Chart 'o the day: Why we can't have nice things
by digby
The next time someone tells you that the country is going broke, show them this:
As you can see, the post Cold War period has not brought us a peace dividend. In fact, we are still very busy turning our ploughshares into swords for the enrichment of the Military Industrial Complex.
In fact, I think we're overdue for a reminder of this prescient speech:
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.
Keep in mind that those expenditures don't include the massive sums of money spent in other areas of the Deep State defense establishment like the CIA and the NSA, of which I'm sure Eisenhower would have been equally suspicious. The point he makes is that these sort of institutions are self-perpetuating and must actively look for reasons to justify their existence. It's the way the world works. But when it is a warmaking and enemy seeking institution, it's very threatening to our "liberties and democratic processes" for obvious reasons.
It's also threatening to our economic well-being. That chart up there is unsustainable. And it's totally outrageous that we are still spending that kind of money on defense while cutting people off unemployment and food stamps and starving necessary public services of money in this time of economic insecurity.
h/t to @ianbremmer for the chart