War is a Racket

History: Modern & Ancient
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This video was sent to me today and I thought, as some here have discussed in the past, that the information contained within may give a good indication as to what to do to change the direction humanity is plunging blithely towards.

As per the blurb on YouTube’s page for this movie:

War is a Racket by Smedley Butler is a famous speech denouncing the military industrial complex. This speech by two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient exposes war profits that benefit few at the expense of many. Throughout his distinguished career in the Marines, Smedley Darlington Butler demonstrated that true patriotism does not mean blind allegiance to government policies with which one does not agree. To Hell with war.

Enjoy.

http://youtu.be/F3_EXqJ8f-0

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Thank you for sharing this, Lance!

A full review of the life of Smedley Butler would be most enlightening for all involved. One of the most decorated Generals in American history, after his retirement, he indeed claims to have been approached by a conspiracy of American businessmen, financed by J.P. Morgan with a private army of over 500,000 soldiers, to lead a coup of the American government and installing a fascist dictatorship.

A House of Representatives Committee, in its final report (along with the New York Times after dragging their feet), confirmed the conspiracy as real and a serious threat.

However, it is interesting that besides Gerald C. MacGuire (go between of the plotters to Butler), no one plotting this was investigated, questioned, or prosecuted. So goes the corruption in our political system, worse and scarier today.

It may be easy for most to laugh this away today, but Butler had no reason to make this up, nor did the House Committee have reason to determine that the plot was true and real unless it was. There was, however, plenty of reason for the government to not fully further investigate or prosecute the plot, and for the media to laugh it off during the committee process.

Amazing but understandable that we hardly know of this history today. Why don’t we start now, which will educate us to similar themes being played out today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot

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Ok, I agree with the sentiment, but have this to add.
WW2 was a fight of good against evil. NAZI Germany, was intent on enslaving Europe, and the world if it could, and exterminating the rest of the “Untermensch” (sub human) Jews and blacks. Poles, Russians, Slavs, Gypsies, and anybody else who was not part of their Herenvolk (Master race).
My family, saw first hand, being of Jewish and German decent, what this war was really all about, and thank G-d the U.S did get involved.
I live in New Zealand, I was born here, but if the Japanese had made it, good old NZ would be under the slavery of the Japanese Empire, and certainly all Maori, and most European decent Kiwi’s, would be dead by now.
So, say what you like about war, but evil only prospers, when good men do nothing.
For the record, both of my grandfathers were in the NZ army during WW2, both saw extensive service, one sent home after his third wound, the other captured in 1940 in Africa, spent the war in POW camps, escaped too many times, and spent the last year working in Berkenau concentration camp as slave labour.
German side, we had one very high ranking SS shcmuck, who thankfully shot himself, and a very brave Panzerjager, who won two Iron Crosses, and a knights Cross on the Eastern front (Posthumous Knights Cross). Also a scientist working on the German Nuke.
So, say what you like about war, but sometimes, it is a necessary evil.
War is evil, but sometimes, the good men have no choice, but to fight it.

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I would like to give a side to the last two world wars (and those since) that is seldom talked about.

Neither world war one nor two were wars between good and evil, nor have good nor evil played a part in most of the wars since to those who have instigated them. Don’t get me wrong, a very diluted concept of Good and Evil did become intertwined with all these wars inasmuch as all sides believed they were killing one another in the service of Good against the Evil forces being arrayed against them. This is the nonsense that was (and still is) being propagated and promoted by the real protagonists and their media lackeys.

Since at least the Napoleonic times war has been a means for certain individuals (and families) to get rich. But this is a mere secondary consideration. So, too, is the ridiculous idea of there being a need to have an enemy (for justification purposes this one) as has been the case since world war one (and earlier times of course), with no end of well-meaning men, women and children (depending on which side of the Good/Evil divide you think you are on) who readily give their lives because they believe it is the right thing to do. Innocents killing innocents because of some idiotic ideology instilled into gullible minds by groups hell-bent on realising their own concepts of what the world (from their perspective) needs in order for it to be ‘saved’.

WW2 was a fight of good against evil.

No it wasn’t. WW2 was a consequence of the outcome of WW1. Had not the English [elites] interfered prior to WW1 then it is highly unlikely a second world war would have eventuated, let alone the first world war. But these elitists along with their European counterparts and growing wannabes in the USA could not permit this to be the case. In order for these people to grow and fulfill their destinies, enemies had to be created (even today the blueprint is the same).

Like Enkisfreind I am a New Zealander of Maori and European descent. If the generally accepted narration is correct, I most probably wouldn’t be here had the Japanese succeeded in taking over Australian and then eventually New Zealand. However, this was never going to be the case. The orchestrators of the war needed the USA involved in the war, and as both Australia and New Zealand are of strategic significance, what better way to get them involved than threatening potential allies? By the way, two of my great uncles never returned back home alive from ww2 (lord knows how many others I don’t know of didn’t return home either).

So, say what you like about war, but evil only prospers, when good men do nothing.

I agree. But there are good men and women on all sides - depending upon one’s outlook on the matter.

So, say what you like about war, but sometimes, it is a necessary evil. War is evil, but sometimes, the good men have no choice, but to fight it.

In my honest opinion, war is never necessary; it is merely an expedient way to take things (by force) from others. But I agree whole heartedly with Enkisfreind that good men (women and children, as we are all involved here) have no choice but to fight in them - not sometimes. Always!

War has only destruction, death and desolation as its companions, especially to those directly involved. Millions upon millions of people have died needlessly because of others greed, indifference, arrogance, fear, etc., and this is still going on today. War is indeed a racket, but not in the way the majority of people have been misled into believing.

Are there means and methods to eliminate such things as wars? Absolutely. Could we do it? Yes! Most importantly, will we do what it takes to eliminate war? The jury is still out on that one.

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Please clarify Lance, are you saying war is not even necessary as a defensive posture against aggressors, in any situation?

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Point taken Len. But I assumed the full paragraph, not the small portion you have quoted, would have answered this:

in particular, the last sentence.

However, to clarify a little, I am certainly not an advocate of war in any form. However, I am not naive enough to believe all people are of the same opinion, particularly those with egotistically aggressive characteristics. There have always been takers, and as a result, there have always been victims. What I see here, though, is the takers are in the absolute minority, whilst the victims, the overwhelming majority become the often unwilling participants (from both sides) in what boils down to be very aggressive disputes or outright advances of greed.

If coveting what others had were not an issue, then perhaps there would be no need for war. However. wars are a fact of life, and as a result, people die (as does their original way of life). And as we live in a reality of duality, then there will always be conflict, e.g. Good versus Evil.