#president-eisenhower — Public Fediverse posts

Eisenhower warned us 65 years ago…Is it too late?

Source: instagram.com

In his farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the nation of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. If anyone could or should have been aware of these dangers, it was the former commander of the Allied forces during World War II. Listed below are four key quotes from this speech:

“Our military organization today bears little relation to tha known by any of my predecessors in peacetime.”

“The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience [in 1961]. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government.”

“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 without peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

– SOURCE: blog.ucs.org

President Eisenhower’s concerns about the military-industrial complex have become painfully true in past six and a half decades and were likely accelerated by fear following September 11th. Now, with the ballooning wealth and influence of billionaires and the advent of artificial intelligence, the military-industrial complex expands ever further through quasi-military power being applied to immigration, border patrol, customs, drug-enforcement, and other Federal departments/agencies.

Source: Facebook.com per the World Bank and does not include quasi-military spending nor does it include separate funding for wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and elsewhere.

Without some form of backbone from Congress, the courts, a free press, and yes the voters, this trajectory will likely continue unabated. As a result, we will see even more unconscionable amounts of money directed to the military-industrial complex instead of health care, child care, housing, food stamps, and many other programs designed to make our lives better, safer, and healthier.

But, instead we spend, spend, and spend on weapons of death and then use them like an angry child because our policies/beliefs are not convincing enough. Frankly, any government that willfully bombs elementary schools and/or hospitals (regardless of the reason) is illegitimate and immoral.

Graves being dug outside bombed girls elementary school in Minab – Source: instagram.com

If safeguards are not employed vigorously by those with the authority to do so – Congress, the courts, the press, and the voting public, the military-industrial complex will likely collapse upon its bloated self in a self-destructive feeding frenzy spurred by hate, distrust, egoism, self-interest, and paranoia.

Regardless, the continuously escalating military-industrial complex is scary to observe taking place in real time. Let us hope for a return to some semblance of sanity amongst humanity before it’s too late.

Peace!

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