In 1935 retired U.S Army General
Smedley D. Butler published a book entitled ‘
War Is A Racket’ in which he lays bare the economic profiteering and commercial nature of publicly funded state warfare. In the book Butler was shockingly frank about his experience as a career military officer in the midst of a frenzy of wealthy elites clamoring to make profit from all sides of some of the earths most devastating conflicts.
The work is divided into five chapters:
1. War is a racket
2. Who makes the profits?
3. Who pays the bills?
4. How to smash this racket!
5. To hell with war!
In an often cited quote from the book Butler says:
"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."
Butler then summarizes the main points of his book in the following key passage:
"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."
read the entire book: Here
The work is divided into five chapters:
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3 comments:
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36th Rule of Acquisition: War is good for profits. Peace is good for profits.
When the war profits start to flatline then there is invariably a period of peace that increases profits. In this period there is rebuilding of infrastructure, alliances, material goods that replace those lost on personal levels and the economies that allow the survivors to repopulate. The peace period is the time to build so that it can be knocked down again.
I think back to those days when I would build a tower with blocks and my little brother well revel in destroying it. He is the ultimate consumer conqueror. And I ever hopeful would rebuild in part for the joy of building, reveling in the act of creation. But after one incident in which he beat the snot out of me for not rebuilding fast enough I learned something crucial: I learned to build what could not be destroyed.
My spirit. Detached from the things used to control us, it is less likely that we will be abused by our own gifts.
I think.
@Dirk - thx. good to know you are still out there my man.
@ Sherry - interesting. i wonder, at what point do we view destructions as "natural"?
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