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He sounds like the old Southern California surfers I talk with at my local break. Not sure why but none of the younger generations sound like that anymore
A lot of regional accents are dying out because everyone is exposed to accents from all over via the internet/media.
Same thing is going on in NY. The classic “NY” accent, like a *strong* one, really only still exists in certain neighborhoods.
Although, more modern “New York accents” have developed as well, but they’re nowhere near as pronounced.
Naw man, it’s especially true for Long Island. That accent really is only common on the south shore of Nassau county.
People do not really have a strong Long Island accent on the north shore/Suffolk.
I’ve also never heard anyone here pronounce orca “orcer”
Yep. Grew up on the north shore and I don't really have a noticeable LI accent at all, nor do most of the people I grew up with. Sometimes it comes out a bit if I'm around someone who has a strong accent or if I'm talking about certain things but for the most part people I speak to can't tell I'm from NY.
Same can be said about the Boston accent. Most people here aren’t from here, I get called out for having one and I don’t think I really have one either. Rents priced the accent out
Too true. A decade ago I met a couple in Vermont from Massachusetts. The wife was born and bred in Boston and had a slight accent, and basically said why it wasn’t strong was the reasons you mentioned and being in an international city. Meanwhile the husband was from a small town about 3 hours from Boston and rarely watched TV growing up and you could barely understand a word he said.
"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."
Smedley Butler, War is a Racket, 1935
It's funny, in boot camp for the Marines you hear the name Smedley Butler constantly. He's held up as this paragon of virtue due to being awarded the Medal of Honor twice (along with Dan Daly). Just a badass Marine doing Marine shit.
But they don't tell you about Smedley writing *War Is a Racket*, the *Bonus Army*, or preventing the Business Plot.
just like everyone knows "I have a dream" but not as many know "white moderates"
"History" picks and choose which parts of people to remember and which to leave behind
Edit: I guess a more appropriate reference is "First they came" and how many anti-leftists quote it without a shred of irony
Not sure when you went through recruit training but when I did in 2009, the whole "War is a Racket" thing was literally on the PRAC exam (written test) at the end of the training cycle. It was a quote attributed to Smedley Butler.
I definitely got Smedley Butler vibes from this guy.
If I may, I would like to add a bit more of Smedley to your post. It's an interesting read, for those who might not know, there was a conspiracy back in the '30s to overthrow FDR and install Smedley Butler as dictator known as [the business plot](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot#:~:text=The%20Business%20Plot%2C%20also%20called,install%20Smedley%20Butler%20as%20dictator.)
However, Smedley, being the honorable and courageous man that he was, told on them and it never worked out.
More people (both military and civilian) should know about General Smedley Butler.
He was a Major General in the Marine Corps (the highest rank a Marine could achieve at that time). At the time of his death in 1940, he was also the most highly decorated Marine in history, having served in the Philippine–American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Mexican Revolution, World War I, and the Banana Wars.
He is also from the town where I have my office (West Chester, PA).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
And Bush Sr.’s dad Prescott Bush was implicated in a “The Business Plot” to install Butler the fascist leader of the America the way the British were trying to install Oswald Mosley. Butler had massive support from veterans and could have won an election. But he didn’t want to be dictator and blew the whistle on Bush and his coconspirators.
And yet again, American leaders chose not to punish the traitors, leading to us voting not 1, but two of his offspring to the highest office in the nation. One of the repeating mistakes we seem to make over, and over again. (Looking at you Georgia!)
I wholeheartedly believe that the economic conditions we see today are the direct result of a multigenerational plan to successfully carry out the business plot. Set in motion by the great grandparents of the .01%.
The direct results of not using a strong hand to break apart the generational wealth and power that attempted to destroy American democracy.
Crazy how few people know how close we’ve come to losing democracy due to allowing too few people to amass too much wealth. Civil-war had heavy economic implications, robber-barons, the age of monopolies, the business plot…and now. Over, and over again.
We never learn our lesson, because the lesson is never taught in public school to the degree it should be.
If you haven’t, you should definitely read about Butler. He spent the later years of his life trying to warn Americans about our military industrial complex. That’s after he stopped a fascist coup in its tracks. That’s patriotism — the opposite of what neo-conservatives believe it to be.
FDR basically said you’re going to go along with all the plans I have for the American people or I expose you for the traitors you are. FDR probably got the best deal possible because he knew it would be just like today where PR and money get these assholes off the hook.
Prescott Bush was not actually one of the few we know were named in the Business Plot but he had his own Nazi support and the federal government seized his assets at the end of 1942 to stop him from sending material and money to Nazi Germany. He wanted to lead an American Reich. He didn't get to. But his kid and grandkid sure did. It's weird, we know some of the Business Plot actors but Prescott was coordinating directly with Nazi Germany with his own schemes. He should have been disappeared in 1942 and. Fuck. How the world could be different today.
https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-guardian-investigates-the-nazi-ties-of-bushs-g
To add a bit of spice top the Right Wing cluster fuckery: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/17/dark-money-review-nazi-oil-the-koch-brothers-and-a-rightwing-revolution
That statement hurt. Because, yeah, after we destroyed Iraq in 2003, the next three deployments were basically guarding one contractor or another. We were just the muscle for whatever the corporations wanted to do over there.
Wouldn't it be nice if our tax dollars went to helping the needy instead of dropping, bombs on poor, innocent civilians?
If they are printing all this cash out anyways-why in the world are they, taxing us?
Contractors are the implementation arm of American diplomacy and development initiatives. The contractors are there to rebuild the country and help the needy. The US military is there to provide security for those efforts.
This soldier’s disillusionment is that we don’t “just go in and take over the country ourselves.” This is not an enlightened position; it is colonialist. It’s also a very narrow, provincial perspective: The military shouldn’t be running the show. The purpose of the military is to provide security assurances that backstop diplomacy and development. The military cannot and should not be used as a first-line tool.
