6 ms·

No, I meant they are part of the bulwark against countries like China/Russia taking over the world.

jessaustin 6y ago
This is a seriously nutty belief, that you claim to have. This year the increase in our military spending was bigger than Russia's entire military spending. We could cut our military budget in half and still dwarf China's.
- throw_this_one 6y ago
  Hah, what is funny is that you think military spending amounts means much at all. First of all, there’s asymmetrical warfare. Russia’s investment in cyber, hypersonic, etc. China’s investment in medium range missiles to create access denial for the US in the pacific. Plus factor in that the US budget is bloated because of these corrupt fat cat defense industry companies, huge waste, etc...
  - chishaku 6y ago
    Given US foreign and economic policy intent on dominating every corner of the planet [0] and the universe [1], could you blame China, Russia, or any other country for doing everything they can to reach parity with the US? Giving up all your rights in the name of endless wars on everything is a path to a sad ending for the US and the world. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-spectrum_dominance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-spectrum_dominance [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space#United...
  - jessaustin 6y ago
    ...Russia...China... Wow their military must be much smarter than ours. Or perhaps they are held responsible for their performance? ...US budget is bloated because of these corrupt fat cat defense industry companies, huge waste, etc... So... does all of this argue for more or less civilian oversight?
    - throw_this_one 6y ago
      Lol who holds them responsible? Not civilians, I can assure you. They’re just more nimble because they’re top-down leadership. Not as good at expressing the people’s will, but more nimble at implementing autocratic decisions.
      - jessaustin 6y ago
        Wait, "expressing the people’s will"? Who in this conversation does anything like that? Certainly not USA. We didn't vote for spending three-quarters-billion-dollars-a-year on a military that hasn't accomplished anything in over five decades. Neither did we vote to spend the untold hundreds of billions we spend "in the black budget" on the even less effective unsupervised services. The last four presidents have run for office promising less militarism, but not a single one has delivered on that promise. "People's will", what a joke.
        jessaustin 6y ago
        s/three-quarters-billion-dollars-a-year/three-quarters-trillion-dollars-a-year/ Why is that so hard to type?
- legerdemain 6y ago
  Our armed forces are safeguarding Americans from a worldwide foe that could show up anywhere on the globe. To beat the world, we have to outspend the rest of the world combined on defense. Perhaps the greatest danger to American defense is insider threats. If the looming danger from insider threats is stark enough, we will absolutely need to find a way to outspend ourselves on defense.
  - dontcarethrow2 6y ago
    This safeguarding is likely what is keeping us in danger. We don't have to pretend we are policing the world anymore, enough time has gone by to be able to say it's mainly modern day imperialism. We can work on our defense on this side of the planet without outlining 'the enemy' with outposts and guns pointed at them for 'our defense'.
    - jessaustin 6y ago
      Obviously GP is ironic and really agrees with you. "Outspend ourselves"? Does this phrase mean anything? Not even the war pigs are this silly.
      - dontcarethrow2 6y ago
        And I was agreeing with them, just translating it into my own rant. Excuse me, but when I hear you smarties(not you specifically, threads lately in general) picking up pitchforks in the name of freedom, you will hear the silly squeal. And unfortunately, the 'war pigs' seem to be the sharpest in the shed by far.
  - DarthGhandi 6y ago
    From virtually everyone else's perspective the US is the worldwide foe. Your foreign policy has had horrendous effects on the world for the last 50+ years.
    - asquabventured 6y ago

This is a seriously nutty belief, that you claim to have. This year the increase in our military spending was bigger than Russia's entire military spending. We could cut our military budget in half and still dwarf China's.

throw_this_one 6y ago
Hah, what is funny is that you think military spending amounts means much at all. First of all, there’s asymmetrical warfare. Russia’s investment in cyber, hypersonic, etc. China’s investment in medium range missiles to create access denial for the US in the pacific. Plus factor in that the US budget is bloated because of these corrupt fat cat defense industry companies, huge waste, etc...
- chishaku 6y ago
  Given US foreign and economic policy intent on dominating every corner of the planet [0] and the universe [1], could you blame China, Russia, or any other country for doing everything they can to reach parity with the US? Giving up all your rights in the name of endless wars on everything is a path to a sad ending for the US and the world. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-spectrum_dominance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-spectrum_dominance [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militarisation_of_space#United...
- jessaustin 6y ago
  ...Russia...China... Wow their military must be much smarter than ours. Or perhaps they are held responsible for their performance? ...US budget is bloated because of these corrupt fat cat defense industry companies, huge waste, etc... So... does all of this argue for more or less civilian oversight?
  - throw_this_one 6y ago
    Lol who holds them responsible? Not civilians, I can assure you. They’re just more nimble because they’re top-down leadership. Not as good at expressing the people’s will, but more nimble at implementing autocratic decisions.
    - jessaustin 6y ago
      Wait, "expressing the people’s will"? Who in this conversation does anything like that? Certainly not USA. We didn't vote for spending three-quarters-billion-dollars-a-year on a military that hasn't accomplished anything in over five decades. Neither did we vote to spend the untold hundreds of billions we spend "in the black budget" on the even less effective unsupervised services. The last four presidents have run for office promising less militarism, but not a single one has delivered on that promise. "People's will", what a joke.
      - jessaustin 6y ago
        s/three-quarters-billion-dollars-a-year/three-quarters-trillion-dollars-a-year/ Why is that so hard to type?
legerdemain 6y ago
Our armed forces are safeguarding Americans from a worldwide foe that could show up anywhere on the globe. To beat the world, we have to outspend the rest of the world combined on defense. Perhaps the greatest danger to American defense is insider threats. If the looming danger from insider threats is stark enough, we will absolutely need to find a way to outspend ourselves on defense.
- dontcarethrow2 6y ago
  This safeguarding is likely what is keeping us in danger. We don't have to pretend we are policing the world anymore, enough time has gone by to be able to say it's mainly modern day imperialism. We can work on our defense on this side of the planet without outlining 'the enemy' with outposts and guns pointed at them for 'our defense'.
  - jessaustin 6y ago
    Obviously GP is ironic and really agrees with you. "Outspend ourselves"? Does this phrase mean anything? Not even the war pigs are this silly.
    - dontcarethrow2 6y ago
      And I was agreeing with them, just translating it into my own rant. Excuse me, but when I hear you smarties(not you specifically, threads lately in general) picking up pitchforks in the name of freedom, you will hear the silly squeal. And unfortunately, the 'war pigs' seem to be the sharpest in the shed by far.
- DarthGhandi 6y ago
  From virtually everyone else's perspective the US is the worldwide foe. Your foreign policy has had horrendous effects on the world for the last 50+ years.
  - asquabventured 6y ago