Giants: The Global Power Elite Paperback – August 8, 2018

This is a very informative expose about the reach of what is called Trans Continental Capitalism, but what is more commonly known as Global Capitalism. This is a remarkable book, ideal for a news junkie wanting to understand the news better, to the activist wanting to know what he or she is up against, or to the general reader.However you call it, this book describes the current global economic picture, with a big difference. It starts from the bottom up. Giants first briefly explains how Global Capitalism began, how we got here, and then identifies the players from the bottom up. Phillips actually identifies the “managers” of this network, naming names, giving a roster of the usual suspects, when they were born, where they went to school, their family history and a brief employment history, and, where available, their salary. Phillips then describes the Think Tanks that provides the justifications for Global Capitalism, he describes the associations in which they work, and then lists and describes the political, monetary, and military apparatuses they service.We see names of associations we’ve seen before in the news which are still alive and well. We see the Trilateral Commission (yes, it is still around), the Council of Foreign Relations, and the Bilderbergers. You will be surprised to see names not familiar, but nefariously present nonetheless.The list of persons and organizations are boggling. Boggling too is their shared characteristics. Philips limits his inventory to organizations having more than one trillion — yes, that’s with a “T” — dollars in their portfolios. This is also a group which conduct business among themselves: While a small percentage of their profits are diverted to the public at large, they generally only do business with, and interlock their memberships, among themselves. This gives graphic meaning to the term, “trickle down” economics.While it may be difficult to do so, Phillips does a good job in toning down politically loaded words and avoiding a social or political agenda. The book is intended, and Philips succeeds, in providing a neutral Who’s Who to Global Capitalism.

The book continues the dialogue to educate folks as to the "Why" so many are asking. Why can't we get ahead? Why are folks so divided? Why are politicians from both parties the same? Why is there so much inequality? This book shows both Why & Who is at fault, i.e., who controls; it names the names. You'll learn who "they" are. Remember Geo Carlin's "They own you! They've got politicians, the judges, the corporations, the media.... They've got you by the b---ls" comedy skit? Well; here's who "they" are in a great nutshell read. It's a fast and good read. Finally, the author provides many citations and other book/sources from which you'll learn more. Those who've read these other sources will enjoy the updated re-cap and knowing that the torch remains lit. Pass it on....

I got the paperback - 321 pages not including acknowledgments and footnotes. The book is an easy read since it largely consists of lists of companies and people who have a disproportionate amount of political and financial influence on the world. It was published in 2018 and the lists probably would look a little different in 2021 than in 2018, which is why I gave it 4 stars, and not 5 (short shelf life). Also, it has a U.S. and Europe focus, not China, Japan or other east Asia countries so doesn't address some countries with major world influence (a little too western focused). He focuses on what he terms the Transnationalist Capitalist Class. China still considers itself communist, but some observers would probably argue its capitalist as well; transnationalist - maybe not so much.What does the book address? It provides a short history (basically post-WW II) of the growth of the Transnationalist Capital Class. Next it looks at the major financial players, the JPMorgan Chase and Deutsch Banks. Then it lists the persons who run these financial players. Next it reviews the policy planning agencies for the Transnatioalist Capital Class - the G30 and Trilateral Commisssion and the like; what I would describe as the supporters of the Davos crowd. Then the book looks at the muscle - the U.S. military, NATO, CIA, and private military companies, also known as mercenaries (for a explanation of mercenaries read Sean McFate's Modern Mercenaries). Then he looks at ideologists - Hollywood such as Disney, many of the major media chains including, to my surprise, CBS, and PR firms such as Omnicom, WPP, etc. He brands these as employing a propaganda model. I'd argue that he was a little too selective in his list of media organizations that employ a propaganda model, but you'll get the idea. He also lists people who head these organizations. Then, he more or less concludes with a manifesto to the elites that they will face a juggernaut of democratic opposition; I'll leave it to you to decide how much opposition the Davos crowd may face and whether there's enough democracy left to arouse the masses. He concludes with a letter to the global power elite, which I suspect the elite won't read.The book is a quick read and probably worth your time if you're interested in who's in the global power elite. As I said, the book was published in 2018 so its lists will have limited shelf life, but the concept doesn't. Noam Chomsky gives a shout out to the book. I don't know that the book's observations are shocking, but seeing who calls a lot of the shots on occasion is worthwhile.

This book is mostly just a useless (to most people) long list of names of people on corporate boards, but the short essays that frame the list give an essential picture of the utter rottenness of our feudal capitalist world. Of course the academic who wrote it is very circumspect about what he says, as he must in order to preserve his job and life; much more damning info could have been provided about the kleptocratic, criminocratic, oligarchic, evil socio-economic system we live under. So, what am I, some sort of commie or something? No, I believe in a mixed economy--maybe something like what China is doing minus the communist party and with a lot more personal freedom. It is clear, anyway, that the corporate system of rule by utterly ruthless immoral money making machines (think Monsanto) and ueber-rich people who weild the power of gods on earth and own the government needs to be overthrown for a decent civilization to be established.