“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. 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... Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.”
War is a Racket by General Smedley Butler
And our government is war’s biggest client.
More than 80% of retired four-star generals and admirals go to work for weapons manufacturers and war profiteers as board members, advisers, lobbyists, or consultants, after their career in the military.
These weapons cartels like RTX, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing already spend millions per year bribing lawmakers, disseminating propaganda, and thumbing the scales during elections. They’re financially incentivized to encourage ever-fatter war budgets and longer, costlier, deadlier bloodshed.
How better to protect their gravy train than by promising cushy, multimillion dollar salaries for Pentagon officials who agree to play ball?
