"What if they gave a war and nobody came?" Topic

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That's gotta be a +1 on incentive!

Brecht was quite right, of course, but I don't imagine him supporting the US side of many conflicts since 1945.

That is a point of view.

Think of all of the sutlers and campfollowers that would be out of business. And they say War is bad business!

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

from Tommy by R. Kipling

I've a lot more us for soldiers (sailors airmen coasties and marines) then I have for people who get rich off of them.

Brecht was hauled before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Hollywood Red scare. He left the US to live and die in East Germany. Although he died in '56, that seems to sum up Brechts point of view.

Interesting. I had never thought about who coined that particular expression.

Was it original to Brecht though, or did he use an existing saying as the opening line of his poem?

Dewell, that's really interesting, thanks.
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Tim

I just put that on my office door. I work with quite a few people that will be taken aback at what the entire poem says. Quite a few post modern hippies in the building.

I've always found it interesting that Mr. Brecht answered that question.

When war was declared…he fled; ironically to the United States.

He fled Germany when Hitler rose to power, when war broke out he was long gone. He did serve briefly, he was drafted into the Kaisers army in 1918, but he wasn't an enthusiastic soldier. He didn't like the army militarizing his friends.

Why is this in Utter Drivel?

Actually, he fled first to Denmark, thence to Sweden (when war came) then (then fearing war was following him) onward to Finland and ultimately the US.

He voted with his feet. As an alternative travel destination he might have chosen say, London in '41.