| | Mon May 21, 2007 8:58 pm | | | | Comments: 0 Views: 95 |
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The American political scene is crowed by interest groups, lobbyists and think tanks who labor to effect American policies. Eugene Jarecki's "Why We Fight" focuses on particular special interests and think tanks by examining the dawn of Eisenhower's so called "military industrial complex." Jarecki successfully shows the evolution of an enemy within our own national identity that has no face but very real implications.
Throughout the documentary Eisenhower's farewell address plays protagonist against an idea; that capitalism is taking democracy by the throat using military outsourcing as a foot stool. The argument is essentially that as more and more money is paid out to arms manufactures and military out sourcing the resulting human capital and infrastructure purchased entrenches these businesses into American society. The film maker's argument is compelling and believable but lacks any real quantifiable evidence.
Some of the numbers the film uses to support it's argument are both true and false. Jareki either purposefully or accidentally manipulates his audience by misrepresenting military spending figures. It's true that Military spending has continued to increase over the years, but as a percentage of GDP it has gone down until 2002. Even that number is slightly misleading because it is based on the federal budget, which doesn't represent actual military spending. Spending related to the military/national security (in any way shape or form) recently totals close 1 trillion dollars (about 7.5% GDP almost twice what is claimed). That's about half the federal budget. That number is significantly inflated, but I've seen it qouted by the extreme left repeatedly.
It's hard to get a figure that represents how much the federal government is actually spending on the military and national security. Comparing anual military spending figures is very complex for a plethora reasons. Simple figures are usually some form of manipulation. Real military spending figures should be based on the Federal budget and GDP (military spending [ $571.6 billion] as a percentage of GDP in 2006 [$13.22 trillion - official exchange rate] was about 4.32 %). When people manipulate these numbers they are adding in things that seem like they should be classified as military spending, for example; the Department of Energy will spend $23.4 Billion during 2007 for the development, maintenance and production of nuclear warheads.
Ultimately the film is entertaining and thought provoking even if it is manipulative. The moments when the film shines are when Jarecki is focused on explaining Eisenhower's thoughts, and when it fails is when he tries to manipulate his audience using emotional appeal and vague figures. 7/10
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