What President and General Eisenhower said about
War Profiteering?
"...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." From President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address,
January 17, 1961
We definitely need a strong military with the necessary weapons,
training and discipline to carry out an appropriate foreign policy that
protects our nation. There are also many things that we don't need.
What can we, as citizens do? We can first become informed. Here are
some issues to explore and discuss with your friends and neighbors.
Non-confrontational discussions can be very effective. Be sure to listen
well and express doubts about your own conclusions. People don't
listen to know-it-alls, like your brother-in-law. (Use Google or your
own favorite search engine.)
1. Do we need next generation fighter jets, a 50-year program, that
cost trillions of dollars while no potential enemy is building any
comparable planes? Pilotless drones can now or will be able to outmaneuver any piloted fighter jet and these drones cost a small fraction
of what the newest piloted jets cost. Google: "Do we need the F-35?"
Google: F-35 vs. Drones (no quotes) Read both sides of the arguments
presented. If you understand both sides of an issue, it empowers you
to present a better case. Maybe we are building f-35s just because
components of the planes are made in every congressional district that
provides good jobs, votes and campaign contributions for our
members of Congress who, in return, vote funds for these projects.
Does the term ‘pork' come to mind? Google: "War Profiteering and
Congress" Google: F-22
2. Should we restrict the ability of special interests to use any amount
of money to control our government, elections and the media? Google:
"Citizens United", Google: should there be limits on media ownership?
(No quotes)
3. Do we need to reform campaign finance laws? Our congressional
leaders spend most of their time campaigning for donations while not
really listening to us. They should instead be doing their jobs in
Washington, D.C. Google: "Campaign Finance Reform"
4. Do we need to become better educated about what is really going
on at home and around the world? Our major media sources have
pretty much abandoned real news and have dumbed us down into
consumers of trivia with the sole purpose of getting us to buy stuff
that we really don't need. Google: "dumbing down media"
5. We need jobs here in America that support a sustainable future, not
jobs making weapons that come back and are too often used against
us. Google: Keeping jobs here in America (no quotes)
6. Should we close the revolving door of military brass, politicians and
government employees from becoming lobbyists for industry after
leaving service? We should prevent them from using the skills and
connections learned while in the service to our country against the
best interests of our nation. Google: revolving door politics pros and
cons (no quotes)
7. Do war toys and video games contribute to a warrior mentality and
make wars more acceptable to the American public? Google: effect of
war toys (no quotes)
8 Google: "Overseas contingency operations" (Ever heard of this one?)
9. Google: "What does a trillion dollars look like?"
10. Google: "is Congress soft on defense?"
11. Google: "Upgrade of U.S. nuclear weapons"
12. Google: "Do we need the "Strategic Defense Initiative?"
13. Google: "How many nuclear submarines do we really need?" (No
quotes)
14. Google: "Cost of new submarines"
What did Eisenhower have to say about sustainability?
"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
asking 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."
As Ike and many of our other leaders have said, we must reduce our
dependence upon dwindling resources. We have to look at bigger
issues and learn about the threats to our own human survival.
If human life on our planet is really in danger, America could lead by
example and with diplomacy to get the nations of the world to join
together to address this common threat. Google: "Pentagon and
Climate Change" (Even the Pentagon is aware of this issue.)
MORE:
Google: "impact of animal agriculture on the environment" (no quotes)
Google: "Are biofuels a good way to reduce our dependence on fossil
fuels?"
Google: "are biofuels good?"
Google: "Can we feed the hungry?
Google: "hunger and animal agriculture"
Google: "US effect on world hunger"
Google: "who controls energy prices?"
Compiled by Costsofwars.org