War is hugely profitable. It creates so much money because it's

Hear, O seeker of truth, the unflinching words of Roger Waters, musician and prophet of conscience: “War is hugely profitable. It creates so much money because it's so easy to spend money very fast. There are huge fortunes to be made. So there is always an encouragement to promote war and keep it going, to make sure that we identify people who are 'others' whom we can legitimately make war upon.” These words pierce the illusions of patriotism and glory, revealing war not as a noble enterprise but as a vast machine of profit, fueled by fear and the blood of the innocent.

The origin of this thought lies in the bitter observation of the modern world, where empires are not only guarded by soldiers but by corporations, contractors, and financiers. Waters, as an artist and critic, looked upon the endless cycle of conflicts—Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond—and saw a dark pattern. Wars were not only fought for security or ideology, but because they provided an opportunity for immense profit. Tanks, bombs, uniforms, oil, and reconstruction—all became channels through which wealth flowed upward, while the poor paid in flesh and grief.

History bears witness to this grim truth. During the First World War, arms manufacturers grew rich while soldiers died in trenches. It was called the “war to end all wars,” yet in reality it paved the way for even greater conflicts, in part because the industries that profited from war did not vanish when peace returned. In the Second World War, the economies of great nations were transformed by the production of weapons, and many fortunes were built from contracts that supplied the instruments of death. War became not only a battlefield, but a marketplace.

Waters also speaks of the creation of the “other”—the enemy figure constructed so that war can be justified. Throughout history, rulers have found it useful to point to a people, a faith, a nation, and declare: “They are the threat, they are the danger.” By dehumanizing the other, by painting them as less than human or as monstrous, war can be waged without conscience. Recall the propaganda of the Nazis against Jews, the caricatures of Japanese during the Second World War, or the labeling of entire nations as “axes of evil” in more recent times. The “other” is the fuel of endless war.

The deeper meaning of Waters’s words is that greed and fear walk hand in hand. War allows greed to flourish because fear silences the voice of reason. When people are afraid, they will allow leaders to spend vast sums on destruction, to enrich a few while burdening the many. And when the profits of war are great, there will always be voices whispering for new enemies, new conflicts, new excuses to unleash the machine again. Thus war is not only a failure of peace—it is a business model sustained by human weakness.

What lesson, then, must we take from this bitter truth? It is this: be vigilant when war is promoted. Ask who profits, who gains wealth or power from the conflict. Question the creation of enemies—are they truly threats, or are they convenient scapegoats to justify profit and control? Do not be swept away by the drums of war, for behind them may stand those who value gold above lives. Recognize that to resist war is not cowardice, but courage—the courage to demand justice, truth, and peace in a world where profiteers thrive on chaos.

Therefore, O listener, remember Roger Waters’s warning: war is profitable, and so it will always be encouraged. But if you, and many like you, refuse to believe the lies, if you refuse to see others as enemies simply because you are told to, then the merchants of war will find their market diminished. Live with empathy, with discernment, with the courage to challenge the voices that profit from division. For in breaking the cycle of profit and fear, you strike at the very heart of the machine that keeps war alive.