0:00:00 – Opening
0:21:22 – War is a Racket
2:17:39 – Final thoughts.
2:24:02 – How to stay on THE PATH.
2:41:08 – Closing Gratitude.
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Of course Hitler was evil. What allowed Hitler to come into power? I would argue that WWI was key, a useless war in my opinion, look into the profiteering after WWI and how Germany was economically raped, and I have no sympathy for the Nazis etc.
As far as taking local resources as a reason for war, not really even necessary these days, pay to break it, pay to fix it, pay to keep the cycle going, pay to create a Democracy while our republic fails, pay to occupy etc.
A strong Military is necessary, war sometimes is inevitable, but far too often that’s the default for types that think our citizens and treasure are nothing but resources to be used for their own gain, both financial and political. Democracy building is the latest example of failed policy that costs us a huge amount human and financial capital.
Too add to your point, I don’t believe “democracy building” was ever a real goal, or at least it was always subordinate to profit. We can see how US foreign policy has dealt with unfavorable democracies when a nation votes to profit from its own soil, such as Arbenz in Guatemala (fruit), Allende in Chile (copper), and Morales in Bolivia (lithium); it’s a long list. Similarly, state-owned enterprise may be labelled “communist”, or it may be built by the U.S. like in Japan or South Korea–it hinges on whether a nation will serve American capital. The United States is a capitalist empire, and profit is put before people in every sector, although suffering is largely outsourced (child slavery for Nestle comes to mind, but again it’s a long list). Big business is, as it functions in our lives, big government without the democracy, without the representation, and it has long since taken over what we recognize as our government: it’s a paradox with no easy answer, but most nations with an ok amount of wealth have struck a balance that’s tilted way more towards the freedom of average working families than the USA. That’s why most young Americans can’t relate to the sense of freedom and self-determination that so many non-Americans take for granted: for example, educational and medical debt, completely unnecessary (i.e. barely exists) in any free country, have weighed down such a large proportion of us that we can’t afford to take responsible risks in a free market anymore. It all comes down to what you’re saying about our citizens and treasure being exploited for profit. The love of money is the root of all evil, and after many years of studying American foreign policy and seeing its effects on the ground outside these borders–and trying real hard, even lapsing in denial, to come up with a different conclusion–I have to believe, however bad it makes me feel, that the USA is an evil empire. It sounds hyperbolic, but I can’t try to follow Jesus on one hand and wave the flag with the other because the two are at extreme odds with one another. It makes me sick to admit it, and I’m not out here burning flags and disrespecting veterans, but I am being honest…I can’t serve two masters.
“too add” smh that’s what proofreading is for…
AGREE MOSTLY.
Monsanto though was able to poison people with roundup for decades….and most of the West used that product. Whole countries used it for agriculture.
So, lots of companies, to include “big pharma” even now….are kind of evil.
So, I also disagree….Pfizer for example is getting away with a lot. And, it’s pretty much known.
First, I want to commend the contextualization of Smedley Butler’s time and place in history because that’s no simple task. Were it not for the likes of FDR understanding and maneuvering our nation toward the Lend-Lease program that made creating an excess of boots to “donate” to Allies possible, the jaded isolationism of Butler might have prevailed. Thankfully, we had Butler to prevent The Business Plot from engulfing our nascent nation post Civil War and WWI after having learned much of the MIC. However, an entire episode dedicated to digesting War Is A Racket without a single mention of Halliburton is simply irresponsible. Or was that shout out in passing by mentioning the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse hotline? Did we take the oil fields of Iraq? Of course not. We’re not overt war criminals. Contracts were simply signed by, with, and at rates favorable to…
The only thing more efficient within capitalism than siphoning trillions toward the front echelons of capital is convincing the front line forces (labor) of friction (soldiers) that expand it, capital, is that the waste created by capital’s pursuit was not profit siphoned, but, merely, to borrow a phrase, tuition payments. Hard lessons, to be sure, but not without a hope that exists within the periphery of that waste. Within the waste of an Afghan girl’s no longer available education is the rage to take it back. Entropy gets a bad rap. But the entropy of capitalism is the only thing thus far to create 20 years of relative stability wherein marginalized populations got a chance to learn and, perhaps, inishallah, learn to fight back. Time will tell if those tuition payments turn out educational dividends, but we do the name of progress a disservice to disregard or passingly praise the greed that might have made those tuition payments less substantial, if not more evenly distributed to the soldier-educators.
Bravo Zulu
Ike is often mentioned when the military industrial complex quote comes around. Something tells me he read Smedley Butler’s book. I have to admit I was gutted when you were in the part about Butler going around and seeing the Vets in the various hospitals. Since the start of the war in Afghanistan and GWOT (Global War on Terror), the Pentagon spending totaled over $14T. 1/3 to 1/2 went to defense contractors (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics). Some of those corporations profits are legit but the amount of corrupt business practices as it relates to waste, price gouging or profiteering defy description. The revolving door door between the defense industry and the military has to stop? 4 of the past 5 Secretaries of Defense came from one the top five arms contractors James Mattis (Board member at General Dynamics), Patrick Shanahan (executive at Boeing), Mark Esper (Head of Government relations at Raytheon), LLoyd Austin (Board member of Raytheon). Brown University (Watson Institute) wrote a sobering paper on the Profits of War as it relates to Corporate Beneficiaries of the Post 9/11 Pentagon Spending Surge. (Sep. 13, 2021).
Good Enough Seldom is
Rocco
I would really like to see an interview with a Vietnam helicopter pilot by the name Mark Garrison. He wrote a book: ”GUTS ‘N GUNSHIPS: What it was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam Kindle”.
Vietnam veterans deserve a lot of respect for the insane courage they show in their stories. It would make my day to see him on the podcast.
Thanks for the podcasts and everything you guys do.
After the Civil War and World War I, when much of the MIC was learnt, we had Butler to keep The Corporate Plot from consuming our young nation. But it’s irresponsible to devote a full program to discussing War Is A Racket without mentioning Halliburton. Is this a shout-out, or was the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse hotline simply mentioned casually? Have we captured the Iraqi oil fields?
Butler prevented the Corporate Plot from devouring our young nation after the Civil War and World War I, when much of the MIC was learned. To spend an entire show talking about War Is A Racket and not bring up Halliburton is reckless. Was the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse hotline just casually stated, or is this a shout-out?