![]() ![]() What is new is the colossal scale of military and “defense” spending, which is in reality a perpetual war footing that is starting to resemble Orwell’s Ministry of Peace in some ways. War profiteering, monopolistic corporate practices, excessive lobbying of government by vested interests, manipulation of opinion with propaganda, and public ignorance (or indifference) have existed since the beginning of the republic, and are shared in common with all democracies. The issues we are dealing with, however, are by no means new and did not start with the F-35 or even during the Reagan administration. Three: supporting a “strong” defense but assuming that the United States is so much stronger than any rival that it’s pointless to worry whether strategy, weaponry, and leadership are right.” The article is worth reading and pondering for anyone in America who worries about the issue of military power and spending (which ought to be everyone with a pulse). ![]() Two: “caring” about defense spending but really viewing it as a bipartisan stimulus program. Triply? One: “honoring” the troops but not thinking about them. He gives solid reasons why America has a “chickenhawk economy” (the F-35 being a key example), “chickenhawk politics” (lack of oversight, accountability, or criticism of the military by its elected civilian overseers in Congress and the White House), and a “chickenhawk society.” Regarding this last point, Fallows says: “The vast majority of Americans outside the military can be triply cynical in their attitude toward it. He uses the word “chickenhawk” to describe the type of person who wants to start wars but not participate in them. James Fallows has written a long and in-depth analysis in The Atlantic magazine about many aspects of America’s military problems as they currently stand. ![]() Here is a recent article in The Daily Beast describing, for example, how faulty software will prevent the jet from firing its own gun and will delay the project for at least another five years. The word boondoggle is too benign for the cancer of corrupt and bungled arms contracts that is the F-35. In this case, there is little press coverage at all of a military project so enormously wasteful as to defy imagination. Many times public projects of dubious merit and gross mismanagement will be deemed “boondoggles” by the press. That’s trillion with a “T”, or as much as the entire Iraq War combined, or more than the annual GNP of all but the 12 biggest economies in the world. The total estimated long-term cost of the project has been estimated to reach as high as $1.5 Trillion. It is being produced by a team of industrial arms producers including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, and active cooperation between the USA and at least ten other allied nations. One relevant example is the disturbing case of the F-35 “Lightning” stealth fighter jet. This is allowed to happen because the citizens, the tax-payers, do not know and do not care about money spent on “defense.” The American military is the sole remaining institution of public funding and common interest that has a near unanimous bipartisan approval rating and simultaneous near lack of oversight, and lack of interest by voters. ![]() To be more specific, tax-payer money allocated by politicians to defense contractors who produce wildly expensive and unnecessary equipment, and power of controlling certain resources and markets for profit-driven corporations and industries. The reason for this is simple: money and power. The United States of America is in a state of perpetual war, which requires perpetual war spending. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |