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Ben Stein How Not to Ruin Your Life

Ben Stein, How Not to Ruin Your Life

A Peace Offering for Your Retirement

by Ben Stein

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Posted on Friday, July 20, 2007, 12:00AM

A few days ago I was in Berlin. It's a beautiful city, with an astonishing number of good-looking people. Its ancient buildings are magnificently designed, and were impressively rebuilt after World War II and nearly 45 years of Communist domination in the eastern zone.

Touring a Troubled Past

There are broad plazas and hauntingly familiar sights, such as the Brandenburger Tor (or Brandenburg Gate), through which Hitler paraded in triumph after the conquest of France in 1940. There's also the Reichstag, where Hitler's diehard soldiers fought inch by inch against the Red Army heroes who won the final battle of the war in Europe. It's been rebuilt, but is still haunting and frightening (like most of Germany).

When you go past the area of museums and monuments into the deeper recesses of what was Communist East Berlin, along Karl-Marx-Allee (yes, that's its name), you see immensely boring, immensely oppressive apartment blocks with typically hideous Soviet Bloc architectural uniformity. It's easy to imagine how regimented the lives of those who lived in those grim buildings were.

Then, of course, there's the Berlin Wall, which kept human beings in and freedom out. There are still some sections of the Wall that are quite intact, although they're now covered with graffiti. It's a testament to a serious attempt to stifle the human spirit, which succeeded for a long time.

Forgotten Heroes

As I drove and walked past these monuments to a horrifying past and to what might have been, I was moved to deep gratitude for the men and women of the armed forces, who defended this great nation against Hitler, then Stalin, and then Brezhnev. Without their sacrifice, without the lives they put up and often lost, we wouldn't be a free people. There was no heavenly mandate that we would win the Second World War, just as there was no assurance that we would win the Cold War.

But we did, and while primary credit goes to those in the trenches, in the skies, and at sea, there's another vital group that gets very little credit: the people in the defense industry.

World War II was won by a combination of Churchillian determination; the efforts of heroic American, British, and (yes) Russian soldiers; and the mighty power of the U.S. defense industry. Names that have largely disappeared, like North American Aviation, Studebaker, and Hudson, and names that are still very much on the scene, like Boeing, GM, Ford, and Chrysler, helped win the war at home while the troops won in combat.

Masters of Peace

During the Cold War, we couldn't possibly have done as well as we did against the Soviet juggernaut without the super-high-quality defense products of Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, Martin Marietta, Pantex, L-3, and many other great companies. We were spared Communist domination largely because we had such good technology that the Soviets didn't dare challenge our weaponry, even though we couldn't compete with them in manpower.

The anonymous engineers of Boeing, Rockwell, and all the other companies are as responsible for our living in peace and freedom as anyone. These people literally never get any credit or respect -- there are no monuments to them anywhere that I know of, and you never hear anyone praising them.

But I think they deserve a lot of praise. They aren't the "masters of war" that my hero, Bob Dylan, wrote about so angrily some 40 years ago. They're the masters of peace, freedom, and decency, and we have them to thank for not having to wage nuclear war.

Now they're fighting to keep terrorists at bay. I have a lot of correspondence with soldiers in Iraq, who tell me stories of amazing new weapons to stop small-arms attacks on them, to jam IEDs, to keep control of battlefields under unimaginably complex conditions, and to preserve bodies and lives.

Defend Your Retirement

I admire the hundreds of thousands of defense industry people more than ever. Let's pay tribute to them all -- and, like the good capitalists we are, let's invest in them.

There are two ETFs that make it easy to buy into the defense sector: the PowerShares Aerospace & Defense fund (PPA) and the iShares Dow Jones US Aerospace & Defense fund (ITA). Both have done fantastically well in the last few years, mostly led by Boeing's amazing performance (I was touting Boeing when it was in the high 20s a few years ago, and now it's in the hundreds or close to it.)

Personally, I see no sign of the threat to America receding. Hillary Clinton, possibly our next president, has come out for a substantial increase in defense spending (bless her pointy little head), and over the long run it's a field that's so vital to the nation's survival that it can't help but grow.

So let's pay our respects -- and help prepare for retirement -- by joining with the men and women who work to defend peace and freedom everywhere.

Ben Stein has no financial interest in the stocks and ETFs mentioned in this column.

