Monday, April 21, 2014

What is Eisenhower trying to say?

Eisenhower's farewell address comes across as a cautionary tale to his successor about the proliferation of nuclear weapons that took place under his leadership.  He clearly admits that the United States has entered a new era--that the buildup of such weaponry during peacetime has been unprecedented.

Is Eisenhower defacing his decisions or justifying them?  What seems to be the point of his warning of the potential dangers of the 'military industrial complex?'

18 comments:

  1. I think Eisenhower is justifying his decisions. According to his speech he seemed to believe that military power is “a vital element is keeping our peace”. He emphasize how much effect the US military had brought to the country and how those weaponry was built to make the US the strongest and most productive country in the world. But the huge amount of weapon during peacetime has been unprecedented, when the US improved the military technique and increased the amount of weapon, especially nuclear weapon, other countries were pretty much doing the same thing. This is called "armament race", which could be the potential dangers of the "military industrial complex".

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  2. I think Eisenhower was justifying his decisions. He talks about how America was now the strongest and most technologically most advanced country, and the buildup of weaponry, nuclear or not, played an important role in making that happen. Also, he says the military element was a vital element in keeping the peace. I feel like this is very weird. Different powers were racing to build up their nuclear programs and I think that this is what kept the peace. If two powers were in disagreement, and they both had nukes, there wouldn't be a conflict because both powers would know that there was mutual assured destruction if either of them were to even use the nukes.

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  4. I believe Eisenhower is only justifying his means of actions. He describes America as this big almost savior of the world. He explains that the US needs these arms and weapons in order to keep up with this arms race all over the world. He also clearly thinks that these weapons help in a way, assure peace because if one fires a missile without cause or even with cause he will also get hurt because of Mutual Assured destruction. I think he warns though, that if the US gets involved too much militarily in other countries, it will lead to a downfall.

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  5. Eisenhower states that crises will continue even after he leaves office. He goes on to say that there is a feeling that something spectacular will happen to cease our problems but we are wrong. Eisenhower believes that we need to, " maintain in and among our national problems." He seems to be saying that as he is leaving office, there is still so much to be done and problems that need to be faced. Eisenhower states that, "in the councils of our government we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex." He thinks that the misplacement of power, especially military power, is a very dangerous, lethal thing.

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  6. Eisenhower stressed the importance of keeping balances. "Balance between clearly necessary and comfortably desirable, balance between cost and hope for advantages" and so so are balances Eisenhower mentioned. By emphasizing the keeping of balances. Eisenhower talked about the rapidly developing military in U.S. He recognized the increasing power of the military, and he warned people about keeping the balance between "military industrial complex" and "democratic process." I think Eisenhower's main point is that excessive military elements in the country can be dangerous to the country and its fundamental belief in liberalism.

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  7. I agree with everybody above me that Eisenhower was justifying his decision in the speech. It seems like the construction of these destructive weapons were the only way to make peace of the world. He expressed a mind that building massive military machinery is to protect American democracy, to fight against any unamerican which is communist. With that speech, I suppose American were more likely to accept what he did on building destructive weapon because Americans were very afraid of red.

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  8. I think Eisenhower is justifying his actions, so that if these "grave implications" become reality in the future, the American people would not blame Eisenhower, they would commend him for predicting this. My question though is: why is this his farewell speech? Does he just recognize this upon exiting presidency or his timing deliberate?
    I think his major point is that although we can consider ourselves the strongest country in the world, we also have to go beyond the "riches and material strength" and focus our attentions more on the "interests of world peace and human betterment." I think Eisenhower sees the danger in new technology and a military industrial complex. He thinks we will become too materialistic, too dominant, and too scientific, and as it seems now in this "post-modern" era, he was right.

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  9. I believe Eisenhower is justifying his actions by saying that we need to protect ourselves and defend our country even if we are really powerful. This is why in his farewell speech, he again claims that national defense and military should be the main focus of the United States. He also tries to create an atmosphere of security and self-awareness so that people start to be more confident and that they listen to his actions. As well, he justifies them and tries to guess the future consequences of them to not surprise Americans if bad consequences arrive in the long term and so that the blame is not on him.

