“The administrators are correct: Their institutions do function in concert with the war machine powering Israel’s genocidal war; their mission does depend on maintaining this alliance, even at the cost of brutalizing their students; and it is this material reality, more than anything else, that explains the ferocity of their response to the Gaza solidarity encampments.”
In general, the US has boxed itself into a corner. It has largely deindustrialized itself (outside of weapons) and basically has the entire economy revolving around empire. There is no “Plan B”.
Even timid things like universal healthcare or public tuition can’t happen because it’ll make people less likely to join the military. It’s scary but if the US would actually commit to peace, the economy would sink to that of “undeveloped” economies. What actually exists, agriculture and the entertainment industry, that’s about it.
We also have guys who plan out substations and power poles. it’s a far cry from a real economy though
I haven’t read the full article but yes, this goes back to post-war Stanford University under Fred Terman creating the virtuous cycle between universities receiving DoD funding for research, companies subcontracting out professors to develop intellectual property, and products from the companies benefitting the government. It created silicon valley out of ICBMs. It became the model all schools followed because it gave access to near-unlimited government funding, and there is no escaping the cycle of supporting imperialism without a new funding mechanism
Wow this an excellent write up. Thanks for sharing.