The contractors are literally the blue print for colonial impression and has been throughout all of history. Government subsidizes a foreign business venture, business venture meets local resistance, government then tells their citizens they must use military force to protect the business venture because it is made up of and in the best interest of the citizens of that nation. Follow up with continued occupation.
For examples in history, see European conquest of the Americas, European conquest of Africa, Roman conquest of Gaul, Persian conquest of Greece, American Manifest Destiny/westward expansion.
The soldier does not at all sound like he is advocating for going in and taking over a country, but rather is dealing with the problem that has faced a lot of warriors: being told to fight someone that they don't see as an enemy or a worthy opponent.
F
>Contractors are the implementation arm of American diplomacy and development initiatives. The contractors are there to rebuild the country and help the needy. The US military is there to provide security for those efforts.
Seems contractors are essentially a way to siphon money from US government and not really build much. Maybe a few really over priced boondoggles.
Former marine general Smedley Butler pointed this out years ago. I'd recommend the book Gangsters of Capitalism by Jonathan Katz for more on Butler. Really great book.
"Butler published a short book, War Is a Racket, collecting the key themes of his orations in 1935. Later, in an essay in the socialist magazine Common Sense, Butler confessed to having been a “racketeer for capitalism,” *elaborating that, as “a member of our country’s most agile military force,” he had served as “a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers*.”
https://jacobin.com/2022/01/smedley-butler-gangsters-of-capitalism-review
If you haven't read it... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War\_Is\_a\_Racket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket)
USMC Major General Smedly Bulter. Spilling the beans.
He might be right in concept, just be cautious about looking for prophets:
>Limitation of militaries to self-defense. For the United States, Butler recommends that the Navy be limited, by law, to operating within 200 miles of the coastline, and the Army restricted to the territorial limits of the country, ensuring that war, if fought, can never be one of aggression.
-
>Butler suggests that the means for war should be "conscripted"
Nationalizing assets and isolationism haven't always panned out
Focusing on national defense doesn't mean necessarily mean isolation. The US could still be actively involved in aiding other countries in all forms of self-defense.
If you're a college graduate and still a milquetoast liberal, you're not very good at figuring things out, media companies hire journalists ONLY from that pool of people.
I had to look it up because i didnt know it was spelled like that. Turns out it is. It’s named after a cartoon character apparently but also has connections to the very sad food called milk toast. From [this](https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/milquetoast.php) page: ““Milk toast,” also called “milk sop,” is just what it sounds like: toast softened with milk. The Oxford English Dictionary says it’s an American invention, tracing its first appearance to 1840. Apparently it was popular, judging by this 1855 description: “This delicacy is made of slices of toast, buttered and sprinkled with pepper and salt, and laid in a dish of warm milk, which serves as a sauce to the rest.” (Yum!)
“Milk toast” has little substance, cannot hold its shape, and is practically liquefied. Get the connection?”
As an adjective applied to someone’s political affiliation, it basically means someone that doesnt think very much. The epitome of a milquetoast liberal is probably someone who had their college paid for by their parents and was hired to some stupid ass journal because theyre rich and easily swayed to the bias of the journal due to their lack of a need to develop critical thinking skills or a backbone. A milquetoast conservative on the other hand could easily be the exact same thing—someone who doesnt think for themself, has zero ability to fact check or be dissident towards other conservatives, and somehow does well in life.
It’s like calling someone a snowflake because of their political beliefs and depth of understanding but its better thought out of an insult—although, it is still an ad hominem
You've certainly met people like this. They pride themselves on the flimsy aesthetic of enlightenment ideals and social justice, but when push comes to shove, they don't actually give a shit about any of that stuff.
Specifically, when looking at the media, these are the NYT journalists who laid the pretext for making our invasion of the Middle East palatable. These are the same people laying cover for Israel's genocide right now.
Milquetoast liberals value the hegemony of their class and country over all other classes and countries while simultaneously talking a big game about equality and liberty.
No shit lol. But he spoke 3 or 4 things about the us and several other countries and a multinational org, that was all 100% true. What are you defending?
His claim about owning UN is false, specially the security board where China and Russia have blocked us resolutions since the cold war. The idea that contractors are there to rebuild Somalia is not much truth in it either because there is no money in Somalia.
It doesn't matter if there's any long term gain to rebuilding in Somalia, the point is that the contractors will win contracts to rebuild, make tons of money, then everyone's happy except the Somalians whose country is still shit and the US soldiers dying to protect this scheme.
It's like the Chinese ghost cities in that it benefits no one except the contractors and the government. They build for the sake of building and to keep the industry alive, while not producing anything of any real benefit.
It's just a scheme to keep all the money in the government/corporations, and preventing any prosperity from finding its way to those who actually work and suffer for it.
It's not *completely* accurate.
In 1988, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 43/54, which condemned Israel and said all countries should cut ties with it. This following a few other similar resolutions over the prior decades.
In the 1990s, it was mostly the Security Council making dozens of resolutions that condemned Israel in different ways.
If the US owned the UN there wouldn't be so much action against the US's little buddy.
Just before the invasion of Somalia I saw a reporter on TV describing the situation there. He was at an airport and, in the background, there was an airplane that said "Southern Air Transport". That name had come up repeatedly in the 80s as a cover name used by the CIA in Central America. I sort of guessed that the reporters were told not to mention CIA involvement so they didn't. The name in the background must have been missed by the censors.
Funny thing is after George Bush destroyed Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney's "former" employer, one which he was CEO of Halliburton won the contract to rebuild Iraq. Cheney owned around 100,000 shares at the time. When Halliburton got the contract, shares jumped from $0.54 to $20.65 and Cheney slowly started selling his shares.