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92 Comments

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  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 30, 2007, 5:26PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    for all the people who think we should do away with the "military/industrial complex"lets do it.we shall spend our taxes on the poor and the planet. and it will be a whole lot of fun betting how long we will last as a nation while some other military/industrial complex such as china or russia takes over.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 30, 2007, 12:02PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Behold fellow American co-patriots, the enemy within.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 8:36PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    SUPER STORY, THANK YOU,CHARLIE

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 5:40PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Now Ben is proving his Pre-Alzeimer's traits and signs,I am pretty certain that Yahoo can easily get better thinkers and writers than this old and wrong man at less than half what he is paid for if at all ,most of the good companies will actually charge such writings a penalty. 1. He has his own beliefs and assumptions rather than facts and evidence and truth. USA is the only nation on the face of this planet which has actually lost every war it has fought at their adventure,declaration and disposal.WWII was never an american war and we were simply one out of several hundred nations supporting together against Hitler's MANIC adventures-The very basic and simple truth regardless what our media and school books teaches us which are always wrong and false and based on selfish-self interests--which brings home a point and time in this world that the world does not need USA anymore but the USA needs the world everybit to feed it's beggarly needs and debt.Remember that the only official beggar of the world and the only official and largest indebtor to the world is agAin -you got it right-my favorite country-the USA-.----Look at what we did to Japan,Korea,Vietnam,Gulf.afghanistan,pakistan,Cubanmissile crisis which made americans pee in their sleep and pants-remember that,Look how we looted and massacred the native americans to create the so called usa,,Canada(alaska),Mexico(southern states) jAPAN(ALASKA)etc....and you will get the true history and picture of our heritage created by the worthless and useless bastards and criminals out of europe who were felt useless in their own homeland and driven out in ships to fight a war in this land against the real owners and inhabitants of this land..This might be too much to navigate your brains and memories so far in the past--AS in that case just look at bush and cheney-and you will get the defination of america----you got it right--MSDL--MONEY-SEX-DRUGS AND LIES--MSDL.......... 2. Most of our innovations and inventions have come from people or theories born outside this so called empire like stealing and looting and conspiring to get the german tech. for space,rocket and propeller,bomb design,like learning how to calculate and organise from civilizations like the indus,egyptian,chinese etc..and how to consider modern organisation and architechture from the greek,romans and latin. 3. His projection of companies and design and ETF'S are purely speculative at best and most have got their gains already behind and looking forward they will have difficult times ahead except for Boeing ,simply because they are purely for commercial plays with great orders--again remember most of the intrinsic critical designs for almost all these so called american behemoths are made by brains outside america will really give you the insight apart from the fact that america has lost every single war fought on the basis of the so called american defense companies-AND THAT THIS NATION WILL AND CANNOT WIN ANY war unless it is not designed towards the artificial self creation of getting american political-popularity support and can only win if their ambitions and creations are really designed towards world peace,unity,defense in the true sense as the world knows very well and the bush-cHeney-rancheros--THE AMERICAN PIGS -USELESS FOR ANYTHING BUT TO BE SLAUGHTERED AND EATEN LIVE and the slaves at FOX know very well this but are intentionally hiding away from the american people--exactly similar to the scores of american pigs you pay to manage your savings and retirement and brokerage.SO it is a wake up call to shove away from these genetic bastards and go towards what lies ahead------BASICALLY THE TRUTH IS---GOLD-PRECIOUS METALS-COMMODITIES-MINERALS-INTERNATIONAL GROWTH AND VALUE AND LESS THAN 1-2 PERCENT IN USA BASED COMPANIES AND LESS THAN 20 PERCENT IN AMERICAN COMPANIES WHO DERIVE THEIR PROFIT FROM OUTSIDE AMERICA- THE REST SHOULD BE IN ANY PLACE BUT THE USA AND BELIEVE ME OR NOT IT WILL BE BETTER . 2.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, July 29, 2007, 11:02AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    By promoting a "War on Terrorism" in Iraq, fought with the high-tech weapons of Rockwell, Grumman, Lockheed and Martin-Marietta, Bush has done more to promote Al Qaida than Bin Laden. Ben, you should stick to financial advice.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, July 28, 2007, 3:07PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    What a flipping idiot. Disregarding for a moment the depravity of our defense-industrial-congressional complex, and simply focusing on making money off this current bull market in death, you forget that our defense industry tanked after the end of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, Gulf War I; and will tank in about two years when we finally pop our collective heads out of our rear ends and pull the plug on Iraq II.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, July 28, 2007, 1:04PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Stock recommendation is ok. The rest is what's best. Thanks civilian soldiers, and especially the Vietnam Vets, who would have given Vietnam it's current economic success (and saved 2 mil lives) if they were allowed to win the war. Same thing is happening in Iraq. Cowards and sympathzers on the left will cost lives and Iraq's freedom. God Bless The USA.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, July 28, 2007, 9:28AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    it can only be brainwash to call this DEFENSE industry in a time of a reckless, preemptive war of aggression... Also know that your share to pay for the 200 Billion spent in Iraq (to get these stocks up) may be larger than your stock profit - unless you own a majority in it like the Bush family...

