Greg- Bleeding Bullets

Bleeding Bullets

Dwight D. Eisenhower first introduced the concept of the Military industrial complex in his Farewell Address to the Nation; he realized the dire implications of establishing a union between the public sector of the military and the private business sector. The alliance that has since been labeled the military industrial complex has, as former president Eisenhower predicted, grown disproportionately in comparison to other government spending, and has cast its looming shadow upon every facet of the American culture. I argue that the growth of the military industrial complex has changed the nature of our economy to the point that our government seems bound to it; meaning that the division once present between public and private has apparently vanished, leaving the public at the mercy of private interests. The results of this quasi-public organization seep into the fabric of our daily living by infecting all limbs of the government; while we move in rhythm to the war-drum careful to keep our heads down. To start, I’ll take a look at the overall government budget in terms of spending on war/ defense versus some other public interests; i.e. housing, education, health care [2013 budget], followed by the economic beliefs behind the feeling of necessity for this complex to exist and the drive for privatization, and lastly the effects that this complex places on the entire American way of thinking and life.

“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today”—Malcolm X. Education, as Malcolm X understood it to be, is of paramount importance in the advancement of any people; education is one of the greatest forces that affect a person’s chances of upward social mobility. However, when we look at our government’s interests via spending we see quite the different picture of importance. According to whitehouse.gov the provided budget plan for 2013 indicates that the government allocated 71.2 billion dollars for national public education, a nice 3.1 billion dollar increase from the previous year. Now to those who consider this amount of money nearly imaginary, let your head spin with the next “imaginary” amount. This same year the government allocated 526.6 billion dollars to the defense department, which is a decrease of 3.9 billion from the previous year (whitehouse.gov); meaning that the government is trying to cut back on its destructive habits. However, this is not including the 39 billion dollar budget for the department of homeland security—for the sake of argument defense and security are lumped in the same pile. The combined total of these two is 565.6 billion. Now to even out the fight I will include the budgets of the departments of Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, and Social Security Administration seeing as how these have some of the most direct effects on the general population. The budgets for each department in the previously mentioned order are: 22.6 billion dollars, 28.4 billion dollars, 47.6 billion dollars, and 12.3 billion dollars.

 American citizens have been duped into believing that this budget is necessary to ensure freedom and safety; I understand that America has many skeletons in the closet, and that we are one of the few industrialized countries that has not been decimated by war. But eventually the big stick becomes a little overbearing; hopefully we won’t collapse under the pressure of it. The total budget for the previously mentioned departments comes to a whopping 182.1 billion dollars. Regardless of these figures representing money I can’t fathom, I know that a near 400 Billion dollar difference is not coincidental and is not negligible. This vast gap in spending is, in a sense, a form of class warfare; rather than spend on the advancement and improvement of the standards of living for most the government pours exuberant amounts of money into the military budget, and therefore into the private sector that contracts with the government.

The privatization of defense contracts creates a supply and demand system that becomes interdependent on war; meaning that these private entities become dependent on profits generated mostly via war, and that they have accumulated so much power that they can essentially start wars driven by the need for more profits. Comingling of public money and private interests in this case creates a cache 22; a loss if the private entities record losses because their chief investor is the American government, and a loss if they record profits because that generally means that either America is entering a war, or other countries are being supplied American made weapons. According to corpwatch.org the top 10 military contracts paid as of 2005 totals about 94.8 billion dollars; in no way is it rational to pay corporations more than we invest in children. Apparently the children are our future so the best way to prepare them for tomorrow is to provide them with the best artillery, forget the books. To those who say that these contracts create jobs by providing huge sums of money to the private sector, and this creates job opportunities; I say that the Reaganomics theory of trickle-down economics, contributes to greater social stratification that keeps the rich wealthy and the poor struggling, simply look at the average income for a CEO versus a mid-level employee. Spend the same amount of government money in maintaining and rebuilding infrastructure or providing more for the common citizens. Additionally, the ever-expanding reaches of the complex involves a nature of intricacies that even all this money has yet to master.

Currently the government finds itself in a dilemma involving a former employee of the privately contracted company Booz Allen Hamilton by the name of Edward Snowden. This particular whistle blower serves many purposes; one being that he, pulled back the curtain that covered the government’s extensive grasp. Mr. Snowden also shows that our vast security systems have grown too big for its own good. He was one of over 500,000 citizens with clearance to top secret information; I’m not the head of any agency, but 500,000 people with top secret clearance seems like more of a liability than an insurance policy. The revelations that Mr. Snowden brought to light also speak great volumes to the nature of a state that is directed by a military minded government—paranoia.

 It is basic that in every war there must be a clearly outlined and accessible image of an enemy for people to rally against; however, when the general population is seeking pacifism and the cold war is in the rearview, where can one turn when looking for a reason to stay on their toes? Answer: anywhere. With over half a million people with top secret access, close to 600 billion in the budget, and no global scale wars to fight, the only way for this military industrial machine to keep its momentum it to grease the wheels with “suspects”. As Edward Snowden revealed the government keeps close tabs on everyone’s electronic foot print but only to “keep us safe”. This leads one to assume that while we are “fighting terrorism abroad” we apparently are highly susceptible to domestic terrorists, and yet we have been unable to stop mass public shooting that are becoming more and more frequent. According to the ACLU in September of 2007 the justice department already had over 700,000 names on the government watch list, and it was estimated to rise by an average of 20,000 per month; if we do the math and even cut the average in half to be conservative, that brings the current total estimate to 1,440,000 people we need to keep our watchful eyes on. Some might say this is a result of the tragic events that took place on September 11, 2001, and this is a feasible assumption; however, when we examine the time lapse between now and then, it begs the question,  why the continued frantic state. We live in a country that is war torn, not because of a war on our soil but because our government has become infected with a greed that preys on fear and enemies. The fact that some people are willing to give up their right to privacy—yes it is a right—in an effort to feel safer from some invisible enemy lurking behind the monitor serves as proof for one of two things: the terrorists intent to change the American way of life on September 11, 2001 was a success; or, that former president Dwight D. Eisenhower’s warning of the nature of the Military Industrial Complex would seep into every facet of the American life, for that is that nature of our government/citizen relations.

The growth of the American Military Industrial complex has exceeded everyone’s grasp, except for Dwight D. Eisenhower’s vision. It has been allowed to run rampant and sway the political system in its favor. The reaches of the Military Industrial Complex have, as predicted, affected the entire American way of life; where guns are more important than books, rockets more valuable than housing, and death more valuable than life. The arms race is over and we’re still running a mile a minute, competing with those who we directly supply. The privatization of these military contracts leaves drastic despair in the American community, rather than providing affordable housing, quality education, and universal health care we believe that military might is an unparalleled necessity. The land of freedom and equality has reverted and evolved at the same time. What was once the land of the free and home of the brave has become the land of the thieves and home of the slaves. “Don’t fret precious I’m here. Step away from the window. I am not the boogie man”- A Perfect Circle.