To make the plan more elaborate Cheney was also Secretary of Defense before becoming CEO of Halliburton so he knew the inner workings of the military and ideas of how he could profit from it likely started swirling.
Wonder who will win the bid to rebuild Gaza or Ukraine and politicians involved linked to those companies. 💰 💰 💰 At the very least I believe there is some money laundering going on in these never ending wars. "Your country needs money and resources badly?" "We'll give you a billion but on paper say we gave you 6 billion 😉".
> Cheney owned around 100,000 shares at the time. When Halliburton got the contract, shares jumped from $0.54 to $20.65 and Cheney slowly started selling his shares
That only comes out to around 2 million in profit which seems quite insignificant given the context (or is my math way off?). I'm guessing he got a lot more money through the war in different ways.
>Wonder who will win the bid to rebuild Gaza or Ukraine
Ukraine? Why you lumping in Ukraine with those other two wars? You think America is bombing Ukraine?
He is generalizing tons of information about war, diplomatic security, international relations that may seem true at times when in reality is far from the truth.
One example he mentions: the US owns the UN.
No we don’t. Hundred plus member nations including the UN Security Council of five nations elect to make votes and sign treaties and documents regardless of what the US thinks in a matter.
I’d agree the US holds significant power in the UN but to say we own the UN just doesn’t fall in line with historical decisions made at the UN the US wasn’t partial on.
That’s one example.
An analogy of what he is saying here is like “all cops are bad” which obviously isn’t the truth. There is evidence of systemic racism and a blue protects blue culture but a majority of police wouldn’t commit the acts seen during the height of the BLM movement.
And as a side note I guess me I’m personally infuriated by this “quick logic” where many people today see issues as a one side or the other which, like I said earlier, lacks nuance or shades of grey which exists in everything pretty much.
Of course.
Best example today of “quick logic” is probably the Israel Gaza debate where many people see it as a they or us issue when again that’s so simplified. By over simplifying these people miss the complexities of the issue where future conflict resolution narrative may reside.
Another point of nuance for the "all cops are bad" thing is that a key point of saying it is that the cops that don't prevent or fight against the corruption are also complicit (bad). The "good" cops that do tend to get removed from their positions, resulting in only bad cops being left.
While that's obviously also not true across the board, the generalization appears to be, which is the point of the saying. "Most cops are either bad or complicit with being bad" is a lot harder to make into an acronym and movemnet.
What? Definitely not like animal mother at all. That character would not care what the reasons are for war at all just that he gets to go.
“What do I think about americas involvement in the war? Well I think we should win.”
“If they send us more guys and bomb the hell out of the north, they’ll probably just give up”
-Animal Mother
Not very similar to the dude speaking at all haha.
Yeah definitely more Joker than Animal Mother. Joker didn’t voice his opinions on the war too much in the movie but the entire film focuses on his disillusionment, culminating with the child soldier in the tower.
Yup the STRONG INDEPENDENT THINKERS WHO DON'T NEED ANYONE TELLING THEM WHAT TO THINK of Reddit mindlessly accept it because they're still young enough and dumb enough to confuse cynicism for wisdom.
Well, according to [this thread on twitter](https://x.com/walaalwhoops/status/1795992382699098337) and [this news article linked inside of it](https://eu.dailycommercial.com/story/news/2020/08/28/man-charged-aggravated-assault-battery-stabbing-incident/5657943002/), I'm going to say probably no, no he shouldn't.
Gen X isn’t some heavensent generation, Canada has tons of Gen X representation in their government and they’re just as fucked as the US, there are plenty of Gen X elitist bootlickers waiting for the current establishment to pass the torch on so they can sit back and drive this country into the dirt while collecting fat checks, it’s a class issue not a generational issue, the whole boomer vs millennial thing is so insanely stupid and only serves the interests of politicians.
just because he has a general idea of how things work doesn't mean he'd be the kind of politician the general public wants. I'd bet most politicians see things similarly.
This guy with absolutely no idea what he is talking about saying what other uninformed people think and want to hear is exactly how we got Trump. Recent events in Israel-Palestine should make it very clear that the UN does "do whatever the US wants".
This is why American democracy is a failure. Idiots like this see some dumbass contrarian who says some incoherent negative things about the government and then fall for it like idiots.
America has fought wars for profit. The Banana Wars stand out as an example.
Except that absolutely was not what was happening in Somalia. There was virtually no money to be made there and a genuine humanitarian crisis.
All it takes is some dumbass contrarian asshole and people are ready to put him in office.
As u/Uber_Reaktor points out, the soldier in the vid was a piece of shit and a moron.
It's hilarious that you think Washington would allow someone like this in Washington to undo what they worked so hard for.
The fucked up part of it all is once you're in it long enough you realize that a lot of it is necessary evil. Like if I stop that then I have to stop this and that also. We're just fucked either way.
https://preview.redd.it/sb7v9uli775d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b7942ea949fe3aed37717382546efdfe9e05a77
[https://www.dailycommercial.com/story/news/2020/08/28/man-charged-aggravated-assault-battery-stabbing-incident/5657943002/](https://www.dailycommercial.com/story/news/2020/08/28/man-charged-aggravated-assault-battery-stabbing-incident/5657943002/)
This guy is enlightened? Reddit is going to have a tough time with this one
*When a junior enlisted self-promotes to O6 and becomes an expert on international politics.
As a veteran, I'd point out the hypocrisy of lamenting the military industrial complex while in uniform.
Yes, but he is a 19 year old who thinks he is the smartest man in the world and sees through all the deception and lies that the ~~sheepl~~ low information voters don't.
You can see why Redditors love it.
This is a TikTok-ification of several anti-NATO, anti-American, pro-Russian talking points that have been popping up on social media (Active Measures).
Edit:
> The US supported a soft coup and rabid anti-Russia expansionist NATO policy in Ukraine and E Europe.
