I was reading an account of Laxmi Mittal, the Indian entrepreneur who now sits atop a far flung steel empire in four continents the other day.He acquired many steel companies on the verge of bankruptcy in the old Soviet Union,Trnidad,Indonesia, Europe and the U.S. at a time when the steel industry was facing a crisis of low demand, low prices and high costs.The booming demand in construction and in manufacturing unleashed by China’s emergence as a center of manufacturing made it possible for Mittal Steel to meet that demand.As a result, all the investment has now paid off for Mittal and he is now considered one of the wealthiest men in the known universe.
I recalled that story to show that as we launch one war after another, another player emerges challenging our supremacy in specific industries.Thus, the shipbuilding industry in Japan owes its existence to the Korean War,the steel and auto industry in Japan owe theirs to the Vietnam War and now, I believe with the Iraq War, India will emerge as a major center of research in IT and biotechnology.Not to mention the formidable challenge of China in many fields.
This correlation of our wars with the emergence of challengers on the economic front is not coincidental.The structural costs accompanying the launch of wars remain well hidden by tax policies designed to shield politicians like Bush,Johnson and other imperialists;but the bills do come due.The forms they take vary and in the instances I have provided, they come in the form of complete disintegration of the economic base of our country, impoverishment of our people, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few who can benefit from the spoils of war.
As more and more people, especially in the segments of our population that was known as the Middle Class before the Bush era begin to feel the effect of warmongering,this connection between a warlike foreign policy and the impoverishment of our people needs to be brought to light for many of us by the Democratic Party. They have failed miserably at this job as they come to spout the same nonsense the Republicans keep repeating.
A dose of historical economic sense might do our politicians some good,if they are still in the business of public service.I am coming to doubt that.
