Bringing Light Into Darkness - News & Analysis · Bringing Light Into Darkness - News & Analysis

What if Profiteering from War was Outlawed? (7/17/23) (Part 1/2)

·26 min·5 clips

Pedro Gatos begins by identifying the program as Bringing Light Into Darkness on 91.7 KOOP community radio in Austin and presents it as informed, documented analysis. He says the show is meant to get as close to the truth as possible and asks listeners to stay tuned for a careful dialogue. The conversation then turns to Smedley Butler as a historical reference point for criticizing U.S. militarism. Gatos and his guest focus on who benefits from militarism and who profits from it. That question is tied to modern military involvement and military spending. The guest argues that wartime profiteering rises sharply and that conflict can create stronger incentives for profit than peacetime conditions do. Gatos presses the moral point directly, asking why society would allow people to profit more from war than from peace if war is truly a last resort. The discussion links that dynamic to wealth inequality and to the way war can concentrate advantage upward. It also notes that some military figures have echoed this critique, including Colonel Larry Wilkerson, who is quoted as saying Smedley Butler was on to something and that the U.S. has become the death merchants of the world. The show uses Butler's example to show how someone associated with the military can come to reject militarism. Later, the episode moves to reporting on Afghanistan reconstruction oversight. A cited article says Inspector General John Sopko accused State Department and USAID officials of illegally obstructing SIGAR's investigation and withholding information needed for audits related to the fall of the Afghan government and the months that followed under Taliban rule. Taken together, the episode argues that war, profit, and secrecy are tightly connected and worth scrutinizing.

As heard by us

A serious case for how war, profit, and power become inseparable.

Pedro Gatos spends the episode on a hard question: who benefits when war becomes an industry, and what militarism is really doing in practice. The strongest passages move from Smedley Butler into the blunt moral problem at the center of the argument: profit, power, and violence.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a hard-nosed critique of U.S. militarism and who profits from it, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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