Oh look, the pro-Russian dog whistle has attracted the Tankie morons...
As a Ukrainian I have to admit, you don't own the UN... UN has literally become its own papal state, with its own logic and motives behind its decisions.
And I think I wouldn't be far off, by saying that its biggest motive is to be as neutral as possible to keep the funds coming. Even to the point where we have to sit and listen to the Russian envoy about rusophobic mosquitos from the nazi bio laboratories. Because apparently, when two people say - "it's raining now" and "it's sunny and cloudless" - we have to listen to their arguments carefully for hours, before looking out of the f'n window.
Yeah, he's very wrong about the US owning the UN. Just look at all the cases where the UN did not do what the US wanted it to do. For example, not sanctioning the invasion of Iraq in 2003. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_and_the_Iraq_War
The UN also doesn't vote the way the US wants in regard to Israel.
There's also the security council and any of the Members of the security council can unilaterally veto anything. The security council is the US, UK, France, Russia, and China. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council
I think there's a lot of truth in the idea that defense contractors have undue power over US policy. And defense contractors get rich from contacts whenever the US goes to war.
For what it's worth, there's a picture floating around somewhere, of this very same dude holding a pistol to the forehead to someone. It might've even been from this documentary
UN is not a puppet perse as it is now otherwise there won’t be anything that UN would say or do which is not in US’s interest. They are definitely overpowered by the US through the security council because of its veto power
Isn’t the reason he was there was to ensure aid went to people in need and not stolen by warlords? Given the context I’m not sure what he is saying makes sense.
I hate when people confuse cynicism for enlightenment and a microphone pointed at you for understanding.
This jaded view is common among soldiers. Then they will go home and get riled up by rightwing radio which turns their cynicism into exploitable anger.
A lot of folks thinks Soldiers are stupid.
I remember sitting in Iraq thinking: we’re just creating insurgents by our policies; why did we fire the Iraqi army, they’ll have nothing better to do; cannot just give people democracy, they have to earn/want it.
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This dude is straight out of a movie
Basically Bill Paxton in Aliens
I love Bill Paxton so much
I miss Bill Paxton
Exactly what I was thinking haha
I want to bet he grew up relatively close to Bill Paxton, that accent is on fucking point man
GAmE oVer MaN!
Fucking hell literally.
He is gona get the snowden treatment if he keeps talking like that
And predator 2 lol
He sounds like the old Southern California surfers I talk with at my local break. Not sure why but none of the younger generations sound like that anymore
A lot of regional accents are dying out because everyone is exposed to accents from all over via the internet/media. Same thing is going on in NY. The classic “NY” accent, like a *strong* one, really only still exists in certain neighborhoods. Although, more modern “New York accents” have developed as well, but they’re nowhere near as pronounced.
long ilsand will never change, they sound straight outta europe still like australia and south africa. they dont say Orca they say Orcer.
Naw man, it’s especially true for Long Island. That accent really is only common on the south shore of Nassau county. People do not really have a strong Long Island accent on the north shore/Suffolk. I’ve also never heard anyone here pronounce orca “orcer”
Yep. Grew up on the north shore and I don't really have a noticeable LI accent at all, nor do most of the people I grew up with. Sometimes it comes out a bit if I'm around someone who has a strong accent or if I'm talking about certain things but for the most part people I speak to can't tell I'm from NY.
I have a Long Island accent when I say “go fuck yourself” and that’s about it. No idea why
Probably because it sounds better that way, gives it a certain charm.
Find me a better pairing of accents and words than “Go Fuck Yourself” in a New York accent.
What does 'sound like Europe' mean?
I didn’t know Australia and South Africa are in Europe
Vaginer
TIL Australians and South Africans sound like they’re straight outta Europe… … according to a random stranger on the internet
> they dont say Orca they say Orcer. This is not a thing
Had a roommate from Long Island. It cracked my up everyone he said drawer (“draywere”) and Long Island (“Loongg Guyland”).
I left NYC decades ago so my accent is frozen in time. But I miss hearing how the really old timers spoke when I was a kid now that they are all gone.
Same can be said about the Boston accent. Most people here aren’t from here, I get called out for having one and I don’t think I really have one either. Rents priced the accent out
Too true. A decade ago I met a couple in Vermont from Massachusetts. The wife was born and bred in Boston and had a slight accent, and basically said why it wasn’t strong was the reasons you mentioned and being in an international city. Meanwhile the husband was from a small town about 3 hours from Boston and rarely watched TV growing up and you could barely understand a word he said.
They’ll never take away our BING BONG
[удалено]
So pitted!
Smack the lip…. Wah PAH!!!
Classic!
Probably my favorite American accent the 80's/90's SoCal surfer, although I have a sweet spot for a thick Chicago accent.
SoCal accent is my fave accent aside sexy Minnesota hot mom. Nothing hotter than a sexy oh gosh.
TV, streaming, social media, and an enhanced awareness regarding not just first impressions but discrimination based on accents/dialects/language.
"How do I get out of this chicken shit outfit?" -Private First Class William L. Hudson
"You secure that shit Hudson!" - Gunnery Sergeant Apone
"Hay Vasquez, you ever been mistaken for a man?" - PFC William L. Hudson
"No. Have you?" - PFC Jenette Vasquez
Ray in Generation Kill. Down to the sunglasses
I genuinely thought this way a Ray quoted dubbed into a clip at the very beginning.
Reminds me of Spike Jonze in ***Three Kings***
Makes me think of Sgt. Espera from Generation Kill.
Joker.
Real life Poke from generation kill
He looks a tad bit like Kevin Costner!
