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April-May, 1970
the forro of Marshall Plan Aid) into
Western Europe to make sure Europe
could again take her rightful place in
the world as a prosperous, stable,
dynamic trading area. She has since
become so prosperous that Communism
failed to gain more than limited appeal.
Why
America Became
World Policeman
The "Trumao Doctrine" outlined
America's will to defend economicaUy
and militari ly not only W estern Europe,
but all impoverished nations of the
world where Communism threatened to
take over either by subversion or by
direct military intervention.
The United States began a pol icy of
"containment." U. S. policy planners
became convinced that Communism
could and must
be
contained or it
would take ovcr the entire earth, des–
troying all forms of Western democracy
in its wake.
That is how the mantle of world
leadership feU upon American shoulders.
America is, indisputably, thc wealth–
iest country in the world. Since "money
is the sinews of war" it is evident
that America, in a sense, has had
to assume the role of
wodd policeman.
This responsibility for policing the
world was thrust upon the Unitcd States
in spite of much reluctance on the part
of many Americans to assume this role.
Both Communists and non-Commu–
nists know that had not the U. S. been
firm at the end of World War
JI -
had she not decided to pour billions of
dollars of direct economic and military
aid into the world's impoverished
nations - then surely, by now, Com–
munism would have engulfed most
countries throughout the world.
Can America
Bow
Out?
How long must America continuc to
police the world ?
E
ven if the U. S.
wanted to relinquish her role of being
world polkeman, is it possible? Or, like
having a ferocious tiger by the tail, is
the U. S. unable to Jet loose of her
responsibility of pol icing the world -
without leaving a power vacuum that
Communism would easily and quick–
Iy fill? Most non-Communist nations
would tremble to see America take such
precipitous action.
Tbe
PLAIN TRUTH
Police:man America even now stands
alone as a supergiant comparcd with
the Soviet Union. And the Soviets know
this (at least those in power) far better
than the average American or Briton.
Soviet Russia still compares unfavorably
with the U. S. in terms of economic
power or real military power - when
rightly evaluated and propcrly under–
stood.
Unprecedented Wealth
and Power
Never in the history of the world has
any nation or people had such unprece–
dented prosperity, such a high standard
of living, such unbounded material
bless ings showercd
u
pon them!
Never in the history of man has
any nation or empire had powcr or
influence comparable to that which the
U. S. now wields.
Do you realize just how incomparably
wealthy and powerful this supcrgiant
really is?
Do
you really understand why
Ame rica has been able to prop up so
rnany scores of nations all around this
earth - with little or no real strain on
its seemingly limitless resourccs?
Here's why!
America's annual gross national pro–
duct (GNP - includes all
goods
and
serflices)
is expected to reach the
one-tri llion-dollar mark by the end of
1970.
Can you really grasp how much
wealth that rcpresents? No, you rcally
can't.
This one-tri llion-dollar U. S. GNP is
an estimated two times greater than the
GNP of Soviet Russia!
The
U.
S. produces nearly twice the
annual GNP
as
all the Comrnon Market
nations plus Britain.
The state of California alonc pro–
duces a GNP greater than all of Com–
munist China! California's GNP is ovcr
twice that of India, and nearly as large
as all of France. The state o f Illinois
produces an annual GNP approximately
equal to the GNP of all the mtions of
Africa.
The annual U. S.
GNP
is onc third
of the annual GNP of the entire world !
Furthermore, thcre are a number of
large companies in the U. S. that t.1ke in
far more money annually than most of
thc cent ral governments of thc world.
5
General Motors'
196!:1
revenues (
$22.8
bill10n) werc:: larger thao the GNP
of over
100
of the
126
membe r nations
of the United Nations. Standard Oil of
Ncw Jersey
($14.09
billion) and the
ford Motor
Co.
($14.08
billion) both
have larger gross incomes and
reinvest
more mo11ey
than the majority of
nations. Such is the annua l gross income
of a number of thc giant corporations
of the United States.
That is how the U. S. has becn able
to shoulder thc lion's share of the cco–
nomic and military burdens of the Free
World.
When ít comes to annua l budgets, no
budgct of any government or corpora–
tion can begin to compare with the
budget of the
U.
S. Government. It
must surely be the cnvy of every nation.
The U. S. Government's annual budgct
is now running about
200
billion dol–
lars! (That is 83.3 thousand mi Ilion
pounds sterling.) And her annual
dcfensc budget alone runs over
70
bil–
lion dollars - severa! times greater
than the entire gross national product
of most nations on this earth. AIJ
U.
S.
allics combined spend less than 30
billion dollars for dcfense.
America's allies rely heavily upon
U.
S. nuclear might to providc a protec–
tive umbrella over their countries. They
want her to continue to police the seven
seas so they can go on trading freely.
They wish to see hcr prevent Commu–
nism from engulfing the rcst of
the world, thcreby wiping out their
economies.
Crushing
Tax
Burden
American taxpayers are beginning to
tire of carrying this heavy load- tire of
picking up the bill for policing the
world. The load
i:.
getting heavic:r and
heavier.
According lo a recent Harris Poll,
321f of Amcricans believc the
U.
S.
should "stop policing the world."
In fact, American taxpayers have
to
pay, on an average, about twenty-five
cents tlut
of
each dollar in Federal, and
eleven cents in state and local taxes -
totalling 36 cents
of
each <.\ollar they
earn!
lt isn't easy to pay over one tlmd of
your e<trnings in taxc:s - much of which
goc:s to pay for thc: economic and