Show THE VOICE OF BUSINESS The l E ucc Industrial Complex Monster onster BY ARCH BOOTH F e ve vice Ice pre pro president spent of the Chamber of commerce of the United States For 40 years now we have hl been increasing in in- creasing the power and the financial resources of our national government That trend reflected a widespread acceptance acceptance ac of two theories 1 All Alt social problems arc are susceptible to quick solo ion tion tion if sufficient resources are devoted to o the task 2 Centralized planning and management are superior to local control con conS trot and federal officials are more com corn potent and more efficient than state and local ocal officials IT WAS like prohibition a noble experiment And like prohibition it seems to have failed At their best the adherents to these theories of social reform re re- form orm were genuinely motivated by a desire desire de de- de sire to help those in need of it it At their worst they embodied a monumental contempt for the average American an interest in empire building greater than their concerti concern for results and even the too human urge to pursue a fast buck buckin in the easiest possible manner Theres There's Money in Poverty One point must be conceded The various attempts at scale large-scale social engineering have done a lot to reduce poverty in the Wasl Washington area ItIs It ItIs Itis is no mere coincidence that the Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington suburbs contain the wealthiest and wealthiest second-wealthiest counties in the country Montgomery l Md and Fairfax Va AT THE beginning of fiscal 1972 Sen Abraham D noted that the money allocated for poverty-fighting poverty that billion programs year was enough to wipe out poverty entirely entire entire- ly if it were distributed directly to the poor Yet there are still about 2 mullion million million mil mul- lion Americans below the official poverty poverty pov pov- erty low income line Where did the money go It went to legions of well paid bureaucrats consultants consultants consultants con con- research establishments academicians academicians academicians aca aca- and social workers As Sen put it social service programs have helped few people get off welfare yet the number of social workers rose from in 1960 to in 1968 IN OTHER words we have created a civilian equivalent of the much maligned maligned maligned mal mal- military industrial complex Rep Edith Green D Ore calls It the edu calion poverty cation poverty Industrial com complex plex She documents her charge in a long thoughtful article focusing primarily on certain operations of the Office of Education Education Edu cation part of the huge health Education Education tion and Welfare Department AS SHE puts it in attempting to provide provide pro pro- vide ide solutions to our country's pressing ills we have set up a monstrous apparatus apparatus ap ap- ap that can no longer be supervised supervised super super- or controlled by even the best of men This tremendous proliferation of programs and activities is leading to a major collapse of rational management Her tier investigation of the Office of Education Edu Edo cation disclosed that Over and over a project would be escalated into a afar afar afar far bigger activity than originally proposed proposed pro posed or planned with vast additional funds being allocated by OE through a non competitive non reviewed amendment amend amend- amendment ment procedure rather than through the normal process of funding approval If all that sounds familiar it is because be cause this is the kind of charge that is usually made against the military in complex And I have no doubt that on occasion the military-industrial military complex deserves it it But the key point is that the tion-poverty-industrial tion complex is obviously obviously guilty of the same kind of wasteful waste ful behavior and it is now the larger of the two THE CALL for a recording of our national priorities is often heard today It is code for spend less on defense and more on social welfare Well Ive I've got news for that group We have re our priorities The defense budget for this fiscal year is 78 3 billion billion bil bil- bil lion the human resources budget is 1108 billion In 1955 we were spending percent of our Gross National Product Product Product Pro Pro- duct on the military and 38 percent on human resources categories The comparable com com- comparable parable figures for fiscal 1973 are 65 percent military and 92 percent human resources Since we have done what the social engineers asked I do not think it unreasonable unreasonable un un- reasonable or unfair to inquire about the results Have those billions been used effectively ef of festively and productively enough to justify justify just just- their continued appropriation Or is isit isit isit it time once again to try to find a better better bet bet- ter way to solve our problems |