Death Dealers, War Profiteers, Merchants of Death—The business of suffering—Ashes Ashes #79
Channel: Stop Fossil Fuels
Date: 2019-07-04

Merchants of Death. War Profiteers. Death Dealers. These are the people who fan the flames of war to transmute human suffering into profit. They play one nation against another to sell to both sides. Although the international community condemned these actors as conspirators in the tensions leading up to WWI, no policy effectively curbed their influence.

In fact, such is the clout of wealth and power accumulated through arms deals that these merchants of death now litter the administrations of our governments’ institutions. Their presence is felt in the profligate overspending that results in $10,000 toilet seats for military cargo planes, it is seen in the constant rebuke of humanitarian law, and it is revealed through the habits of our politicians who espouse ideals of democracy and freedom while pedaling billions of dollars of weapons into regions rife with human rights abuse and violent conflict.

As our world clings ever more desperately to life, it seems our leaders can think of nothing but death.

Podcast by Ashes Ashes, reposted under CC License. Browse episode resources & read full transcript at https://ashesashes.org/blog/episode-79-death-dealers

Stop Fossil Fuels researches and disseminates effective strategies and tactics to halt fossil fuel combustion as fast as possible. Learn more at https://stopfossilfuels.org

CHAPTERS
15:05 Economy of War
25:52 Basil Zaharoff
34:53 European disagreement over Saudi arms exports
39:05 America says no
40:40 Do we sell arms to human rights abusers?
48:50 Is there an economic benefit to arms exports?
53:34 Costs not included in economic figures
1:00:09 Things that maybe should not be a business
1:04:19 What enables notorious Merchants of Death?