War is a racket. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
Smedley ButlerRead
The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the connection between economic interests and military involvement overseas.
Smedley Butler's quote outlines the troubling relationship between America's capitalist pursuits and its military actions. He suggests that when American investments do not yield sufficient returns domestically, capital seeks greater profits abroad, leading to military intervention that serves these financial interests. The statement critiques the influence of money on national policy and the notion that the military often follows the economic interests of the nation.
Themes
DollarAmericaMilitaryEconomicInterestsCapitalInvestments
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the impact of economic motivations behind foreign policy in a political debate.
More from Smedley Butler
All quotes →Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few - the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.
Smedley ButlerRead
I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long... Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three city districts. We Marines operated on three continents.
Smedley ButlerRead
A few profit - and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it. You can't end it by disarmament conferences. You can't eliminate it by peace parleys at Geneva. Well-meaning but impractical groups can't wipe it out by resolutions. It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war.
Smedley ButlerRead
It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country...but the profits...skyrocket.
Smedley ButlerRead
We must take the profit out of war.
Smedley ButlerRead
Similar quotes
The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose - especially their lives.
Eugene V. DebsRead
The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies.
Noam ChomskyRead
Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us.
P. J. O'RourkeRead
In your dread of dictators you established a state of society in which every ward boss is a dictator, every private employer a dictator, every financier a dictator, all with the livelihood of the workers at his mercy, and no public responsibility.
George Bernard ShawRead
For a very long time, and among a large number of peoples, political power has belonged to the owners of the land.
Vilfredo ParetoRead
Corruption is a cancer: a cancer that eats away at a citizen's faith in democracy, diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity; already-tight national budgets, crowding out important national investments. It wastes the talent of entire generations. It scares away investments and jobs.
Joe BidenRead