The National Security Complex: Contemporary Statism on Steroids | David Stockman

"The empire can and should be dismantled. 1949 was a crucial mistake-a pivot point that has led to this massive fiscal and political crisis that we have in America today. This is pretty evident to a lot of us, but it was evident to Mises in 1949, and I think we should have followed his advice."
Presented at the 2024 Human Action Conference on Friday, 17 May 2024, at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama.
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[@Maryland_Kulak]

As a veteran, I would like to point out that the “disability” that my fellow veterans are being paid for are things like “sleep apnea” (snoring), tinnitus (ringing in the ears that anyone can say they have) and the like. It’s not like there are millions of veterans missing limbs. In the year before retiring, my fellow Soldiers spend their days having sleep studies and going from one doctor to another documenting their “disabilities” so they can cash in on the VA gravy train they now view as an entitlement. I once served on a team of military contractors in which the members had to pass deployment medical exams and maintain a high degree of physical fitness. We were issued military gear and had to qualify with military pistols and rifles to Army standards. We were ready to deploy anywhere in the world within 4 hours of alert. The vast majority of us were veterans and the majority of those were drawing VA disability pay while serving on this combat-ready team of mercenaries.

[@YouilAushana]

Sorry

[@Pau11Wa11]

Very insightful presentation. A lot can be gleaned from those stats. Well done, David!

[@JM-ws6ku]

1:10 By 1949, America was firmly established as the global empire, a process that had been building up since the 1890s, if not before.

[@billhammett174]

Ludwig von Mises understood the wastefulness of war making better than anyone in our lifetime...

[@gerardshort531]

Great analaysis but unfortunately it always comes with the denigration on another. IN this case Putin. Tell that to the Russian people who enjoy an excellent quality of life after Putin kicked the Oligarchs out whereupon they went to their natural home. The USA. Pity.

[@vicschauberger2737]

Good point .
Of course the fallen Soviet Union , which had taken power from a nation of elite Royals over Serfs , had little experience to lend towards becoming a market economy .
Still it should not have been the policy of this supposedly , " free market " loving country to keep Boris Yeltsin in booze while the Russian and U.S, oligarchs , with the aid of the likes of Robert rubin et al divvied up the factories and means of production at fire sale prices .
Means of production and capital that would've been vital to a nascent Russian free market .

[@ConfusedAbyssinianCat-oi4fh]

Will Stockman address keeping uranium enrichment out of the hands of those who plan bombs and missiles?

[@ConfusedAbyssinianCat-oi4fh]

The above was basically addressed. The huge military complex is not needed to defend against nuclear threat. Thank You David Stockman

[@ConfusedAbyssinianCat-oi4fh]

Addressed...

[@robhaythorne4464]

National defense is a necessary evil. Key word here is NECESSARY. People can argue about the details, but defense/deterrence is absolutely NECESSARY.
I take exception with the categorization of the US as an empire. It never sought hegemony over other nations. If anything, the US has been played for a sucker by the rest of the world which cannot even make its own way.
I doubt that Von Mises would agree with this guy any more than I do.

[@Pau11Wa11]

You don’t think people in the US government and pentagon ever sought hegemony over other nations? This is a delusional take. The CIA started doing that as soon as it was created in 1948. Over the decades, it’s toppled countless democratically elected governments in countless countries on every continent that has affairs to meddle in. You think the “defense” budget is literally just for defense? Ha! That’s hilarious. The Department of Defense should go back to being called the Department of War. Much more honest.

[@marcscott6142]

Comment

[@YouilAushana]

8:52 - China's whole economy is "make it up in volume". As they consume themselves with nothing left over from credit expansion.

[@valerieprice1745]

It's true that Communist countries have terrible economic and human costs, but the Soviets and Chinese certainly took country after country, and the US has fallen to the Communazi central bank global government without firing a shot. The future is bleak, because technocratic totalitarians in business, government, and education are destroying our young people's minds and families. It's a terrible thing, and it's heartbreaking for anyone negatively affected by the American Communazi cultural revolution. There's no way forward, and no way back.

[@homewall744]

The federal military empire will be re-Constitutionalized by American patriots.

[@Dejan878]

They say the same for Hitler, that " he doesn't have capacity to attack France and UK" or the rest of the World.

[@nocucksinkekistan7321]

mises institute writers need to learn to do a better job

[@pretorious700]

You mean like your brillant comment?

[@Pau11Wa11]

“A better job” at what? Simping for the District of Criminals (D.C.) and the pentagon?