I was a heroin addict from 13 to 16 and a half, and almost died from hepatitis from a dirty needle. And that was one of the more fortunate things that's ever happened to me. When I came out of the hospital, I was so afraid to go back to drugs that I really changed my life.
Lend someone a lot of money, to buy something they can't afford from a friend of yours, then arrange things so they almost certainly default on that loan and must then become your unwilling ally, and you've got a pretty got idea of how John Perkins made a living for ten years. Perkins officially worked for a Boston consulting firm, but his real work was for the U.S. government, convincing third world countries to obtain huge loans for infrastructure built by U.S. companies. His book is called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
I was a heroin addict from 13 to 16 and a half, and almost died from hepatitis from a dirty needle. And that was one of the more fortunate things that's ever happened to me. When I came out of the hospital, I was so afraid to go back to drugs that I really changed my life. 
