On 17 January 1961 in his
farewell speech to the nation President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered
these remarks about the dangers of an overly powerful Military
Industrial Complex.
"A vital element in keeping
the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready
for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to
risk his own destruction.
Our military organization
today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in
peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
Until the latest of our
world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American
makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as
well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national
defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry
of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and
women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually
spend on military security more than the net income of all United States
corporations.
This conjunction of an
immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the
American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even
spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of
the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this
development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications.
Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very
structure of our society.
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.
Akin to, and largely
responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture,
has been the technological revolution during recent decades.
In this revolution,
research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex,
and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the
direction of, the Federal government.
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.
- and is gravely to be regarded.
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 scientific technological elite.
It is the task of
statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other
forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system --
ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society."
In short, Eisenhower warned
us that if allowed by the government, the Military Industrial Complex in
coordination with an academic and scientific elite would assume control
of our nation's public policy. Today that is the reality. The
difference is that Eisenhower's admonition that "the task of
statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other
forces" was long ago cast aside. Indeed, to our detriment, the
government is now an integral part of the Military Industrial Complex.
George Burns
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