Wastelands of the Permanent War Machine: the Domestic Ruins of the American Military Industrial Complex

The general superiority of American warcraft means that most are not destroyed by enemies, but instead grow old until they outlive their usefulness and need to be actively disposed of. Given their role as tokens of military dominance, what happens when this impressive, global war machine begins to wear and rot? While service members and politicians manage the use of warcraft when they are commissioned, a wide variety of civilian businesses, activists, artists, and non-profits are involved in their repurposing and final disposal as scrap. What can the production and reuse of these warcraft tell us about American entanglement with permanent war machine? And can this provoke critical reflections about its excessive and needless expenditure?