I would argue that in the US military expenditure is one of our bigger
problems. As Eisenhower warned, our military industrial complex has balooned out of control. Its one thing to project power worldwide and have the biggest stick in the room
(no sensible American argues with that), its completely another to become obsessed with the idea of being able to successfully combat the rest of the world all at once. Our reliance on military power has led us to largely abandon diplomacy as a means of foreign policy, alienating our allies, as we adopt an ever more isolated, "US vs. the world mentality". As a result, we have lost influence in the world, and are now less able to negotiate for positive outcomes, and have almost no ability to use the leverage of the international community to curb aggressive moves by Russia, China, North Korea, or other aggressive actors. We are truly a country that believes guns solve everything, and nothing is a problem as long as we have the biggest and most guns. The truth is, at this point, most of the rest of the world is happy to let us sit on the sidelines talking about how big our guns are while they pursue their own goals and work together without us. We could divert a lot of money from the military to other aspects of improving the US, and would still have by far the strongest military in the world.
|
(
In response to this post by Yosemite Sam)
Posted: 07/29/2020 at 5:38PM