Why We Fight?

Mariusz Stankowski

Urban Sociology

Spring II (Summer) Semester 2008

Lecturer: Professor D. Monaco

Why We Fight?

The question that many citizens may ask is why does The Unites States really fight? If this question was asked on the American streets every person would probably have a different idea of the war. The mo 848q162i st common answers that we would probably hear would be to fight for freedom, to fight terrorism, to show we are in power, and to obtain oil, but does anyone know what the real answer is? These questions about war and the economy will always be a mystery and stay a mystery, because the real truth would probably hurt a lot of people.

Another unsolved mystery about this country is the military systems and relations with the U.S economy. Why do does the U.S spend so much money on military? According to the documentary "Why We Fight" different U.S representatives explain that the U.S has to be in power to avoid threat from other nations and to save democracy and to gain power in the National Defense System. Of course in today's age in order to stay in power you do need to have Military technology, as does the United States. In President's Eisenhower farewell address he warned its citizens that the military will have an effect on The United States and its citizens. Even though his speech was never in complete detail explaining about the Military Industrial Complex, we do have to understand that in today's times the federal budget is mostly spent on the military and the country's defense system. The idea of the Military Industrial Complex also brings in a closer relation with the war production corporations and the military. We may also learn that military power is the most important to the governmtnat

The Military Industrial Complex operates in different ways. The corporations know that the federal budget spends more money on military material and the country's defense system than on anything else even such as health care. In result these corporations that produce military material compete with each other and introduce new military products on the market. When these corporations compete with each other, war technology gets more advanced and as one of the corporations mentioned that the military technology will decrease the risk of innocent life. In my opinion, these military producing corporations don't really care about anybody's lives in the first place just their budget and of course a signed contract with the U.S government.

The military industrial complex impacts the American society in many different ways. By looking at the yearly Federal Spending Budget statistics of 2007, we may learn that the Unites States spends 462billion dollars on the military, surprisingly only 56billion is spent on education, and 53billion dollars is spent on health care. The United States is now spending more money on military than when it was at the peak of Vietnam war. In this case we may learn that education and health care is not that important to the U.S government as military power is. Of course lets not forget that corporations are also the one's who benefit from this as well. Corporations are very happy when the government signs a contract with them so they can make the money.

After analyzing the amount that the United States is spending on war and military, is it all a coincidence that the world is at its peak of oil reserve, the United States spends more money on military than any other country in this world, and of course the United States is currently surrounding 90% of the world's energy resources in Middle East? Is that the president Eisenhower's warning in his farewell address? Is the United States preparing for something to stay in power?