[knowledgeORbust]

Hi. I'm not sure where to post this, but I like the Lounge crowd and this seems semi-relevant so I'ma post it here. Mods, move if necessary.

I'm currently reading Rothbard's For a New Liberty, recommended by Borodog. There's a quote in here from a National Security Council staff member, written during the Kennedy administration. At this point in the book, Rothbard has been discussing intellectuals and their roles in society. I'm most curious about the parts re: employment and motives for working - in America and other countries.
All comments welcome!:

[ QUOTE ]
their most important function is to justify and extend the existence of their employers... In order to justify the continued large-scale production of these [thermonuclear] combs and missiles, military and industrial leaders needed some kind of theory to rationalize their use... This became particularly urgent during the late 1950's, when economy-minded members of the Eisenhower Administration began to wonder why so much money, thought, and resources were being spent on weapons if their use could not be justified. And so began a series of rationalizations by the "defense intellectuals" in and out of the universities... Military procurement will continue to flourish, and they will continue to demonstrate why it must. In this respect they are no different from the great majority of modern specialists who accept the assumptions of the organizations which employ them because of the rewards in money and power and prestige... They know enough not to question their employers' right to exist.

[/ QUOTE ]

FWIW, this passage doesn't represent the books' (Rothbards', libertarians') views, it's a quote from some other dude as an example.