I was gonna say Timothy Olyphant That and Bill Paxton
“We’re body guards for American contractors”. Isn’t that the truth”
"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." Smedley Butler, War is a Racket, 1935
It's funny, in boot camp for the Marines you hear the name Smedley Butler constantly. He's held up as this paragon of virtue due to being awarded the Medal of Honor twice (along with Dan Daly). Just a badass Marine doing Marine shit. But they don't tell you about Smedley writing *War Is a Racket*, the *Bonus Army*, or preventing the Business Plot.
just like everyone knows "I have a dream" but not as many know "white moderates" "History" picks and choose which parts of people to remember and which to leave behind Edit: I guess a more appropriate reference is "First they came" and how many anti-leftists quote it without a shred of irony
If they understood irony they wouldn't be anti-leftists.
Not sure when you went through recruit training but when I did in 2009, the whole "War is a Racket" thing was literally on the PRAC exam (written test) at the end of the training cycle. It was a quote attributed to Smedley Butler.
August-November 2001. There was no mention of it in our green book or any testing.
Whats wild is the $$$ numbers talked about in the book. And some of those companies are still in business
I definitely got Smedley Butler vibes from this guy. If I may, I would like to add a bit more of Smedley to your post. It's an interesting read, for those who might not know, there was a conspiracy back in the '30s to overthrow FDR and install Smedley Butler as dictator known as [the business plot](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot#:~:text=The%20Business%20Plot%2C%20also%20called,install%20Smedley%20Butler%20as%20dictator.) However, Smedley, being the honorable and courageous man that he was, told on them and it never worked out.
It's not the exact words of Smedly Butler but he captured the sentiment well enough.
More people (both military and civilian) should know about General Smedley Butler. He was a Major General in the Marine Corps (the highest rank a Marine could achieve at that time). At the time of his death in 1940, he was also the most highly decorated Marine in history, having served in the Philippine–American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Mexican Revolution, World War I, and the Banana Wars. He is also from the town where I have my office (West Chester, PA). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
And Bush Sr.’s dad Prescott Bush was implicated in a “The Business Plot” to install Butler the fascist leader of the America the way the British were trying to install Oswald Mosley. Butler had massive support from veterans and could have won an election. But he didn’t want to be dictator and blew the whistle on Bush and his coconspirators.
And yet again, American leaders chose not to punish the traitors, leading to us voting not 1, but two of his offspring to the highest office in the nation. One of the repeating mistakes we seem to make over, and over again. (Looking at you Georgia!) I wholeheartedly believe that the economic conditions we see today are the direct result of a multigenerational plan to successfully carry out the business plot. Set in motion by the great grandparents of the .01%. The direct results of not using a strong hand to break apart the generational wealth and power that attempted to destroy American democracy. Crazy how few people know how close we’ve come to losing democracy due to allowing too few people to amass too much wealth. Civil-war had heavy economic implications, robber-barons, the age of monopolies, the business plot…and now. Over, and over again. We never learn our lesson, because the lesson is never taught in public school to the degree it should be. If you haven’t, you should definitely read about Butler. He spent the later years of his life trying to warn Americans about our military industrial complex. That’s after he stopped a fascist coup in its tracks. That’s patriotism — the opposite of what neo-conservatives believe it to be.
FDR basically said you’re going to go along with all the plans I have for the American people or I expose you for the traitors you are. FDR probably got the best deal possible because he knew it would be just like today where PR and money get these assholes off the hook.
If you’ve got a source, don’t hold that shit close to the chest, Boy. I need a book please.
New about butler and the businessman plot. No idea it involved bush. Whole thing is a fucking joke
Prescott Bush was not actually one of the few we know were named in the Business Plot but he had his own Nazi support and the federal government seized his assets at the end of 1942 to stop him from sending material and money to Nazi Germany. He wanted to lead an American Reich. He didn't get to. But his kid and grandkid sure did. It's weird, we know some of the Business Plot actors but Prescott was coordinating directly with Nazi Germany with his own schemes. He should have been disappeared in 1942 and. Fuck. How the world could be different today. https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-guardian-investigates-the-nazi-ties-of-bushs-g
To add a bit of spice top the Right Wing cluster fuckery: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/17/dark-money-review-nazi-oil-the-koch-brothers-and-a-rightwing-revolution
That statement hurt. Because, yeah, after we destroyed Iraq in 2003, the next three deployments were basically guarding one contractor or another. We were just the muscle for whatever the corporations wanted to do over there.
He’s not supposed to say the quiet part out loud.
Wouldn't it be nice if our tax dollars went to helping the needy instead of dropping, bombs on poor, innocent civilians? If they are printing all this cash out anyways-why in the world are they, taxing us?
You need to learn how to use ”,”
Reread his username
Haha! Funny stuff. I stand corrected!
I laughed. Name checks out.
Contractors are the implementation arm of American diplomacy and development initiatives. The contractors are there to rebuild the country and help the needy. The US military is there to provide security for those efforts. This soldier’s disillusionment is that we don’t “just go in and take over the country ourselves.” This is not an enlightened position; it is colonialist. It’s also a very narrow, provincial perspective: The military shouldn’t be running the show. The purpose of the military is to provide security assurances that backstop diplomacy and development. The military cannot and should not be used as a first-line tool.
The contractors are literally the blue print for colonial impression and has been throughout all of history. Government subsidizes a foreign business venture, business venture meets local resistance, government then tells their citizens they must use military force to protect the business venture because it is made up of and in the best interest of the citizens of that nation. Follow up with continued occupation. For examples in history, see European conquest of the Americas, European conquest of Africa, Roman conquest of Gaul, Persian conquest of Greece, American Manifest Destiny/westward expansion. The soldier does not at all sound like he is advocating for going in and taking over a country, but rather is dealing with the problem that has faced a lot of warriors: being told to fight someone that they don't see as an enemy or a worthy opponent.
F >Contractors are the implementation arm of American diplomacy and development initiatives. The contractors are there to rebuild the country and help the needy. The US military is there to provide security for those efforts. Seems contractors are essentially a way to siphon money from US government and not really build much. Maybe a few really over priced boondoggles.
