EISENHOWER'S WARNING AGAINST THE DANGER OF UNCHECKED ELITE POWER:
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President Eisenhower warned on several occasions, most notably in his "Farewell Address" of January 17, 1961, that a dangerous elite of power was developing in the United States which was no longer responsive to the cares and desires of ordinary Americans - specifically, that advances in technology combined with the growing defense needs of the country had created an opportunity for elites in the military establishment, "Big Business," and politics to exert an undue and improper influence on the formation and conduct of national policy. The warning was especially striking coming from Eisenhower, a product himself of the military and good friend, as it had been assumed, of "Big Business."
He described the "complex" as a tri-centered nexus of power which consisted of a corporate center, a political center, and a military center. Each was intertwined with the other, and each fed off the other. He warned:
From Eisenhowers - Farewell Address of Jan 17, 1961:
"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 ...
"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 Statehouse, 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 military-industrial 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.
"The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present - 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."
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Thanks - This_is_the_end ...interesting link, I thought I'd repost Eisenhower's words above from his famous farewell address.
How poignant -- given where we find ourselves today in America.
He was spot on... |
