Joe Irvin wrote:

I read some of the reviews of the book Hookwinked ... its the same
old stuff ... the West (capitalism) is the cause of all the world's
problems

Well, not quite true...
He is a believer in capitalism -- but he contends that we currently
have, for lack of a better term, a perverted or mutant form of capitalism.

Who is it that responds to the world when it gets into trouble? In
Haitiwas it the evil West (US) or the middle eastern dictators that
respondedwith help? During the industrial revolution was it the
capitalist that wentout in the country side snatching people off
their subsistance farms andbringing them into the towns to work in
factories? ... their livingstandards were raised. Capitalism is the
reason the west has such a highliving standard. Read at least the
first half of the book and then let me know if you seeany problem.I
see a problem with any book that tends to blame the West generally
and theUS in particular for the world problems when the US is a nobel
nation andhas done so much in the world. I know the US isn't
perfect, but when itsjudged against other countries the US come out
pretty good IMO.

Joe, basically all I can say is to read the book. Yes, we as the
American people, are good. However, there is NO denying that our
government HAS tinkered with and fixed elections in several countries,
committed assassinations, poked our nose where it didn't belong and thus
created a lot of ill will (and worse). Like it or not and believe it or
not, that is a historical fact.

Again, IF YOU ACTUALLY READ THE BOOK, you would see that Perkins IS a
fan of, and believer in, capitalism (all the good things you say about
capitalism above are true), but not a fan of the perverted form of
capitalism we now have.

No sense in us going back and forth like this until you read at least
half the book. I am not Perkins nor can I do him justice unless I quote
(and type) a large portion of the book -- and I am not a fast typist.
:-) Therefore, I propose putting this thread on hold...