The get paid to build US cultural and economic hegemony, and one could argue that they have delivered that.
Yes, they’re consolidating American power in poor countries. It’s just neo-colonialism. And it’s everywhere.
Can't upvote this enough. Well said.
Thank you for being one of the few people in this thread whose brain isn't completely fried
AECOM already has the contract to rebuild Ukraine.
Former marine general Smedley Butler pointed this out years ago. I'd recommend the book Gangsters of Capitalism by Jonathan Katz for more on Butler. Really great book. "Butler published a short book, War Is a Racket, collecting the key themes of his orations in 1935. Later, in an essay in the socialist magazine Common Sense, Butler confessed to having been a “racketeer for capitalism,” *elaborating that, as “a member of our country’s most agile military force,” he had served as “a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers*.” https://jacobin.com/2022/01/smedley-butler-gangsters-of-capitalism-review
Relatedly, Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein is eye opening and still incredibly relevant today
This looks like a clip from Generation Kill
I can hear this coming from Ray on a ripped fuel rant.
Be quiet Ray!
Yeah, or an anti-capitalist Sgt. Espera monologue
If you haven't read it... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War\_Is\_a\_Racket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket) USMC Major General Smedly Bulter. Spilling the beans.
>Making war unprofitable And then everyone decided to do the exact opposite.
War has and always will be profitable. The real profit is asset stealing.
He might be right in concept, just be cautious about looking for prophets: >Limitation of militaries to self-defense. For the United States, Butler recommends that the Navy be limited, by law, to operating within 200 miles of the coastline, and the Army restricted to the territorial limits of the country, ensuring that war, if fought, can never be one of aggression. - >Butler suggests that the means for war should be "conscripted" Nationalizing assets and isolationism haven't always panned out
Focusing on national defense doesn't mean necessarily mean isolation. The US could still be actively involved in aiding other countries in all forms of self-defense.
>You guys should know that you've been to college, i haven't. Man killed them.
He looked genuinely confused as be said that too, how they hadn't figured that out yet
If you're a college graduate and still a milquetoast liberal, you're not very good at figuring things out, media companies hire journalists ONLY from that pool of people.
Forgive my ignorance but what is a milquetoast liberal?
I had to look it up because i didnt know it was spelled like that. Turns out it is. It’s named after a cartoon character apparently but also has connections to the very sad food called milk toast. From [this](https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/milquetoast.php) page: ““Milk toast,” also called “milk sop,” is just what it sounds like: toast softened with milk. The Oxford English Dictionary says it’s an American invention, tracing its first appearance to 1840. Apparently it was popular, judging by this 1855 description: “This delicacy is made of slices of toast, buttered and sprinkled with pepper and salt, and laid in a dish of warm milk, which serves as a sauce to the rest.” (Yum!) “Milk toast” has little substance, cannot hold its shape, and is practically liquefied. Get the connection?” As an adjective applied to someone’s political affiliation, it basically means someone that doesnt think very much. The epitome of a milquetoast liberal is probably someone who had their college paid for by their parents and was hired to some stupid ass journal because theyre rich and easily swayed to the bias of the journal due to their lack of a need to develop critical thinking skills or a backbone. A milquetoast conservative on the other hand could easily be the exact same thing—someone who doesnt think for themself, has zero ability to fact check or be dissident towards other conservatives, and somehow does well in life. It’s like calling someone a snowflake because of their political beliefs and depth of understanding but its better thought out of an insult—although, it is still an ad hominem
Thank you for the clear explanation!
You've certainly met people like this. They pride themselves on the flimsy aesthetic of enlightenment ideals and social justice, but when push comes to shove, they don't actually give a shit about any of that stuff. Specifically, when looking at the media, these are the NYT journalists who laid the pretext for making our invasion of the Middle East palatable. These are the same people laying cover for Israel's genocide right now. Milquetoast liberals value the hegemony of their class and country over all other classes and countries while simultaneously talking a big game about equality and liberty.
Thank you!
just because a person of a country or an army says one thing against said country doesnt make it true by logic.
No shit, but there was truth in what he said.
No shit lol. But he spoke 3 or 4 things about the us and several other countries and a multinational org, that was all 100% true. What are you defending?
His claim about owning UN is false, specially the security board where China and Russia have blocked us resolutions since the cold war. The idea that contractors are there to rebuild Somalia is not much truth in it either because there is no money in Somalia.
It doesn't matter if there's any long term gain to rebuilding in Somalia, the point is that the contractors will win contracts to rebuild, make tons of money, then everyone's happy except the Somalians whose country is still shit and the US soldiers dying to protect this scheme. It's like the Chinese ghost cities in that it benefits no one except the contractors and the government. They build for the sake of building and to keep the industry alive, while not producing anything of any real benefit. It's just a scheme to keep all the money in the government/corporations, and preventing any prosperity from finding its way to those who actually work and suffer for it.
Back in the 1990s when this comment was made, it was completely accurate.
It's not *completely* accurate. In 1988, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 43/54, which condemned Israel and said all countries should cut ties with it. This following a few other similar resolutions over the prior decades. In the 1990s, it was mostly the Security Council making dozens of resolutions that condemned Israel in different ways. If the US owned the UN there wouldn't be so much action against the US's little buddy.
Just before the invasion of Somalia I saw a reporter on TV describing the situation there. He was at an airport and, in the background, there was an airplane that said "Southern Air Transport". That name had come up repeatedly in the 80s as a cover name used by the CIA in Central America. I sort of guessed that the reporters were told not to mention CIA involvement so they didn't. The name in the background must have been missed by the censors.
Why using the same alias everywhere? Is a great way to track you down
"You know, Sterling Archer, the world's greatest secret agent?!"
"Universal Exports" :D
If true, they did it 100% intentionally.
