4 ms·

Is it just me or does the use of the term "military industrial complex" seem pejorative in this context? It feels like the author is trying to inject an opinion

Is it just me or does the use of the term "military industrial complex" seem pejorative in this context? It feels like the author is trying to inject an opinion in what should otherwise be objective fact based journalism.

unethical_ban 7y ago
It is clearly making a point about the amount of money we spend in defense, while this critical special-use DoD vessel languishes.
- black6 7y ago
  As a Coast Guard vessel the Polar Star falls under the Department of Homeland Security, which is why the article made a pointed jab at Trump for the partial gov’t shutdown that halted the sailors’s pay (DoD was fully funded, DHS was not). I’m all for moving money from DoD to peaceful operations such as this.
mikeash 7y ago
Funny how using a famous phrase coined by one of the most respected US presidents can be so controversial.
- pmorici 7y ago
  I'm aware of the origins of the phrase, it's the way the author is using it that seems inappropriate for the context.
everybodyknows 7y ago
It injects historical allusion. Dwight Eisenhower coined the term in his cautionary farewell address upon leaving office, as the Cold War was ratcheting upward.
- ethbro 7y ago
  For those unfamiliar, here's the speech: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp (given shortly before he left office) Specifically, he spoke about the challenges imposed on properly harnessing the post-WWII professional armaments industry, which he noted was functionally necessary in the modern age, to a healthy democracy. "Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel. But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration." "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." "Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."

unethical_ban 7y ago

It is clearly making a point about the amount of money we spend in defense, while this critical special-use DoD vessel languishes.

black6 7y ago
As a Coast Guard vessel the Polar Star falls under the Department of Homeland Security, which is why the article made a pointed jab at Trump for the partial gov’t shutdown that halted the sailors’s pay (DoD was fully funded, DHS was not). I’m all for moving money from DoD to peaceful operations such as this.

mikeash 7y ago

Funny how using a famous phrase coined by one of the most respected US presidents can be so controversial.

pmorici 7y ago
I'm aware of the origins of the phrase, it's the way the author is using it that seems inappropriate for the context.

everybodyknows 7y ago

It injects historical allusion. Dwight Eisenhower coined the term in his cautionary farewell address upon leaving office, as the Cold War was ratcheting upward.

ethbro 7y ago
For those unfamiliar, here's the speech: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp (given shortly before he left office) Specifically, he spoke about the challenges imposed on properly harnessing the post-WWII professional armaments industry, which he noted was functionally necessary in the modern age, to a healthy democracy. "Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel. But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration." "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." "Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."