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Title: A Quick Thought On America’s Useless Trillion Dollar Military Industrial Complex
Source:
Investment Watch Blog
URL Source: http://www.investmentwatchblog.com/ ... r-military-industrial-complex/
Published: May 2, 2018
Author: Chris Black
Post Date: 2018-05-04 20:34:13 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 4103
Comments: 21
America is a country drowning in debt, slowly but surely, and the United States’ trillion dollar (annually) military-industrial complex, as Eisenhower put it more than half a century ago, is part of our national disaster. Before going all MAGA on me, just answer this question: when was the last time the US military defended the homeland? The answer is pretty simple if you know your history: in 1945. The sad truth is that the United States has world’s largest (and best funded) army, yet realistically speaking, it has no (military) enemies. No nation on Earth even comes close to having the capabilities of invading the US, and no desire to do so, or at least that’s how I view the world in 2018. Again, realistically speaking, the US military would do just fine with 20% of its actual budget. Here cometh another red-pill for my regular readers, if I have one: our soldiers are not noble chevaliers protecting freedom and democracy world-wide. Just like all soldiers throughout history, GI Joes are immoral and obedient killers. Seriously, just think about it: our drone operators, special ops ubermensch and jet fighter pilots, which are currently bombing and killing in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and wherever, know they are murdering civilians in the process, yet they don’t actually care, because mercenaries are paid to do just that. And this is the real nature of any army, not just ours. Glamorizing the military is just another way of feeding people’s pack instinct, also known as patriotism. The truth is, the military industrial complex is our worst enemy, as it provides almost zero benefits to the American people, while doing great damage to the country. Remember the recent wars: Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria: all cost hugely both in terms of lives and taxpayers money, yet provided no benefit for the American people. And just think about the enormous cost of our military paraphernalia, which doesn’t do squat for Americans nor for America. Do you feel safer on the street because we have the F-35 stealth jet-fighter? The fact that we have the most (and best) aircraft carriers in the world makes your children’s lives better? Did you even know about our latest and immensely expensive B-21 thermonuclear bomber? Is your life better just because we have all that arsenal, which actually sucks dry America’s competitiveness via bleeding our money, together with the best brains and talent from the ‘real economy’ to the US military? The US has huge problems, and we’re starting to fall behind China, yet we obsess over having the meanest and baddest military in the world. The military industrial complex morphed and embedded itself so deeply into the US that they’ve almost become America. Basically, the US taxpayer is part of a giant tax-farm which funds the military-security-industrial-intelligence-media complex. Huge private companies are totally dependent upon the US military, like Lockheed Martin, other entities depend on the US military, like the NSA, while others (read Israel) use this Behemoth to advance their own agenda. The US Congress is basically an annex of the Knesset, while entire towns are completely dependent on military spending (contracts, jobs, you name it). California would crash and burn sans military spending, and you can take that to the bank. Since Vietnam, the military learned to fly under the radar with regard to the American’s public perception of our wars. There’s no more free press to show the American public the horrors committed by “our boys” bombing civilians abroad, (like it was the case with the Vietnam war), as everything mass-media is now firmly controlled by a few huge corporations. I already told you about the B-21 bomber, a phenomenally expensive weapons platform you probably never heard about it until now. Do you know why? Because the military-industrial complex learned from the F-35 fiasco/debacle, that’s why, and now they keep it as quiet as possible. The US Congress is also bought and paid for by the military industrial complex, and they allow zero opposition to anything military, because of the jobs in their districts brought by military contractors. Military expenditure basically controls and dominates the US economy, and it sucks dry necessary resources (read taxpayers money) from civilian needs. Wars are very profitable businesses for a selected few rich-cats (banks,corporations, contractors, Pentagon bureaucrats and generals, basically all of those who make a living from war and war mongering), and they must keep on going (see the endless wars in Afghanistan, Iraq etc), because either winning or losing would put an end to the gravy train. What purpose the war in Afghanistan has, other than funneling trillions of dollars of taxpayers money over almost two decades for the military industrial complex, accomplishing zilch for America, while killing tens of thousands of civilians in the process? The same goes for Syria, Iraq, Libya et al. Since the US army is now a volunteer/mercenary based army, and the casualties are very few due to our technological prowess, the American public became acquiescent, as it’s basically uninvolved and ignorant of what are we doing abroad. The truth is, America’s military-industrial complex is completely autonomous (read out of control), and if it wants war (with Iran, Russia, China, you name it), we will have a war, whether you like it or not. Just ask yourself: what would you like to have, decent health care of a military base in Qatar?
