R: Deconstruct the Military Industrial Complex

During his farewell address to the nation in 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower surprised many Americans by steering clear of the old-soldier platitudes that many expected of him. Instead of warning against military complacency in the face of the Soviet threat, Eisenhower warned against a threat that had previously appeared on the radar of very few Americans, saying, “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.” His term “military-industrial complex” and his caution regarding its influence entered American public discourse and has remained an object of contention ever since.

The affirmative will echo the great general’s caution. It is only sensible to have a healthy skepticism of private companies who stand to make billions from armed conflict. The more arms we have as a nation, the more we will feel compelled to use them - the First World War is a prime example of over-armed regimes succumbing to the desire to use their stockpiles of shiny new weapons. The lobbying activity of defense companies and their ilk should be dramatically curtailed in order to de-incentivize the government from jumping into foreign wars and sending arms to unsavory characters. As Christians, we are called to beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4), not the other way around. It is possible, even desirable, to have a strong military while cutting back on the huge sums of tax dollars given to private defense companies and eliminating the corruption surrounding government contracts and private recruitment of the engineers, analysts, and technicians who design and build our defense infrastructure.

The negative may point to what Eisenhower said earlier in the same speech, when he discussed America’s rapid military mobilization during the Second World War. “A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action…we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense [as during WWII]; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.” This permanent industry has enabled the most peaceful and prosperous eighty years of human history. While it may have its warts, the defense industry directly or indirectly employs millions of Americans, deters global conflict, and keeps dangerous nations in check. If not for US air and sea power, perhaps Russian tanks would be rolling across Poland and Chinese bombs falling on Taiwan. It is not submarines and spy planes that are evil, it is the wicked ways in which they are often used. Imprudent administrations and ne’er do well nations deserve the blame for unjustified wars and dead civilians, not the suburban moms and dads of Huntsville, AL or Colorado Springs, CO.