Merely Adequate: Smedley D. Butler (July 30, 1881

January 17, 2007

Smedley D. Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940)

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested."

Another variation:

"I spent 33 years and 4 months in active service as a member of our country's most agile military force--the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to Major General. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. I suspected I was part of a racket all the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service."

Smedley D. Butler (1881-1940)
Retired Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps

Posted by Mike at January 17, 2007 6:58 AM

Comments

Wow. I don't even know how to respond to that. Is he evil? Because he sure seems that way. What is the point of that quote? The ones you have picked thus far have made good sense and I have tried to take something away with me to get through the rest of the day, but Mr. Smedley seems like the corruptible people you were talking about in an earlier post. Is that the point?

You've made me think and maybe that was the point. Talk to you this afternoon!

Posted by: robyn at January 17, 2007 8:47 AM

You need to click his name to understand. He wrote a short piece called War is A Racket about how he felt like he had been used by the government for all the things he mentions in the quote.

http://warisaracket.com/

From Wikipedia:

War is A Racket is a short work by former U.S. Marine Brigadier General Smedley Darlington Butler, in which Butler discusses how business interests have commercially benefited from warfare. Butler points to a variety of examples, mostly from World War I, where industrialists whose operations were subsidised by public funding were able to generate substantial profits essentially from mass human suffering.

The work is divided into five chapters:

1. War is a racket
2. Who makes the profits?
3. Who pays the bills?
4. How to smash this racket!
5. To hell with war!

Posted by: Monolith aka Mikey at January 17, 2007 9:33 AM