In this section you will find links to websites, videos, and other information that I think is worth knowing. There's so much out there on the internet these days that there's just no excuse for not being informed.
Take a look around. Hopefully you'll find something you didn't know before. :) If you have anything you'd like to recommend for this page, let me know.
"The Century of the Self" by Adam Curtis explores the origins of the modern day consumer society, capitalist democracy, self identity.. Very interesting! highly recommend you watch the whole series. Here's part one to get you started.
Books
Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins
This book is a must read for anyone wanting to really understand the throwaway phrase "third world debt", or indeed to understand the global situation in general. A couple of years back everyone was jumping around shouting "Drop the debt!" and getting all caught up in the Geldof/Bono emotional hysteria. Then we all watched lots of obscenely rich musicians ponce aroud on a stage for a day, patted ourselves on the back, and went back to business as usual. At no point did anyone bother to analyse what third world debt actually means, how it came about, and how it continues to be used as a means to further the goals of global empire.
John Perkins explains how Economic Hit men (EHM's) are paid to go into poor countries (primarily those with natural resources) and convince them to take huge loans from the World Bank, IMF, USAID, and other global financial institutions masquerading as philanthropic entities. His job is to skew economic forecasts to justify as large a loan as possible. All of this borrowed money is then given straight back to foreign engineering and construction firms to build the new power stations, roads etc that, it is promised, will create miracles for their economy and lift the living standards of everyone in the country. In reality, these construction projects are invariably aimed at creating the infrastructure needed to extract and exploit the natural resources of that country. Pretty soon, the country realises it can't make the debt repayments, at which point the US goverment can step in and ask for whatever it wants: access to the countries natural resources, votes supporting the US in the UN assembly, troops for US wars etc. And of course the debt repayments must still continue. In Ecuador, 50% of the country's income goes immediately on debt repayment. Of each barrel of oil extracted by western oil companies from their rainforest, only 3% of the revenue generated stays in the country. How does John Perkins know all this? Well, because he was one of the first EHM's, and he has been there, done it, and lived to regret it.
From a literary point of view, the book reads almost like a james bond movie, so if you find non-fiction difficult to get into, this book is a great starting point. I found myself staying up late into the night reading, which is quite unusual for me with this kind of book!
Find out more on his website. Then go buy the book and read it!
Outfoxed
This is a great documentary about Rupert Murdoch's Fox corporation and it's stranglehold on the world's media. I thought they were bad. I didn't realise quite how bad!
The Take (trailer)
This documentary shows one of the best examples of the dangers of free market capitalism, and also shows that there are alternatives and that they work. If all you know about Argentina is football and the Falklands, now's the time to learn a little more...