Title: War Is A Racket

Author: Smedley D. Butler

Completed: May 2026 (Full list of books)

Overview: After finishing Gangsters of Capitalism about Smedley Butler, I decided to read through his anti-war book as well. It’s short and easy to read, clearly designed to spread his message rather than engage in philosophical thinking but he does a good job showing how so many companies make lot of money off war without the owners or major shareholders ever being negatively impacted by it. I assume this book helped shape our cultural understanding since these ideas don’t seem shocking now but appear to have been revolutionary when he wrote them. Either way, we’re 100 years later and companies are still making a killing off of war.

Highlights:

• The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits — ah! that is another matter — twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent — the sky is the limit.
• they sold Uncle Sam 35,000,000 pairs of hobnailed service shoes. There were 4,000,000 soldiers. Eight pairs, and more, to a soldier. My regiment during the war had only one pair to a soldier. Some of these shoes probably are still in existence. They were good shoes. But when the war was over Uncle Sam has a matter of 25,000,000 pairs left over. Bought — and paid for. Profits recorded and pocketed.
• Then it was found that we could reduce the cost of wars by taking all the prize money and keeping it, but conscripting [drafting] the soldier anyway. Then soldiers couldn’t bargain for their labor. Everyone else could bargain, but the soldier couldn’t. Napoleon once said, “All men are enamored of decorations . . . they positively hunger for them.” So by developing the Napoleonic system – the medal business – the government learned it could get soldiers for less money, because the boys liked to be decorated. Until the Civil War there were no medals. Then the Congressional Medal of Honor was handed out. It made enlistments easier.
• An allied commission, it may be recalled, came over shortly before the war declaration and called on the President. The President summoned a group of advisers. The head of the commission spoke. Stripped of its diplomatic language, this is what he told the President and his group: “There is no use kidding ourselves any longer. The cause of the allies is lost. We now owe you (American bankers, American munitions makers, American manufacturers, American speculators, American exporters) five or six billion dollars. If we lose (and without the help of the United States we must lose) we, England, France and Italy, cannot pay back this money . . . and Germany won’t. So … “