As an opponent of the militarization of American society, I always oppose the Pentagon’s continuous bloated budget and wasteful spending. In December 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that in 2013, “the Pentagon’s top 85 major-defense acquisition programs experienced overruns of nearly $411 billion.” According to the same WSJ article, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project has exceeded its TRILLION dollar budget by $160 billion. The Project on Government Oversight (of which I am a member) has been especially critical of the F-35 program over the program’s history.
Seymour Melman was a professor of industrial engineering at Columbia University when he wrote his book, The Permanent War Economy. Professor Melman’s book 1) excoriated the notion that since the 1950’s war has spurred the economy and 2) exposed the military’s insatiable appetite, which has undoubtedly siphoned spending on infrastructure, social programs, etc., like a parasite on a host. Melman asked, for example, why the military budget increased in 1974 and again in 1975 after the Vietnamese and US governments signed their peace agreements in 1973 yet the US was not at war anywhere.
Closer to home, I have observed Al Jourgensen of the band Ministry rail against the military and its excesses for decades. Ministry performed in Chicago Friday night. While introducing a 2014 song called “Permawar,” Jourgensen reminded the audience that he has opposed the military and its spending habits for “25 to 30 years.” Here are the song’s lyrics.
You live to fight another day, and that day will come
We’re fighting never-ending wars, for profit and fun
We’re tired, we’re tired, we’re tired of PermaWarYou live to die another day, we send you off with a gun
We’re making money hand over fist, that’s why we’re never done
We’re tired, of keeping scores
We’re tired, of what’s in store
We’re tired, we don’t want anymore
We’re tired of PermaWarI’m tired of building other nations
Ceasefire, it’s our only salvation
You live and die for the American Way, well that way is done
The bottom line remains the same, we’re making cash by the tonWe’re tired, of keeping scores
We’re tired, of what’s in store
We’re tired, we don’t want anymore
We’re tired of PermaWarWe’re tired, of keeping scores
We’re tired, of what’s in store
We’re tired, we don’t want anymoreWe’re tired of PermaWar (5x)
The concert itself featured mostly post-Bill Clinton material, which was a good thing. Six songs from From Beer to Eternity, which I previously reviewed in EPB, three songs from Rio Grande Blood, two songs from Houses of the Mole, and three songs from The Last Sucker as opposed to only two songs from each of Psalm 69 and 1989’s The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste.
Jourgensen reiterated his decades-long obsession later in the show. Ministry did not play “The Dick Song“, but it serves as yet another example of Jourgensen’s mindset.
I’ve got something to get off my chest
I’ve got a person that scares me to death
First name is Dick and you know the rest
Well I’ve got something I just got to say
This vice president will make us pay
We’re inching closer to judgment dayMy name is Cheney I got no remorse run run run Cheney’s got a gun
I get my way or I get to use force – on anyone
You know he’s evil, he’s not of this race. run run run Cheney’s having fun
He used a shotgun to blow off a face
He’s still not doneDick Cheney Son of Satan
He is the Chosen One
He’s starting wars at the drop of a hat run run run Cheney’s got a gun
He says he’s certain he’s driving them back
Were almost done
Let’s have another let’s fuck with Iran. run run run Cheney’s having funIt pleases Satan
When there’s blood on the hands
Of his Number One
Dick Cheney Son of Satan
He is the Chosen OneThe smell of money keeps him alive run run run Cheney’s got a gun
He thinks it’s funny when the bodies arrive
What’s done is doneThe occupation of Satan is near. run run run Cheney’s having fun
Now Revelations is oh so near
For everyoneDick Cheney Son of Satan
He is the chosen one
Satan’s Emissary on Earth, Satan’s Emissary on Earth, Satan’s Emissary on Earth.
In his farewell speech, President Eisenhower warned of the “military-industrial complex”, noting that, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signified in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Ministry included President Eisenhower’s speech is its song “End of Days (Pt 2).”
For more information on the obscene military budget, go here: www.oneminuteforpeace.org
