Excerpt, minor edit by
Carolyn Bennett
Essential
roundtable of equals
…During the long lane of the
history yet to be written … this world of ours, growing ever smaller, must
avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate; and must instead be 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 [those] protected by … moral, economic, and military strength.
Though scarred by many fast frustrations of the battlefield – that table,
despite past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of
disarmament.…|
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e
pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations may have their great human needs satisfied
…That all who yearn
for freedom may experience its few spiritual blessings.
…That those who
have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibility
That all who are
insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity;
…That … scourges of
poverty, disease, and ignorance will be made [to] disappear from the earth
…That in the
goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed
by the binding force of mutual respect and love.
The United States of America’s Thirty-Fourth President: Dwight
David Eisenhower (b.1890, d. 1969); Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952); US
president (January 20, 1953-January 20, 1961); his Farewell Address on this date
in 1961 [Excerpt].
Beware
public-private collusion manufacturing violence
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ntil
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 we can no longer risk emergency
improvisation of national defense.… [But] Akin to, and largely responsible for the
sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during
recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central; it also
becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is
conducted for, by, or at the direction of the Federal government.… [And] …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.
[Therefore]
In the councils of
government,
we must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial 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…
…America’s leadership and
prestige depend not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches, and
military strength; but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace
and human betterment.
Ensure
free yet balanced learning, scholarship, inquiry
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he free university,
historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has
experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge
costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for
intellectual curiosity.
For every old blackboard there
are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the
nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of
money is ever present -- and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in respecting scientific research and
discovery, as we should, we must also be alert to an equal and opposite danger,
that public policy can itself become captive to the scientific-technological
elite.
It is the task of [those who
exercise political leadership wisely and without narrow partisanship] to mold,
to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the
principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of
our free society.
Ever
care, conservation, moderation
…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.|
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isarmament,
with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose [settle] differences,
not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp
and apparent, I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this
field with a definite sense of disappointment.
As one who has witnessed the
horror and the lingering sadness of war, as one who knows that another war
could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built
over thousands of years, I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in
sight. …
Left to the citizen
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nly
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.
Sources and notes
Dwight D. Eisenhower Farewell Address delivered January 17, 1961,
American Rhetoric (transcript), Audio mp3 of Address, http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/dwightdeisenhowerfarewell.html
“Contractors 'raping' government for profit, & do
sanctions on Russia work?” (E162), January 17, 2015 08:30, Afshin Rattansi goes
underground (in part) with Kirk Wiebe, an NSA veteran and whistleblower, who warns
that private contractors are destroying intelligence agencies and ‘raping’
governmental institutions for profit. http://rt.com/shows/going-underground/223603-human-rights-nsa-uk/
Also in the January 17, 2015, edition of “Going Underground,”
Afshin Rattansi with author Harry Gibson on “the power of sanctions”; and too “an
airstrike on Al-Bab in Syria which according to a Syrian human rights group
killed over 50 civilians; UK Prime Minister’s Questions highlighting “David Cameron
struggling with questions over Saudi Arabia’s decision to lash a blogger,
saying ‘no harm’ came to 57 people who reportedly died in East Anglia because
ambulances did not arrive, and a report suggesting UK tax may have been funding
extremist groups”; also a look at “Britain’s response to a regime (in Egypt) that
allegedly murdered 1,400 political opponents, and has another 500 waiting to
find out if they will be hanged – sending the largest trade delegation for a
decade.” Going Underground http://fb.me/GoingUndergroundRT
Going Underground
https://www.youtube.com/user/GoingUndergroundRT
Going Underground on
Twitter http://twitter.com/Underground_RT
Afshin Rattansi on
Twitter http://twitter.com/AfshinRattansi
on Instagram
http://instagram.com/officialgoingundergroundrt
on SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/rttv/sets/going-underground
American author, astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist,
astrobiologist Carl Edward Sagan (1934 –1996)
__________________________________________________________A lifelong American writer and writer/activist (former academic and staffer with the U.S. government in Washington), Dr. Carolyn LaDelle Bennett is credentialed in education and print journalism and public affairs (PhD, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; MA, The American University, Washington, DC). Her work concerns itself with news and current affairs, historical contexts, and ideas particularly related to acts and consequences of U.S. foreign relations, geopolitics, human rights, war and peace, and violence and nonviolence. Dr. Bennett is an internationalist and nonpartisan progressive personally concerned with society and the common good. An educator at heart, her career began with the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Since then, she has authored several books and numerous current-affairs articles; her latest book: UNCONSCIONABLE: How The World Sees Us: World News, Alternative Views, Commentary on U.S. Foreign Relations; most thoughts, articles, edited work are posted at Bennett’s Study: http://todaysinsightnews.blogspot.com/ and on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08UNCONSCIONABLE/prweb12131656.htm http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-000757788/UNCONSCIONABLE.aspx Her books are also available at independent bookstores in New York State: Lift Bridge in Brockport; Sundance in Geneseo; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center in Buffalo; Burlingham Books in Perry; The Bookworm in East Aurora
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