The Pathology of Power

by Norman Cousins

“A disturbing look at the military state using evidence from committees of the Congress, whistle-blowers, and concerned citizens. . . .A thoughtful and chilling look at Fortress America, its architects and its victims.” ― Kirkus Reviews In this book, a seasoned commentator on world affairs discusses the way power in government becomes enlarged, exploited, and institutionalized―not just as the result of external dangers, real or contrived, but as the result of the way the arms race spills over into and dominates foreign policy. The clandestine operation that led to the Iran-Contra affair, Norman Cousins observes, is a recent example of dangerous trend with its own momentum. Mr. Cousins returns here to the central theme that dominated the editorial pages of the Saturday Review during the thirty years of his editorship: the challenge to human freedom and safety represented by vast destructive power slipping away from the means of control.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dylan sang

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
While the death count gets higher
Then you hide in your mansion
While the young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

Read it and weep.

The best we can do is keep the greedy military industrial complex in check. But we have to try.