4 ms·

Don't worry, we've been laughing since the GW Bush days.

by jb12 4y ago

thehappypm 4y ago
The rest of the West really has got it made. Spend nothing on defense because the USA will always bail you out. Meanwhile US citizens get ridiculed for producing the most powerful economy in world history.
- vuln 4y ago
  It's really easy to pay for healthcare and social benefits for your citizens when your military defense is subsidized by American Tax Payers.
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    I see this statement a lot, but the US spends about 2-3x the cost per capita for healthcare than the rest of the OECD. That includes both public and private spending. (see https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm) We can afford it, with or without the military spending.
- programmarchy 4y ago
  Europe: I feel sorry for you. USA: I don’t think about you at all.
- pphysch 4y ago
  The US has by far the largest trade deficit in the world. It's a net consumer, because it can print dollars. It is not remotely the most powerful productive economy on a per-capita basis.
  - dhd415 4y ago
    It's certainly an accomplishment to achieve a highly productive per capita economy, but I don't think it's quite the slight on the US when the four countries with higher productivity per capita range in size from 0.3% to 2.8% of US GDP. Achieving productivity per capita at scale is hard.
  - thehappypm 4y ago
    Compared to small, rich city-states and oil-rich Middle Eastern countries, sure. But in any more apples-to-apples comparison — the EU, China, India, Brazil - the US is in the lead by a lot.
- toss1 4y ago
  Yup, and nevermind that almost everyone is ignorant of the massive role of the US Navy in protecting global shipping lanes from piracy, which is why you can send a 40ft container from Shenzen to LA for something like $2000 and expect it to get here with 99.999% certainty. The piracy off of Africa was a short-lived phenomena - until they found out that forking around where the USN plays works out very badly for you.

Don't worry, we've been laughing since the GW Bush days.

by jb12 4y ago

Don't worry, we've been laughing since the GW Bush days.

The rest of the West really has got it made. Spend nothing on defense because the USA will always bail you out. Meanwhile US citizens get ridiculed for producing the most powerful economy in world history.

vuln 4y ago
It's really easy to pay for healthcare and social benefits for your citizens when your military defense is subsidized by American Tax Payers.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  I see this statement a lot, but the US spends about 2-3x the cost per capita for healthcare than the rest of the OECD. That includes both public and private spending. (see https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm) We can afford it, with or without the military spending.
programmarchy 4y ago
Europe: I feel sorry for you. USA: I don’t think about you at all.
pphysch 4y ago
The US has by far the largest trade deficit in the world. It's a net consumer, because it can print dollars. It is not remotely the most powerful productive economy on a per-capita basis.
- dhd415 4y ago
  It's certainly an accomplishment to achieve a highly productive per capita economy, but I don't think it's quite the slight on the US when the four countries with higher productivity per capita range in size from 0.3% to 2.8% of US GDP. Achieving productivity per capita at scale is hard.
- thehappypm 4y ago
  Compared to small, rich city-states and oil-rich Middle Eastern countries, sure. But in any more apples-to-apples comparison — the EU, China, India, Brazil - the US is in the lead by a lot.
toss1 4y ago
Yup, and nevermind that almost everyone is ignorant of the massive role of the US Navy in protecting global shipping lanes from piracy, which is why you can send a 40ft container from Shenzen to LA for something like $2000 and expect it to get here with 99.999% certainty. The piracy off of Africa was a short-lived phenomena - until they found out that forking around where the USN plays works out very badly for you.