¶ Socialism
Index Entry
Socialism:
“… Disarmament is stalled in the U.S. because the country cannot keep its economy going through the ‘irrigations system’ now fed at the top through annual weaponry undertakings without seeming subscribing to ‘socialism.’ In wartime emergencies, national management of economic activity is exempt from charges of socialism, but by custom and law such centralized authority is forbidden in peacetime. To avoid this embarrassment and to keep our economy healthy, wartime emergency powers are extended to meet the threat of the next war. This extension is called ‘cold war.’ The U.S. knows that the world needs and wants disarmament and that its socialism-avoiding subterfuge becomes increasingly evident to the rest of the world and thus less tenable. The government and powerful Washington lobbies of the armaments contractors, supported by the labor unions, are seeking ways to keep the economic irrigation system fed from the top while also attaining progressive disarmament.”
¶ Citations
- THE PROSPECT FOR HUMANITY, Sat. Review, 19 Sep’64
