Wednesday, January 19, 2011

We must guard against the scholarly employment and project allocation complex

Eisenhower's warnings about the Military-Industrial Complex have been much-quoted and much-ignored.  Peace offers limited opportunities for graft. 


There's another section of the same speech that should be carved into granite. 

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.

What does this have to do with anything? 
Please allow me to translate....

Our government is running out of things to tax.  Carbon emissions are one of the last frontiers.  They want to do it under the heading of preventing Global Cooling/Global Warming/Climate Change or whichever term is unprovable.  
There is no money for anyone in the grant/allocation/scholarship/greenery racket who wants to point out that climate is doing what it has always done.  It has always changed, it is changing, and it always will change. 

In the present circumstances, can you imagine our government funding any research to prove that? 

2 comments:

Hot Sam said...

It's utterly amazing how many people quote the "MIC" portion of the speech without referencing any of the other parts.

Damon said...

I believe President Eisenhower's speech is referring more to the prospect of the federal government (and in recent years, its military contractors) wastefully allocating the brightest minds in the world in the pursuit of what they think of as military strength. This has nothing to do with global warming. Ike is criticizing the system, not the scientist. As 50 year British politician and WWII veteran Tony Benn put it " Constructing weapons of death instead of the means for life." And you might look up Tony Benn because you do not know who he is; then proceed to call me a liberal, pussy, socialist, communist, or whatever,(I am actually a person who believes the entire system is broken) but please educate yourself on the real facts next time.