The military-industrial complex is the sad, sad fact that the U.S. government (e.g., most of the politicians - not all!) is "bought" by a few large, multi-national corporations, and those corporations, along with selling our gasoline and food products, sell guns and bombs.
To keep making money, the corporations tell the politicians (that they bought) to make and vote for policies that help:
1) expand military spending
2) cut social spending (Healthcare, Education, Roads, etc.)
3) expand advertising and media infiltration to stop opposition, fuel fear, and oppress the people.
This concept is not new, 50 years ago in his final address to the nation, President Eisenhower warns of the military-industrial complex:
Ok, so you watched that stuff. Now what does it mean???
This all relates to WHO profits from military spending...
Wars "help" the economy - you've probably heard that.
Why would they help?
Why would they help?
Well, it creates jobs, because people need to make the
bombs/guns/chemicals/steel/
I don't know about you, but if we've been using trickle-down policies since 1975 or so, that seems to be 39.4 years, almost 40. If this policy really created jobs, we wouldn't be having unemployment problems, I would think...
bombs/guns/chemicals/steel/
I don't know about you, but if we've been using trickle-down policies since 1975 or so, that seems to be 39.4 years, almost 40. If this policy really created jobs, we wouldn't be having unemployment problems, I would think...
So, we see, this is an ARTIFICIAL sense of "growth"...
1.) Are our schools growing in success, technology, and proficient teachers?
violence
drugs
teen pregnancy
bullying
drop-outs
lack of funding
cutting programs
2.) Are our seniors better equipped with social programs like Medicare and Social Security?
medicare cuts
social security cuts
food stamp programs cut
increasing elderly populations (baby boomers)
3.) Do we have safer roads, advanced traffic systems (like Europe), and fast trains for effective travel and domestic commerce?
decaying infrastructure
layoffs
traffic delays
traffic fatalities
4.) Do we have jobs for our citizens (considering, as mentioned, that the "trickle-down" Friedman economic model suggests that when wealth is at the top - as it is now - jobs will be created at the bottom)?
Unemployment is at its highest since the Great Depression
Inequality decreased after the passage of the 1964
Civil Rights Act, however, it began to rise again in the late 1990's.
Civil Rights Act, however, it began to rise again in the late 1990's.
5.) Do we have healthcare for all of our citizens, housing for all our citizens, food for all our citizens;citizens of the wealthiest civilization of all time?
Rates of poverty are rising, 1 in 5 children
Rates of the uninsured are rising
Rates of homelessness, especially in children, are rising
NO
Only our military spending grows, so only those directly connected to that benefit - mostly those in high-level military, corporate, or governmental positions.
So.....
Let's look at the budget, and see if we spend a disproportionate amount of money on the military versus other governmental departments....
2013 Budget:
From the look of this chart it appears that the military only takes 18%.
Well shoot, that's not so bad, right?
Unfortunately, this pie chart ignores the rest of the spending, the spending that drives up our debt.
The above chart shows MANDATORY spending, which comes from the reserve/bank which is funded by PAYROLL TAXES.
There is another type of spending the government does, and you've probably heard of it.
It's called DISCRETIONARY SPENDING. You hear about it in the news, but it sounds like jargon. Even "jargon" sounds like jargon.
So let's debunk it; discretionary spending is approved on an as-needed basis by Congress, and here is the discretionary spending budget for 2013:
So let's debunk it; discretionary spending is approved on an as-needed basis by Congress, and here is the discretionary spending budget for 2013:
Whoa...
Okay, so now we see that the military has a much larger slice of the pie. Why is this significant?
Okay, so now we see that the military has a much larger slice of the pie. Why is this significant?
Because of where this money comes from for this Discretionary spending, and how much is available.
This fund comes from income taxes.
This fund comes from income taxes.
Now let's examine the INDUSTRIAL piece of the military-industrial complex.
The chart below displays the contracted companies that benefit from the growth in discretionary military spending, because many of them are suppliers.
The industries - corporations - that benefit from this spending use their increasing funds to spend even MORE on lobbying, buying politicians, and distraction-centered media campaigns.
You begin to understand then, why they hate people that fight for:
environmental protection
worker's rights
women's rights
reproductive rights
women's rights
reproductive rights
better education
social programs
universal health care
BECAUSE THESE PROGRAMS WOULD TAKE THEIR MONEY
AND
A WELL EDUCATED PUBLIC WOULD PREVENT THESE HARMS FROM CONTINUING OR RECURRING
BECAUSE THEY ARE AWFUL.
BECAUSE THEY ARE AWFUL.
So these ideas that we dream, of real freedom, real justice, real equality, that some claim are "too idealistic" or "irrational" or "socialist" are NONE OF THESE THINGS
they are
the ONLY WAY
TO SAVE OUR SOCIETY
Fight for knowledge and use your citizenship to push for changes.
-V for Vendetta
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