Follow us on social

Screen-shot-2021-04-20-at-2.36.35-pm-2

How Gen Z can stop its money from going down the 'rathole'

If young people follow the money, they'll find just how misplaced the government's priorities are.

Analysis | Military Industrial Complex

I came to Washington, DC in January for my senior internship, among other things, hoping to learn about how the government spends taxpayer money. 

I confirmed that a lot of it is going down a rathole. 

I learned about something called the F-35 — a spectacular $400 billion failure nicknamed the “Lightning II.” It’s a fighter jet that cannot fly in the rain, attempts to kill its pilots, and shoots itself. Nevertheless, the Pentagon will spend another $1.3 trillion on it in coming years, which mainly seems intended to pad the pockets of its maker, the giant weapons contractor Lockheed Martin.

One of the people most responsible for wasting our money on this plane is the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith. He and his committee largely decide how much goes to the Pentagon each year, and for what purposes. Speaking about the F-35 last month, he said he wants “to stop throwing money down that particular rathole.” But it appears he can’t. A powerful mix of politics, special interest lobbying, and a few jobs strategically spread across congressional districts keeps the money flowing down the chute. 

My generation is always told “there is no money.” But for the cost of this boondoggle, Congress could wipe out all student debt, which today equals the F-35’s lifetime cost of $1.7 trillion. And this is just the latest in a long list of failed Pentagon money pits. It seems we are being robbed, but we are strangely silent about the this whole military-industrial-complex. Why?

Maybe we are silent on the diversion of money to wasteful weapons programs because we are being diverted. One thing I learned during my time in Washington is that hundreds of think tanks and universities have financial backing from war contractors. This army pumps out articles hyping threats, defending weapons systems, or helping war-hawks to shape conversations from classrooms to dinner tables, normalizing acceptance of $400 billion planes that can barely fly in the name of “national security.” Lockheed Martin and others who profit by taking in our tax dollars use a good sum of that money to set the terms of the debate and keep us compliant. 

The conditioning extends right down to my generation. Those graduating college today barely remember 9/11, if at all. We don’t remember Congress voting for the Iraq War in 2003. For many in my generation, Barack Obama was our first introduction to politics. Along with hope and inspiration, he introduced us to American military interventions — in Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan. Growing up in forever wars introduced us to the idea that America will always be at war. We see children of soldiers fighting on the same fields as their fathers. This is the norm, and maybe it explains our lack of outrage or effort to change this reality.

Or maybe we have other priorities. A recent panel on Gen Z and U.S. foreign policy highlighted how young people are actually politically active, with economic security, racial inequality, and climate change as core concerns. But if climate is a priority, then the U.S. military — one of the world’s largest consumers of fossil fuels — should not be left out of the discussion. War without end also has serious implications for racialized and militarized policing in the United States. And, our economic security could be greatly improved if the massive investment in the F-35 was directed toward paying off student loans instead.

My generation is vocal on issues. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, protests were organized on a massive scale — often by people my own age. We turned out to the People’s Climate March, the Women's March, and the ballot box. Maybe we should start to follow the money and help divert some of it from these ratholes and instead toward our actual needs and desires.

Images: schankz and AMMHPhotography via shutterstock.com
Analysis | Military Industrial Complex
Sen. Murphy wary of committing ‘American blood’ to Saudi Arabia

Sen. Chris Murphy on CNN, September 20 2023.

Sen. Murphy wary of committing ‘American blood’ to Saudi Arabia

QiOSK

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the strongest critics of Saudi Arabia in the Senate, raised concerns Wednesday morning about the possibility of offering Riyadh a security guarantee in exchange for the normalization of relations with Israel.

Appearing on CNN, Murphy said that he supported the idea of the Biden administration brokering a deal in the Middle East, saying it would be “good for the United States if there is peace between the Gulf and in particular between Saudi Arabia and Israel,” but questioned the price that Washington is willing to pay to accomplish that objective.

keep readingShow less
'Bonapartism' infects, leads to military coups in Africa
Napoleon's Return from Elba, by Charles Auguste Guillaume Steuben. (1818)(Public Domain)

'Bonapartism' infects, leads to military coups in Africa

Africa

When Napoleon Bonaparte staged a coup d’état to oust the civilian government of the Directorate in France, he justified his actions as necessary to save the spirit of the Revolution. The army, in Napoleon’s view, had a solemn obligation to defend the nation against threats both at home and abroad.

The notion that a military, as guardians of a national spirit, has the right to seize the authority of the state became known as Bonapartism. This seemingly persistent belief in certain militaries in Africa emphasizes the need for comprehensive reform.

keep readingShow less
Mold, raw sewage, brown tap water found in US barracks
Mold in barracks found during visits from Government Accountability Office investigators. (Image via GAO)

Mold, raw sewage, brown tap water found in US barracks

QiOSK

Government investigators found mold, gas leaks, brown tap water, and broken sewage pipes in U.S. military barracks despite record-high Pentagon spending, according to a major report released by the Government Accountability Office on Tuesday.

“We found that living conditions in some military barracks may pose potentially serious risks to the physical and mental health of service members, as well as their safety,” the GAO reported, noting that the conditions also impact troop readiness.

keep readingShow less

Ukraine War Crisis

Latest