kh (05/03/83)
From: mjk@tty3b
....
What alternatives exist? Well, suppose we democratized the
economy. Suppose private interest became much more synonymous with
common good. Suppose that the CIA were committed to defending the
interest of the American people, rather than American corporations.
Our foreign policy would certainly be different: the American people
probably would benefit from friendly relations with Nicaragua, although
the corporations with private interests in surrounding Central American
nations don't. The American people would probably benefit from an
absolute minimum of defense spending, although the owners of Rockwell,
TRW and other arms providers benefit most from the opposite.
I agree that our foreign policy (especially in Latin America) is largely
determined by corporate interests, but our domestic policy is that way
because most people want it that way. What do you mean my "democratize"?
The system as it is has supplied more "common good" than most other systems.
Even as we speak, though, the economy is being "democratized" in a way;
the largest, richest company ever to exist on the face of the Earth is
being divided into smaller companies. I speak, of course, of AT&T, your
indirect employer. This isn't the first time this has happened, either.
If these big, bad corporations are so powerful, how come the Justice
Dept. has successfully prosecuted them?
There are reasons for high military spending, too. Our allies in
Western Europe wouldn't be too happy if we cut spending to an "absolute
minimum." The Soviet Union \does/ have a large military and they showed
in Afghanistan that they're ready to use it. We have a stake in keeping
Rockwell and TRW (and Gen. Dynamics and GE and Honeywell and ...)
busy producing weapons in peacetime, so that they will have the capacity
to do so during war. Russia's general strategy is to keep a war short,
so we wouldn't have time for massive mobilization.
Kenny Hirsch
duke!unc!kh
kh.unc@UDel-Relay
Chapel Hill, N.C.