Country Quote by Sinclair Lewis
“You've been telling us about how to secure peace, but come on, now, General-just among us Rotarians and Rotary Anns-'fess up! With your great experience, don't you honest, cross-your-heart, think that perhaps-just maybe-when a country has gone money-mad, like all our labor unions and workmen, with their propaganda to hoist income taxes, so that the thrifty and industrious have to pay for the shiftless ne'er-do-weels, then maybe, to save their lazy souls and get some iron into them, a war might be a good thing? Come on, now, tell your real middle name, Mong General!”
About This Quote
Source Novel: It Can't Happen Here, 1935
The speaker satirically suggests war might be justified when economic policies harm the industrious, exposing hypocrisy in political rhetoric.
In simple terms: War is absurdly proposed as a solution to economic grievances.
Key Takeaway
Question the logic behind war as a fix.
Themes
war
economics
politics
satire
hypocrisy
Mood
critical
ironic
Type
political
satirical
When to use this quote
- public debates
- policy analysis
- historical study
- media commentary
Key Concepts
Political manipulation
social justice
class conflict
Questions to Reflect On
- When do leaders use war to distract from policy failures?
- What alternatives exist to address economic inequality?
A Different Perspective
War rarely solves underlying economic issues.
![“That country [Carthage] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws; and every step of intestine discord was marked by some deplorable victory of savage man over civilized society.” quote by Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/70c/edward-gibbon-710_barbarism_that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinkin_393.jpg)
