Corruptions of Empire

Everybody wants to be number one, and countries are no exception to that rule.  Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and those who pursue dominance with wars and military spending are certainly no exception to this rule either.  But what is the mechanism and what is the process that leads to these outcomes?

Military spending may just be an indicator some would think, but it is a cause, because it embodies the taking away from normal economic pursuits critical resources that are instead either left dormant or used to inflict violence and destruction.  Slowing the economy increases social stress.  Allowing talent from throughout the world to come to a dominant power can leave the indigenous population frustrated and left out and can undermine wage increases.

Power and Control

Military force can be an effective means of coercion against those who would prefer those means, but can be quite ineffective against those who are defending their homeland thousands of miles away from the homeland of the foreign troops.  Still, the application of military power is addictive to those who use it.  Control from the top down is usually alienated from and less effective than building loyalty from the bottom up.  A paid professional army from outside is never more motivated than an indigenous home army.  The farther away the lines of supply are, the greater the opportunity for corruption along the way. 

Political Corruption

Those that control the allocation of military funds can be both powerful and corrupted by their power.  They can allocate those funds to themselves or to gain influence over others.  In the USA case this means members of defense appropriations and armed services committees usually dominate other members of congress, and committee chairs are the next higher level of power followed by the leaders of the political party in power and especially the president. That military spending is substantial and easily allocated to different companies and regions favored by these power positions gives this part of the federal budget unusually high levels of clout.

Social Corruption

Learning to kill others and then doing it is a corrupting and stressful force on those individuals.  Many social ills befall those who come home from wars.  Suicide and divorce are notable, but the fact that homicide and crime rates are proportional to military economy rates among countries is further proof of the domestic harm that comes to societies high in military spending.  There are three main causes of this relationship.  The direct connection is that training makes killing easier to resort to.  Secondly, considering other people as enemies leads to many kinds of discrimination when people are different racially, ethnically, by religion, by sex, by politics, by sexual orientation or even mental disposition.  Training to act quickly further can lead to accidents.  Thirdly, economic stagnation caused by taking resources away from goods producing industries and adding them to military purposes instead puts great strains on the civilian workforce and economy.  Frustrated people can then turn to crime, drugs, lotteries, suicide, and other diversions to reduce the pressure they feel under.  Powerless people can find others they consider lower on the totem pole to exert some power over.  Narrow hierarchies can exaggerate these problematic behaviors, so income inequality also separates and alienates people from each other.

Corruption and Diversionary Behaviors

The following chart shows the many diversionary tendencies of dominant empire societies versus emerging or mature growing societies.

         A Study in Contrasts

Detailed Exploration of the Chart Above: https://www.academia.edu/11421799/MILITARISM_CONTROL_Empire_Social_Decay_WWW_97_6p

Please cite this work as follows:  Reuschlein, Robert. (2019, September 9), "Corrupt Military Spending" Madison, WI, Real Economy Institute.  Retrieved from:  https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Corrupt-Military-Spending,2019194492.aspx

Dr. Peace, Professor Robert Reuschlein, Real Economy Institute, Nominated Vetted 2016 (2 Web Looks), Given Odds 2017 (3 Web Looks), Strongly Considered 2018 (48 Web Looks, one million words) for Nobel Peace Prize, and a favorite in 2019 (double pace of last year: 112 Strong Web Looks in 11+ months) for Nobel Peace Prize to be announced Friday October 4^th, 2019.

Contact: bobreuschlein@gmail.com,

Info: www.realeconomy.com