Often quoted as his warning about "the Military-Industrial Complex," Eisenhower's speech also includes other warnings. One concerns "the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite," which is now cited concerning the pervasive fraud surrounding global warming and other "scientific" boondoggles. Another passage concerns something of much more importance to our present moment:
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. -- President Dwight Eisenhower, January 17, 1961Posted by Vanderleun at May 13, 2011 5:40 AM
One of the greatest and most prescient of American speeches.
Even though we already had big government in the Eisenhower years, a practical near-term goal would be to get back to that level of "big," instead of the COLOSSAL government we have now.
This was pre "Great Society," and most of us were left alone most of the time.
Posted by: Don Rodrigo at May 13, 2011 8:22 AMAccording to the Book of Obama: Chap. 3, "The Rule of Plunder", what good is it to be in power, if one cannot loot and pillage the treasury.
The other trappings of office are mere froth and plumage.
Posted by: Peccable at May 13, 2011 10:10 AM"..the captive of a scientific-technological elite." Welcome to the cold calculus of an infinite regress of efficiency to worlds without end where under the umbrella of the Dyson swarm love, beauty, truth, wisdom, and most of all, liberty, shrivel and die.
Posted by: John Hinds at May 14, 2011 10:47 AM"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated to combat spam and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.
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