You're entitled to your opinion.
I grant you the same right.
I'm not presenting evidence because in all of these situations there are NDAs quite early in the supply chain process, and providing much quickly makes things specific enough to be recognisable.
But just to clarify my position;
1) I deliberately used the term MICC, not MIC. Congress is part of this issue, not a victim of it, and voters supporting Hawks (simplistically) is also part of it.
2) I didn't use the term conspiracy because on the whole I don't see it as such. There are simply too many parties rewarded for certain types of behaviour which can lead to overspends within the sector. That included politicians, and generals.
Generally, the MIC is invoked to claim a conspiracy
(the MICC), ie, that the private sector & military form
a cabal to send government to war. All unevidenced.
Without crossing boundaries relating to specific contracts or situations, I've been involved in deals around maintenance systems for various defence forces, with deal values of 9 figures, just around software and related services.
At that point, major defence forces aren't generally buying 'a maintenance system' but are instead effectively buying a supply chain, part of which includes the maintenance system, but the larger part being the production and maintenance backbone itself, which both produces and maintains the weapons/logistical equipment/whatever.
This perspective wouldn't illuminate which
parties are controlling or influencing government
to go to war.
I was in aircraft engineering design. I saw no
evidence that any of my employers had such
sway in government. (Moreover, Northrop was
particularly lacking in influence in the 70s, &
sucked hind teat regarding USA government
contracts. Complex story there for another day.
The others I worked for were insignificant.)
But you & I wouldn't have been in a position to
see the alleged MICC function anyway.
There is a huge amount of political lobbying at that point. If the production facilities are in state A vs B it literally impacts on employment figures in a material way. If the software provider is domestic vs foreign, there's a whole new paradigm, some of which is sensible (data sovereignty in fact) and some of which is simply political scare-mongering (data sovereignty as a political football)
The lobbying is by the manufacturer, the maintenance company (which may be the same or different, and is commonly a whole supply chain web), the software provider, the politicians, trade unions, and more.
Where is the evidence that they lobby for war,
not merely for service & materiel contracts?
It's not a conspiracy, for all that there are shared interests. It's capitalism, but at a scale that can directly impact on political process.
Where is the evidence that this uncoordinated
range of influences sends us to war?
The better explanation is that because we're
so capable with the MIC, the voters are quite
comfortable voting for hawkish candidates
who send us to war.
I've worked for a domestic provider, and for a 'foreign' provider, and you best believe that the messaging from a political point of view is vastly different, and bears little resemblance to reality.
Anyway...you have your own experiences, and that's fine. I'm not trying to convince you, just saying what I've seen.
I claim no expertise either. There were meetings beyond me, and I only ever saw the ramifications.
But I think I did gain some insight.
Kinda agree with these points. I use the term MICC, and the government (and even opposition politicians) are a force exuding pressure, not victim of it (in my experience).
And I think 2 is true. Just not the only factor.
We both have some insight.
It just isn't all that useful regarding the
MICC because we weren't in any role to
observe the claimed control of government.
Again....
The MICC is a common liberal claim.
They embrace it because it's useful.
They vote for hawks, who send us to
(& keep us in) war. The MICC is their
scapegoat.
This deflects blame from their leaders.
Note also that the MICC claim regarding
USA would be more in my arena, since
you're a ferriner.
Perhaps your country has such a conspiracy
that's real & possibly evidenced.