Boeing and its Place in the US Empire

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/5/2/whistleblower-joshua-dean-ex-worker-at-boeing-supplier-dies

Boeing is too big to fail. As a member of the S&P100, the company constitutes a large and essential component within the stock market as well as the US security apparatus. Boeing builds commercial jets and does billions of dollars in military contracts. In fact it's the second biggest military contractor in the United States (and third in the world).

If you take in its status in terms of commercial aviation and it's worth to the military - not to mention its space-connected work in terms of satellites and missiles, it's clear that Boeing is effectively an arm of the US government. This company will not be allowed to fail and if whistleblowers have to die in order to silence them, then it's a price the company will pay and a risk they will take. And they can be sure that powerful elements within the US Government will work to mitigate the consequences.

The death of the first whistleblower back in March raised eyebrows and with the second one dying in May, even some of the most trusting citizens are becoming suspicious. But given that the country has wearied of crazy QAnon-type theories, the media is able to dismiss concerns and many people self-censor out of fear of being tied in with the kind of people who believe the elite (in seeking an elixir of life) harvest adrenochrome from dead children. Such absurdities have discredited a lot of genuine, informed, and inquisitive people who ask real questions and call attention to suspicious discrepancies in the official record that smack of cover-up.

One is reminded of Karen Silkwood (among others) who dared to challenge an industry that was inseparable from the security of the American Empire. In the case of Silkwood it was the nuclear industry and her 1974 death remains suspicious to say the least. Interestingly it was only a year after her death that the powerful and intimidating Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was dissolved and eventually reconstituted into the Department of Energy. The files were closed.

Boeing is like another AEC and it's also worth noting that their products (or bombs) are being dropped on Gaza. Israel is also buying their jets. This company is powerful and taking it on is tantamount to taking on the US Empire. As Steve Coll demonstrated in Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, these companies will also pursue their own interests but only so far. They are dependent on the US government and it likewise depends on them.

Could Boeing be broken up? Could it be reconstituted like the AEC? I think the example of Standard Oil comes to mind. Standard Oil of New Jersey became Exxon and Standard Oil of New York became Mobil. After their 1999 merger they (as ExxonMobil) constitute the third largest company in the United States and eighth largest in the world. Standard Oil of California (or Chevron) is tenth. Some consider the breakup a success, others believe that it failed and simply multiplied the number of monopoly-like corporations, many of which re-merged at a later date, or were merged into other monopolistic companies like British Petroleum. It did not generate genuine competition or level the playing field and in the years following the break-up the oil markets became even more complex with the growth of Middle-Eastern oil. And the successors of Standard Oil got a big piece of that as well.

What does this have to do with Boeing? It simply means that breaking up the company does not always have the effect that some might wish for. History provides little basis for hope that such moves will end corruption. Profits are still the primary motivation and with the Pentagon involved, there will always be a culture of both corruption and secrecy.