Wall Street has always been War Street

Mickey Z writes that Wall Street has always been War Street.

The pursuit of profit long ago transcended national borders and well… anything resembling justice, community, solidarity, or morality.

He stresses that:

Please allow me to repeat: Wall Street has always been War Street.

Calling war "possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, sure the most vicious" racket of all, infamous U.S. Marine Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler declared (back in the 1930s): "It is the only [racket] in which profits are reckoned in dollars and losses in lives … I spent 33 years being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism."

This is the same General Smedley who was approached by a group of US businessmen to stage a coup against the US Government of FDR. The subsequent Congressional inquiry supported his allegations, but no action was taken against either the general or the businessmen involved.

The examples given by Mickey Z. also reflect on the lawlessness of corporations during the Second World War. The class nature of the state is revealed. The state serves the ruling class.

This is why reformism ultimately fails. The state cannot be reformed against the interests of the ruling class.