I found this article to be very interesting.

Thank You
Earl

www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-...re-Recent-Books.html

The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King
by Rich Cohen
Americans eat some 20 billion bananas a year, more than apples and oranges combined. But it wasn’t always so—at the end of the 19th century, few people in the United States had ever seen a banana, much less tasted one. The once exotic fruit owes its ubiquity to one man, Samuel Zemurray—Sam the “Banana Man,” a Russian immigrant to New Orleans who gambled on the freckled bananas other companies discarded, getting them to market before they turned to mush. He built a mini-empire of his own, then merged with the industry juggernaut, United Fruit. In 1933, he engineered a corporate coup that landed him atop the massive company; his New York Times obituary would call him “the fish that swallowed the whale,” whence the awkward title of Rich Cohen’s sly biography.

It’s difficult today to imagine the power of United Fruit. It was one of the first “truly global” corporations, writes Cohen, as prevalent as Google and “as feared as Halliburton.” A revolving door between its executive suite and the U.S. government made it “hard to distinguish United Fruit from the CIA” in the 1940s and ’50s. When the company sensed hostility in Guatemala—where it owned 70 percent of all private land by 1942—it mounted a PR campaign warning of a dangerous Communist presence. Not long after, Guatemalans bid farewell to their democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz—“Operation Success” the CIA called it. In 1961, the U.S. government borrowed United Fruit’s guns and ships when it sent a band of Cuban exiles into the Bay of Pigs. The company’s 115 ships, Cohen writes, made up “one of the largest private navies in the world.”

Cohen focuses on Zemurray’s expansion into Central America, and the book’s semi-secret plots make it read more like a mystery than the biography of a businessman, with characters plotting military overthrows in back-alley bordellos. But the Banana Man’s ascent raises broad questions. Was Zemurray a rapacious conquistador or a great American businessman? The line, Cohen shows, is blurry. We cheer the hustling immigrant’s entrepreneurial spirit but regret his tactics. The fruit wasn’t the only thing almost rotten.

Zemurray, who ran United Fruit for nearly three decades, was a shadowy figure, and Cohen acknowledges the limits of his research. But this doesn’t stop him from making some bold claims: “If you want to understand the spirit of our nation, the good and bad, you can enroll in college, sign up for classes, take notes and pay tuition, or you can study the life of Sam the Banana Man.” An overstatement, of course. But there’s a lot to learn about the seedier side of the “smile of nature” in this witty tale of the fruit peddler-turned-mogul.

Read more: www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-...s.html#ixzz1stU2eYii

Earl wrote:
I found this article to be very interesting.

Thank You
Earl

www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-...re-Recent-Books.html

The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King
by Rich Cohen
Americans eat some 20 billion bananas a year, more than apples and oranges combined. But it wasn’t always so—at the end of the 19th century, few people in the United States had ever seen a banana, much less tasted one. The once exotic fruit owes its ubiquity to one man, Samuel Zemurray—Sam the “Banana Man,” a Russian immigrant to New Orleans who gambled on the freckled bananas other companies discarded, getting them to market before they turned to mush. He built a mini-empire of his own, then merged with the industry juggernaut, United Fruit. In 1933, he engineered a corporate coup that landed him atop the massive company; his New York Times obituary would call him “the fish that swallowed the whale,” whence the awkward title of Rich Cohen’s sly biography.

It’s difficult today to imagine the power of United Fruit. It was one of the first “truly global” corporations, writes Cohen, as prevalent as Google and “as feared as Halliburton.” A revolving door between its executive suite and the U.S. government made it “hard to distinguish United Fruit from the CIA” in the 1940s and ’50s. When the company sensed hostility in Guatemala—where it owned 70 percent of all private land by 1942—it mounted a PR campaign warning of a dangerous Communist presence. Not long after, Guatemalans bid farewell to their democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz—“Operation Success” the CIA called it. In 1961, the U.S. government borrowed United Fruit’s guns and ships when it sent a band of Cuban exiles into the Bay of Pigs. The company’s 115 ships, Cohen writes, made up “one of the largest private navies in the world.”

Cohen focuses on Zemurray’s expansion into Central America, and the book’s semi-secret plots make it read more like a mystery than the biography of a businessman, with characters plotting military overthrows in back-alley bordellos. But the Banana Man’s ascent raises broad questions. Was Zemurray a rapacious conquistador or a great American businessman? The line, Cohen shows, is blurry. We cheer the hustling immigrant’s entrepreneurial spirit but regret his tactics. The fruit wasn’t the only thing almost rotten.

