times. Perkins said he is sure that if Hussein would have accepted, the United States would have been selling him weapons and building him all the plants he wanted.
UW-Madison senior Taryn McCook, who attended the lecture and bought Perkins' book afterward, said she is not surprised there are things going on underground.
""But it doesn't make me any less proud to be an American,"" she said.
It was Sept. 11 that stood as a turning point for Perkins. At that moment he said he knew it was his responsibility to share his story.
Sept. 11 ""was a symptom of the anger around the world because of what I'd done, because of what we'd done, because of what the empire has done,"" Perkins said.
Perkins went on to speak about the brighter side of his experiences. He believes we can create an economy that sends out compassion, food and medicine and reflects the philosophy that every human being has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
""We're going to make things happen so that our children will truly be able to benefit because of what we do here tonight,"" Perkins said.
