3 ms·

That's an interesting theory, that there's a foreign disinformation campaign smearing the program, because they don't want it fielded against them. I'd argue a

That's an interesting theory, that there's a foreign disinformation campaign smearing the program, because they don't want it fielded against them. I'd argue against that theory though, on the grounds that a corrupt/greedy congress, military and defense contractor network will do more against the country than our opponents ever will. Remember that time we bankrupted the USSR in an arms race? This time we're doing it to ourselves. So if anything, I think the flag waving F35 program supporters are both the defense contractors (obviously) but also all the foreign states that would like us bankrupt and saddled with decreased air power in three armed services. It's genius.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> there's a foreign disinformation campaign smearing the program Do we have any evidence of this? > Remember that time we bankrupted the USSR in an arms race? This time we're doing it to ourselves The Soviets spent 25% of their national income on their military in 1980 [1]. Most years, it was above 10%. In contrast, the United States spends low single digits of its GDP on its military [2]. [1] https://nintil.com/2016/05/31/the-soviet-union-military-spending/ https://nintil.com/2016/05/31/the-soviet-union-military-spen... [2] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS
- iooi 8y ago
  Wow, talk about cherry picking. > The Soviets spent 25% of their national income > United States spends low single digits of its GDP Why are you comparing income vs GDP? Apples and oranges, please.. "In FY 2017, the Congressional Budget Office reported spending of $590 billion for defense, about 15% of the federal budget." [1] [1] https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=115th-congress-2017-2018/graphic/53624-fy17federalbudget.pdf https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=115th-congress-2017-20...
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    > Why are you comparing income vs GDP? GDP is a measure of national income, alongside GNP, GNI, NNI and NMP [1][2]. The article finds "one would say that military spending was around 10-20% of Soviet GDP, so perhaps a compromise figure of 15%, around twice USA spending." [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measures_of_national_income_and_output https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measures_of_national_income_an... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_material_product https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_material_product

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> there's a foreign disinformation campaign smearing the program Do we have any evidence of this? > Remember that time we bankrupted the USSR in an arms race? This time we're doing it to ourselves The Soviets spent 25% of their national income on their military in 1980 [1]. Most years, it was above 10%. In contrast, the United States spends low single digits of its GDP on its military [2]. [1] https://nintil.com/2016/05/31/the-soviet-union-military-spending/ https://nintil.com/2016/05/31/the-soviet-union-military-spen... [2] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS

iooi 8y ago
Wow, talk about cherry picking. > The Soviets spent 25% of their national income > United States spends low single digits of its GDP Why are you comparing income vs GDP? Apples and oranges, please.. "In FY 2017, the Congressional Budget Office reported spending of $590 billion for defense, about 15% of the federal budget." [1] [1] https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=115th-congress-2017-2018/graphic/53624-fy17federalbudget.pdf https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=115th-congress-2017-20...
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
  > Why are you comparing income vs GDP? GDP is a measure of national income, alongside GNP, GNI, NNI and NMP [1][2]. The article finds "one would say that military spending was around 10-20% of Soviet GDP, so perhaps a compromise figure of 15%, around twice USA spending." [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measures_of_national_income_and_output https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measures_of_national_income_an... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_material_product https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_material_product