"War is a racket. It always has been... a few profit - and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it...." - General Smedley Butler

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[–]Tom_Bombadil 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Butler single-handedly prevented a fascist coup in the 30s during the FDR presidency. The conspiracy was to make Butler the president. He played along until he could positively identify all of the key actors (including Prescott Bush who I/was Dubya's grandad), and then reported it to FDR and the Congress.
FDR chose to do nothing. Butler was incredulous.

[–]magnora7[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Wow I didn't know that!

[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yep. He was a beloved general, and a man of the people.

IIRC: He fought Congress to get WW1 vets paid what they were owed, when the Congress wouldn't pay the vets (what was essentially a pay advance). People were understandably desperate, due to the great depression. Butler spoke publicly on the vets behalf. Which made him the perfect candidate for the coup.

The plan was for him to lead the vets against the White House and take power, which probably would have been accepted. Especially, given the deep-state support he had. The American Nazis actually won WW2. Consider "Operation Paperclip".

Smedley Butler was a peerless patriot.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The Fascist Plot to Overthrow FDR.

In 1933, Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler was approached by a wealthy group of industrialists and bankers called the "American Liberty League", including Prescott Bush (George W. Bush's grandfather) who asked him to command a rogue army of 500,000 veterans that would help stage a coup to topple then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In 1934 Butler testified to the McCormack--Dickstein Congressional committee on these claims. In the opinion of the committee, these allegations were credible. One of the purported plotters, Gerald MacGuire, vehemently denied any such plot. In their report, the Congressional committee stated that it was able to confirm Butler's statements other than the proposal from MacGuire which it considered more or less confirmed by MacGuire's European reports. No one was prosecuted.

In 1936, William Dodd, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany, wrote a letter to President Roosevelt in which he stated,
"A clique of U.S. industrialists is hell-bent to bring a fascist state to supplant our democratic government and is working closely with the fascist regime in Germany and Italy. I have had plenty of opportunity in my post in Berlin to witness how close some of our American ruling families are to the Nazi regime.... A prominent executive of one of the largest corporations, told me point blank that he would be ready to take definite action to bring fascism into America if President Roosevelt continued his progressive policies. Certain American industrialists had a great deal to do with bringing fascist regimes into being in both Germany and Italy. They extended aid to help Fascism occupy the seat of power, and they are helping to keep it there. Propagandists for fascist groups try to dismiss the fascist scare. We should be aware of the symptoms. When industrialists ignore laws designed for social and economic progress they will seek recourse to a fascist state when the institutions of our government compel them to comply with the provisions."

The proven record of Prescott Bush's involvement in financing the Nazi war machine dovetails with the fact that he was part of a criminal cabal that actively sought to impose a fascist coup in America.
President George Walker Bush's grandfather (Prescott Bush) and great grandfather (George Herbert Walker) were among Wall Street's ultra-right wing elite. Before WWII, they were among the key players who coordinated the flow of investments from American multimillionaires into Germany. They profited by helping to coordinate the American financing behind Hitler's rise to power. During the war, they even profited from companies that armed the Nazi war machine and used slave labour at Auschwitz. Then, after the war, Prescott Bush was instrumental in helping to launder Nazi loot for Fritz Thyssen, who was one Hitler's earliest and richest industrialist backers.

[–]magnora7[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

So then how does one take the profit out of war?

There are many profiable things about a war, the sale of weapons, the winning of spoils of war (which makes Blitzkrieg-like strategies possible), and the re-building of everything after the war, as well as repayment of debts associated with all those.

How can humanity get itself in a situation where all of those options no longer are profitable? Question of the millennium.

[–]i_cansmellthat 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

How can humanity get itself in a situation where all of those options no longer are profitable? Question of the millennium.

Maybe we need to start by redefining what it means to be "profitable."

We all know that giving a hand to someone who needs it, petting a dog, watching a sunset, the little things, these are the things that enrich us. We profit from them. Why have we given the power to define "profit" to those that possess all the material wealth?

[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It is true that if no one were to participate in a war, it wouldn't happen... profit drives the entire system. Even now most people in the military do it to pay for college. And the generals have their salaries, and so do the people who call the shots at the top of the military-industrial complex.

I guess in some ways the only real way to address it is like you said, to pet a dog and do little things to help others. We have to each have a revolution inside of us, to act better, to make the world better. But what will trigger that on a mass scale? And how can we help that process along?

[–]i_cansmellthat 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Kindness breeds kindness (a not-for-profit kindness though). Maybe small acts can snowball, I am really hopeful that this is true. Mix in a dose of knowledge and perspective.....but how?

Our current social environment is so divided and hateful. The core truth of how governments attain and keep power is so occluded with misinformation, and now it seems they have found a way to control the people by co-opting one's very identity (conservative, liberal, immigrant, etc). All this contributes to the public being so busy picking a side, that we don't realize we are the pawns in the business of war. It's crazy, but I don't think everyone realizes we are actively engaged in the business of war, at this very moment. In the US, if you pay taxes you are contributing to the business of war. Maybe people need to ponder on that.

In the movie "They Live" the protagonist finds a box of sunglasses that, when worn, show things as they really are. (It's a campy movie, but the message is solid) We need to find the box of sunglasses. I don't know, maybe none of us are looking for it. But I think if we found the box, and we could just be kind to one another, it would be a start.