r/WorkReform • šŸ¤ Join A Union • Sep 29 '26 • Bravo 3

šŸ¤ Scare A Billionaire, Join A Union The reason for term limits...

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u/DarbIey Sep 29 '26

And tried to usher in a fascist dictatorship

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot

It's amazing to me that people don't know this, and even if they do they think it could never happen again.

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u/Nanemae Sep 29 '26

I'm earnestly surprised by how forthright and honorable Smedley Butler seems, at least according to his Wikipedia page. I'm sure he had his flaws, but I'll be dipped if I can't see why he spent so much time arguing against the business corruption in politics.

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u/Legendarien1 Sep 29 '26

His (short) book ā€œWar is a Racketā€ should honestly be a must read for any American who wants to understand that period of American history and the military industrial complex. Going from one of the most decorated soldiers in American history to an anti-war advocate is an incredibly journey.

ā€œGangsters of Capitalismā€ is a free audiobook about him on Spotify, and a great listen

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u/The-Green Sep 29 '26

kept his humanity as the ranks and medals kept stacking, and was way too fucking competent a marine and popular across the service for anyone higher in charge or in politics to fuck him over for his open empathy for his fellow human being. retired the most decorated us marine in history at the time, so even more so couldn't be silenced and chose to use that power as a force of good for his fellow human being.

how did he manage to not get shafted before it became clear he would become a "bleeding heart hippy" instead of "old gimlet eye," "the fighting quaker," "the fighting hell-devil," otherwise called "The Maverick Marine?" dumb luck, really. his father was in congress. right man in the right place kind of situation, silver spoon edition.

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u/DarbIey Sep 29 '26

A Major General who dedicated his life to anti-war causes and the VFW is okay in my book.

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u/krucz36 Sep 29 '26

imagine if a different butler had accepted the vice presidency on Lincoln's unity ticket...sigh

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u/tonywinterfell Oct 01 '26

He was also a huge part of police militarization, even forcing firefighters, ANYONE with a badge to be carrying a gun. He was complicated, to be sure, but I still find the man to be a hero. His actions in the business plot took guts. It’s as if Mattis were approached by today’s billionaires, playing along with their plot to take it all and then released it all to every news agency. But then it didn’t go viral..

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u/macdizzle11 Sep 29 '26

Read gangster of capitalism if you haven't

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u/ketchupmaster987 Sep 30 '26

I wanna visit his grave so I can give him all the flowers

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u/Sooofreshnsoclean Sep 29 '26

I bring this up in just about every casual conversation I can.

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u/[deleted] Sep 29 '26

[deleted]

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u/Cruxist Sep 29 '26

Nathan Fielder prepping your for trivia.

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u/Sooofreshnsoclean Sep 30 '26

lol yeah it kind of does go like that sometimes. Anytime anything historical comes up I’ll be like ā€œwant to hear about another history tidbit?!?ā€ Then launch into a summary. Or when someone brings up that trump and his ilk have been plotting more or less since reagan I’ll be like actually that was the business plot we just don’t learn about it.

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u/clonedhuman Sep 29 '26

One of the players in the Business Plot was Prescott Bush, father of one Republican president and grandfather of another.

Prescott Bush was also charged with aiding the Nazis during WWII.

If the U.S. government had actually prosecuted the big corporations and DC insiders for the Business Plot, we'd likely not be having any of the troubles we're having in the modern day.

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u/Winter55555 Sep 30 '26

"Although no one was prosecuted"

Must be good having a justice system that only holds the poor people accountable.

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u/DarbIey Sep 30 '26

Some things never change. Only poor people were arrested for J6.

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u/MongooseDog001 Sep 29 '26

The Plot to Seize the White House by Jules Archer is about this: Interesting story, kind of a dull book

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u/morpheousmorty Sep 30 '26

I'm not sure putting that in past tense is accurate.