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Jungle Capitalists
Jungle Capitalists: A Story of Globalisation, Greed and Revolution | Peter Chapman
5 posts | 3 read | 8 to read
In this powerful and gripping book, Peter Chapman shows how the pioneering example of the banana importer United Fruit set the precedent for the institutionalized greed of todays multinational companies. From the businesss 19th Century beginnings in the jungles of Costa Rica, via the mass-marketing of the banana as the original fast food, United Fruits involvement in bloody coups in Guatemala and El Salvador, the mid-1970s and the spectacular suicide on Park Avenue of the companys chairman, from its bullying business practices to its covert links to the US government, United Fruit blazed the trail of global capitalism through the 20th Century. Chapman weaves a dramatic tale of big business, lies and power to show how one company pioneered the growth of globalization and in doing so has helped farm the banana to the point of extinction.
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danx
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Informative, interesting book on the United Fruit company - which later became known as Chiquita - and their expansion across and exploitation of Central America from mid 19th century toward today. An empire unto itself - with close allies in the US govt - their practices in propaganda, intervening in govts, union busting, pollution, worker exploitation and generally rigging the game they were a blueprint for later globalisation.

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Oblomov26
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Last book I reviewed was about how coffee has screwed large parts of central and southern American, this book .... fruit. In the late 19th and 20th century, several m major American companies used the cheap resources of the local communities to produce a variety of new tropical fruits including bananas. By the 1950‘s said fruit companies assisted by the CIA were overthrowing governments who dared to ask for a share of the profits (Damned commies)

RamsFan1963 I'm currently listening to Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, about disaster capitalism. I'll have to check this out next. They seem to run on similar lines. 4y
Suet624 I have been disturbed by this for years. In another note, my grandson and I were watching Chiquita banana commercials from the ‘60‘s where they were explaining how to deal with bananas (don‘t put in the fridge) and what to make with them. It reminded me of how new they were to the U.S. 4y
39 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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MrBook
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😂👏🏻 I love this kind of word-play humor. 🙈 #LitsyHumor

hufflepuff-ish 😂😂😂😂😂 7y
BooknerdsLife 😂😂😂🙈 7y
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Lcsmcat 🤣 7y
CoffeeNBooks 🤣🤣🤣 7y
Ddzmini 🐒🍌😝🤣🤣🤣 7y
Gissy I don't know why I can't see the picture I only can read the message.🤷🏻‍♀️ 7y
109 likes8 comments
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queerbookreader
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Been reading a chapter of this a day. It's a fascinating little book on food history & food industry history. Did you know that the banana plant isn't a tree, but in fact the world's tallest grass? #themoreyouknow #ialsolovethebrightyellowcover

mcipher What?!??! Mind blown. 8y
tpixie !!! 🍌 8y
Hooked_on_books I did not know that. Very interesting! 8y
saresmoore Palm trees are grass, too! My dad used to manage the landscape for a theme park and when a palm reportedly fell a bit too close to a guest, he said, "What's the big deal? It's just big grass!" Don't worry, no one was hurt. ?? 8y
63 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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ladypontisbright
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Pickpick

This was quick and informative. As nonfiction goes, it was an easy read, and interesting enough.