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Slashing the defense budget by 75% would help, too. May as well clip out a few of the DOJ agencies like the DEA while you're at it. If you want to get get real
by cryoshon 11y ago
Slashing the defense budget by 75% would help, too.
May as well clip out a few of the DOJ agencies like the DEA while you're at it. If you want to get get really crazy, cut foreign aid. Maybe even increase taxes on non-UBI income. Close a few corporate/personal tax loopholes...
I think it's physically possible. Politically, probably not.
- harryh 11y agoThe annual budget of the DEA is approximately 3 billion. The annual US foreign aid budget is around 16 billion. These amounts are both very very small rounding errors in the context of this discussion.
- bradleyjg 11y agoThat's true regarding the DEA and foreign aid, but defense is not a rounding error. National Defense and Overseas Contingency Operations are more than $600B. The next largest military spending is China at $145B (before the cuts just announced yesterday).
- harryh 11y agoDefense is indeed not a rounding error. I myself think the Pax Americana the world has lived in for the past 50 years or so is worth it. But this is certainly something that others would disagree with me on.
- cryoshon 11y agoYou mean the Pax Americana where there are an endless series of proxy wars in the third world? Cause that one sure as shit wasn't worth it, especially considering that most (all?) of the interventions failed despite large scale slaughter.
- harryh 11y agohttp://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ourworldindata_wars-after-1946-state-based-battle-death-rate-by-type.png http://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ourworl...