Military Industrial Complex

[Guest <br />Marty Jones <br />]

Having uncovered all of the information you've found, and seeing all of the connections amidst the last 40+ years of 'military-industrial complex,' what do you suggest to your students as a course of action?

I'm sitting here, profoundly disturbed with the state of our country's leadership [not that I wasn't before, it's simply worse, now] and feeling totally powerless to change things. My life is already crowded with the day to day problems of earning a living and nurturing a family. It would be good to know that there was at least one thing of value that I can do to improve the situation.

[John Simkin]

Having uncovered all of the information you've found, and seeing all of the connections amidst the last 40+ years of 'military-industrial complex,' what do you suggest to your students as a course of action?

I'm sitting here, profoundly disturbed with the state of our country's leadership [not that I wasn't before, it's simply worse, now] and feeling totally powerless to change things. My life is already crowded with the day to day problems of earning a living and nurturing a family. It would be good to know that there was at least one thing of value that I can do to improve the situation.

This is an important question. I believe most democratic countries are in a state of crisis. The democratic rights our ancestors fought for are under threat. I believe the Military Industrial Complex has a lot to do with this problem. Multinational corporations have got control of our major political parties. They also control our mass media and so most people are unaware of the problems that face us. All they know is that their democratic system is deeply flawed.

The way that the JFK assassination has been covered up is just one illustration of the problem that faces us.

As you point out, the main question is what do you do about it. As an individual I try to do two things: (1) I use my website and the various forums I am a member of to communicate my understanding of what is happening now and how we got to our current state (therefore my interest in history). (2) I do what I can to encourage people to become involved in the political process. It seems to me to be the only way that people are going to keep a check on its politicians. The main danger our democratic system faces is the corruption of our politicians and the apathy of the electorate.

[Mark Knight]

What we are seeing in the US today definitely has its roots in the JFK assassination, if not before. The trend is toward fascism, plain and simple...choices have been taken away from the citizens "for our own good" or "for our own security". Our own country is spying on its [allegedly] free citizens today at a rate which, in my estimation, probably exceeds the Nixon administration's wildest dreams. But if you call it "Homeland Security," you can disguise MANY evils as being "for the greater good of the Fatherland...errr, I mean, Homeland." Got an enemy you want silenced, to the point he isn't even allowed legal counsel? Label that man an "enemy combatant," and he can be jailed indefinitely without being charged with any crime, and he can be denied legal representation. Maybe I'm imagining things, but I think if this was happening in a 3rd-world country, the label would become "political prisoner" and groups such as Amnesty International would become involved.

Of course, years ago I would have never had reason to put forth such words; now that the reasons exist, I also fear for my freedom for having said them. If it sounds reminiscent of Stalinist Russia, when a dissident might become an "enemy of the state," I believe the comparison is indeed valid. The MIC--the fascists--are in charge in America; make no mistake about that. But since they can't jail us all, the best defense is to be vigilant, and to speak out when official acts and deeds just don't add up. I'm just scared for the kind of America my children will end up with after my generation is gone.

[Mark Stapleton]

I agree with these sentiments. The problem is that the political system in the U.S. (and many other countries) is CORRUPT. While corporations are allowed to donate to political parties this will always be so. For example, in the U.S., the pharmaceutical industry has a lobbyist attached to every single Congressman, hence cheaper, generic (and safe) drugs will often be denied its citizens, sacrificed on the altar of shareholder returns. Once a listed pharmaceutical's patent goes past its expiry date, the industry often lobbies its politicians to prohibit it, thereby eliminating competition from others who may wish to produce it at a cheaper price. You won't read about examples like this in the mainstream media.

I should point out that my views don't make me a raving communist. I believe a healthy corporate sector is essential to the economic well being of every country. The Soviet communist regime with it's absence of a genuine corporate sector was a disaster for it's long suffering people. However, when the corporate sector owns the political process lock, stock and barrel, and the media as well, then it's time to worry.

This is why I am a great fan of what JFK stood for. From what I've read about the man, he seemed genuinely interested in the welfare of America's citizens. A philanderer--yes. Riding to power on the back of daddy's money--sure (although it wasn't old Joe who stood on icy street corners or ventured into noisy bars to introduce himself). JFK knew that giving a flat 27.5% tax deduction to oil billionaires was unjust, engaging in foreign conflicts so arms manufacturers could make a killing couldn't be justified by history and mega wealthy people avoiding tax by exploiting loopholes had to be confronted. Because his family was wealthy, he was able to resist the attempts by the powerful lobbies to persuade him to act on their behalf. This, IMO, got him killed. Since JFK, the powerful corporate lobbies and the U.S. Government's interests have converged to such an extent that the incumbent is just a spokesman for these forces.

