War for Profit - Module 4

War for Profit - Module 4

In chapter 5, A Kind of Revolution, of Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States Volume I:  American Beginnings to Reconstruction, he clearly demonstrates the class structure of not only the Revolutionary leadership but of colonial militia as well.  “The Continental Congress, which governed the colonies through the war, was dominated by rich men...”  (Zinn 63).  

The Revolutionary leadership had difficulty in mobilizing the lower classes because they lacked enthusiasm, they resorted to “...offering the adventure and rewards of military service to get poor people to fight for a cause they may not see clearly as their own.”  (Zinn 61)  When they finally did succeed in enlisting individuals from the lower class, such Revolutionary fighters were given lower ranks and were not paid.  

War was profitable during the Revolution; wherein the Revolutionary leaders enriched themselves and their wealthy friends with land confiscated from those who fled and the Native Americans.  War is still profitable with politicians and their special interests groups today.  A glaring example would be Halliburton Corporation, a war contractor for the Iraqi war who former Vice-President Dick Cheney was CEO.  “After Cheney became vice-president, Halliburton benefited from its former association with the vice-president. It received more than $18.5 billion, including a famous no-bid $7 billion contract for oil infrastructure work in Iraq...Contrary to Cheney's claims that he has no financial associations with Halliburton, financial disclosures reportedly showed that Cheney had continued to receive a deferred salary from Halliburton up to 2004.”   (Gulf News, para 9)

War profiteers remain the same now as they did back during the Revolutionary war. High powered politicians using their positions to make their personal wealth, and that of their friends, flourish from the sacrifices of the less fortunate.

Works Cited
Zinn, Howard.  “A People’s History of the United States Volume I:  American Beginnings to Reconstruction.”  The New Press.  New York: 2003

“Profiting form the Iraq War.”  Gulf News. 14 July 2008, ABI/INFORM.  Trade & Industry.  ProQuest. Web. 5 Jul. 2011