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The US govt spends 7.3 trillion dollars per year. So that’s about 0.5% of spending. As a fraction of US GDP it’s about 0.17%. It’s tiny. The claim I was arguin

by graeme 6y ago

The US govt spends 7.3 trillion dollars per year. So that’s about 0.5% of spending. As a fraction of US GDP it’s about 0.17%. It’s tiny. The claim I was arguing against was this: > the armaments manufacturers who actually control our society You can’t control society with 0.17% of US GDP! Note also that most of that spending does not flow to arms contractors so the actual figure is less. The bulk is spend on the defense department and other government agencies. Here’s the report your article cites. See page 9 https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ican/pages/1549/attachments/original/1589365383/ICAN-Enough-is-Enough-Global-Nuclear-Weapons-Spending-2020-published-13052020.pdf?1589365383 https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ican/pages/1549/attach...

yesenadam 6y ago
Well, it seems a bit pointless debating whether billions of dollars is not much/tiny or a lot. >> the armaments manufacturers who actually control our society > You can’t control society with 0.17% of US GDP! That doesn't seem fair. The companies involved are involved in a lot more than nuclear weapons, as I guess you know. (see my last 2 links)
- graeme 6y ago
  Yeah, they’re much bigger, but the point is the nuclear spending is clearly not the key to any power they do wield. As I said, 0.17% of gdp covers all the spending, including on govt salaries. Only a portion of that actually goes to manufacturers.
  - jessaustin 6y ago
    We currently spend about $750 billion every year on the military, not counting the "black" budget. The stinking, offensive waste will soon exceed a trillion every year. That ain't all going to the VA hospitals. Besides, at this point every American who could have remembered a more normal way to live, is dead. The reptiles won. We literally can't stop spending vast sums killing brown people and preparing to kill more.

by graeme 6y ago

yesenadam 6y ago

Well, it seems a bit pointless debating whether billions of dollars is not much/tiny or a lot. >> the armaments manufacturers who actually control our society > You can’t control society with 0.17% of US GDP! That doesn't seem fair. The companies involved are involved in a lot more than nuclear weapons, as I guess you know. (see my last 2 links)

graeme 6y ago
Yeah, they’re much bigger, but the point is the nuclear spending is clearly not the key to any power they do wield. As I said, 0.17% of gdp covers all the spending, including on govt salaries. Only a portion of that actually goes to manufacturers.
- jessaustin 6y ago
  We currently spend about $750 billion every year on the military, not counting the "black" budget. The stinking, offensive waste will soon exceed a trillion every year. That ain't all going to the VA hospitals. Besides, at this point every American who could have remembered a more normal way to live, is dead. The reptiles won. We literally can't stop spending vast sums killing brown people and preparing to kill more.