[Ron Ecker]

I believe that in the long run people in a democracy get the government they deserve. If America is headed toward fascism, I don't blame the fascists leading us there but the people who, far from refusing to go along, keep voting for them.

It's true that the corporate media is on the side of the state, and that we have a gutless Congress full of career politicians who dare not rock the boat. But this is no excuse for public apathy or ignorance. There is something called common sense, but the American people don't seem to use it when they look at their government and its actions. To quote Bob Dole (on a narrow Slick Willie issue), “Where’s the outrage?”

I've thought quite a bit about this seeming lack of public concern about the fascist trend in the behavior of American government, and I simply can't figure it out. I've come to suspect that most Americans today are simply too busy with their everyday lives, and keeping up with the latest celebrity trial and who’s voted off of Survivor, to give a damn about where the country is going, as long as the economy doesn't go down to the toilet. That brings me back to where I started: in the long run people in a democracy get the government they deserve. Which can eventually mean no democracy at all.

Ron

[Mark Knight]

Mark and Ron, you are both substantially correct. If history be our guide, what is happening now in America was played out earlier in the 20th century in Germany, as the Nazi party was voted in by people who were more concerned with the "me" factors than they were with the direction the counrty was taking. By the time the German people woke up, World War II was upon them and their only course at that point was REactive, rather than PROactive. Right now in America, we have a government in power that is bent on taking away rights from its citizens, all the while telling them how they are getting government regulation off the backs of the people. Compounding this, they are raiding the treasury while talking about how they are securing the future for the upcoming generations of Americans. If there is a plainer example of Orwellian "doublespeak," I've yet to see it.

And it's not just one party; BOTH entrenched political parties are involved in their surreptitious game of speaking for the rights of the indivual while simultaneously taking them away. The Nixon administration was stopped in their tracks because of an effective press and an effective anti-establishment movement, which had been building since--approximately--the JFK assassination. Today, any potential countermovement is checkmated by government infiltration almost from inception, and the infiltration of the working press has all but neutered their corrective influences on government, subverting the vision of the Founding Fathers.

And I just want to warn you that it's getting worse.

[Terry Mauro]

I believe that in the long run people in a democracy get the government they deserve. If America is headed toward fascism, I don't blame the fascists leading us there but the people who, far from refusing to go along, keep voting for them.

and keeping up with the latest celebrity trial and who’s voted off of Survivor, to give a damn about where the country is going, as long as the economy doesn't go down to the toilet.

That's where you'll find the people who keep voting for them, in front of their new plasma screens, or hiding their heads in the sand via the latest cable network coming down the pike to enable their denial even further. But, isn't it also a little disconcerting to watch their Pavlovian knee-jerk responses to vain banalities such as those "reality" shows they're so eager to swallow, or that dumb soap opera soft-porn tripe, designed for the chronically brain-dead, along with the white-trash tell-all, see-all our dirty laundry being aired, world-wide for everyone to observe how truly stupid the majority of American people, who buy into this line of crap, really are? How low can you go folks, while you lamely accept the $2.77 a gallon rip-off to fill your gas-guzzling SUV's and Hummers? And, of course you'll vote for your Gestapo hero in the polls next election, won't you? They don't even care... they're all so clueless, it's frightening.

[Ron Ecker]

If history be our guide, what is happening now in America was played out earlier in the 20th century in Germany

But the Nazis had nothing to do with the Reichstag Fire. Any Germans who believed that were wacko unpatriotic conspiracy theorists.

Ron

[Terry Mauro]

Mark and Ron, you are both substantially correct.  If history be our guide, what is happening now in America was played out earlier in the 20th century in Germany, as the Nazi party was voted in by people who were more concerned with the "me" factors than they were with the direction the counrty was taking.  By the time the German people woke up, World War II was upon them and their only course at that point was REactive, rather than PROactive.  Right now in America, we have a government in power that is bent on taking away rights from its citizens, all the while telling them how they are getting government regulation off the backs of the people.  Compounding this, they are raiding the treasury while talking about how they are securing the future for the upcoming generations of Americans.  If there is a plainer example of Orwellian "doublespeak," I've yet to see it.

And it's not just one party; BOTH entrenched political parties are involved in their surreptitious game of speaking for the rights of the indivual while simultaneously taking them away.  The Nixon administration was stopped in their tracks because of an effective press and an effective anti-establishment movement, which had been building since--approximately--the JFK assassination.  Today, any potential countermovement is checkmated by government infiltration almost from inception, and the infiltration of the working press has all but neutered their corrective influences on government, subverting the vision of the Founding Fathers. 

And I just want to warn you that it's getting worse.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

And it's not just one party; BOTH entrenched political parties are involved in their surreptitious game of speaking for the rights of the indivual while simultaneously taking them away. 

Actually, it's more like one party - two branches, nowadays, speaking for the rights of individuals, while simultaneously taking them away.