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, July 28, 2007, 6:21AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    The History channel tells some of what Ben says. It was the industrial might of our country that won the Second World War.Our country produced nearly 50% of all the arms of the World War II, that is the allies and enemy combined. Creative people like Mr.Ford, Mr. Grumman, Donald Douglas, Dutch Kindelberger, Henry J Kaiser, Kelly Johnson, Mr Higgins and even my uncle Dick Plover who on the night shift, welded steel plate on the Battlship Missouri and many others. While the people focus on the Babe Ruths of yesterday and the Paris Hiltons of today. The Chinese kids focus and celebrate our entrepeneurs. The 1960 gave entrepeneurs a bad name and people in the media since then rarely celebrated these people. The fact is the country you live in and the way of life you live wouldn't be here if it wasn't for these people. History Channel, please keep running those documentries, Like "Empires of Industry" and business history shows. The kids today need to know!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, July 28, 2007, 5:03AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    http://www.borgenproject.org/

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, July 25, 2007, 2:04PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    I have mixed feelings about this. From an investment perspective, sure it's a good idea to invest in defense companies if they're making money. It's common sense. From a political standpoint, it's not so clear. I'm a political moderate and support the troops. They're just doing their jobs, so how can anyone fault that? I don't, however, support the current Iraq situation. I don't think we belong there. The war is just an excuse for Cowboy George to prove he's swinging the biggest "stick." I've worked in the defense industry for many years and have seen both the good and bad sides of it. The good parts are the excellent technology and innovations that come out of research and development. Anything that can save lives is a good thing. Also, a lot of technology developed for defense has commercial applications, too. The bad parts of the defense industry are the waste and inefficiencies. The government regulations for military work are onerous. They've improved that over the years, but they're very fussy about quality and documentation. I can't fault them on quality, since you wouldn't want to send soldiers out with faulty equipment or buggy targeting software. They mandate lots of documentation so that they can switch projects between contractors whenever they want. On one project I worked, they used to joke that they never actually read the documentation, they just weighed it to make sure there was enough. The defense contractors do take advantage of things and projects take much longer than they should to be completed. Also, the ever-changing administrations can wreak havoc on the long-term contracts. If you've ever seen the movie "The Pentagon Wars", that's actually a fairly accurate depiction of what can happen with these projects. I actually worked on the Bradley project shown in the movie and it still suffered from some of those issues. Personally, I'm going to invest my money wherever it will have the most return. I don't allow political considerations to enter the picture because companies are too globally intertwined these days to be entirely "clean" and I simply don't have the time to dig in that deep. I applaud those in the military, and those in the defense industry who truly care about their work, even if I don't support the current administration's policies.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, July 25, 2007, 11:33AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Disappointing for Ben. Typically, he's big on solid diversification - but now, he's sector betting. Correlation between this sector and U.S. stock market too close - defense industry funds have NOT been shown to be a good diversifier, as compared to REIT's or CCF's.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 24, 2007, 2:22PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Entertaining to read, but that's not why I read Ben's articles. Did I really have to read that whole article so that I could be told to invest in ETFs? I am normally a big fan, but if I want to be entertained or amused I read Robert K!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 24, 2007, 1:52PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Great, Ben wants us to increase the fortunes of the Elitists who start and fund these wars. Sick.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, July 24, 2007, 1:10AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    The military consumes half the federal budget, and accordingly, half our taxes. That's enough of an investment for me. For those unfamiliar with the military-industrial complex, view the recent documentary "Why We Fight" by Eugene Jarecki.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 11:55PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Nice article. War is hell, but if we beef up our defense industries, our enemies will hopefully be afraid to start something. Invest up. This is one of those cases where your emotions will mislead you into condemning "Daddy Warbucks". Sometimes rationality and feelings diverge, and you need to follow rationality to get the best result. Capitalism is the efficient way to build weapons.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 11:47PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Want to secure your retirement-www.reapal.com

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 10:59PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Dwight Eisenhower, Republican, farewell speech excerpt: A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction... This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial 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.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 9:20PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    The Cold War was won, and winning it allowed millions of people worldwide to improve their standard of living. Today, you can visit Vietnam as a tourist destination. We can all disagree about stocks or the economy, but living in freedom (which we undeniably do) is invaluable. By the way, I am a Vietnam veteran and a Democrat.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 7:43PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Join those defending freedom?!? I am an American already. My taxes are already going to pay for the military industrial complex. It makes huge profits during times of war overcharging for their latest weapons inventions. I'll invest because it is profitable and I'll get some of my tax money back (which is cowardice at its best ;-).

