Milo Minderbinder and Capitalism in War

In the novel Catch-22, Milo Minderbinder is an officer from Minnesota that eventually takes over the kitchen as well as trade of the Mediterranean sea. Milo has three chapters in the novel that are dedicated to showcasing his enterprise M&M (stands for Milo & Minderbinder) and the effect that it has on trade all across Europe.

“The Syndicate” as Milo calls it, is a business that he started where he would take military funds to buy items, ranging from eggs to whisky to cotton, and than sell them to himself, and than buy them again using military funds. On paper, his deals were amazing because it looked like he was loosing money his items were so cheap. In fact, Milo is just equal parts genius and insane making money off of himself because whats good for him is good for the syndicate. While reading these chapters I quickly understood what Joseph Heller was getting at with the syndicate subplot. Milo Minderbinder is a profit chasing capitalist with no morals, much like most American businessmen and their companies. The free market in America combined with military contracts for private corporations turns war into a business of making money, with little regard to whats actually happening. In the climax of Milo’s syndicate it is revealed that he has contracts with the Germans too because “everyone has a share”. Milo and his employee’s bomb their own air strip, killing men, and enraging the country. Citizens and government officials called for punishment, but all stopped when he showed how much money he made off the deal. Milo Minderbinder takes advantage of both friend and foe all just to make a little money, doesn’t that sound familiar.