[Terry Mauro]

If history be our guide, what is happening now in America was played out earlier in the 20th century in Germany

But the Nazis had nothing to do with the Reichstag Fire. Any Germans who believed that were wacko unpatriotic conspiracy theorists.

Ron

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Ron,

Isn't that what they call us, "wacko, unpatriotic, conspiracy theorists"?

[Tim Gratz]

Terry wrote:

How low can you go folks, while you lamely accept the $2.77 a gallon rip-off to fill your gas-guzzling SUV's and Hummers?

According to the April 1, 2005 New York Times, there is indeed a link between the car a person drives and his or her voting patterns. Can't create a link now, will try later.

[John Simkin]

After the war the MIC/CIA put a great deal of effort into Operation Mockingbird. After all, if you could control the media, you could control the political opinions of the electorate.

In recent years, especially since the development of the internet, this has become much more difficult. This forum is evidence of this.

MIC/CIA had to change its tactics. It became less important to keep control over the media. Instead, it concentrated on controlling the political parties. After all, it does not matter what people think if you can control the people who you vote for. The same is true in the UK. The majority of people are opposed to the Iraq War, our unfair tax system, privatisation, the size of our armaments budget, etc. However, our two parties, who dominate our political life, support these policies and therefore people have become apathetic about politics. The same seems to have happened in the US. If a third party in the US or the UK threatened this duopoly, you get bet the dirty tricks department of the intelligence services would be kept very busy.

What is the situation in Australia? Do you suffer from a corrupt duopoly?

[Mark Stapleton]

After the war the MIC/CIA put a great deal of effort into Operation Mockingbird. After all, if you could control the media, you could control the political opinions of the electorate.

In recent years, especially since the development of the internet, this has become much more difficult. This forum is evidence of this.

MIC/CIA had to change its tactics. It became less important to keep control over the media. Instead, it concentrated on controlling the political parties. After all, it does not matter what people think if you can control the people who you vote for. The same is true in the UK. The majority of people are opposed to the Iraq War, our unfair tax system, privatisation, the size of our armaments budget, etc. However, our two parties, who dominate our political life, support these policies and therefore people have become apathetic about politics. The same seems to have happened in the US. If a third party in the US or the UK threatened this duopoly, you get bet the dirty tricks department of the intelligence services would be kept very busy.

What is the situation in Australia? Do you suffer from a corrupt duopoly?

   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

John,

My answer would be yes, but on a smaller scale than in the U.S. Here both major political parties are funded by the corporate sector, although the Labor Party still recieves significant funding from the union movement. Attempts by minor parties or Independents to advocate alternatives recieve the usual treatment, with the major parties always zealously guarding their "middle ground" status, thereby pushing any newcomers out into the cheap seats, where they can be easily portrayed as extremists.

While the advent of the Internet has provided a welcome forum for critical analysis of what the media tells us, I don't agree that MIC/Corporate lobby concentrates less on controlling the media. For them, media control is as important as political control. Despite many recent examples of dishonesty, people basically still believe what they see and hear through the media to be the truth. Few realise how simple it is for the media to lie by omission as well as commission. That's why many issues which should be comprehensively debated in the media never get a hearing. One example, among many, is tax avoidance by the mega rich. Without serious discussion of these issues in the media, politicians won't be forced to make the necessary legislative changes. The media will never seriously debate these issues because it would jeopardise the generous corporate patronage they enjoy--they don't want to offend their sponsors. An independant media, free of state control and corporate control, IMO, is the key to making the political system responsive to the wishes of the people and not just a select few.

[Ron Ecker]

Scientists tell us that humans and chimps are 99 percent genetically identical. I'm not sure that is true. Judging by these controlled political systems we're talking about, I'm more and more convinced that humans are more closely related to sheep than to chimps. I don't think chimps would stand for this stuff.

Ron

[Terry Mauro]

After the war the MIC/CIA put a great deal of effort into Operation Mockingbird. After all, if you could control the media, you could control the political opinions of the electorate.

In recent years, especially since the development of the internet, this has become much more difficult. This forum is evidence of this.

MIC/CIA had to change its tactics. It became less important to keep control over the media. Instead, it concentrated on controlling the political parties. After all, it does not matter what people think if you can control the people who you vote for. The same is true in the UK. The majority of people are opposed to the Iraq War, our unfair tax system, privatisation, the size of our armaments budget, etc. However, our two parties, who dominate our political life, support these policies and therefore people have become apathetic about politics. The same seems to have happened in the US. If a third party in the US or the UK threatened this duopoly, you get bet the dirty tricks department of the intelligence services would be kept very busy.

What is the situation in Australia? Do you suffer from a corrupt duopoly?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

a corrupt duopoly

Now that's what I call an EXCELLENT choice of words to describe the hypocrisy

masquerading as a democracy in the U.S. today, John.