Economic Hit Man Study Group Guidelines
![]() CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN by John Perkins... ...Is a real-life tale of international intrigue and corruption, reveals the dangerous path the United States is taking toward imperial control. As the book ends John suggests that we examine how its messages affect our lives, and consider the steps we can make toward creating a more compassionate and just world. Offering study groups in your home, or in libraries, churches, bookstores, cafes or other public meeting places creates such an opportunity. We invite you to join other people around the world. Facilitate a study group (usually 60-90 minutes). It’s easy, fun, and deeply rewarding. Below are a few tips: Your role as facilitator is to stimulate discussion by asking questions, identifying key points, and managing the group process. Prior to your meeting select a passage from Confessions of an Economic Hit Man to use as a foundation for group discussion and processing -- for example, the following passage, from the Preface on page xi: Today we see the results of this system run amok. Executives at our most respected companies hire people at near-slave wages to toil under inhuman conditions in Asian sweatshops. Oil companies wantonly pump toxins into rain forest rivers, consciously killing people, animals, and plants, and committing genocide among ancient cultures. The pharmaceutical industry denies lifesaving medicines to millions of HIV-infected Africans. Twelve million families in our own United States worry about their next meal. The energy industry creates an Enron. The accounting industry creates an Andersen. The income ratio of the one-fifth of the world's population in the wealthiest countries to the one-fifth in the poorest went from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 74 to 1 in 1995. The United States spends over $87 billion conducting a war in Iraq while the United Nations estimates that for less than half that amount we could provide clean water, adequate diets, sanitation services, and basic education to every person on the planet. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you conduct an on-going group, please register with Robert Levy at WakingOurWorld@aol.com or ask Robert about on-going groups in your area. ON-GOING DIALOGUE: Global Dialogue Center, 24/7 Conversations Forum Board. You can participate at: www.globaldialoguecenter.com/24-7-conversations.html |
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Economic Hit Man Study Group Guidelines
SUGGESTED MEETING FORMAT PART ONE: Provide a brief synopsis of Confessions of An Economic Hit Man (Your personal interpretation or by reading the inside front cover flap.) Have participants introduce themselves. Read the selected passage (per above). Discuss questions stimulated by the passage such as: How do you feel about the passage? Where are our collective priorities? How would you like to see these priorities changed ? What are your personal priorities? Where do you spend your time, energy, and money? How could you adjust your personal priorities to create a more balanced life? PART TWO: This book ends on a very positive note. John Perkins describes his reasons for optimism and invites us to create a better world. It is important to remember that every task begins with the desire and intention to make a difference. As facilitator, ask the group to consider adopting some of the actions below and open the floor to discussion: -Replace the urge to go shopping with an activity such as reading or exercising. -Reduce your consumption of goods, including oil. -Use the money saved from the above two items to become part of an organization that supports your values (Rainforest Action Network, Union of Concerned Scientists, Dream Change, etc.) -Downsize your home, wardrobe, car, office, and other material possessions. -Protest against “free” trade agreements and against companies that exploit desperate people in sweatshops or that pillage the environment. Meeting Conclusion: Summarize your own conclusions – or point out the importance of considering the short and long term effects of what we think, say, and do. Discuss the possibility of setting up regular WOW! (Waking Our World) Community Groups. Be part of this global movement to raise consciousness. Joining others to form a community is a powerful way to create a more just, compassionate, and truthful world. Guidelines are available at the main menu on the left margin. |