Zemurray, who ran United Fruit for nearly three decades, was a shadowy figure, and Cohen acknowledges the limits of his research. But this doesn’t stop him from making some bold claims: “If you want to understand the spirit of our nation, the good and bad, you can enroll in college, sign up for classes, take notes and pay tuition, or you can study the life of Sam the Banana Man.” An overstatement, of course. But there’s a lot to learn about the seedier side of the “smile of nature” in this witty tale of the fruit peddler-turned-mogul.

Read more: www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-...s.html#ixzz1stU2eYii

Thanks for the post Earl!

What we have here is a case study of a "psychopath". As a reminder, the world's leading psychological expert on this aspect of human behavior has concluded that psychopaths are MUCH more common in our soceity than what the average layman thinks - who only associates the term with violent criminals.

Indeed, MOST psychopaths manage to go through their lives without ever being CHARGED with a crime (which is not to say they don't COMMIT crimes). They just generally manage to do their lying/cheating/stealing in a QUASI-legal manner.

It's regrettable that the author chose to portray ANY aspect of this pyschopath's life as being praiseworthy. When he was making a buck re-selling over-ripe bananas (i.e an "honest living") did this mean that Zemurray was NOT "a psychopath" back in those days?

Of course NOT.



All it meant is that someone so SMALL AND POOR that he was in the business of dealing in (literally) second-hand bananas LACKED THE POWER to victimize others. However the moment the Banana King DID acquire that political/economic power then (like all psychopaths) we see an endless string of VICTIMS left in his wake...

Jeff,

A lot of your answers to questions are backed by history.

When the company sensed hostility in Guatemala—where it owned 70 percent of all private land by 1942—it mounted a PR campaign warning of a dangerous Communist presence. Not long after, Guatemalans bid farewell to their democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz—“Operation Success” the CIA called it. In 1961, the U.S. government borrowed United Fruit’s guns and ships when it sent a band of Cuban exiles into the Bay of Pigs. The company’s 115 ships, Cohen writes, made up “one of the largest private navies in the world.”

The CIA working with a corporation, the "communist" scare, over throwing a democratically elected leader. In the US the red scare. Recently I met for the first time someone who was at the "bay of pigs". He'd said it was a CIA "operation", and they equipped the Cubans with Russian equipment. Many years ago I met a fellow, who took pictures (re-con) for what was the CIA, in South America. His cover, a brand of cigarettes, extreme racing team. We wonder why these Oligarchs are only slapped on the wrist when charged with crimes.

I guess you live and take this stuff all in. Then you start "connecting dots" and you find answers, the truth.

This was a book review, I just happen to read. I thought, "just as 'silver stealers' shows, this crap has been going on for a long time". The control of other countries governments, there people. I bet the "hostility" was wages and/or working conditions. The use of propaganda. Then another little piece of the puzzle on the "bay of pigs".

Thank you for pointing out the "case study of a psychopath", I was searching for that word on a previous post and I couldn't think of it.

I'm sure there's more to learn from even this brief book review. But, the bottom line is "The fruit wasn’t the only thing almost rotten."

Earl

Earl another one of the GREAT MYTHS of our society is that those on top DESERVE to be there because EITHER they have worked harder than others OR they simply have more ability.

NEITHER of those explanations is remotely valid. There are LOTS and LOTS of decent people (with equal ability) who also "work hard" - relatively speaking never get any reward. Even more to the point, there are PLENTY of people with SUPERIOR ability to the psychopaths who also are never rewarded (in relative terms).

Was this "banana king" the ONLY person who ever had the MODEST idea and the work ethic to make a buck re-selling secondhand produce? Of course not. Where the "Banana King" separated himself from all the other sellers of secondhand fruit was in being willing to do things that other (decent) people would REFUSE to do.

We can pretty much characterize ALL of these "things" that the psychopaths do in one of two categories.

1) With the least-evil psyhcopaths the "thing" they do that others won't is RECKLESSLY GAMBLING their futures (and anyone ELSE'S money they can get their hands on). And doing it OVER and OVER - even AFTER getting wiped out. Your other recent post on Chesapeake Energy's CEO illustrates these "Category One" psychopaths.

