The Advocacy Corporation Vs. The Military Industrial Complex

"...This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new.... In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the Military Industrial Complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists - and will persist. We must never let the weight of this kind of combination endanger our liberty and democratic process. 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 so that security and liberty may prosper together."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961 - farewell address


"The Defense Budget is 3 quarters of a trillion dollars. Profits went up last year by 25%. When war becomes that profitable you are going to see more of it."
"We have got an empire. There is no excuse for 725 military bases in 130 foreign countries;"
- Chalmers Johnson (CIA, 1967-1973)


"The United States is the greatest force for good in the world. We have, not an obligation to go out and start wars - but certainly to spread democracy and freedom throughout the world."
"When does the United States go from a force for good to a force for imperialism?"
- John McCain

I recently watched the movie Why We Fight (see left sidebar for link). What I found most striking was "Lockheed Martin has ensured that a piece of its B2 Bomber is manufactured in every state in the United States - so the congressional representative in that state will lose jobs and piss off their constituents if they advocate reducing defense spending" (paraphrased).

Then I thought to myself. This is EXACTLY what the Advocacy Corporation, or Anti-Corporation, is designed for.

Eisenhower warned that the collusion of military, industry (Corporations) and Congress (and now think tanks - if you consider Iraq and The Project for A New American Century) - would endanger our liberty and democratic process. We are very much in that world he envisioned and warned us against, today.

Many people want to just pin this on George Bush and the Neocons (Neo Conservatives). You need to understand that these people are opportunists who believe the United States should be the next Rome - and under our stewardship the world will prosper (which it may),- YET, THEY ARE NOT THE PROBLEM.

Looking back on history we can see that we had all kinds of extremes of thought in this country. THAT is what this country protects and makes it what it is. So even if people do believe in the archaic philosophy of "Might makes Right" - the creed of every bully on a playground, THAT is irrevalent.

What is relevant is Eisenhower warned. If you only have a hammer then everything is a nail. If you only have 3 quarters of a trillion dollars going to defense (and little money going to all other segments of your society), everyone is a terrorist, a bad guy - your enemy. In this model, the question is not will we invade Iran - but when? The ONLY thing that can prevent this is an alert and knowledgeable citizenry - who can support politicians that see the problem and who want to fix it.

We are on a sled going 100 miles down a hill right now. The inertia of the system is now so great that all it takes to take this great country to war is some people will a bully mentality to ascend to the presidency, a congress that does not check the power of the executive branch of government - their responsibility, a media that does not want to tell the truth because it will hurt their corporate stockholders too much and a citizenry that is neither alert nor knowledgeable.

So therein lies the key:

The ONLY thing that can prevent this is an alert and knowledgeable citizenry - who can support politicians that see the problem and who want to fix it.

So how to we provide an incentive to the good people in government who WANT to fix our problems?

Create the Advocacy Corporation or Anti-Corporation (AC), to INFORM the people - at the governments expense. Protect and institutionalize the role of the advocate in society - the creators of this great documentary - Why We Fight. Set as part of the design of the Advocacy Corporation, direct media access on television channels for ANY Advocacy Corporation a percentage of the time.

In other words, ensure that the forums are protected that create an alert and knowledgeable citizenry.

An AC Corporation type has ONE LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY - Promote Advocacy based on the organizations Advocacy charter. It is subsidized by the Federal Government, allows you and I to donate to it and get a tax deduction and allows direct investment and ownership of stock (although it has no LEGAL responsibility, unlike corporations, to make a profit). Once formed, its JOB is to create an alert and knowledgeable citizenry based on its advocacy goal. It does this by transparently investing money into "advocates" based on a point system. Once the advocate gets enough points they get an infusion of cash for "doing right" by the AC.

In essence, the AC is the direct counterbalancing force needed to combat the influence of corporations at every level of society. It cannot be bought, sold or transferred, so there is no need to worry about money being leveraged to dampen it's message. Congress today debates about what to subsidize in society and we get all kinds of "special interests" trying to appropriate monies via lobbying for their concerns - no more - congress will just subsidizes ALL AC's at some level (the rest coming from AC donors or stockholders) so there is no preferential treatment for one idea over another. This takes us into a new age where the ONLY responsibility of congress in terms being pressured one way or another to approve spending, will come FROM an AC and NOT a lobbyist because an AC has NO profit motive and ALL of it's actions are by default, transparent. All congress needs to sign off on is appropriating money to "ensure that an alert and knowledgeable citizenry exists".

In the context of the Military Congressional Think Tank Industrial Complex this is how the scenario would play out in the case of Lockheed and the B2:

1.
One or more AC would form with an Advocacy Charter like: "Shrinking the role of the Military Industrial Complex in Government".

2.
The AC would identify it's "advocates"

3.
After the initial infusion of cash for starting the AC by the Government people could invest in the AC right alongside other corporations on the stock market based on it's "Advocacy Profile" (i.e. the organizations and people the AC is planning on investing directly in and supporting).

4.
The AC would then choose its "Media Platform" and its reporters who are paid by the AC directly to specifically support, write stories, blog, etc. about the initial Advocacy goal and those individuals, corporations, organizations AND POLITICIANS that directly support the Advocacy Goals of that AC.

5.
The government would then issue another infusion of cash based on the size of the AC and if it was successful in hitting its initial "2-3 month Goals" (think of bronze, silver, gold and platinum customers but with respect to the AC). This allows the AC to compete for talent with the corporations.

6.
Once capitalized the AC would begin to do its work and in this case, since Why We Fight is an Advocate - it gets it's first infusion of cash (subsequent infusions of cash will be based on hitting certain points or goals - this will be transparent).

7.
The AC now gets media time for free on each channel via the FCC - as a direct counterbalance to media consolidation - and can now use that time in a registered timeslot. All communication providers would need to ALLOW 20% of their communication channels a DAY during prime time, to be used for an AC at any given time (i.e. for Television the 6 PM-11 PM window - for Print media 20% of the magazine, etc.). They can NOT charge the AC (because it is doing a public service) nor run commercials during this period. What they get in return is FCC licensing and no more public debate/concern about media consolidation (i.e. the AC ENSURES that media consolidation WILL NOT lead to a narrowing of viewpoints in the public sphere), so they can compete effectively - even have just 2 corporations own the media instead of the 5 that do today.

8.
Now, the AC could air Why We Fight, as an advocate, in it's entirety and the media owner could not stop this - because it is considered "a public service announcement". This will in turn put pressure on the system in ways that do not exist today. This will lead very rapidly to a reinvigorated democracy and after the AC airs the movie on major media stations - as a public service announcement - the real momentum begins.

9.
Once people see this movie from the AC, the AC will be flooded with donations - remember people can get a tax deduction for donating to the AC. The AC will then have more resources to continue towards its Advocacy Goal and public perception will be starting to change. The AC will then invest in the politicians that AGREE with the assertions in the movie and have a PLAN to do something about it. Public debate will ensue that will focus on having the AC or the politician advocates, now associated with the AC, find ways to reduce the size of Lockheed Martin's influence in congress with respect to the B2, by having the AC reporters run stories on those politicians who are victims themselves (i.e. their constituents will be mad if they lose their jobs) and raise public awareness again through a "public service announcement" by an AC and try to find a better solution. The thing is now awareness is present and the public is talking and debating about the complex issues their representatives face.


If we don't do this all I can say is "Brawndo - The Thirst Mutiliator - It's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes." - See the movie Idiocracy to get the reference :) (left sidebar link)