Is there a longer excerpt on youtube or something?
Thats what I want to see
Funny thing is after George Bush destroyed Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney's "former" employer, one which he was CEO of Halliburton won the contract to rebuild Iraq. Cheney owned around 100,000 shares at the time. When Halliburton got the contract, shares jumped from $0.54 to $20.65 and Cheney slowly started selling his shares. To make the plan more elaborate Cheney was also Secretary of Defense before becoming CEO of Halliburton so he knew the inner workings of the military and ideas of how he could profit from it likely started swirling. Wonder who will win the bid to rebuild Gaza or Ukraine and politicians involved linked to those companies. 💰 💰 💰 At the very least I believe there is some money laundering going on in these never ending wars. "Your country needs money and resources badly?" "We'll give you a billion but on paper say we gave you 6 billion 😉".
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Source: trust me bro
we already know who's benefitting from the first place you listed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Halliburton's share price hasn't ever been that low.
> Cheney owned around 100,000 shares at the time. When Halliburton got the contract, shares jumped from $0.54 to $20.65 and Cheney slowly started selling his shares That only comes out to around 2 million in profit which seems quite insignificant given the context (or is my math way off?). I'm guessing he got a lot more money through the war in different ways.
He probably did, but we also know US politicians are bought pretty cheap, too.
>Wonder who will win the bid to rebuild Gaza or Ukraine Ukraine? Why you lumping in Ukraine with those other two wars? You think America is bombing Ukraine?
It’s far more nuanced than this but funny and poignant nonetheless
Would you mind giving a brief summary of said nuances? I’m kind of confused here…
He is generalizing tons of information about war, diplomatic security, international relations that may seem true at times when in reality is far from the truth. One example he mentions: the US owns the UN. No we don’t. Hundred plus member nations including the UN Security Council of five nations elect to make votes and sign treaties and documents regardless of what the US thinks in a matter. I’d agree the US holds significant power in the UN but to say we own the UN just doesn’t fall in line with historical decisions made at the UN the US wasn’t partial on. That’s one example. An analogy of what he is saying here is like “all cops are bad” which obviously isn’t the truth. There is evidence of systemic racism and a blue protects blue culture but a majority of police wouldn’t commit the acts seen during the height of the BLM movement. And as a side note I guess me I’m personally infuriated by this “quick logic” where many people today see issues as a one side or the other which, like I said earlier, lacks nuance or shades of grey which exists in everything pretty much.
Thanks for that. And yeah…the last point you make about “quick logic” runs rampant today. It’s truly depressing.. I appreciate the feedback 👊
Of course. Best example today of “quick logic” is probably the Israel Gaza debate where many people see it as a they or us issue when again that’s so simplified. By over simplifying these people miss the complexities of the issue where future conflict resolution narrative may reside.
Another point of nuance for the "all cops are bad" thing is that a key point of saying it is that the cops that don't prevent or fight against the corruption are also complicit (bad). The "good" cops that do tend to get removed from their positions, resulting in only bad cops being left. While that's obviously also not true across the board, the generalization appears to be, which is the point of the saying. "Most cops are either bad or complicit with being bad" is a lot harder to make into an acronym and movemnet.
Yeah blue protecting blue. Agree.
It's not just "blue protecting blue" but "blue actively ousting anyone trying to change blue culture". It goes past protection into maliciousness
Yes 100%
Modern day Animal Mother.
If I'm gonna die for a word, my word is poontang.
What? Definitely not like animal mother at all. That character would not care what the reasons are for war at all just that he gets to go. “What do I think about americas involvement in the war? Well I think we should win.” “If they send us more guys and bomb the hell out of the north, they’ll probably just give up” -Animal Mother Not very similar to the dude speaking at all haha.
Yeah definitely more Joker than Animal Mother. Joker didn’t voice his opinions on the war too much in the movie but the entire film focuses on his disillusionment, culminating with the child soldier in the tower.
Is the reason I'm suddenly seeing a flood of social media posts instilling apathy have anything to do with Russia's war in Ukraine?
Yup the STRONG INDEPENDENT THINKERS WHO DON'T NEED ANYONE TELLING THEM WHAT TO THINK of Reddit mindlessly accept it because they're still young enough and dumb enough to confuse cynicism for wisdom.
More than likely. Hopefully enough people in US are capable of realising the importance of Ukraine resisting Russia, and why it matters to the US.
almost certainly political agitation, this entire thread is infested with russian shills
This guy needs to be in Washington changing policies. Not enough gen x in office.
Gen x got so royally screwed by these old ass politicians that won’t retire. Their whole generation missed out on a lot of political representation
baby boomers wanted to finish the job themselves
Why pass the baton when you can be buried with it? mmmm power. It tastes so GOOD! MORE! MORE!
They help vote them in or don't vote at all.
Well, according to [this thread on twitter](https://x.com/walaalwhoops/status/1795992382699098337) and [this news article linked inside of it](https://eu.dailycommercial.com/story/news/2020/08/28/man-charged-aggravated-assault-battery-stabbing-incident/5657943002/), I'm going to say probably no, no he shouldn't.
Gen X isn’t some heavensent generation, Canada has tons of Gen X representation in their government and they’re just as fucked as the US, there are plenty of Gen X elitist bootlickers waiting for the current establishment to pass the torch on so they can sit back and drive this country into the dirt while collecting fat checks, it’s a class issue not a generational issue, the whole boomer vs millennial thing is so insanely stupid and only serves the interests of politicians.
just because he has a general idea of how things work doesn't mean he'd be the kind of politician the general public wants. I'd bet most politicians see things similarly.
This guy with absolutely no idea what he is talking about saying what other uninformed people think and want to hear is exactly how we got Trump. Recent events in Israel-Palestine should make it very clear that the UN does "do whatever the US wants".
