Profit Over People — The “American” Way

Posted on by under 9/11, Global Issues, History, Political commentary

Sure, go ahead, blame President Biden.  Blame George W. Bush, blame President Obama, blame the former guy … there’s plenty of blame to spread around.  Blame the military advisors who advised Bush and Obama (the former guy took advise from nobody, believing he actually had a functional brain).  Blame your Aunt Mabel for all I care.  The bottom line is that there was only one winner in the entire U.S.-Afghanistan fiasco:  private military contractors.

If you purchased $10,000 of stock evenly divided among America’s top five defense contractors on September 18, 2001 — the day President George W. Bush signed the Authorization for Use of Military Force in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks — and faithfully reinvested all dividends, it would now be worth $97,295.  Not a bad return on investment, eh?  Defense stocks outperformed the stock market overall by 58 percent during the Afghanistan War.  Those top five biggest defense contractors?

  • Boeing – $8.2 billion profit in 2017
  • Lockheed Martin – $2 billion profit in 2017
  • Raytheon – $2 billion profit in 2017
  • Northrop Grumman – $2 billion profit in 2017
  • General Dynamics – $2.9 billion profit in 2017

People’s lives don’t really matter to the CEOs of these companies whose eyes only light up when they see $$$$$$$$$$.  Not Afghani lives, not U.S. or British lives, only profit matters.

It is right and proper that we leave Afghanistan – we never should have gone there in the first place and for damn sure shouldn’t have stayed 20 years, but … all those lovely profits!  How the withdrawal came about and how it was transacted will be questioned for many hears henceforth and fingers will be pointed, blame will be dispersed, and at the end of the day, nothing will have changed.  The U.S. will not have learned a lesson from this, but will continue to display its extreme arrogance in believing that they have all the best solutions and eventually, perhaps sooner than later, there will be another Afghanistan.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing every single defense contractor in bankruptcy by the end of next year and the U.S. defense budget for new military hardware reduced to zero.  I would far rather my tax dollars be spent helping people with such things as education, food, shelter, job training, than spent on killing machines.  However, mine is a humanitarian viewpoint, or one of a snowflake liberal as I’m often told, who cares more about people and animals than I care about profit and power.

30 thoughts on “Profit Over People — The “American” Way”

  1. Pingback: Profit Over People — The “American” Way - FDR DEMOCRATS

  2. You don’t really need an adherent to the argument of Realism of International Politics (that’s a theory not an opinion) hanging around here going on and on and on, depressing or annoying everyone else
    Suffice it to say until everyone around the world is gripped with the twin ideas of ‘turning swords into plowshares’ and ‘agreeing to differ’, an’t gonna happen. If every arms manufacturer, dealer and maintenance went bankrupt folks would go back to pointed sticks and big rocks, until blacksmiths were common again.
    Now if built into every government contract was a clause that the supplier must make available their full and comprehensive ‘books’ to the IRS and the money ring fenced for social works or accountable forgiven aid (none of that just giving it to governments to line their pockets)….well it would be a start.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. What a laughable idea, Jill. (Tongue in cheek!) For the US to stop spending on military contracts? Why, the country would be broke in no time. The people might be fed. The environment might be saved. Even public health might be implemented. But gadzooks, Jill, how would that happen without all the military contractors paying taxes on all those profits they are making?
    What do you mean they are paying no taxes? How could that be? That would mean the poor people of America who are paying their taxes, no loopholes available for them, are the ones supporting all the military spending! But that”s insane! Isn’t it?
    Ah, that’s America, you say? Please say it isn’t so??????????

    Liked by 2 people

    • I think perhaps it’s time for us to revert to a simpler time, say an agrarian society. Those who can learn to grow their own food will survive, those too steeped in the life of luxury … well, sorry ’bout their luck. Cruel? Yes, and also tongue-in-cheek, but think about this for a minute: what if an EMP took out power to the entire nation and it would take years to restore? The technology is there and it could happen. We’ve largely lost our self-sufficiency thanks to technology.

      Like

      • That scenario plays over and over in my head. The biggest losers will be the wealthy, because all their wealth is dependent on electricity. Without it, they eon’t be able to even open the gates to their castles. Those within will stay within. Those without will stay without.
        The rest of us, we won’t have enough seeds to grow our own feed, and there eon’t be enough non-human life to kill to sustain us. Once we kill what we have, there will be no replacements (read baby non-human life)! We will end up eating each other. We will no longer be human…

        Liked by 1 person

  8. I think t herre might just be enough snowflake liberals out here to bring about an early Christmas for all the hungry, the homeless and the refugees if only someone (Politicians note) cared to listen to us.We’re definitely putting the wrong people into power.
    Cwtch

    Liked by 1 person

    • Sigh. Yes, but you said the magic phrase: “If only someone cared to listen …” The politicians talk right over the top of us, responding to what we say before it’s even out of our mouths! They convince their base that we somehow want to rob them of their ‘rights’ and … well, the rest is history. Yes, we’re definitely putting the wrong people into power … our nation lacks sufficiently well-educated people to see through the politicians lies, so they believe their empty promises. Sigh.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.