What does a capitalist businessman (as opposed to a mixed-economy profiteer) have to gain from wars?
A businessmen gains nothing by having his property taxed away to pay for a war, only a power-seeking bureaucrat does. Thus, the businessman in a capitalist country opposes wars. The only men who benefit from wars are those with political pull, who gain their wealth through extortions from their fellow men through the power of government. Whatever these looters are they are not businessmen — they gain their wealth by political favors, and not through competition in the free-market. Their wealth is gained through coercion and extortion of their fellow citizens.
