Military spending in the United States is out of control, as you probably know. The US spends more on its military – euphemistically called “defense” – than the next fourteen countries combined. In other words, we spend more on our army, air force, navy, etc. than China, or Russia, or Saudi Arabia, or Germany, or India, or the United Kingdom. The US alone accounts for at least 41% of the world’s military expenditure. Even if our military budget was reduced to a third of what it is now, we would still be the #1 spender.
President Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex more than 60 years ago. He said, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.”
Our civilization is actually more peaceful today than it has been in the past, despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, we continue to spend more and more and more on “defense,” some of it on dodgy weapons and systems. The Pentagon has never passed an audit. The F-35 fighter jet has proven to be not only absurdly expensive, but also severely problematic. You may recall the scandal involving $1000 screwdrivers and toilet seats. So, why do we still not hold the Pentagon accountable? And as if that isn’t enough, while the contractors are insanely over-funded, deployed military personnel have to beg for phone cards to stay in touch with their families and friends back home.
During World War II we set up bases around the world for peacekeeping. Decades after they ceased to be needed, those bases are still operating. A common response to cutting defense spending and closing overseas bases is “We need it in case we go to war!” No, we don’t need to spend $750 billion a year to “prepare.” And why do we maintain so many bases far away from home? Many will point to the current Ukraine war as a good reason to have men (and women) and materiel in other parts of the world in case trouble rears its ugly head. Isn’t that what NATO is supposed to be for – squelching such trouble in Europe? Nothing wrong, though, in offering aid and allowing independent soldiers of fortune to join the fun.
One reason we spend insane amounts on “defense” is the power of defense contractor lobbyists. Many big corporations, such as Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon and L3Harris, have lucrative contracts with our military to build planes, missiles, electronics and the like; thus, it is in their interest to keep the military budget nice and fat.
While our defense budget is obscenely bloated, our infrastructure is crumbling, our electrical grid is vulnerable to weather and cyberattacks, our schools are horribly underfunded so teachers have to buy or beg for supplies and work multiple jobs. While defense contractor CEOs wallow in luxury like swine, veterans are sleeping in cardboard boxes, and on average 35 die by their own hands every day. Vets must wait months, even more than a year, to receive the physical and psychological therapy they need.
Just 3% of our defense spending could end hunger worldwide. A mere 10% reduction in the Pentagon’s budget could help millions of struggling Americans with affordable housing, community centers, higher salaries for teachers, more supplies and equipment for schools, clean water, nutritious meals for students, affordable health care, and free or at least affordable college. Yet every year our military budget sets a new record.
Spending more and more on our defense while neglecting our schools, roads, utilities and people will cost us dearly; in fact, it is already costing us dearly. Remember Flint, Michigan? There was another country that overspent on its military, and it collapsed. Know what it was? The Soviet Union. We definitely don’t want to follow the late, unlamented USSR into oblivion.
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