Ben Knapen van de NRC 5

In het vorige stuk schreef ik dit: 

De grondleggers van de VS, die de klassieken hadden gelezen, waren zich hiervan uitermate bewust. 'Altogether it was not a pleasant lesson to ponder for the Americans: internal degeneration of the republic into an imperial tyranny, concomitant militarism, and depravity. And there was an additional predicament, articulated by Macchivalli. If a republic was healthy to the degree that its citizens were virtuous (or "manly"), it contained, ipso facto, an inherent element of expansive, militant vigor; in which case there was a general tendency to corruption and eventual destruction.'  

Begin 1961 waarschuwde president Eisenhower in zijn afscheidsrede voor het opkomende militair-industrieel complex: 'Elk kanon dat wordt gemaakt, elk oorlogsschip dat te water wordt gelaten, elke raket die wordt afgevuurd betekent uiteindelijk diefstal van degenen die honger lijden en niet gevoed worden, die koud zijn en onvoldoende kleren hebben… 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.'

Lees: http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

Dat was bijna een halve eeuw geleden. Inmiddels gaat ongeveer 50 procent van de Amerikaanse federale begroting naar dat wat officieel de 'National Security'  heet, een ander woord voor het militair-industrieel complex. Zo ziet de 'novus ordo seclorum' eruit, met of zonder God's zegen, Ben Knapen.