“...Perhaps more likely, it is intended to remind Americans how seriously and how well we regard defense and security....”
And how much we have strayed from Eisenhower’s sage advice
“And how much we have strayed from Eisenhower’s sage advice”
Indeed.
Reading his speech, he placed more warning on abuse by academia, not the defense industry.
MILITARY:
“We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
YET people ignore his more dire warning:
“Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present
AND IS GRAVELY TO BE REGARDED. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, WE MUST ALSO BE ALERT TO THE EQUAL AND OPPOSITE DANGER that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technological elite.”