Military-Industrial Complex

In his farewell address in 1961, President and General Eisenhower warned against the "potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power" in the military-industrial complex. The wisdom of his words will permeate the ages, but the immediacy of them will ebb and flow with the times. For the lefties, this comment (from a General and Republican, no less) from over 40 years ago shrieks at us and forms part of the foundation of their anti-American, anti-military hysteria. Halliburton, anyone? I'm curious--how many people can tell me exactly what Halliburton actually does? I'd assert very few, yet people use the name and expect its mere mention to prove their point and stifle any debate.

In a speech sure to be remembered, at least by lefties, for far less time than Eisenhower's, Czech President Vaclav Klaus has issued a new warning for our time. The Brussels Journal carries an in-depth article here, while I provide Instapundit's snippets of the "good parts":

President Klaus spoke last Monday, warning for the new “substitute ideologies of socialism” such as “Europeanism” and “NGOism.” These “isms” are currently threatening Europe. “In the first decade of the 21st century we should not concentrate exclusively on socialism,” he said. . . .

As substitutes of socialism, Václav Klaus cited “environmentalism (with its Earth First, not Freedom First principle), radical humanrightism (based – as de Jasay precisely argues – on not distinguishing rights and rightism), the ideology of ‘civic society’ (or communitarism), which is nothing less than one version of post-Marxist collectivism which wants privileges for organized groups, and in consequence, a refeudalization of society […], multiculturalism, feminism, apolitical technocratism (based on the resentment against politics and politicians), internationalism (and especially its European variant called Europeanism) and a rapidly growing phenomenon I call NGOism.”. . .

He also opposed “excessive government regulation” and “huge subsidies to privileged or protected industries and firms.” He warned that Europe’s social system “must not be wrecked by all imaginable kinds of disincentives, by more than generous welfare payments, by large scale redistribution, by many forms of government paternalism.” Instead, Europe has to “be based on freedom, personal responsibility, individualism, natural caring for others and genuine moral conduct of life.”