When it comes to security, the money that infiltrates our political system is creating a form of defense that deforms the lives of the citizens of our nation-state.
Boeing is currently planning on building F-15 fighters in a St. Louis area plant even though the Air Force hasn’t bought the jet in over a decade. The first F-15 was developed in the 1970’s and orders from Singapore, South Korea and Saudi Arabia have kept the factory humming in recent years. Some lawmakers have worried that orders for the F-15 would come at the expense of Boeing’s competitor – Lockheed Martin.
The Air Force plans to cut its F-35 purchases from 54 to 48 from fiscal year 2021 to 2023. Five senators from states where the F-35 is produced, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, sent President Donald Trump and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan a letter before the Air Force detailed its budget request that warned against funding F-15 planes instead of F-35s.
These simple facts, which would be dismissed by some as routine politics, reveal a lot about the state of military spending and the discussion around it in our country. The military-industrial complex, as talked about by President Dwight Eisenhower, has created an economy inside of our nation’s economy. Despite all of the sermons from elected officials on the power of the free-market and the state smothering liberty, politicians regularly use military spending to stimulate the economies of the regions they represent.
The economic support provided by the military-industrial complex ensures that serious discussions of its impact on the life of our nation are not ever really discussed. Many facets of our government are openly discussed for their merits. The Environmental Protection Agency is regularly questioned. The difference? The EPA might fine a company for pollution and cut into the profits of the polluter. The Affordable Care Act undercuts the ability of states to use the lower benefits paid to employees in that state to attract companies via lower benefits. How many attempts have we seen to weaken or destroy the Affordable Care Act? On a similar note, the minimum wage is regularly debated. A higher minimum wage threatens the ability of regions to attract companies as a platform for low-wage labor. It also threatens business as usual for fast food and retail chains.
The military-industrial complex showers defense contractors with profits. Just follow the money trail. It doesn’t threaten the power of America’s corporate hierarchy. So, the money involved ensures that the military-industrial complex isn’t included in talk about the state smothering our liberty.
The money power has created its narrative. What we need is a counter narrative on the economic impacts of the military-industrial complex. The human mind thrives on narratives – they give our life meaning. If people-power is to counter money-power, it must have more powerful organizations to do so. The average citizen doesn’t have time to interpret the information the money power feeds him on military spending. In his story “Classless Utopia Versus Class Compromise,” writer Michael Lind suggested that working people needed organizations to create a narrative on their struggles in our economy. These organizations would create a narrative on the needs of working people and would charge membership dues. Lind says that democracy requires strengthening institutions that working-class people can control.
Confronting the military-industrial complex is also about control. A security policy that doesn’t deform the people it’s trying to protect needs organizations that promote security based around arms control and diplomacy. There are some organizations like this – the Arms Control Association – that currently work for these types of policies. However, there needs to be more organizations and they need to be based in every region of the country, to ensure closeness to the people, promoting diplomacy, arms control and challenging the amount of money allocated to the military-industrial complex.
The ideas are out there. Will a segment of the population pick them up and create an alternative to what we have?
Jason Sibert worked for the Suburban Journals in the St. Louis area for over a decade and is currently executive director of the Peace Economy Project in St. Louis, Mo. Email jasonsibert@hotmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, June 15, 2019
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