“Democrat or Republican. It does not matter. War is the raison d’état of the state. Extravagant military expenditures are justified in the name of “national security.””

—  Chris Hedges

The nearly $40 billion allocated for Ukraine, most of it going into the hands of weapons manufacturers such as Raytheon Technologies, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, is only the beginning. Military strategists, who say the war will be long and protracted, are talking about infusions of $4 or $5 billion in military aid a month to Ukraine. We face existential threats. But these do not count. The proposed budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in fiscal year 2023 is $10.675 billion. The proposed budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is $11.881 billion. Ukraine alone gets more than double that amount. Pandemics and the climate emergency are afterthoughts. War is all that matters. This is a recipe for collective suicide.
2022, "No Way Out but War" (May 23, 2022)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update May 31, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Democrat or Republican. It does not matter. War is the raison d’état of the state. Extravagant military expenditures ar…" by Chris Hedges?
Chris Hedges photo
Chris Hedges 81
American journalist 1956

Related quotes

Alfred de Zayas photo

“Since a democratic and equitable international order requires peace, States must engage in good faith negotiations for disarmament and significantly reduce military expenditure and the arms trade.”

Alfred de Zayas (1947) American United Nations official

UN expert urges States to be more transparent on military expenditure
2014

George Soros photo

“The Palestine problem does not have a purely military solution. Military superiority is necessary for Israel's national security, but it is not sufficient.”

George Soros (1930) Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

On Israel, America and AIPAC (2007)
Context: The Palestine problem does not have a purely military solution. Military superiority is necessary for Israel's national security, but it is not sufficient. The solution has to be political, as President Clinton recognized.

Alfred de Zayas photo

“A ten per cent reduction in military expenditures per year would be reasonable, coupled with a programme of retraining the workforce and redirecting the resources in a manner that creates employment and advances social welfare. I also encourage all States to contribute to the UN’s annual Report on Military Expenditures by submitting complete data on national defence budgets.”

Alfred de Zayas (1947) American United Nations official

United Nations expert urges states to cut military spending and invest more in human development http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/D5D061E9891363C1C1257CB7003055E0?OpenDocument.
2014

“To understand is to marvel. To marvel with understanding is to achieve the highest of intellectual states, to justify the triple raison d'être mentioned above: to be sensitive to theology, to aesthetics, and to science.”

Larkin Kerwin (1924–2004) Canadian physicist

in The Role of Canadian Science, edited by [Bernard Ostry, Janice Yalden, Visions of Canada: the Alan B. Plaunt memorial lectures, 1958-1992, McGill-Queen's Press, 2004, 0773526625, 496]

Alfred de Zayas photo

“A democratic and equitable international order can only flourish in a peaceful environment. With conflict prevention being the overarching raison d’être of the United Nations, the hundreds of wars since 1945 indicate that the Organization must reform in order to live up to its purposes and principles.”

Alfred de Zayas (1947) American United Nations official

2018, Report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council

Ulysses S. Grant photo

“I am a Republican for many other reasons. The Republican party assures protection to life and property, the public credit and the payment of the debts of the Government, State, county, or municipality so far as it can control. The Democratic party does not promise this; if it does, it has broken its promises to the extent of hundreds of millions, as many Northern Democrats can testify to their sorrow.”

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) 18th President of the United States

As quoted in Words of Our Hero, Ulysses S. Grant https://books.google.com/books?id=wqJBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22the+one+thing+i+never+wanted+to+see+again+was+a+military+parade%22&source=bl&ots=zH525oYpJn&sig=ACfU3U0GLPNgij-FmXIDwgWp_Kg8zDskWg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4uc7PzKniAhUq1lkKHWhlBfQQ6AEwBXoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22the%20one%20thing%20i%20never%20wanted%20to%20see%20again%20was%20a%20military%20parade%22&f=false, by Jeremiah Chaplin, p. 58
1880s, Speech at Warren, Ohio (1880)

Ron Paul photo

“Finally, there is a compelling moral argument against war in Iraq. Military force is justified only in self-defense; naked aggression is the province of dictators and rogue states. This is the danger of a new "preemptive first strike" doctrine. America is the most moral nation on earth, founded on moral principles, and we must apply moral principles when deciding to use military force.”

Ron Paul (1935) American politician and physician

U.S. House of Representatives http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2002/cr090402.htm (September 4, 2002).
2000s, 2001-2005

Patrick Buchanan photo

“Military intervention for reasons of ideology or nation building is not an Eisenhower or Nixon or Reagan tradition. It is not a Republican tradition. It is a Bush II-neocon deformity, an aberration that proved disastrous for the United States and the Middle East.”

Patrick Buchanan (1938) American politician and commentator

"At Last, America First!" https://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/at-last-america-first/ (April 29, 2016), Chronicles
2010s

Margaret Chase Smith photo

“Surely these are sufficient reasons to make it clear to the American people that it is time for a change and that a Republican victory is necessary to the security of this country. Surely it is clear that this nation will continue to suffer as long as it is governed by the present ineffective Democratic Administration.
Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny — Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”

Margaret Chase Smith (1897–1995) Member of the United States Senate from Maine

Declaration of Conscience (1950)

Donald J. Trump photo

“In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat. It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. Now, it shouldn't be that way. But if you go back, I mean it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats. ...But certainly we had some very good economies under Democrats, as well as Republicans. But we've had some pretty bad disaster under the Republicans.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

Said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzner, as quoted by * Trump in '04: 'I probably identify more as Democrat'
CNN
Chris Moody
https://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/21/politics/donald-trump-election-democrat/index.html
2000s, 2004

Related topics