Government / Military Industrial Complex
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In President Dwight Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the nation January 17, 1961, he outlines warnings for the nation.
Perhaps he is remorseful for signing agreements with the Soviet Union? You be the judge:
If you would like to read the speech, here is the link to the Public Papers of the Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960, p. 1035- 1040.
With all that we have learned about government's push for America to become a communist state, how are we to take the President's dire warnings?
- In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
- We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
- Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
- Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.
- Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. 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 risking 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.
Are we to fashion ourselves a new reality? One of cooperation and individualism? Of sovereignty and rights?
People of the world are standing up. The only question is: when will everyone stand and be counted?
It's not what your country can do for you; it's what you can do to keep your country a free and independent republic.
Source: Youtube, MSU
