4 ms·

> I moved to other wealthy countries not at war (including, right now, the USA which by any real measure faces no existential threat and is follows a rule of la

• gumby 10y ago
  The US is waging war all over the damned world but its paying little attention to it. I think it's fair to say that at least 300 million Americans' lives would be the same whether that was happening rt not, except their taxes could be about 10% lower (defense budget is about 16% of the federal budget -- it couldn't be completely eliminated). You're more likely to be killed by someone behind the wheel but looking at their phone than you are by some loony trying to tie the US's external activities to something he or she was going to do anyway. The country faces no existential threat, which is why people have time to argue about picayune crap like ISIL. You want existential threat? People in Syria are facing existential threats (and yet the US has its oar in there too). My parents grew up in towns bombed by invading forces while they were kids (on different continents); my mum's family had to flee into the jungle. My in laws' town (in yet another continent) was bombed flat while they were kids too. Even the attacks of September 2001 did not threaten the existence of the republic or the country, despite the massive and expensive thrashing of the subsequent "immune response."