A big part of specifically why it is tolerated in many ways for the military is that politically nobody wants to even think about military spending cuts for fea

A big part of specifically why it is tolerated in many ways for the military is that politically nobody wants to even think about military spending cuts for fear of being labeled "anti-veteran" and "anti-America." So many voting US citizens are veterans (70+ years old) and almost as many come from an era when they were treated pretty ok following WW2 that they'd think quite poorly of military defunding given how much it's given to them. And somehow, today's military is drowning in debt servicing pensions and benefits for service members while all these scandals of poor treatment by the VA for cost cutting reasons show up. The acceptance of a pro-military policy by so much of the country is a very important one to consider as a major differentiator for the US compared to most developed countries and why others tolerate the US politically and economically. Some view the US as what other countries allow to have a weight politically so they don't have to spend money on a military and instead on social programs for their citizens.