Letters to the Editor
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Permanent War
"The war is not meant to be won, it is only meant to be permanent."
Raising taxes and cutting the military budget are Unmentionable for the same reason; once people are taught that they never receive anything in return for the taxes they pay, because all the money vanishes down a rat hole of "defense," they assume that all taxes are wasted.
That pie chart, left blank, would make a good, if depressing measure of this phenomenon. Most people would think that "welfare" and "foreign aid" are the big slices, because that's what they've been told, ad nauseum. They're even told that immigrants come here for our social services, although we don't really have any to speak of.
Eisenhower's prediction has come true in spades; the military-industrial complex commands our resources, and every other expenditure suffers, and taxes are still high.
But even amid this situation, another Imperialist pipe-dreamer must be given a "voice," i.e. William Kristol elbowing aside a sane person's potential spot on the NYT op-ed page.
Where are the true conservatives? Aren't they at least offended by the wasted money?