Galbraith was one of the most skilled writers to try and explain the interface of economics and politics in the nineteen sixties. In Western democracies the military is always regarded with great suspicion in times of peace, though this is hard to explain in this age of commercial-imperial war. By Galbraith's terms, the Military industrial complex won and the USA spent far too much on Military Hardware and services in the last four decades. The Americans have also gone down the rabbit hole of mercenary forces, rather that exposing the voters to the real cost of global capitalism. If you want a well-written explanation of the economic reasons for maintaining a smaller military, here they are, and depressingly little has changed since this sermon was written. ( )