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#2. To: Deckard (#0)
That is a somewhat anti-semetic comment, what is suggested is that the Jews control America and are therefore what is wrong with America. Such thoughts have Nazi overtones. Face it, without the military-industrial complex, there would be massive unemployment.
There is something innately wrong with this statement, and that's ignoring the implication that making weapons is a moral imperative because it creates jobs. What helps an economy is production. The building of capital projects such as factories that make things like cars and hardware goods that are, in turn, used to increase the wealth of a country or society. Weapons do not do this. Unlike cars and other goods, if weapons are used as designed, they do not create wealth. The instead destroy it. If they are not used, then they sit dormant and yield nothing. At least not directly. Yes it's true that by simply having them on hand, they can yield some benefit by deterring subjugation by some foreign power. But in the case of the US, what the author points out early in his work is quite true: Things like the F-35 are not required to deter invasion by some foreign power. So, if instead of buying the F-35, all that money was instead poured into the civilian sector, then we would generally still have the same level of employment. It's just that instead of paying people to make the F-35, we would instead be paying people to rebuild civilian infrastructure. But maybe we wouldn't be channeling money into the civilian sector. Maybe instead we'd simply have less spending. That would mean less employment. But it would also mean less national debt, which means less tax money being wasted on interest payments, and interest payments are a complete waste of taxpayer money. It basically translates to wealth redistribution, taking money from productive sector of society and giving to the non-productive sector of society (Those loaning money to the US gov). So by stating that there would be massive unemployment without the MIC, you seem to be advocating this as a truism: Do you think that's true? You further, interestingly, call Deckard's comment into question as being "anti-semitic" and having Nazi overtones, and yet without Germany turning on a massive military production, they would not have been able to impose Nazi control over so much of Europe during WWII. I remember there was a Jewish advocate on 4um a number of years back. Always defending Israel no matter what. This guy at one point posted (reposted from some other site, as he usually did with all his advocacy) a list of all the benefits the US enjoyed because we were allied with Israel. And what this guy apparently was oblivious to was that **Every single "benefit" was military related**. Every last one. So I find it ironic anytime someone would, on one hand, criticize someone for supposedly making a Nazi-esk or anti-semetic type statement, and on the other hand, promote massive nationalistic military development as a beneficial thing, especially as, in the case of the USA, the military is used to subjugate others throughout the world just as we have been taught the Nazi's dreamed of doing under Hitler. It's quite clear to me that your statement is patently false. At best, it's only true in nearsighted, short term fashion. No, it is not necessary for a thriving country to spend massive amounts of money on defense any more than it's necessary for a thriving country to have massive welfare paid to a non-productive / unemployed sector of society. Because that is exactly what needless military spending amounts to.
Sometimes weapons create wealth. For example if one of Deckards anarchist friends or one of Vic's welfare leeches broke into your house to rob you. You kill the bums defending your life. They were worthless slugs. You however are not a worthless slugs. Now you can go to work and earn more money. If not for the gun you would have been dead and Vic and Deckards friends would have been living high on the hog for a few days.
I did point out that there is real value in this deterrent effect. However, I don't any military weapons made in the last 20-30 years was made with any concern about protecting the USA from foreign invaders. The closest thing to it was when the USSR loomed. The US "defense" is now about controlling the world, and Russia, Iran and Syria are on the forefront of this ambition.
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestThe US Congress is basically an annex of the Knesset
#3. To: paraclete, Deckard (#2)
Face it, without the military-industrial complex, there would be massive unemployment.
Any country that does not spend a huge amount of money on a MIC will consequently, and necessarily, have massive unemployment.
#4. To: Pinguinite (#3)
#7. To: A K A Stone (#4)
Now you can go to work and earn more money. If not for the gun you would have been dead
Replies to Comment # 7.
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