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Eisenhower's warning about the military industrial complex. I think about these words often.


Chapters

0:0 Intro
0:14 I hate war
0:38 The military industrial complex

Transcript

- In 1946, Eisenhower said, "I hate war, as only a soldier who has lived at Cannes, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. Possibly my hatred of war blinds me so that I cannot comprehend the arguments they adduce. But, in my opinion, there's no such thing as a preventative war.

Although the suggestion is repeatedly made, none has yet explained how war prevents war. Worse than this, no one has been able to explain away the fact that war creates the conditions that beget war." And finally, an excerpt from Eisenhower's farewell address in 1961 on the 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." 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 armament's industry of vast proportions.

"This conjunction of an immense military establishment in a large arms industry is new in the American experience. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. In the councils of government, we must guard against an 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." Thank you for watching this clip.

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