remember all of those billions of dollars
- Thread starter rae121452
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When the Cold War ended, a favorite political topic in America -- for a short while -- was how to spend the "peace dividend." On the assumption that now defense spending could be scaled back and the money saved spent on other things.
Somehow, it never seems to work out that way.
Somehow, it never seems to work out that way.
Paul_Chance
The Watcher
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- Dec 23, 2011
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World War II remains large within the collective memory of the political/military/industrial complex. That was an entire generation that learned the hard way the lesson of "if you want peace, prepare for war" and that has echoed down through the collective memory - all that changes is the perceived (and real) enemies.
At the philosophical level I often wonder at our emphasis on military spending - how much of a positive impact on society that could have if we redirected some of those monies to social causes, with the same focus the military spending has.
But, I wouldn't want to be the politician who judged that wrong and left the US unprepared for a future war.
At the philosophical level I often wonder at our emphasis on military spending - how much of a positive impact on society that could have if we redirected some of those monies to social causes, with the same focus the military spending has.
But, I wouldn't want to be the politician who judged that wrong and left the US unprepared for a future war.
Here's a bit of historical trivia: At the time he died, General Custer was only a colonel. He had been a brigadier general in the Civil War.
That's how it worked in those days: When war came, the Army was expanded, officers were promoted to command larger units, and civilians recruited as junior officers. When the war ended, the Army was downsized, the junior officers returned to civilian life, and the senior officers were demoted to their prewar ranks -- not for any failure of duty, it was just that not so many high-ranking officers were needed any more.
It went that way with every war until the end of WWII -- then there was the Cold War, so the defense establishment was not downsized -- and it never has been, significantly, since then. We still have a permanent wartime economy.
That's how it worked in those days: When war came, the Army was expanded, officers were promoted to command larger units, and civilians recruited as junior officers. When the war ended, the Army was downsized, the junior officers returned to civilian life, and the senior officers were demoted to their prewar ranks -- not for any failure of duty, it was just that not so many high-ranking officers were needed any more.
It went that way with every war until the end of WWII -- then there was the Cold War, so the defense establishment was not downsized -- and it never has been, significantly, since then. We still have a permanent wartime economy.
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