The document discusses the normalization of militarization in everyday American life and the influence of the military-industrial complex. It describes how the author witnessed the militarized police response to the Boston Marathon bombing firsthand. It also notes how many daily consumer companies, including Verizon, are top Defense Department contractors, meaning Americans indirectly fund war through their regular purchases and activities. The author acknowledges being troubled by their indirect contributions to militarization through services like their cellphone, but that avoiding it would come at a high personal cost due to the widespread military influence over the economy.

1. Ally Fuller
Assignment #2
Global Militarism & Unending Wars
2/20/15
The Military-Industrial Complex and Everyday Life
Freedom, liberty, opportunity, and democracy have prided the American Nation
since the dawn of independence in 1776. Behind these admirable national values stands
one unifying and driving force that is the strength of our military. Militarization has been
so intricately woven into American civilian culture almost to the point of normalization:
the normalization of wartime and an unchallenged military-industrial complex. The
paradigm shift in the nature of modern warfare from responsive to preemptive is the
number one culprit behind the dramatic increase of military presence, sometimes
apparent but most often imperceptible, in everyday American life. From the aggressive
militarization of American police forces to the daily consumption goods produced by
Department of Defense (DOD) contractors: FedEx, Hewlett- Packard Company (HP), and
even my beloved and reliable Verizon Communications, Americans find themselves
indirectly funding war whether they like it or not. (Top 100…)
On April 13th, 2013 my hometown of Newton, Massachusetts and the neighboring
city of Watertown was put on full lockdown during a manhunt for the Boston Bombers.
My Mother, Sister, and I were not allowed to leave the house and were instructed to stay
away from the windows while police vehicles resembling army tanks trolled the streets
for a critically injured nineteen-year old. In the end, an unarmed civilian who alerted the
authorities, only to have chaos ensue in the form of multiple SWAT and police vehicles
and a lengthily disorganized shoot-out, discovered Dzhokhar Tsarnaev barely conscious
on the floor of his boat.

2. I witnessed first-hand the dramatic militarization of the Boston Police force
directly influenced by our country’s War on Terror and enabled by our DOD. In response
to this the Washington Post highlights the unnerving fact that, “In times of crisis,
governments tend to expand, usually at the expense of civil liberties. When the crisis
abates, government power does, too, but never completely back to where it was before.”
(Balko) Even more unnerving is the fact that “cops increasingly look upon themselves as
soldiers doing battle day in, day out, there’s no need for public accountability or even an
apology when things go grievously wrong.” (Harwood) This to me is the greatest concern
with the creeping normalization of the military-industrial complex.
I am not opposed to war. I do not fantasize over the quixotic concept of perpetual
world peace and I respect its philosophical value to the progression civilization.
However, I absolutely do not support the United States’ over-occupation and presumed
duty to police the rest of the world. Unfortunately the DOD has virtually undetectable
ways of extracting indirect support from American (and foreign) citizens through their
mundane daily routines. A fact that does bother me on some level but not enough to, say,
cancel my cellphone service.
Verizon Communications is one of the top one hundred DOD contractors,
allocating over $580,000,000 to our country’s Department of Defense in the fiscal year of
2013. As much as my daily indirect contribution to our country’s militarization is
perturbing, avoiding it would come at a much greater personal cost considering the DOD
also have their claws in Coca Cola, FedEx, the manufacturers of my HP Printer, AT&T
(should I try to switch carriers), and a number of other corporations involved in my daily
routine. (Top 100…) So as I’m perusing the BBC application on my cellphone,

3. attempting to gain access to non-politically biased global news, I’m indirectly supporting
our nations Military-Industrial Complex.
War has been a constant, unfortunate, yet necessary side effect in the development
of our country and its capitalist economy. Regrettably, our increased militarization in
recent years has managed to entangle itself in that development in ways that were
previously deemed unnecessary. As the American people become more and more
accustomed to combating the “threat matrix,” the support system and acceptance of these
conflicts becomes assimilated into every day life; thus producing a state of ignorance
where war is normalized and widely unquestioned, and allowing a “disastrous rise of
misplaced power.” (Eisenhower, Why We Fight) The dangerous evolution of war tactics
as striking in anticipation of a threat and the fight to secure resources for future wars only
predicts increased militarization, and supports the central role that conflict has played in
cementing our cultural and national identity.

4. Works Cited
Balko, Radley. “Was the Police Response to the Boston Bombing Really
Appropriate?” WashingtonPost.com. April 22, 2014. Electronic. Retrieved February 20,
2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/04/22/the-police-
response-to-the-boston-marathon-bombing/>
Harwood, Matthew. “Tomgram: Matthew Harwood, One Nation Under SWAT.”
TomDispatch.com. August 14, 2014. Electronic. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175881/tomgram%3A_matthew_harwood,_one_nati
on_under_swat/>
“Top 100 Contractors Report Fiscal Year 2013.” Federal Procurement Data
System – Next Generation. General Services Administration. Retrieved February 20,
2015.
Why We Fight. dir. Eugene Jarecki. per. John McCain, Gore Vidal, Chalmers
Johnson, Richard Perle. January 20, 2006 (USA). Film.