Well the thing Crocodile, is that ultimately these things are down to what view of the world you take.
We can look at the exact same event, say for example the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine, and we can give completely different descriptions of what happened.

You could give a whole bunch of factually correct information to support your version of events, and I could likewise give factually correct information to support my version.

We are unlikely to accept the other persons viewpoint unless some truly amazing information is unearthed. All we'd do would have done would be to spend a lot of time on places like Wikipedia and writing posts.

Like I said, I think John Perkins spices things up a bit in true American story-telling style. But fundamentally I do think that destabilising political activities do take place in certain countries, instigated by US agencies like the CIA, and perhaps privately funded organisations. I also believe that the loans offered by IMF and developed countries to poorer countries are often a poisoned chalice, a bit like lending money from a loan shark or prostituting yourself for cash. There could be a good reason to accept money on these conditions, but in many cases I think it's not.

I can't PROVE any of this to anyone, anymore than I can prove any religious points. But that's what I believe because it explains a lot of contemporary history. Therefore I think Perkins' book is relevant because it outlines an existing phenomenon in a very accessible fashion. I don't think it's quite as James Bond-ish as he makes out though, most of it is probably done by rather boring people between 9-5.30 Mondays to Fridays...

That said, I usually read what you say with interest since you have experience of living under two very different economical and political systems, and moving from one continent to another. No doubt you have some unique insights and experiences that makes your views particularly interesting.