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The continental united states is surrounded by two friendly neighbors that are not a threat to us. We are separated from our nearest peer adversaries by thousa
by wing-_-nuts 4y ago
The continental united states is surrounded by two friendly neighbors that are not a threat to us. We are separated from our nearest peer adversaries by thousands of miles of ocean, and their entire military doctrine revolves around defending themselves from us.
We could get by with a tiny fraction of our 700B+ / yr defense budget. One wonders how much better a society we would be if we spent that on things that would actually benefit the average citizen, or did something unthinkable like actually paying down debt.
- sharkweek 4y agoIf that happened, we'd invade ourselves to prevent such a country from developing.
- ckw 4y ago
- throwaway6734 4y agoSo give away the strength of the dollar and the ease of international trade?
- wing-_-nuts 4y agoOur military has nothing to do with the strength of the dollar. That is totally reliant on the strength of our economy.
- orestarod 4y ago> Our military has nothing to do with the strength of the dollar. That is totally reliant on the strength of our economy. The strength of the dollar is all about beating whoever disagrees with its role as the oil exchange currency to submission, because that is its current base for its demand. Libya was not invaded because the West suddenly remembered that Kandafi is a dictator. Iraq was not invaded because suddenly WMD were found (did they ever find another tale to cover their reasons?), Syria was not made into anarchy because the West wanted the Syrian people to be free. They all had one common point near the time of invasion. So yes the military does play a big role.
- water8 4y agoICBMs make this a moot point
- wing-_-nuts 4y agoWhich is why we would have nukes, a national guard sufficient to defend the homeland, and little else.
- throwaway894345 4y ago> their entire military doctrine revolves around defending themselves from us. I mean, Russia invades and China taunts its neighbors pretty regularly, so clearly their military is focused on more than defense from the US (as if we have any interest in an offensive war against them in the first place). The US military keeps those countries in check, so of course they focus on how they can “defend” against our military. The extent to which Russia and China are scheming against the US military is the extent to which they aren’t invading their neighbors, which is precisely the value the US military provides, and indeed that Russia is invading Ukraine is a failure of the US government to respond firmly to previous invasions (no, not direct military conflict with Russia). The idea that the US or the world can enjoy meaningful peace while withdrawing from the global theater is dangerously naive. There’s no world in which we pull back without oppressive dictatorships rushing to fill the void.
- wing-_-nuts 4y agoIt's not our 'job' to be the world police. We've been effectively subsidizing social spending in LATAM and europe for decades now. Other countries would simply have to increase their defense spending as necessary to keep themselves safe. I don't think there is any role for the US military beyond defending US soil. I'm tired of propping up our bloated military industrial complex on the premise that we are solely responsible for world peace.
- Paradigma11 4y agoI hope you are prepared for many more russian and/or china backed regimes in africa/se asia. This would put any ressource extraction/trade from these regions in the hands of Putin/Xi. Expect some unforeseen problems at the most unfortunate economic moments.
- wing-_-nuts 4y agoIf it doesn't happen to US citizens on US soil, it's not our place to directly intervene with boots on the ground. We can manage international relations with diplomacy and trade.