The Military-Industrial Complex and the Scientific-Technological Elite

[troglodyteking]

I just listened to and read President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address. I'd wanted to do so for a while, ever since I'd heard it was a warning against the (and a coining of the term) 'military-industrial complex' that he had seen grow under his watch as general and president

Comments

[emurphy42]

Why do we perceive (and I'm inclined to think it's true) problematic trends of influence in one but not the other?

My first instinct is that the potential threat of excessive military power (particularly during the Cold War) is much easier to see and point out.

Maybe it's because there's not really an increased profit margin in getting more grants where there is in getting more contracts?

If the difference is between getting grants and not getting grants, then there sure as hell is an economic incentive.

[bennj]

This sounds a lot to me like the Digital Divide. It's not exactly what he was talking about, but it's in a similar vein (technological haves vs. have nots).

[bayashi314]

It is also worth noting that the scientific elite have to exert their desires in a much more subtle manner, i.e. they can't simply use force to stage a coup.

Essentially, we might see the military-industrial complex as more of a threat because the threat is very obvious. If it were easy to see the threat of the scientific elite slowly guiding us to our eventual enslavement by robotic overlords, we might be more scared of them.

[eavanmoore]

Eisenhower encouraged McCarthyism and anti-Communism.

[emurphy42]

According to Wikipedia (with the usual caveats), he quietly undermined McCarthy early in his first term, but caught flak for not openly opposing him.

[ryuguardian]

Eisenhower founded People to People, which is an ambassador program that I went through to go to Australia in high school. I believe he also added "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, which could be good or bad depending on your views (and I view it as bad).