Three Book Reviews

Dakota, by Kathleen Norris, is a sensitive, insightful description of the experiences and impressions of a New York City poet who moves to Lemmon, SD, which is right on the North Dakota border. A large part of it chromicles her search for a spiritual geography, in which she is quite successful. Of considerable interest to me is her impression that the western part of the Dakotas is in economic decline. Clearly that is the case as she writes in the 1990s. One wonders, however, if Information- Age technology, which permits workers to live anywhere, might change that. Of interest also is her assessment of the residents' being so different from mainstream Americans. Yes, they are different, especially from a New York poet, but perhaps not as different from most Americans as she seems to think. In any case, this is a wonderful book.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins is a must-read for any one who wants to understand what is going on in America in this age of corporate globalization, or the Corporatocracy, as he terms it. Perkins is one who knows, having been a part of it at a rather high level. It all fits what I know about the corporation and about the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, about how they make big loans to underdeveloped countries and then impoverish them in trying to force repayment, which totally chokes off development while enriching the corporation. After his conscience got to bothering him so much he couldn't stand it, he resigned his position, and, finally, was able to write about it. It is a shocking story, one that is, unfortunately, quite believable. One wonders how, if ever, Americans will be able to get back on track. It's clearly not what we're doing now, which is my assessment as well as his.

The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time, by Antonia Juhasz, is another believable and shocking description and assessment of what is going on, from someone well qualified and positioned to know. Beautifully researched and fact-filled. Should there be any doubt, now we know why Bush invaded Iraq: for corporate profit. After the invasion, Bremer privatized most of the economy by fiat (192 state-owned companies), including such functions as electricity and city services, before the elections put in place a sort of Iraqi government. Little or no effort has been made to make anything work, just an effort to siphon off appropriations to particular corporations, which she identifies and describes. After a devastating description of this, Juhasz describes the incipient Middle East Free Trade Area agreement, designed to siphon off the profits, again, for multinationals. It is extremely important that Americans understand this.