"It seems like what we're doing over here is a sophisticated money laundering operation designed to benefit the military industrial complex." In the wise words of Samuel L. Jackson -Exactamundo! Eisenhower realized that letting the military become a corporation would result in incompetence at best, fascism at worst.
When I resigned my commission in 1994, I was working at the Supervisor of Shipbuilding and Repair in San Diego. I spoke with the Capt on my way out the door regarding my frustration with the fact that we were spending at least twice as much as we should on both building and fixing. He allowed that it was about half real cost, and half social and corporate welfare. The Navy decided it needed the capability on the West, East and Gulf coasts, and funded the shipyards to that end. And I heard recently (I don't know that this is fact), that at the height of WW II we had 12.5 million in the armed forces, 4x todays number. Then, we had twelve 4-stars, now we have forty-four. This is a paraphrase from one of Heinlein's novels; "the first duty of power is to perpetuate itself, the first duty of freemen is to resist." Even knowing we won't win. Thank you for resisting.
It looks like the podcast is cut short by 20 mins or so on Apple Podcasts, it’s showing it as 50mins 31 seconds. Glad I could find the rest of the episode here on Substack.
Sadly, I think Bill will be doomed to become the Cassandra (a figure from Greek mythology that foresees the future correctly, but is not believed) of 21st century warfare. The rake stomping will inevitably occur. The MIC intelligentsia will claim that no one could have seen it coming, but they will be full of confidence that they know the correct path to take for the future.
I'd like to be proven wrong, but based on their track record, it is the most likely outcome. The chief value of Bill's efforts, is that when things go sideways, maybe someone will be willing to listen to one of the few people who called it long before it happened.
If enlightenment visits the American empire before large-scale catastrophe is realized, we will have the dissident voices (like Bill's) to thank for averting disaster.
You are very kind and I appreciate your efforts in trying to right the ship but I suspect it will collide with the shoals of failure and destitution before wise men step up.
I am a regular listener to Bill's podcasts. I always find them quite interesting to listen to and I always learn multiple things I did not know and was not aware of. I am a USN veteran and find his descriptions of current military issues very enlightening.
"It seems like what we're doing over here is a sophisticated money laundering operation designed to benefit the military industrial complex." In the wise words of Samuel L. Jackson -Exactamundo! Eisenhower realized that letting the military become a corporation would result in incompetence at best, fascism at worst.
When I resigned my commission in 1994, I was working at the Supervisor of Shipbuilding and Repair in San Diego. I spoke with the Capt on my way out the door regarding my frustration with the fact that we were spending at least twice as much as we should on both building and fixing. He allowed that it was about half real cost, and half social and corporate welfare. The Navy decided it needed the capability on the West, East and Gulf coasts, and funded the shipyards to that end. And I heard recently (I don't know that this is fact), that at the height of WW II we had 12.5 million in the armed forces, 4x todays number. Then, we had twelve 4-stars, now we have forty-four. This is a paraphrase from one of Heinlein's novels; "the first duty of power is to perpetuate itself, the first duty of freemen is to resist." Even knowing we won't win. Thank you for resisting.
Hey Bill,
It looks like the podcast is cut short by 20 mins or so on Apple Podcasts, it’s showing it as 50mins 31 seconds. Glad I could find the rest of the episode here on Substack.
Thank you for all your work.
Tim, just fixed it and thanks for alerting me, should be repaired now. Never happened before. Should be 1:11 versus 50:00.
Sadly, I think Bill will be doomed to become the Cassandra (a figure from Greek mythology that foresees the future correctly, but is not believed) of 21st century warfare. The rake stomping will inevitably occur. The MIC intelligentsia will claim that no one could have seen it coming, but they will be full of confidence that they know the correct path to take for the future.
I'd like to be proven wrong, but based on their track record, it is the most likely outcome. The chief value of Bill's efforts, is that when things go sideways, maybe someone will be willing to listen to one of the few people who called it long before it happened.
If enlightenment visits the American empire before large-scale catastrophe is realized, we will have the dissident voices (like Bill's) to thank for averting disaster.
You are very kind and I appreciate your efforts in trying to right the ship but I suspect it will collide with the shoals of failure and destitution before wise men step up.
I am a regular listener to Bill's podcasts. I always find them quite interesting to listen to and I always learn multiple things I did not know and was not aware of. I am a USN veteran and find his descriptions of current military issues very enlightening.
Thanks Matt and spread the word if you please.
Will do.