Eisenhower’s Farewell Address Warning Against Military Industrial Complex (01/17/1961)
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address Warning Against Military Industrial Complex (01/17/1961)
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address Warning Against Military Industrial Complex (01/17/1961)
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address Warning Against Military Industrial Complex (01/17/1961)
About The Author
I like Ike
Truly a warning ignored. 🙁
Permanent peace, humanity had huge dreams.
The historical context at this time really needs to be considered when watching this. Eisenhower had seen the crumbling colonial world fight back desperately to maintain their empires. With Ike even being betrayed by the British, French, and Israelis during the Suez Crisis. He’d seen the Cold War ramp up and firmly believed Communism was a global threat. He’d been commander of the Armed Forces during WWII and had to navigate those waters only to have his allies treat him and his country like dirt (looking at you specifically DeGaulle). Any of these events would lead someone to become bitter and cynical. Also of note is in this same speech he warned of a scientific-industrial complex due to the increased fervor of the space race and atomic weaponry. However that’s not what nihilists and pseudo-intellectuals focus on.
In reality a Military-Industrial Complex doesn’t exist to start wars, we do that all on our own. We’re good at it too, we’ll even kill each other over a 1400 year old religious succession crisis. They’re there to make money off it like the sword makers the Vikings relied on to equip them to raid the English coastline. There were even favored brands back then too, specifically Utrecht swords. Humanity is conflict, not a grand money making scheme.
The irony is that….. He built the Military Industrial complex. Under his care all branches of military grew exponentially and so did all the suppliers.
Every President looks so much better than Trump.
Ironically, Ike was the president who toppled the democratic Iranian government in the first place.
[my turn to repost next month?](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/e0b1ui/dwight_d_eisenhowers_final_address_warning_of_the)
Eisenhower’s speech was truly an ominous warning and prescient to at least the past fifty years.
But there is another similar, and just as sinister and anti-democratic complex which even he did not envisage, and that is the Government-Corporate-Complex.
American politicians have been actively writing laws that benefit certain sectors, frequently which are at odds with the public’s interest, and then leave government into those very sectors in order to profiteer. It’s a sad state of American politics these days.
Imagine trump being able to write a speech like that lol
Jamie pull that shit up!
“Thank you Mr. President that sounds like a *great* idea!”
“Stranger at the Pentagon”
Nice karma whoring OP
Let’s get busay!
This was just posted
Hmm JFK was saying the same thing
I know this one.
Every idiot who thinks they are on expert on Iran talks about 1953. Typical parroting Redditor circlejerk. However, none of them talk about the Ayatollah’s coup in 1979 and what he has done since. That would bring shame to them if they revealed things like Iran is responsible for invading foreign countries and starting proxy armies that impose their imperial and religious will on places like Syrian, Yemen and Lebanon. Proxy Armies that chant Iran’s slogan “Death to America, Death to Israel.” Hezbollah, Hamas, even Al-Qaeda. Iran works with, controls or sponsors.
I’m sure someone more versed in history than I am can provide more detail and or rebut what I’m about to say …
My grandfather had a profound respect for Eisenhower and that has influenced my opinion of him but after a major war he put our veterans to work. They came home and were able to find jobs, “deflate”, and get back to a normal life ….
Today it seems like we depend on a lot of “random good will” for our vets.
He certainly could have done more to improve race relations during his presidency and one could argue that this complex he warned us about was of his own creation but what we can say about him was 1) tremendous leader of men 2) oversaw one of the largest booms of the middle class we’ve ever seen 3) significant improvement of infrastructure (see previous point about jobs)
Edit: Has to had.
Edit2: “In 1957 Eisenhower deployed troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling that public schools be desegregated. (wikipedia)” That took balls.
Good luck with that.
Was he speaking about Himself?
Who’s the one trying to make this into a bigger thing than it is? The media.
There’s the military industrial complex’s influence right there.
The guy is just another dead terrorist.
If we would retire half our aircraft carriers we might be able to buy 7 college textbooks for our kids!!!
As the comments demonstrate, nobody on reddit actually goes thorough the link. They just comment based on the title and their preconceived notions.
Here is the section about 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.
>Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
>Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. 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 armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
>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 State house, 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 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.