2) With the most-evil psychopaths "getting ahead" is NOT sufficient by itself. Instead THESE psychopaths have a pathological NEED to create victims. Think Wall Street. BOTH types of psychopaths are drawn to the big bucks of Wall Street. The ones who choose to REMAIN there their whole careers are the "Category Two" psychopaths - those who can ONLY enjoy the "climb to the top" IF it's on the BACKS of others.

While I haven't read the book, Zemurray appears to be a Category Two psychopath. In other words if he was alive TODAY he would have undoubtedly been given a senior position in the Bush regime...

Jeff,

Thank You, for taking this subject a step farther.

It helps to bring some understanding to some of own past work experiences and why I chose not to be a part of that corporate culture.

Also, to understand the mentality of the animals we have had to deal with through out history and even more so in to days world.

Earl

"We can pretty much characterize ALL of these "things" that the psychopaths do in one of two categories."

Not a critique, but I am curious where you are getting your psychopath categorization from. Could you post your source?

Brian Boutilier wrote:
"We can pretty much characterize ALL of these "things" that the psychopaths do in one of two categories."

Not a critique, but I am curious where you are getting your psychopath categorization from. Could you post your source?

No problem Brian. I probably SHOULD have posted the source when I mentioned it, but I couldn't remember the name (off-hand) - and was too lazy to look it up.

As it turns out, this "expert" is right in my own backyard:

www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_min...bert_hare/index.html

Profile

Dr. Robert Hare


Dr. Robert Hare has spent more than three decades engaged in research on the nature and implications of psychopathy. He developed the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) and its revision, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), for the reliable and valid assessment of psychopathy. However, as it turns out, the PCL-R and its derivatives have also been hailed as among the most accurate instruments available for risk for violence. Since the American diagnostic system relies primarily on criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder, which overlaps but does not define the same population as that measured by the PCL-R, Dr. Hare plays an important role in the history of an evolving concept—one which has an impact on society's welfare.

He is professor emeritus at University of British Columbia in Canada, and sits on the Research Board of the FBI's Child Abduction and Serial Murder Investigative Resources Center (CASMIRC). CASMIRC was established in 1998 by an act of Congress, and its ten-member advisory board initiates research and consults in the mysterious disappearances of children, child homicide, cases of kidnapping, and serial murder investigations.

For many years, Dr. Hare also sat on the advisory panel for the Home Office in England, set up by Her Majesty's Prison Service to develop treatment programs for psychopathic offenders, and he still frequently consults with the English prison service as well as with other prison services and law enforcement organizations in North America and England.

In addition, he belongs to the International Fellowship for Criminal Investigative Analysis, and has received several honors, such as FBI citations, the Silver Medal of the Queen Sophia Center in Spain, the Canadian Psychological Association's award for distinguished applications of psychology, the American Academy of Forensic Psychology's award for "Distinguished Contributions to Psychology and Law," And the American Psychiatric Association's Isaac Ray Award for "Outstanding Contributions to Forensic Psychiatry and Psychiatric Jurisprudence."

One of Hare's most ardent supporters is his wife, Averil, who works in the area of child abuse and child welfare. Hare relies on her as a sounding board for his ideas, and insists that she often sees issues more clearly than he does. They're a team.

Dr. Hare has published numerous articles and book chapters on psychopathy, as well as two books: Psychopathy: Theory and Research (1970) and Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us (1993, reissued 1999). He addresses international audiences on every facet of psychopathy, from personality assessment to risk factors to psychopaths among us. While they may appear to be normal members of society, they're anything but. In fact, Hare believes, they are society's most destructive and dangerous type of person. If it's true that psychopaths make up one percent of the population, as he estimates, then we need to pay attention...

There is lots, lots more at that link. And likely inside the BOOKS referred to are the details I quoted.

P.S. Note the NUMBER mentioned: Hare estimates that 1 in every 100 people are psychopaths.

In contrast, the number of psychopathic MURDERERS, RAPISTS, etc. in our society is (at most) 1 in 1,000. In other words, somewhere around 90% of all psychopaths function (more or less) as "normal" (i.e. non-VIOLENT) people.

Note how we sometimes here of FAMOUS people who (for no apparent reason) suddenly "snap" and commit some heinous crime - often without a glimmer of remorse (are you listening O.J.?). If O.J. Simpson had not murdered his wife, no one would ever DREAM of referring to "the Juice" as a psychopath. However, after the "O.J. Drama" finally came to an end and we saw the OTHER SIDE of this man, would anyone doubt that this is a pyschopath???

So perhaps I should change my "Category One" psychopaths from being "non-violent" to "they use violence ONLY when necessary"...