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Quite likely, the US got a few billionaires that are now a bit richer at the taxpayers' expense. US General Smedley Butler explained it in simple terms in "War

Quite likely, the US got a few billionaires that are now a bit richer at the taxpayers' expense. US General Smedley Butler explained it in simple terms in "War is a Racket" [1]: "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 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. In the World War a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their income tax returns no one knows. How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dugout? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried the bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle? " [1] https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/butlersd-warisaracket/butlersd-warisaracket-00-h.html https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/butlersd-warisaracket/butlersd-w...

mnm1 7y ago
Totally agree. And he's talking about WWII, a war the US was actually attacked in and defended itself, not a war purely for profit like Afghanistan. So knowing this, and you don't need to be a genius to understand his argument, why are we still honoring and thanking people for their "service," when their service is just to get a few people rich? Maybe we ought to consider that without the millions who are willing to fight and die to make a few people rich are part of the problem themselves, useful idiots. And maybe we need to respond to their actions in a more genuine way: with contempt and disdain. After all, all of our armed forces are volunteer based so no one is conscripted to kill for profit. The simply choose to. For their own little profit (free tuition, salary, pension, etc.) and for the profit of their billionaire masters. It's about time we stop glorifying war and the people that participate in it voluntarily.

mnm1 7y ago

Totally agree. And he's talking about WWII, a war the US was actually attacked in and defended itself, not a war purely for profit like Afghanistan. So knowing this, and you don't need to be a genius to understand his argument, why are we still honoring and thanking people for their "service," when their service is just to get a few people rich? Maybe we ought to consider that without the millions who are willing to fight and die to make a few people rich are part of the problem themselves, useful idiots. And maybe we need to respond to their actions in a more genuine way: with contempt and disdain. After all, all of our armed forces are volunteer based so no one is conscripted to kill for profit. The simply choose to. For their own little profit (free tuition, salary, pension, etc.) and for the profit of their billionaire masters. It's about time we stop glorifying war and the people that participate in it voluntarily.