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 7:38PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    It seems that Mr.Stein takes pride teasing liberals by his excellent articles. Saying good words about USA, i.e. about capitalism, is something that these guys can neither tolerate nor comprehend.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 7:03PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Benny, You have done yourself a great dissservice. I really enjoyed reading your previous posts on personal finance; however this piece to paraphrase goes beyond the pale. I hate to burst your bubble but we are way past the days of Rosie the riveter putting together B-25s. We now have missile defense systems for theater defense, stratetgic defense and probably others. All of which I may add are not proven to be fully successful. But I guess for a paltry 10 or 20 billion, it was a risk worth taking. We are now pushing the same defense systems to go into former Soviet-bloc countries to protect against who? Are we really that worried about Iran, give me a break! This is big money Benny, pure and simple. Our country spends more on "defense" than all of the rest of the world combined. That's big business isn't it? And please, we don't need to pay respects to our defense industry buy investing, our lobbyists will ensure that they are very well taken care of. One final word advice, stick to writing about what you know best.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 5:50PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I worked in the Defense Industry for the last 5 years. It is filled with corruption and waste. I was appalled at how much our tax payer money is wasted. Ben should read the Power Game by Hedrick Smith. My opinion is the US Military Industrial Complex is so evil it should be dismantled. This IRAQ war was pressed by Generals wanting to keep troops and equipment trained through real battles not because we had to go into Iraq. Sadly this is not a GOP vs Democrat issue. Both parties can be blamed on allowing this to occur. Did Ben know about the deaths and problems with the Patriot Missile program? The lies spread by Generals and Raytheon hoping not to have the program cut????? The Defense Industry has no reason to push Peace vs War. War makes them money and the US doesn't revolve around Jesus it revolves around money. Jesus would never start a war EVER! Nor would he allow an army to exist.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 5:24PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I can’t offer any statistics relating to the number of civilians that have sacrificed their lives either literally or figuratively in support of war efforts, but that just supports Mr. Stein’s position that we tend to only recognize the contributions made my military personnel. My grandfather lost a lung and died prematurely as a result of asbestosis which he got by working in a ship yard during WWII as a civilian contractor. How many other civilians have sacrificed their lives in the interest of getting the job done now rather than to getting the job done safely…again, we don’t know because we don’t tend to recognize indirect causalities. Personally, I felt for Boeing when Airbus made their assault on them. Boeing invented what we consider to be modern air travel and that required both a huge capital investment and a huge risk. Later, Airbus enjoyed the luxury of what amounts to little more than copying Boeing’s work, throwing in a pinch of innovation, and getting an enormous bank roll of easy money. Being a capitalist, I wouldn’t advocate any sort of significant governmental intervention but that doesn’t stop me from buying BA in an effort lessen the unfair advantage Airbus has. By the way, the new 787 is an amazing machine and in my view, serves as compelling proof that you can’t keep a good company down.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 5:21PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Right On!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 5:00PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Stein's right, but for superficial reasons. The "freedom" that we enjoy is, first and foremost in the minds of our current leaders, purchasing power and consumerism. Freedom of speech, privacy, due process, etc are fringe benefits that are rapidly eroding away. Free markets are what our foreign policy is about. We support many undemocratic rulers in order to create and maintain free markets and access to valuable resources. We used the cold war, as we are using the war on terror now, as justification to use military force to create and maintain free markets throughout the world. Our leaders sell our policy to the voters by calling it the spread of democracy. Moreover, investment (through taxes and the financial sector) is an investment in securing the oil/energy upon which our society completly relies. Free markets and cheap energy are good for civilization, resulting in better technology, healthcare, food, education, and the mandate to go and make money. Who would prefer to live in pre-industrialized societies? We do owe a debt of gratitude to our expensive and enormous industrial-military complex, without which we wouldn't be able to drive SUVs all over town and keep our McMansions nice and cools as global temperatures climb. So keep paying taxes and investing in these companies until the oil-driven party runs out!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 4:58PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    After introductory patriotic sucking up, one expects Ben to make a remark of substance. He doesn't. Ben, when you have nothing to say, say nothing.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 4:56PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    As long as the govenment administration and specially if the Clinton is elected we will only see what is left from the profiteers after they take the cream from over the profits of such industries. Look at HAL (Haliburton with 150 % profits Booked, but the Stock has not raised more than a 10 % during a year. I would rather go for the foreign markets Mutual funds and stocks.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 4:33PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I appreciate your patriotism Ben. Good article!!!!!!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, July 23, 2007, 4:06PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Great article! We can't be reminded too often how thankful we should be to live in a free country. Way too many people have no clue what it would mean to loose that freedom. I agree completely that we should do everything we can to support those that defend our freedom. However, I disagree with your prediction about Clinton. I don't think she has a snowballs chance in Hades.

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