12-18-2021, 09:50 PM
It was written in 1935 by USMC Major General Smedley Butler before obviously WWII. Butler was right then and he's right now.. The most famous part of his book is thus:
"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 profits are reckoned in dollars and losses in lives. The racket is best described, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it's 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."
The book goes on to indict the profiteers, "statesmen", politicians and those who engage in the business of war from arms dealers on down to shoe makers and butchers.
Anyway, if you feel like reading it the book is online at https://www.google.com/books/edition/War_is_a_Racket/NGIUCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
Quite the nasty business we're often fooled into believing it's for our collective good.
"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 profits are reckoned in dollars and losses in lives. The racket is best described, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it's 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."
The book goes on to indict the profiteers, "statesmen", politicians and those who engage in the business of war from arms dealers on down to shoe makers and butchers.
Anyway, if you feel like reading it the book is online at https://www.google.com/books/edition/War_is_a_Racket/NGIUCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
Quite the nasty business we're often fooled into believing it's for our collective good.
In the immortal words of my old man, "Wait'll you get to be my age!"
Chicago sounds rough to the maker of verse, but the one comfort we have is Cincinnati sounds worse. ~Oliver Wendal Holmes Sr.
Chicago sounds rough to the maker of verse, but the one comfort we have is Cincinnati sounds worse. ~Oliver Wendal Holmes Sr.