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This guy is amazing and it really speaks of the troubles of war. >The flag follows the dollar, the soldiers follow the flag. I find this "business plot"[0] to

This guy is amazing and it really speaks of the troubles of war. >The flag follows the dollar, the soldiers follow the flag. I find this "business plot"[0] to be fascinating as well. >Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler asserted that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization with Butler as its leader and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow Roosevelt. >Early in the committee's gathering of testimony most major news media dismissed the plot, with a New York Times editorial falsely characterizing it as a "gigantic hoax". [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot

arminiusreturns 5y ago
Don't forget that congress redacted a ton of stuff from his testimony and the unredacted version wasnt discovered until the 1970s or something like that. Smedley Butler has always been my favorite Marine because he saw the bigger picture, and I like to give the Chesty lovers a talking to about the differences. From my experience I can confirm that war is indeed a racket.
- pdonis 5y ago
  Chesty did have some good lines, though, like "We're surrounded. That simplifies things."
  - arminiusreturns 5y ago
    Each has their applications and uses for sure.
GeorgeTirebiter 5y ago
Capitalists tend to dislike Democracy. In a Democracy, groups of people tax the Capitalists to pay for all sorts of frivolities like Health Care, Elder Care, poor folk care, and crazy useless stuff like Libraries, parks (aka future mining locations), policing, and community-sponsored housing. It's so much easier for the Capitalists if there is a fascist in charge, because then such nonsense as just mentioned is tamped down, and the people can fend for themselves. Things are just more tidy and predictable.
- banannaise 5y ago
  Capitalists love policing. If the government doesn't spend money on police, they simply create their own police. Policing is a racket in exactly the same way war is. It protects business interests under the guise of "justice".
- pirate787 5y ago
  The quality of the discourse on HN continues to hit new lows.
- derac 5y ago
  Hi, I'm a Social Democrat. I want all of those things and a capitalist system. I don't think markets solve every problem, however. For example, I think universal healthcare is a good idea.
  - zhoujianfu 5y ago
    I think universal basic income is the best compromise between capitalism and “socialism”. What if there were only private health care, parks, libraries, school, elder care… but everybody was “rich” (enough to easily afford them all).
    - derac 5y ago
      I think UBI is the best compromise as well for solving worker's rights issues and poverty. It doesn't have to exclude all other governmental programs though. I don't think fully private healthcare works in practice. It disincentivizes cures and proactive treatment. It's also difficult or impossible to ensure you're getting a good price for emergency treatment. Empirically, public healthcare is cheaper and has better outcomes. I'm not wholly against some private higher-end care for those that want to pay, though. Privatizing all land/parks sounds disasterous. There are some things we pay for that we don't expect to profit from monetarily. Our national and state parks, blm land, and libraries fit that bill. Schools, yeah maybe. I'd push for a voucher system while still making school a requirement. Social security, food stamps, etc. could all be rolled into direct cash payment. People having cash just doesn't solve the issues with having market incentives in places where it is detrimental, imo.

arminiusreturns 5y ago

Don't forget that congress redacted a ton of stuff from his testimony and the unredacted version wasnt discovered until the 1970s or something like that. Smedley Butler has always been my favorite Marine because he saw the bigger picture, and I like to give the Chesty lovers a talking to about the differences. From my experience I can confirm that war is indeed a racket.

pdonis 5y ago
Chesty did have some good lines, though, like "We're surrounded. That simplifies things."
- arminiusreturns 5y ago
  Each has their applications and uses for sure.

GeorgeTirebiter 5y ago

Capitalists tend to dislike Democracy. In a Democracy, groups of people tax the Capitalists to pay for all sorts of frivolities like Health Care, Elder Care, poor folk care, and crazy useless stuff like Libraries, parks (aka future mining locations), policing, and community-sponsored housing. It's so much easier for the Capitalists if there is a fascist in charge, because then such nonsense as just mentioned is tamped down, and the people can fend for themselves. Things are just more tidy and predictable.

banannaise 5y ago
Capitalists love policing. If the government doesn't spend money on police, they simply create their own police. Policing is a racket in exactly the same way war is. It protects business interests under the guise of "justice".
pirate787 5y ago
The quality of the discourse on HN continues to hit new lows.
derac 5y ago
Hi, I'm a Social Democrat. I want all of those things and a capitalist system. I don't think markets solve every problem, however. For example, I think universal healthcare is a good idea.
- zhoujianfu 5y ago
  I think universal basic income is the best compromise between capitalism and “socialism”. What if there were only private health care, parks, libraries, school, elder care… but everybody was “rich” (enough to easily afford them all).
  - derac 5y ago
    I think UBI is the best compromise as well for solving worker's rights issues and poverty. It doesn't have to exclude all other governmental programs though. I don't think fully private healthcare works in practice. It disincentivizes cures and proactive treatment. It's also difficult or impossible to ensure you're getting a good price for emergency treatment. Empirically, public healthcare is cheaper and has better outcomes. I'm not wholly against some private higher-end care for those that want to pay, though. Privatizing all land/parks sounds disasterous. There are some things we pay for that we don't expect to profit from monetarily. Our national and state parks, blm land, and libraries fit that bill. Schools, yeah maybe. I'd push for a voucher system while still making school a requirement. Social security, food stamps, etc. could all be rolled into direct cash payment. People having cash just doesn't solve the issues with having market incentives in places where it is detrimental, imo.