“WAR is a racket…It always has been.A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small ‘inside’ group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortune.” – US Marine General Smedley Butler. General Butler
My friend and occasional co-author, Paul Craig Roberts, wrote an compelling Fourth of July essay to give us all something to think about as the political and corporate elitists tighten the noose around our collective necks:
July 4, 2018, is the 242 anniversary of the date chosen to stand as the date the 13 British colonies declared independence. According to historians, the actual date independence was declared was July 2, 1776, with the vote of the Second Continental Congress. Other historians have concluded that the Declaration of Independence was not actually signed until August 2.
For many living in the colonies the event was not the glorious one that is presented in history books. There was much opposition to the separation, and the “loyalists” were killed, confiscated, and forced to flee to Canada. Some historians explain the event not as a great and noble enterprise of freedom and self-government, but as the manipulations of ambitious men who saw opportunity for profit and power.
For most Americans today the Fourth of July is a time for fireworks, picnics, and a patriotic speech extolling those who “fought for our freedom” and for those who defended it in wars ever since. These are feel good speeches, but most of them make very little sense…
Hard to discount Mr. Butler. Been there done that and told us the outcomes. Always been worth a Google for his comments and bio. The lust for conflict by so many in this country weighs heavy on my heart that so many chose it as a method to plunder is bad dark.. You picked a real hero to highlight for the 4th. Kudos.