As one can see, Eisenhower is not saying that we should avoid a military industrial complex. On the contrary, he says that there is an “imperative need” to build the military industrial complex and make sure that “an alert and knowledgeable citizenry” keeps it in check.
The full speech also warns against academics and sciences self interests.
Can’t sort by controversial when its THE WHOLE GODDAMN COMMENT SECTION!
Defense contractor companies like Raytheon and Lockheed are publicly traded companies. People can by stock. Meaning they can invest in war. There’s incentive to raise that stock and those stocks only perform well as a result of conflict.
“Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.
Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength.” -Eisenhower
Fun fact: an earlier draft called it the Congressional military industrial complex
oops…
The man-made features were discovered or invented with purpose (wether good or bad) nor matter how we maintain balance or good government…those features must manifest their power of existence…all we have achieved as mankind will come into something I like to call it…self destruction…
I dont know him but he sure looks my grandfather,
Wow! I’m learning things on this thread,, grateful
The original version of the speech was about “The congressional military industrial complex.” He got rid of the word congressional in the final draft for whatever reason.
Only Democrats would stoke war due to a dead terrorist.
But I thought there was no system in place behind the government?? I thought that was a crazy conspiracy!!! Lol.
Random, slightly off topic question – does anyone know why older broadcasts like this tend to have the picture “trembling” in frame?
I assume it’s just bad magnetic recording.
I think it was already too late.
And now we have a military industrial complex.
I think he imagined it having more power than it does though. It certainly influences the vote but it’s not some overwhelming thing. An angry majority could still dismantle it.
Maybe this should be a sticky post.
Do you guys ever fear a time when we become the weak ones and get fucked in the ass like we’ve done to other countries? I’m an American and I’m mostly anti-war but man I hope we don’t ever become a weak nation in my lifetime. We’re way overdue for some rapin and pillagin by other nations.
> “I would like to start by thanking the television and radio networks…”
Oh lawdy how times a changed!
On that day I turned 1 year old, not much has changed since then.
Why do leaders always wait until they are OUT of power before they do anything about stuff like this?
If he felt so strongly about it, why not do something while he was president?
wow. i remember the days when this only appeared on r/conspiracy A lot has turned out to be quite true.
interesting
lol this isn’t the time to quote Ike, he was against the military industrial complex but not regime change, he just thought US interests could be fulfilled via the CIA and assassinations rather than boots on the ground.
If anything this is Ike doctrine in action.
Didn’t he overthrow the govt of Iran? BIG LOL
Does anyone have the speech FDR had prepared in the case DDay was unsuccessful?
Eisenhower also signed the 1954 *Grenada Treaty.* Goggle it. This is something they dont teach you in the history books; one of the secrets of the g ov
I’m an engineer and do a lot of contract work. I was invited to one massive def contractor (who will remain nameless but they make aircraft, missiles, helicopters etc etc) to see where I could help them. The amount of money flowing through this company is staggering it’s like another world. A tiny fraction of that is used to lubricate the system that keeps them in business in donations, recruiting generals, kids etc etc.
You can get into a flap about Bidens son with burisma and think that’s shocking but it’s just the tip of a huge iceberg that is going on right here under our noses.
When people talk of the deep state, this is what they mean. It’s been successfully deflected to mean leftists, though. That’s how strong they are.
If only heeded
For anyone interested in the broader MIC, I made a [post yesterday linking to the 2005 film Why We Fight](https://out.reddit.com/t3_ejo5dn?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FHn6aw9sKEws&token=AQAAS64QXpiNynX3ypNIme9EhvYjD51dXDVNeLreznqEJgCPN4qJ&app_name=reddit.com), which begins with this clip.
First heard this speech when it was used in the Ministry song End of Days (Pt.2).
The ***Congressional-Military-Industrial Complex*** is what Ike called it in the draft of this speech – far more accurate and indicative of how things work.
Great Speech…
TL/DW. Watch from 6:00 to 12:00. This man was a military president, had won a world war, and lays down some serious truths.
1. Having the military be the largest peacetime industry in the country inevitably leads to war
2. If scientific research becomes so expensive that only the government can afford to fund it the research will not benefit the common man
3. We can’t pillage our grandchildren’s resources if we expect democracy to survive
wow.
>”We face a hostile ideology, global in scope, aethestic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in character. Unhappily, the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration.”
Fuckin A.
That means a lot coming from a five star general