War Is a Racket

50 must-read pages, especially for "American patriots". The Brilliant: --Read it online here. --I’m upgrading my rating because of this book's usefulness for specific audiences, i.e. soldiers/“support our troops” culture given the author’s military accolades (Major General of the Marine Corps, 2x Meda......more

A scathing condemnation of the corporate-military complex by a quirky retired general who was one of the biggest legends and role models in the U.S. Marine Corps; Smedley Butler, nicknamed "Old Gimlet Eye," had a tattoo of the USMC emblem that covered his chest and was the only Marine officer to win......more

War Is A Racket is an in your face exposé about the lies politicians tell American taxpayers to justify their bloodthirsty and psychopathic lust for war. Impressive quotes: I spent 33 years in the Marines, most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and the bankers.......more

There are a lot of reasons given for warfare. Are there any good reasons for nations to be at war? I would think most of those “good” reasons have to do with defending what is already part of a nation. USA Marine Corps General Smedley Butler takes a different approach. In this brief essay, written la......more

Such a simple and powerful and obvious statement. What's interesting about Smedley is that he's not against war in a general sense. He's against the kind of war that had become common in the early 20th century (which is the model for all wars now). To put it a different way: he was not against war, b......more