It is brave to hold against what one might call intelligence if doing so conforms to the zeitgeist and stupid when it runs counter to it.

Bret, the author of ACOUP, goes in to a lot more detail here:

https://acoup.blog/2021/01/29/collections-the-universal-warr...

Many actions that are individually intelligent can be collectively disastrous.

War is a racket. Smedley Butlers word have aged like fine wine.

Generally true. Unfortunately, "don't cooperate with racketeers" is not always a viable strategy.