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Warfare State
First edition, first printing stated. No dustjacket, like new book itself.
- GenresAmerican HistoryPolitics
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
Fred J. Cook
48 books5 followersThe author of 45 books, Fred James Cook was an American investigative journalist, author and historian who has been published extensively in The Nation, the Asbury Park Press and The New York Times.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 10, 2020
Despite the alarmist nature of this outdated book, there can be no doubt about the accuracy of its warnings and predictions.
The book describes a country that appears to have set itself on a path of prosperity through militarism. A country that sacrifices the health and well-being of its citizens for the sake of a self-dealing corporate financed military class, whose survival depends, at all costs, upon maintaining a high level of international tension, military preparedness and toxic mistrust of foreign adversaries.
The most startling and alarming aspect of this book, is not the accuracy of its predictions regarding the growth and influence of this military and industrial alignment, (the main subject of this book), but rather the area of the book that deals with the cold war. Since what it details with disturbing clarity, is a loosely guided program of propaganda that effectively negated the wisdom of elected officials, countered the knowledge of our scientific community, and distorted public and popular opinion to such a degree, that it allowed the U.S. government to conduct a policy that, stripped of its false façade, was a recipe for world-wide nuclear annihilation. This went on for decades and, even now, represents the backbone of our foreign policy.
This policy of desensitizing America to the stark reality of even a limited nuclear exchange by any country, even our own, considering the improvements in nuclear weaponry, was merely a ploy by powerful, and one might add, irresponsible corporate interests, to accumulate a great deal of wealth, at the expense of everyone else.
What’s really frightening, is how easy it was to do that.
Essentially the book lays out the steps and conditions that would permit such powerful interests to grow to such proportions that it will overshadow every other aspect of our lives, every other health, welfare, and economic budgetary consideration. (Despite the fact that those values are actually enshrined in our constitution, while a permanent military is not even mentioned.)
Reading this book more than a half-century after its publication almost makes one believe in precognition. The evidence is clear, now. With annual budgets earmarking three-fourths of a trillion dollars toward the military every year, (not including wars) while the country’s infrastructure falls into disrepair, its citizens are denied a proper health-care system, the middle class have no economic security, and an elite ruling class is so entrenched that they no longer have to resort to subterfuge to impoverish the people they once represented. We are living in the world that this book predicted, 58 years ago.
The book describes a country that appears to have set itself on a path of prosperity through militarism. A country that sacrifices the health and well-being of its citizens for the sake of a self-dealing corporate financed military class, whose survival depends, at all costs, upon maintaining a high level of international tension, military preparedness and toxic mistrust of foreign adversaries.
The most startling and alarming aspect of this book, is not the accuracy of its predictions regarding the growth and influence of this military and industrial alignment, (the main subject of this book), but rather the area of the book that deals with the cold war. Since what it details with disturbing clarity, is a loosely guided program of propaganda that effectively negated the wisdom of elected officials, countered the knowledge of our scientific community, and distorted public and popular opinion to such a degree, that it allowed the U.S. government to conduct a policy that, stripped of its false façade, was a recipe for world-wide nuclear annihilation. This went on for decades and, even now, represents the backbone of our foreign policy.
This policy of desensitizing America to the stark reality of even a limited nuclear exchange by any country, even our own, considering the improvements in nuclear weaponry, was merely a ploy by powerful, and one might add, irresponsible corporate interests, to accumulate a great deal of wealth, at the expense of everyone else.
What’s really frightening, is how easy it was to do that.
Essentially the book lays out the steps and conditions that would permit such powerful interests to grow to such proportions that it will overshadow every other aspect of our lives, every other health, welfare, and economic budgetary consideration. (Despite the fact that those values are actually enshrined in our constitution, while a permanent military is not even mentioned.)
Reading this book more than a half-century after its publication almost makes one believe in precognition. The evidence is clear, now. With annual budgets earmarking three-fourths of a trillion dollars toward the military every year, (not including wars) while the country’s infrastructure falls into disrepair, its citizens are denied a proper health-care system, the middle class have no economic security, and an elite ruling class is so entrenched that they no longer have to resort to subterfuge to impoverish the people they once represented. We are living in the world that this book predicted, 58 years ago.
September 1, 2015
An amazing, frightening examination of the Cold War and the arms race through very high level correspondence. Published in 1962, in the middle of it all.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews