“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.”
This "shield" hides the lack of risk taking away from the general public - after all the buisness seems to boom - meanwhile the actual wealth creators & innovators go soft or go elsewhere.
In the final phase, when there is actual resistance/competition to those shody practices, the thin fassade crumbles inwards, reavling nothing but corruption and accumulated incompetence.