You should recognize this:
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Of course the important word is “unwarranted”. the government obviously needs goods and services and it stands to reason that businesses will make money from providing those goods and services. In the case of Pfizer, my link shows how many Pfizer big wigs came from government service. President Biden’s vaccine mandate gives an “unwarranted“ nod to Pfizer by failing to even mention natural immunity which is more than a suitable substitute for a vaccine.
In Ike’s day, the concern was the burgeoning defense industries. That was then, this is now. The financial/ influence complexes are more, bigger, and wealthier. The areas around Washington D.C. are among the wealthiest in the United States. Nothing is produced except more power, more influence and more government. I think we have a problem. The problem is legalized corruption. our public officials become uber wealthy through public office and connections. Does it cause harm? Yeah. McChrystal and McMaster were well connected wise guys who were at ground zero of the mess in Afghanistan. In retrospect, the mistakes there were because of “unwarranted” military/industrial influence.
Ike didn’t overlook and predicted the massive corruption in academic research. The corruption applies to other academic endeavors as well:
In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.
When I read these words, I see many problems facing higher Ed, the least of which is not the suppression of skepticism and ideas.