War Profiteers

Now that I have run across some discussions about Spinning and Cracking the Codes and Framing and other concepts of some supposed right wing conspiracy to control peoples minds, I have thought more about how the left/liberals also try to manipulate conversations also. So when watching Olbermann's Special Comment on "Sacrifice" (Jan. 2, 2007) I could not help but notice all the spinning of information. The one that struck out at me was "War Profiteer". I know we often hear this term but what is so bad about Profits? Can other industries not claim the same desire to create profits out of misery?
First what is War Profiteer:

A war profiteer is any person or organization that makes profits from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term has strongly negative implications. War Profiteer

Now let's think about profiteers of bad things:
Death Profiteer
well this category is too big!!! There are morgues and funeral parlors and caskets and a bunch of other products for deceased people.
Sickness Profiteer
Well before death then we have institutions that take care of the sick and dying, and most notably hospitals. Don't they get paid no matter if the patient lives or dies? When you think about it that way then we have to wonder what their incentive is to do good?
Accident Profiteer
All I can say is Maaco.
Overweight Profiteer
Can anyone say "WeightWatchers"?
Baby Killer Profiteer
Yes we are talking about abortion.
Drug Profiteer
Rehab centers are usually not free.
Clogged Drains Profiteer
Roto Rooter.
Ugliness Profiteer
And no plastic surgery is cheap!
Porno Profiteer
Yes, we can all ask to have that put out of business. But if history taught us anything prohibition does not work.

Well I am sure there are hundreds more.

But you may say you are using the standard definition and not what we really mean. So we need more defining:

Furthermore, one can distinguish passive war profiteers from active war profiteers:
* Passive war profiteers make profits from a war without influencing the duration and/or outcome of a war.
* Active war profiteers, in addition to making profits from a war, have a vital interest in starting and prolonging wars in order to make or increase their profits. Basil Zaharoff's Vickers Company sold weapons to all the parties involved in the Chaco War.

So most of the Profiteering is the passive type as I have suggested in this post. And clearly the left is not referring to selling to both sides. Although weapons may end up on both sides of a conflict the USA would be mighty upset if it was doing it at the same time. Because at various times we have traded with nearly every country in arms and weapons but the USA government will issue a retraction if the situation warrants.

Now with my liberal rose colored glasses on I could see how they could see the USA has had War Profiteers try to get us into war. But don't we also have Peace Profiteers that would benefit more from peace than war. Including that most markets do not like war (Stocks, Housing...).

PS:

hank_F_M said...
Funny!!!!!!!!!!

Of course there is nothing wrong with profits.

But actually “war profiteer” when not being used as polemical mud, usually refers to people or organizations who take advantage of a sellers market in war time to make a profit several times above the return on investment for equivalent non-war investments or to companies that deliver below standard murendise. Both can be a plague on a war effort. Which is why military organizations have been shifting (until the last decade or so) to doing as much logistics possible in house. It’s obligated to show up when needed and does not renegotiate price with the enemy at the gates.

The current left wing practice of revitalizing all terms, so that in this case compnies that provide good service with at reasonable prices get lumped in with scum destroys important distinctions that make reasonable discussion imposable, and punishes the innocednt with the guilty.
1/05/2007 9:23 PM

That was my point that words are used beyond what the original intentions are in the word(s). Although, even extra ordinary profits only tend to be temporary (in a free market) and tell other business to shift resources to the production of more valuable (as society deems it) products.