A Military Without War

Recently the Senate passed an amendment that reduced funds for the National Science Foundation completely eliminating funding for any political science projects with two exceptions. They would continue funding these if they were shown to advances the military or our economy. This prompted me to get back to a subject I have often pondered and discussed. Is there a benefit to a military, other than fighting a war and how can we exploit it? George Orwell wrote a novel about ongoing battles against an imaginary enemy somewhere “over there”. The ruling government used the threat of an invasion to more easily control its population. More recently, Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate writing for the New York Times, in an interview talked about the economic boom brought about by the Second World War. With tongue in cheek, he suggested we should proclaim an impending invasion from outer space and preparing for it would get us out of these economic doldrums. I think he was only half kidding. So how could we benefit from a military with no war? Conservatives have been reluctant to support government funded development but have shown a willingness to spend large sums of money on defense. With the ever increasing rate of technological innovation and global competition, it is imperative that we stay ahead of the curve. Basic research is not something suitable for private enterprises and in recent years, large companies such as IBM, known for their applied research and development in the past have been shrinking their scientific staff and facilities and looking outside, not only IBM, but outside the US. In the past science and development for the military was also of interest to the private sector. Some examples are: Development in material science of carbon nano-fibers has the promise of stronger and more lightweight armament for the military and lightweight vehicles with lower fuel consumption for the private sector. The military uses lasers for target designation and shooting down enemy missiles and in the private arena lasers are used in hundreds of applications from bar-code scanners and surgery to toys. Space science has always been closely affiliated with the military but has brought about civilian benefits like GPS and weather satellites. Of course there is the internet. As demonstrated by the amendment the Senate just passed, the Republicans, ever suspicious of science, are reluctant to spend on any development that is not of interest to our military particularly that whose aim is of benefit primarily for our poorest citizens who in many of their minds are only “takers”. Since almost anything can be argued to be of significance to the military, with Republican support we should increase the military budget and move more science into defense. A defense department in a non-war setting could be the hub of research and development and as the research is defense related we could more easily keep it within our borders giving an advantage to our industries Another thought, though much more farfetched, is to implement universal service as is the case in Israel and use the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen to work on projects not well suited to the private sector but would be of benefit to our society as a whole. This could serve a number of purposes. The draft could be arranged so that once someone, man or woman, reaches a certain age, if they are not in school, they would need to serve in the military for two or three years. Attending school would not release them from the obligation but only postpone it. The potential benefits, as I see them, are many. The number of idle young would be greatly reduced. Part of the service would include education and training constantly adjusted to the needs of industry as these change. The discipline which unfortunately is too lacking in too many of our homes can be taught and thus better prepare the young for the workplace they will enter upon completion of their service. One of the problems we face that will only increase with the growing income gap is that people are becoming more and more separated and with this separation more suspicious of each other. I found that when I was a new recruit in the army, with everyone wearing the same clothing and haircuts a lot of what we use to prejudge people based on our ignorance or prejudice is greatly reduced. Individuals from different races, religions and classes can come to better know each other and become more empathetic to a wider range of humanity. (This smells a bit of social engineering and I would keep this benefit under wraps.) A lot of our cities are falling apart. This force could be used to clean up vacant lots and demolish abandoned buildings. They could beautify our parks and other recreation areas. Instead of low cost “guest” workers, farm labor could be provided by these soldiers. In fact as part of the preparation for the outside world, I would have rural kids working on inner city projects and city kids on rural ones. The older and better educated individuals could spend time working in facilities providing assistance, including medical, to the poor. There is a strong desire on the part of conservatives to secure our border. A portion of the soldiers could be deployed there. The recent decade has seen an increase in catastrophic climatic events which are expected to not only continue but to increase. The military could be used to build levies and other barriers against the rising sea levels and be deployed to areas that have been hit by tornados, hurricanes, blizzards and tsunamis. Of course a segment of the military population would continue to prepare for battle, whatever form that may take in the future. Our potential enemies would be overwhelmed by the size of our military and may be reluctant to confront us and in the event of an unavoidable conflict, we could easily and quickly shift to a wartime footing. (This could be a selling point for the right.) And finally, with this much of the labor force taken out of the labor market, wages would increase and after completing the service, young people would return to a better place in better shape to contribute to keeping it that way. Also, since the low wage work would be done by the military, there would be less to attract unskilled immigrants. I don’t believe there is a snowball’s chance in hell that any of this could, or for that matter maybe should, be implemented. But such thinking out of the box could encourage others to also do so and contribute to the development of policies to help us succeed in the volatile future.