ian4

The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex

I am completely thankful for a military that protects this republic. and in gratitude i do not wish them to be put all over the world in danger for an imperialist president and his neocon philosophy. go back and look at what the founders of this republic said about foreign adventures and entangling alliances. troops are protecting us when they are at home. when they are all over the world policing then they are no longer defense...they are being used for offense.

The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex

isolationism and nonintervention are not the same. we can still be involved with the rest of the world through trade, friendship and cultural exchange. we have become arrogant and think we need to police the world and act as if the rest of the world exists solely to please us. we did not have to be involved in the world wars. i know many will disagree with that but we knowingly allowed pearl harbor to happen to bring us into ww2 and knowingly put munitions on the lusitania when the germans clearly warned that it would be torpedoed. they even put newspaper ads in american papers (only one of which ran) telling potential passengers this. the rest of the world should be allowed to make their own bad decisions and protect themselves and each other if its important enough to them. If i were a member of the armed services i would have a major problem with being a policeman to the world. that isnt in the job description as measure by the oath they take when they sign up.

The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex

Also, the best defense is leaving other people the hell alone and not getting involved in their business. Who said we needed to be an empire? we dont need our forces in countries all over the world. non interventionism allows us to focus on us. if someone wants to come over and mess with us THEN we can kick some ass if we need to. Maybe if we stop making so many enemies we can live a bit simpler and with less fear.

The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex

CLH, what you might want to think about is the true meaning of defense. How many bombers, missiles and new ways of killing do we need for defense? why not put a small portion of what we currently spend into securing the borders (paying more border patrols), and disincentivising illegals from coming into the country that way (get rid of birthright citizenship as most other countries do). Preventive measures such as increased technology in LEGAL surveillance would go a lot further. The arms industry has become a self fulfilling prophecy which gives the illusion of defence. What would happen if we had another Bush illegal preemptive war and none of the soldiers showed up?

The Economic Cost of the Military Industrial Complex

Hear, Hear! beautifully stated. What has happened to this country? What ever would we do if the MIC companies did not need to exist? There are way too many people employed by an industry that needs to maintain a state of war in the world to exist. The undue influence of these companies is extreme and they play on the old standby of , ' if we dont get money then your constituents will be out of work.' maybe its time we say that that is OK. we will retrain them to do other things. why not funnel that ingenuity into constructive alternative energy production or infrastructure? Its truly nauseating to see what has happened since Ike gave that speech. He was aware of what was going on and today it is out in the open with Bush & Co almost daring people to stand up to him. America..sheeple...Wak... TFU!