Look at the graph below. What does it show?
The United States clearly leads the rest of the world in military spending. The US spends as much as the next eleven nations combined. Why? I can think of no other logical reason than that it is extremely profitable. I understand the arguments to the contrary, that the US must face down the growing threat of Russia and China, that the US is the world's first sole superpower and must protect that position, and that there exists existential threats out in the world that must be confronted. All of these are invalid. The US generates enemies through its wanton warmongering. And by creating enemies, the justification for increased military (or, at least, continuing) spending is rationalized.
President Eisenhower was right. As he warned Americans during his 1961 farewell address to the nation, the biggest threat to the Republic lay within its own borders: a collusion between Congress, corporate leaders of the arms industries, and American military leaders. He called this collusion the military-industrial complex. He had originally was going to use the term "congressional-military-industrial complex," but felt that it was too unwieldy and thus shortened it. But, it is important to understand that Congress is part-and-parcel of this cabal.
He wrote:
Am I yielding to a conspiracy theory? Hardly. Eisenhower was not a fool and his experiences with the CIA, e.g. the 1954 coup in Guatemala, sobered him to the realities of who held power in Washington D.C.
We are living Eisenhower's nightmare.
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President Eisenhower was right. As he warned Americans during his 1961 farewell address to the nation, the biggest threat to the Republic lay within its own borders: a collusion between Congress, corporate leaders of the arms industries, and American military leaders. He called this collusion the military-industrial complex. He had originally was going to use the term "congressional-military-industrial complex," but felt that it was too unwieldy and thus shortened it. But, it is important to understand that Congress is part-and-parcel of this cabal.
He wrote:
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations.
Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Am I yielding to a conspiracy theory? Hardly. Eisenhower was not a fool and his experiences with the CIA, e.g. the 1954 coup in Guatemala, sobered him to the realities of who held power in Washington D.C.
We are living Eisenhower's nightmare.
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