Let the officers and the directors and the high-powered executives of our armament factories and our munitions makers and our shipbuilders and our airplane builders and the manufacturers of all the other things that provide profit in war time as well as the bankers and the speculators, be conscripted -- to get… the same wage as the lads in the trenches get.

Let the workers in these plants get the same wages -- all the workers, all presidents, all executives, all directors, all managers, all bankers -- yes, and all generals and all admirals and all officers and all politicians and all government office holders -- everyone in the nation be restricted to a total monthly income not to exceed that paid to the soldier in the trenches!

Let all these kings and tycoons and masters of business and all those workers in industry and all our senators and governors and mayors pay half of their monthly… wage to their families and pay war risk insurance and buy Liberty Bonds.

The logic and rightness of this suggestion is flawless and should be implemented yesterday. But, General Butler does not stop there.

To further curb the war racket, he recommends that only those who will be asked to fight and die in a war be permitted to vote in a national referendum. If, indeed, this country’s goal is to spread liberty and democracy about the planet at gun point, then “only those who must suffer should have the right to vote.” Eminently sensible and certainly doable!

Thirdly, he recommends that our arm forces be structured to assure that they are only used for defensive purposes. Limit our Navy to a 200 mile swath of ocean surrounding our territories and our military aircraft to no more than 500 miles from the same property.  He further recommends that the Army should not leave American territory. Needless to say, it is unlikely that this will be implemented while the present Junta rules!

General Butler’s concluding remarks center on the question of what to do with all of the vast resources of the military-industrial complex that is so key to our existence in 21st Century Amerika. To that question he has a great answer - put them all to:

…the constructive job of building greater prosperity for all peoples. By putting them to this useful job, we can all make more money out of peace than we can out of war -- even the munitions makers. So...I say, TO HELL WITH WAR!

Obviously, these thoughts were born of a lifetime of service to the gods of War and did not come lightly to a career soldier. Such men of character, of wisdom, of resolve appear unknown in today’s military leadership. From the Joint Chiefs to the myriad “retired” military gurus employed by the mainstream media, one hears virtually no dissent from the party line. The destruction of our nation, its young and old, its steady move into totalitarianism is as much the fault of these military geniuses as any “terrorist” or dirty politician.

So, at the end of the day, what are we left with? …Slim hopes, to say the least. It is past time for all of us to stand our ground, retire each and every person from office who has approved the actions of the ruling cabal of criminals, and heed the words of General Butler. It wouldn’t hurt to continue sending out those SOS signals, too, just in case Klaatu is listening.

Don’t forget the real business of War is buying and selling. The murdering and the violence are self-policing, and can be entrusted to non-professionals. The mass nature of wartime death is useful in many ways. It serves as spectacle, as diversion from the real movements of the War. It provides raw material to be recorded into History, so that children may be taught History as sequences of violence, battle after battle, and be more prepared for the adult world. Best of all, mass death’s a stimulus to just ordinary folks, little fellows, to try ‘n’ grab a piece of that Pie while they’re still here to gobble it up. The true war is a celebration of markets.
Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow
 

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