Prevailing Culture

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 14:34 - 0 Comments

WAR! A Ploy by the Rich to become Richer

Don’t forget what I discovered that over ninety percent of all national deficits from 1921 to 1939 were caused by payments for past, present, and future wars.
–Franklin D. Roosevelt

In 1961, the late President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Supreme Military Commander of Allied Armed Forces during World War ll–coined the phrase–“Military Industrial Complex.” The term was first mentioned in his farewell address to the American people.

The entire content of his speech was nothing less than a stern warning to the American people that a menace had taken root and was preparing to take control of the nations destiny.

His words were not heeded and what he foretold has come to horrific fruition. His enclosed video taped address(further down) is a segment from the award winning documentary Why We Fight.

An article entitled “The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex” came to me by way of Bruce Gagnon who is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.

The article, complete with graphs and charts follows my brief commentary. The article contrasts quotes from President Eisenhower’s speech with the current state of affairs. Eisenhower was not Supreme Allied Commander of Allied Forces because of his looks. He was a brilliant man who had developed enough conscience to expose a menace he had unwittingly become part of.

A trend, he warned, that if left unchecked would grow into what it is today.  The success of the Military Industrial Complex has meant the decay of society, environmental ruin, the failure of unregulated capitalism and the literal destruction of entire nations.

“As we peer into society’s future, we — you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow.

We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow”. – Dwight D. Eisenhower  1961 farewell address. Continue…