re: #1 Jeff In Ohio

United Fruit, ugh. About 20 years ago I read a book called Agony in the Garden: A Stranger in Central America by Edward Sheehan. Some of the stories about the horrors of 1980’s Central America made me feel physically ill. Enough so that I swore off reading about the convergence of politics + vast corporate wealth for years. The capacity for evil—or perhaps I should say the probability of evil—when the two come together is enormous, especially when it happens in an under-developed or developing countries. I’m sure it could do the same in a developed country like the U.S., it would probably just take longer and cost more.

Recent events reminded me of the book and I managed to find a used copy in great condition online a few months ago. It’s been sitting on my bookshelf, but I haven’t quite worked up the nerve to begin reading it again.