About this episode

This episode explores the NSC-68 document and its impact on the US's militarized economy and global military posture.

Most empires never write their plans down, but the American empire did. In 1950 a top-secret government document called NSC-68 laid out the blueprint for permanent war: a militarized economy, a nuclear buildup without limit, and a posture of global confrontation that would outlast the men who wrote it. It is the founding doctrine beneath every operation in this series. In this episode we take a deep dive into how NSC-68 was written and by whom, and its role in shaping the trillion-dollar war economy still running today. This is part of the first season of Socialist History, our new series on The Socialist Program. In each episode we unpack a different CIA or Pentagon operation or document that shaped US imperialism. Join The Socialist Program community at www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get access to the next episodes in this series, more exclusive content, and help keep this show on the air. Archival notes: 0:10 - Alex Jones, Infowars (2017) 0:16 - Pres. Trump at a rally (2018) 2:13 - Pres. Harry S. Truman at inauguration. Includes newsreel narrator voiceover (1949) 3:40 - Interview w/ Paul H. Nitze, former US govt. official and author of NSC-68 (1996) 6:03 - US Army…

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