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  10. I believe Eisenhower id definitely justifying his actions because he turned America into one of the strongest countries both technological and militarily. Yes, some of the things he did during time of peace was unnecessary, but you never know when conflict will be brought up and you always want your country to be prepared. better safe then sorry is important here. It is almost impossible for world peace to exist for ever and there will always be conflict between one another and in some cases blood will be shed. So in Eisenhower's farewell speech he was just preparing the country for what might be in store for them in the following years.

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  11. Eisenhower is defacing his decisions because he knows that starting this nuclear weapon buildup during a time of peace can disturb the tranquility. But because the decisions have already been made, he knows that military industrial complex needs to be a focus considering other countries are now partaking in this nuclear weapon buildup. The United States needed to focus on being able to protect themselves from new weaponry and credible nuclear threats. Although the US is now very strong militarily, other countries are getting strong too which is why he says national security should be a focus point. And also, as he leaves office, the problems will not rid themselves, and they have to stay current and relevant with the race to have the best military.

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  12. I think that Eisenhower is only justifying what he did. In his mind, the United States is the country that protects the world from communism. Based on Eisenhower, the United States needs to keep up with the arms race in order to compete, which will bring about peace around the world. Also, Einsenhower claims that The Mutual Assured Destruction would keep the world in peace, however if the United States put excessive military elements, it would be dangerous for the peace among the nations of the world.

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  13. I think Eisenhower is doing both defacing his ideas and justifying them, while he is justifying the build up of the army and how the military is so important and how we need it for the country to be prepared. Zoe brought up how he wants to keep balance, and if hes trying to keep a balance and peace throughout the world and between country's, why would we need to build up our military? People don't start wars for peace, they don't buy guns in order to make friends, hes trying to make the US military stronger and more powerful, so hes not maintaining balance, hes maintaining keeping the US at the top of the "food chain"and that i think defaces his actions. It all seems a little confusing to me, because he contradicts himself in what hes doing, but apparently other people bought that..

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  14. the military industrial complex is not to be trusted. the militaries sole purpose is for the alleged protection of its citizens by any means and sometimes the best way to "protect us is by leaving us ignorant in the dark. like a parent worried about a child the military tries to hide the obscenity of the world. this leads to misconceptions about military activity and leads to corruption. once the corruption this occurs the original values are corrupted and the goal of the people is lost. the military either takes control of civil life like a totalitarian rule or grows out of control performing aggressigious acts. the military demands a tight leash.

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  15. According to his farewell speech I thought President Eisenhower justified his decisions rather than defacing them. Reading the address I didn't get the hint of him backing away from his ideas or trying to contradict them. The idea od that part of his speech seemed more the justify and add background to an ideal that lead his presidency's war against Communism. It more or less told America to be more cautious but not so cautious that they would be unable to use nuclear threats. His warnings against the Military Industrial Complex seem to be more of an attempt to open peoples eyes to the fact that at any moment war can strike, that all the weapons can go to your head in a sense and cause another World War

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  16. Overall I think that Eisenhower is justifying his decisions becuase he sees the United States as the "hero" country having to save everyone from communism and try to stop the spread of it. Eisenhower believes strongly in defending our country from any attacks and building our army. As an example in his farewell speech he mentions that national defense should be the main focus on the United States.

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  17. In this speech, Eisenhower was definitely justifying his decisions throughout his Presidency. He said that "Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction." Here he is clearly alluding to the importance of a nuclear arsenal and MAD. He argued that the goal is to maintain balance and progress, and that the way to do this is through the military.
    Although he thought that the expansion in the military was necessary, he was concerned that the military and its industry would gain power in the government. The only solution was to have an alert and knowledgeable citizenry that could provide a balance to the military's increased influence. Otherwise, liberties and democratic processes could be threatened.

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  18. Is Eisenhower justifying his decisions through his speech. What seems to be the point of his warning of the potential dangers of the 'military industrial complex? Well I think that the point of him talking about the military the way he did was, like stefan said, he was worried that the military would gain to much power and perhaps overthrow the government or at least gain more power. He also believes that his decision to have nuclear weapons made was a good decision and he only sees it as a positive for the nation. Also it seems as though he sees the united states as the protectors of anti-communism, meaning that we are willing and will do everything we can to make sure that communism doesn't spread.

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