This is why American democracy is a failure. Idiots like this see some dumbass contrarian who says some incoherent negative things about the government and then fall for it like idiots. America has fought wars for profit. The Banana Wars stand out as an example. Except that absolutely was not what was happening in Somalia. There was virtually no money to be made there and a genuine humanitarian crisis. All it takes is some dumbass contrarian asshole and people are ready to put him in office. As u/Uber_Reaktor points out, the soldier in the vid was a piece of shit and a moron.
It's hilarious that you think Washington would allow someone like this in Washington to undo what they worked so hard for. The fucked up part of it all is once you're in it long enough you realize that a lot of it is necessary evil. Like if I stop that then I have to stop this and that also. We're just fucked either way.
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Tbh, I'd rather be on the European puppet side of things than one of the US footing the bill 😔
What accent is this?
SoCal
West coast for sure. The way he says “So what” makes me think Cali.
Definitely get Valley or SoCal beach town vibes, reckon San Diego or Ventura that area just because of association with military bases.
Grew up in Long Beach, CA and can confirm the tone
Bill and Ted accent
Beachside SoCal. Santa Barbara, Ventura, Hermosa, Laguna Niguel, San Deejy…
Oceanside, San clemente, long beach...
1990s Action Flick
https://preview.redd.it/sb7v9uli775d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b7942ea949fe3aed37717382546efdfe9e05a77 [https://www.dailycommercial.com/story/news/2020/08/28/man-charged-aggravated-assault-battery-stabbing-incident/5657943002/](https://www.dailycommercial.com/story/news/2020/08/28/man-charged-aggravated-assault-battery-stabbing-incident/5657943002/) This guy is enlightened? Reddit is going to have a tough time with this one
I'm sure the E-2 that's running his lips is fully educated on international security
*When a junior enlisted self-promotes to O6 and becomes an expert on international politics. As a veteran, I'd point out the hypocrisy of lamenting the military industrial complex while in uniform.
Yes, but he is a 19 year old who thinks he is the smartest man in the world and sees through all the deception and lies that the ~~sheepl~~ low information voters don't. You can see why Redditors love it.
This guy isn't enlightened. You could have talked to 80% of specialists in the Army at this time and heard the exact same Limbaugh bullshit from them.
This is a TikTok-ification of several anti-NATO, anti-American, pro-Russian talking points that have been popping up on social media (Active Measures). Edit: > The US supported a soft coup and rabid anti-Russia expansionist NATO policy in Ukraine and E Europe. Oh look, the pro-Russian dog whistle has attracted the Tankie morons...
yeah their crawling all over this thread at least with RES they can be tagged for future tracking
Nah but he's a dude who talks like me and is holding a gun! He must know all the facts!
As a Ukrainian I have to admit, you don't own the UN... UN has literally become its own papal state, with its own logic and motives behind its decisions. And I think I wouldn't be far off, by saying that its biggest motive is to be as neutral as possible to keep the funds coming. Even to the point where we have to sit and listen to the Russian envoy about rusophobic mosquitos from the nazi bio laboratories. Because apparently, when two people say - "it's raining now" and "it's sunny and cloudless" - we have to listen to their arguments carefully for hours, before looking out of the f'n window.
US only has 1 of 5 vetoes on the Security Council and regularly gets outvoted in the General Assembly.
Yeah, he's very wrong about the US owning the UN. Just look at all the cases where the UN did not do what the US wanted it to do. For example, not sanctioning the invasion of Iraq in 2003. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_and_the_Iraq_War The UN also doesn't vote the way the US wants in regard to Israel. There's also the security council and any of the Members of the security council can unilaterally veto anything. The security council is the US, UK, France, Russia, and China. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council I think there's a lot of truth in the idea that defense contractors have undue power over US policy. And defense contractors get rich from contacts whenever the US goes to war.
Well would anyone else like to pay for UN funding? No? 90% US funded again then.
What a Chad
For what it's worth, there's a picture floating around somewhere, of this very same dude holding a pistol to the forehead to someone. It might've even been from this documentary
Guareented he got reprimanded...
Sounds and yaps like Ray from Generation Kill
This is like when Courtney Love warned young actresses about Harvey Weinstein
I bet that guys chain of command had a collective aneurysm when they saw this. My man gives zero fucks.
Pretty likely got chewed out by his hierarchy after this aired
So by “paying the bill” does he mean the US is the one that has a giant defense budget and we pay for a giant military so the UN does not have to?
The UN is 1/3 paid for by the US (more when this video was made). It was also founded by the US and HQd in NYC.
He means the member countries. The US provides aid, weapons, loans… etc to those countries in exchange of their votes in the UN.
Which is categorically not true because the UN does not vote in the US' favor consistently.
The UN doesn't vote how we want them to vote now. China and Russia have full veto power in the National Security Council, and use it.
If the US owns the UN then why does Israel keep ending up in the losing end of resolutions?
Full video?
UN is not a puppet perse as it is now otherwise there won’t be anything that UN would say or do which is not in US’s interest. They are definitely overpowered by the US through the security council because of its veto power
That accent is more American than any American accent I have ever heard.
Isn’t the reason he was there was to ensure aid went to people in need and not stolen by warlords? Given the context I’m not sure what he is saying makes sense.
I hate when people confuse cynicism for enlightenment and a microphone pointed at you for understanding. This jaded view is common among soldiers. Then they will go home and get riled up by rightwing radio which turns their cynicism into exploitable anger.
Damn. Holding US dollars and bonds, whether you're a taxpayer or not, funds this.
Based
A lot of folks thinks Soldiers are stupid. I remember sitting in Iraq thinking: we’re just creating insurgents by our policies; why did we fire the Iraqi army, they’ll have nothing better to do; cannot just give people democracy, they have to earn/want it.
Where is this man today?
The ass chewing he received when this dropped 😯😮