If Dwight D. Eisenhower were President today, what would he say about the Occupy Wall Street movement?
We don’t have to speculate.
In his farewell address to the public at the end of his 8 years as President, Eisenhower spoke to what is at the heart of the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon. Issues have shifted and transformed in ways, but Ike’s articulation of the basic principle fits today’s social politics precisely. He spoke of the sinister power of elite groups in our midst who do not have the welfare of the country at heart. He named the two elite groups that had risen to the top in the Cold War time of the 1950s, which he realized had entrenched themselves for the long haul--“the military-industrial complex.”
This catchy phrase has gained dictionary status, but less quoted parts of his speech show his mind embracing more than this particular tandem. He also spoke of the insidious peril of the “scientific-technological elite” that sucks money from government veins to fund the research of professors who have lost touch with ”intellectual curiosity.”
It has taken the worst recession since the 1930s to unshadow the attainment of power by a newly visible elite pair--the “lobbying, corporate money machine.” This club meets all the requirements for placement on Eisenhower’s book shelf of dangerous elites.
Let’s look at Eisenhower’s words and see if you agree:
He said that our country faces “prolonged and complex” issues that would deter us from our goals of “peace and human betterment.” How we handle this is the test. From among the solutions that will be offered, he said, we must find “balance between the private and the public economy.”
Is this not the challenge we face today of finding a solution to our deep national recession--whether the middle class or the wealthy should be able to gain protection from unbalanced calls for sacrifice? The ever widening gap between the rich and the poor belies the presence of any balance.
Ike pointed out that our past progress toward attaining our nation’s goals can be explained by the fact that “our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well in the face of threat and stress. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise.” At stake, he said, is our “liberty, dignity and integrity” as a people and a nation.
Ike did not just tell us about the danger of elite groups brokering power, he described its pernicious effect on our democratic institutions.
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought." America must be a “community,” a “proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. . . . Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength.”
If the Occupy Wall Street protesters are presenting no threat to public safety, yet the TV news cameras show police arriving in riot gear, brandishing (pointing) rifles, beating with clubs the unresisting protesters for not clearing the sidewalk, and, at UC Davis, pepper spraying students sitting quietly in a row on the ground, yanking a woman by the hair and throwing her to the ground, don’t you wonder who is giving the orders behind the scenes? Is not this a sign of power elite controlling the citizenry?
When the “Super Congressional Committee,” which is charged with coming up with a “balanced” approach to the national government’s financial crisis, fails in their mandated assignment, we might consult Eisenhower on the wisdom he offered. As a high ranking career military commander and two-term President, he was in a position to know what he was talking about when he spoke of insidious control by elite groups in our midst. He saw it then, he called it out, and he made a point of warning that it was not a passing danger. He had us in mind.
Doug Good
In his farewell address to the public at the end of his 8 years as President, Eisenhower spoke to what is at the heart of the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon. Issues have shifted and transformed in ways, but Ike’s articulation of the basic principle fits today’s social politics precisely. He spoke of the sinister power of elite groups in our midst who do not have the welfare of the country at heart. He named the two elite groups that had risen to the top in the Cold War time of the 1950s, which he realized had entrenched themselves for the long haul--“the military-industrial complex.”
This catchy phrase has gained dictionary status, but less quoted parts of his speech show his mind embracing more than this particular tandem. He also spoke of the insidious peril of the “scientific-technological elite” that sucks money from government veins to fund the research of professors who have lost touch with ”intellectual curiosity.”
It has taken the worst recession since the 1930s to unshadow the attainment of power by a newly visible elite pair--the “lobbying, corporate money machine.” This club meets all the requirements for placement on Eisenhower’s book shelf of dangerous elites.
Let’s look at Eisenhower’s words and see if you agree:
He said that our country faces “prolonged and complex” issues that would deter us from our goals of “peace and human betterment.” How we handle this is the test. From among the solutions that will be offered, he said, we must find “balance between the private and the public economy.”
Is this not the challenge we face today of finding a solution to our deep national recession--whether the middle class or the wealthy should be able to gain protection from unbalanced calls for sacrifice? The ever widening gap between the rich and the poor belies the presence of any balance.
Ike pointed out that our past progress toward attaining our nation’s goals can be explained by the fact that “our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well in the face of threat and stress. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise.” At stake, he said, is our “liberty, dignity and integrity” as a people and a nation.
Ike did not just tell us about the danger of elite groups brokering power, he described its pernicious effect on our democratic institutions.
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought." America must be a “community,” a “proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. . . . Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength.”
If the Occupy Wall Street protesters are presenting no threat to public safety, yet the TV news cameras show police arriving in riot gear, brandishing (pointing) rifles, beating with clubs the unresisting protesters for not clearing the sidewalk, and, at UC Davis, pepper spraying students sitting quietly in a row on the ground, yanking a woman by the hair and throwing her to the ground, don’t you wonder who is giving the orders behind the scenes? Is not this a sign of power elite controlling the citizenry?
When the “Super Congressional Committee,” which is charged with coming up with a “balanced” approach to the national government’s financial crisis, fails in their mandated assignment, we might consult Eisenhower on the wisdom he offered. As a high ranking career military commander and two-term President, he was in a position to know what he was talking about when he spoke of insidious control by elite groups in our midst. He saw it then, he called it out, and he made a point of warning that it was not a passing danger. He had us in mind.
Doug Good
Labels: Dwight D Eisenhower, elite groups, gap between rich and poor, Liberty, Military-Industrial Complex, Occupy Wall Street, police brutality, Super Congressional Committee
posted by Doug at
10:59 AM
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