Continuing to challenge various theories that provide cover for shallow criticism of the Cobbian Oeuvre, I will begin a series on the theory of 'war socialism' as I understand it.
The theory of warsocialism attempts to explain American politics in terms of a political slight of hand that defies normal human concerns by duping Americans into believing that war is the health of the nation. The results being a callous disregard for the actual welfare of humans by the US government and a perpetual need for violent conflict around the world. Essentially, it portrays the American economy as a sort of military shark that needs to war in order to survive. I seek to debunk this notion as paranoid and in service to a shallow anti-Americanism that defies the facts of the actual economy of America and the politics of Americans.
Item 1. The size of the military-industrial complex.
According to the information I have collected, the US spent in 2007 during its prosecution of the small war in Iraq, approximately 550 billion dollars on defense, about 17% of the federal budget. I will take this figure to represent the size of the Military Industrial Complex. Note that this overstates the actual size of the MIC because it represents not only all of the goods and services provided by defense contractors on an annual basis, but the personnel costs for the Armed Forces itself.
Comparing this generous figure to GDP of about 13.7Trillion, it works out to about than 4% of the country's energies on an annual basis. Considered another way, America is 96% not the military industrial complex, even being generous to what the size of it is.
Item 2. The size of other industries.
In particular I will focus on several industries larger than the MIC.
a. Construction: 1.196T
b. Information: 891B
c. Health Care & Social Assistance: 1.207T
d. Manufacturing: 3.916T
e. Finance & Insurance: 2.803T
f. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services: 886B
g. Retailing: 3.056T
h. Wholesale Trade: 4.634T
These figures, incidently, account for the employment of approximately 77 million Americans.
Conclusion: The military industrial complex is dwarfed by several ordinary industries individually and collectively. It is not anywhere near the largest sector of the American economy. The health of the American economy is not dependent on military spending.
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