WINNING WITHOUT WAR
Reasons and resources to support the case for alternatives to war
The profits of war benefit the few
General Smedley Butler, two-time medal of honour recipient, wrote in his 1935 book 'War is a Racket' that 'war is conducted for the very few' (who can make a huge fortune)' and that 'the profits of war 'are counted in dollars'.
George Orwell wrote in 1937, twelve years before the appearance of his novel 1984 in which the totalitarian state Oceania is permanently at war, externalising the enemy and leaving people oblivious to the failings of their own society) that: '‘War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it’.
THE PROFITS OF THE FEW .....
The losses of war affect the many
Smedley Butler added in his book 'War is a Racket' (1935) that war is conducted 'at the expense of the very many.'
Two decades later, Eisenhower, a 5-star General before becoming the President in 1953-61, wrote that ‘Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket launched signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. ‘
Avoiding war benefits everyone
The taxes not used for war can be used to benefit the people of all those countries that would otherwise be drawn into a war.
Their lives will not be threatened and people's time, labour and creativity can be used to profit their families, their countries and the world.
Winning without war is the endgame that will assure a win-win solution for all parties. Getting there involves, in Gandhi's words, 'fighting for truth'. The battle is fought in the debating chamber and not on the battlefield.
THE GAINS FOR THE WORLD ....
Do you want to do the clever thing and stop playing into the hands of the few? Stop feeding the financial interests of the military-industrial complex supported by all mainstream political parties?
What you can do:
1. Arm yourself with Critical Thinking
2. Learn the lessons of history from the hand-picked resources presented on this website
And just remember the words of Major General Smedley Butler, that 'War is a racket' in which the profits are in dollars and the losses in lives. If you want to protect your sons and daughters and partners / husbands, turn your back on the mainstream system and the cowards bellowing for war, and place your hopes in more nuanced people who renounce war and follow the path of non-violence.
