Is war a racket?

Answer 1

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War Is a Racket'

Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933 by General Smedley Darlington Butler, USMC. General Butler was the recipient of two Congressional Medals of Honor - one of only two Marines so honored.

War is just a racket. 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 masses. . . .

There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.

It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.

I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.

I helped make Mexico, 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 benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could 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. . . .

Smedley Darlington Butler
Major General - United States Marine Corps [Retired]
Born West Chester, Pa., July 30, 1881
Educated Haverford School
Married Ethel C. Peters, of Philadelphia, June 30, 1905
Awarded two congressional medals of honor, for capture of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1914,
and for capture of Ft. Riviere, Haiti, 1917
Distinguished service medal, 1919
Retired Oct. 1, 1931
On leave of absence to act as director of Department of Safety, Philadelphia, 1932
Lecturer - 1930's
Republican Candidate for Senate, 1932
Died at Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, June 21, 1940

For more information about Major General Smedley Butler, contact the United States Marine Corps.

Answer 2

Human rulers at the instant are not offering what mankind urgently desires evaluate those issues that persons everywhere desire, that human governments at the instant are not offering yet that God has promised: (a million) life in a worldwide loose from the prospect of conflict.—Isa. 2:4; playstation . 40 six:9, 10. (2) adequate nutrition for each guy or woman.—playstation . seventy two:sixteen. (3) gentle housing for each guy or woman.—Isa. sixty 5:21. (4) pleasing employment for all who like it, so as that they could grant for themselves and their households.—Isa. sixty 5:22. (5) life that may not marred via disease and ailment.—Rev. 21:3, 4. (6) Justice; freedom from non secular, racial, financial, and nationwide prejudice.—Isa. 9:7; 11:3-5. (7) delight in protection, with out danger to a minimum of one’s guy or woman or materials from criminals.—Mic. 4:4; Prov. 2:22. (8) a worldwide wherein traits maximum fantastically prized contain love, kindness, project for one’s fellowman, and truthfulness.—playstation . 80 5:10, 11; Gal. 5:22, 23. For 1000's of years, political rulers have been promising their human beings greater clever situations. With what consequences? regardless of the reality that the folk in lots of international locations have greater fabric possessions, they are not happier, and the subject concerns confronting them are greater complicated than ever.

Answer 3

Yeah, they're usually quite loud.