War - a source of revenue for the wealthy
PRIMARY DOCUMENTS: "The Conquest of the United States by Spain." William Graham Sumner, Yale Law Journal, January 1899
War: A Source of revenue for the wealthy!
This journal founded in our "Primary Documents" packet includes a few thought provoking elements of war, and who it really benefits. Graham states that: "In that war militarism, expansion and imperialism will all favor plutocracy(govt by the wealthy)." He furthermore, discusses how war distracts the common people from holding the "plutocrats" and the government officials accountable for how and where they are spending the public dollars.
In essence, William Graham lays out the entire structure of how wars and military expansions benefit the wealthy, and allow them the opportunity to exploit the weaker. He says "....they (plutocrats) will call for a large public debt and taxes (during the war), and these things especially tend to make men unequal, because any social burdens bear more heavily on the weak than on the strong...." So it clearly argues that war and expansion is not always for the betterment of another country, but rather an entire process orchestrated to benefit ONLY the rich.
I clearly agree with William Graham's entire idea of how war "weakens the weak." Today, in the 21st century our Media and Press is often lobbied to present a certain type of news in order to provoke wars, so that "a few" men can benefit from that country's resources. It is almost impossible, looking at the amount of resources and benefits that one can gets from a war, that the wars are solely ignited to propel peace and democracy. Unfortunately, we don't have leaders like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, who would evaluate the cost of war through the eye's of a common man.
"In order for the War to be just, the mind must be completely Objective, however, it is humanely impossible to be Objective - which makes war unjust!" Faraz H. Kayani
War: A Source of revenue for the wealthy!
This journal founded in our "Primary Documents" packet includes a few thought provoking elements of war, and who it really benefits. Graham states that: "In that war militarism, expansion and imperialism will all favor plutocracy(govt by the wealthy)." He furthermore, discusses how war distracts the common people from holding the "plutocrats" and the government officials accountable for how and where they are spending the public dollars.
In essence, William Graham lays out the entire structure of how wars and military expansions benefit the wealthy, and allow them the opportunity to exploit the weaker. He says "....they (plutocrats) will call for a large public debt and taxes (during the war), and these things especially tend to make men unequal, because any social burdens bear more heavily on the weak than on the strong...." So it clearly argues that war and expansion is not always for the betterment of another country, but rather an entire process orchestrated to benefit ONLY the rich.
I clearly agree with William Graham's entire idea of how war "weakens the weak." Today, in the 21st century our Media and Press is often lobbied to present a certain type of news in order to provoke wars, so that "a few" men can benefit from that country's resources. It is almost impossible, looking at the amount of resources and benefits that one can gets from a war, that the wars are solely ignited to propel peace and democracy. Unfortunately, we don't have leaders like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, who would evaluate the cost of war through the eye's of a common man.
"In order for the War to be just, the mind must be completely Objective, however, it is humanely impossible to be Objective - which makes war unjust!" Faraz H. Kayani
posted by faraz kayani at 9:26 PM
1 Comments:
An interesting discussion. Sumner was an important intellectual of the late 19th century. Did we become like the Spanish in our conquest of our "new possssions"? Does Sumner make the label of Imperialism stick?
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