Description
Disarmament and Conversion
by Seymour Melman
The Demilitarized Society diagnoses the economic and allied decay caused by militarism, and formulates a set of proposals – political and economic – for demilitarizing societies. It argues for building a coalition to challenge the power of the war-making institutions, composed of those occupations and interests which are deprived by the misapplication of resources to armaments. The deterioration of the infrastructure and productivity of society can only be reversed by the proper use of social capital. Adequate housing, health services, education, roads, public transportation, environmental clean-up, urban renovation, care of our children and the aged are all frustrated by the misuse of the capital fund to build weapons that are too terrible to be used and whose use would result in omnicide.
The author provides a reliable “road map” to disarmament which would secure the jobs of those presently employed in military production and administration, and even the legal framework necessary for all nations to follow.
Seymour Melman (1917-2004) was professor of Industrial Engineering at Columbia University and authored or edited sixteen books, including The Permanent War Economy and Profits Without Production. His last book, After Capitalism, was published in 2001.
