by Mark Adams
“It has been estimated by statisticians and economists and researchers that the war cost your Uncle Sam $52,000,000,000. Of this sum, $39,000,000,000 was expended in the actual war period. This expenditure yielded $16,000,000,000 in profits. That is how the 21,000 billionaires and millionaires got that way. This $16,000,000,000 profits is not to be sneezed at. It is quite a tidy sum. And it went to a very few.” ― Smedley D. Butler, War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America’s Most Decorated Soldier
Author’s comment: I think Smedley might agree in a number of ways the boys in the graves of that cemetery were losers. They certainly lost their blood and some got very rich. Just maybe Trump understands this. Democrats once kinda understood this.
“Let the workers in these plants get the same wages — all the workers, all presidents, all executives, all directors, all managers, all bankers — yes, and all generals and all admirals and all officers and all politicians and all government office holders — everyone in the nation be restricted to a total monthly income not to exceed that paid to the soldier in the trenches! Let all these kings and tycoons and masters of business and all those workers in industry and all our senators and governors and majors pay half of their monthly $30 wage to their families and pay war risk insurance and buy Liberty Bonds. Why shouldn’t they? They aren’t running any risk of being killed or of having their bodies mangled or their minds shattered. They aren’t sleeping in muddy trenches. They aren’t hungry. The soldiers are! Give capital and industry and labor thirty days to think it over and you will find, by that time, there will be no war. That will smash the war racket — that and nothing else. Maybe” ― Smedley D. Butler, War Is A Racket!: And Other Essential Reading
War is a money making racket for defense contractors and corporations, etc. Agree. When a soldier sacrifices, then loses his/her life for their country, values and ideals, should the solider then be labeled a loser or a patriot?
If, this is what trump supposedly meant then he really needs to clarify his expression of loser instead of giving the media (this includes fox news)the impression of a callous not a well thought out opinion.
Always apologizing for trump and cleaning up after trump’s unpleasant verbal remarks looks a lot like the man behind the elephant with a shovel and bucket 🙂