Wars: The big business (Part II and final)

Part I

Does war make money?

I already mentioned it in the previous post and with this, I start again: War is very lucrative on an economic level, exaggeratedly lucrative, and nations understand that very well.

If we go to science fiction, we can know that the reality on which certain authors were based far exceeds what they captured in comics, books, and even on the big screen.

According to this website, Tony Stark's (Iron Man to his friends) fortune is around 12.4 billion dollars, and certainly, the biggest income of his company Stark Industries comes precisely from armament. And although it is fiction, and a modest sum for what is generated in reality, it gives us an idea of how lucrative the arms business is.

But now, back to reality, for the year 2018, the arms industry generated no more and no less than 420 billion dollars, when there was no air of war as in the past.

Hollywood captured in a brilliant way how this industry moves in a certain aspect when it released "War Dogs", a movie starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller; who played arms dealers, taking advantage of U.S. policies that allow private companies to acquire military contracts, and believe me, it is very lucrative.

The film is based on Guy Lawson's book "Arms and the Dudes", and is set in the conflicts in Iraq.

Knowing all this, and outside of the horribleness of war, there are industries that actually benefit from the continuation of such conflicts... ruthless, but very lucrative, that's human nature.

The agenda is busy elsewhere.

It's obvious for me to say it, but I'm still going to say it. We have been in a pandemic, something like two years, and to return to normality, many countries of the first world already consider this matter to be overcome. The problem is that, well, when there is light at the end of the tunnel, a certain president of a certain (world) health organization announces things to alarm the population, but we will dedicate another post to him some other time.

What I want to get to is that, with everything that is happening, the pandemic issue has taken a back seat in literally all the media, so we are being flooded with information of all kinds regarding the current conflict. Information coming from both sides, seeking to prove who is right and who is wrong, debating, assuming what impact it will have on their respective countries, even though thousands of miles of distance separate them from the problem.

Nothing else has been talked about in the days that have passed, so I fear that an excess of information will generate mass disinformation. This can be considered as another type of war, and it is the war of those who are in charge of showing the events through a screen, but they are so biased media, that we really do not know for sure why things are happening, fortunately, in the era of social networks, we can be a little more independent, and at least we can decide what to believe.

Final thoughts

You don't have to be a genius to say it, but war is the worst scenario. It does not suit us, the price to pay is very high, and I wish so much that at some point, human lives stop being the bargaining chip over there in the old continent. No one deserves to live such traumatic experiences.

We are fragile, but to want to pursue such ruthless interests in a small nation makes you wonder where we are headed. I really hope that there is a peaceful resolution and that those who are blinded by power simply cannot achieve their ruthless goals.

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Lead image by Kris Møklebust on Pexels