General Smedley Butler was a decorated general in the World War 1 where he receiced two Congressional Medals of honor. He would retire from the Marines in 1931.
World War 1 was one of the most violant and brutal wars ever fought and despite his acolades, General Butler, having experienced the horrific events of war first hand, despised the whole notion of war. This prompted him to write and publish a short book in 1935 titled War Is A Racket.
In this book, he details the real reason wars are fought; money, power and resources. None of these in his opinion have any moral justification. Keep in mind this book came out in 1935 before World War 2 but the themes and conclusions ring true and resonate a hundred times more now in the present then they did ninety years ago when this was published.
I am just going to cite a few quotes from the book, one quote from each chapter which there are only five, to properly present the sentiment of this book. All of the following quotes come from Smedley Butler himself.
Chapter 1: War is a Racket
“Only a small inside group knows wjat it is all about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the many.”
Chapter 2: Who Makes the Profits?
“But war time profits-ah! that is another matter….twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred … the sky is the limit.” He is reffering to profit margins by American war profteering companies.
Chapter 3: Who Pays the Bills?
Regarding the effects of war on the soldiers, Butkler had this to say.
“Boys with a normal viewpoint were takenout of the fields and offices and factories and put into the ranks.
“We used them for a couple years and trained them to think nothing at all of killing or being killed.”
Chapter 4: How to Smash This Racket!
“It can be smashed effectively by taking the profits out of war.”
“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, all officers and all politicians… everyone in the nationbe restricted to a total monthly income not to exceed that is paid to the soldier in the trenches.”
Chapter 5: To Hell With War!
Regarding to the state of the world after World War 1, Butler had this to say:
"… eighteen years after, the world has less of a democracy than it had then.Brsides what business is it of ours whether Russia or Germany or England or France or Italy or Austria live under democracies or monarchies? Whether they are Facists or Communists?Our problem is to preserve our own democracy.”
“And very little if anything, has been accomplished to assure us that the World War was really the war to end all wars.”
I highly recomend every single person read this book. No matter your political affiliation or nationality, this book, which is a quick read at only 36 pages, is the most truthful and brutally honest narative regarding war you may ever read. You can find War Is A Racket at most any bookstore or online for anywhere between $5 to $10.
It is sad and pathetic to think this book was written in the 1930’s and here we are repeating the same cycles. General Butler tried to warn us, he tried to explain to us and offered sollutions but nom one listened.
“And very little if anything, has been accomplished to assure us that the World War was really the war to end all wars.” That just hurt my heart. I can not imagine anyone who served in those trenches would support the kind of wars we're seeing today. The endless greed and disregard for human life literally sickens me.
Interesting. Especially because it was written in the 1930s.