The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Sam and Emma host Michael Brenes, history lecturer at Yale University, to discuss his recent book For Might and Right: Cold War Defense Spending and the Remaking of American Democracy, on how the Cold War helped to ingrain the military-industrial complex within the American political, economic, and labor sectors. Michael takes Emma and Sam back to the forties, in the wake of WWII, as the US shifted its focus to the USSR’s threat to US imperial interests, with the unification of liberals in the government around the idea that the US military must be broadened, even while conservatives were wary of a garrison state. They also dive into how the Cold War saw the defense budget cemented as a new form of welfare state, far from the New Deal, serving to generate unionized, stable jobs, with legislation from the GI bill to full racial integration in the military presenting the sector as the leader of social progress. Next, they look at Eisenhower’s presidency, as, despite being a key figure in identifying the military-industrial complex, he allowed defense funding to flourish in a time of austerity, with the holes in the military-welfare state becoming more and more glaring as the actual welfare state is rolled back under the second red scare. Over the next two decades, the US sees a declining faith in the military-industrial complex as it becomes clear that the fight for jobs in the sector is both a zero-sum game, and becoming increasingly concentrated in specific, higher-educated fields. Then, they dive into the 80s and 90s, as the sudden disappearance of the USSR left a gaping hole for excuses for the Pentagon budget, until a conversation around reassessing the connection between defense and the economy is interrupted with a presidential impeachment trial, putting US politics into a drama-driven state, with 9/11 then putting US defense back into the money seat, even on the domestic scale, with the militarization of police increasing rapidly into the aughts with the wars on drugs and crime. They wrap up the interview by touching on the last couple of decades, and how the war on terror has both seen the biggest uptick in total defense spending, and a return of the discussion around an international, completely autonomous US military and its failures. They also look at how the defense industry exacerbates income inequality, and what we can do to begin to shift jobs during a period of peace to civilian, peacetime purposes. Emma and Sam also discuss Sen. Barrasso extending empathy and understanding to Jan 6 insurrectionists’ “hang Mike Pence” chants.

And in the Fun Half: Emma and Sam cover the general failings of COP26, looking at AOC’s recent comments about the US “[recovering] our moral authority,” before John from SA calls in to debate the importance of negative partisanship, and the MR crew covers the Republicans that voted for BIF almost immediately announcing their retirement. Tulsi visits Fox as Sean Hannity flirts with her imperialist and fiscally conservative tendencies, Dave from Jamaica discusses vaccine hesitancy versus anti-vaccination propaganda, and Cole James Cash shares good news, bad news, and great news. Jared from Portland discusses avoiding painting our children a nihilist picture of the future, plus, your calls and IMs!

Purchase tickets for the live show in Boston on January 16th HERE!

https://thewilbur.com/artist/majority-report/

Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com

Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here.

Join the Majority Report Discord!
http://majoritydiscord.com/

Get all your MR merch at our store https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/

(Merch issues and concerns can be addressed here: majorityreportstore@mirrorimage.com)

You can now watch the livestream on Twitch

Check out today’s sponsors:

Podium makes doing business as easy as sending a text. All your employees can text from a single inbox, offering a smoother experience for your customers. Whether you’re answering questions, collecting reviews, scheduling appointments and deliveries or dealing with payment collection – all you have to do is just send a text. Stay ahead of the competition with Podium – they have free plans for growing businesses, plus all the power growing businesses need to scale. Get started free today at Podium.com/MAJORITY.

Support the St. Vincent Nurses today as they continue to strike for a fair contract! https://action.massnurses.org/we-stand-with-st-vincents-nurses/

Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/

Subscribe to AM Quickie writer Corey Pein’s podcast News from Nowhere, at https://www.patreon.com/newsfromnowhere

Check out Matt’s show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon!

Subscribe to Matt's other show Literary Hangover on Patreon!

Check out The Letterhack’s upcoming Kickstarter project for his new graphic novel! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/milagrocomic/milagro-heroe-de-las-calles

Check out Matt Binder’s YouTube channel!

Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon!

Check out The Nomiki Show live at 3 pm ET on YouTube at patreon.com/thenomikishow

Check out Jamie’s podcast, The Antifada, at patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at twitch.tv/theantifada (streaming every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7pm ET!)

Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter:

@SamSeder

@EmmaVigeland

@MattBinder

@MattLech

@BF1nn

@BradKAlsop

Purchase tickets for Cole James Cash's DJ set in Brooklyn here!

Direct download: 11_15_Brenes_-_pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:39pm EST

1