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What if you are an American who is not interested in projecting power across the globe? What if you would like to stop spending 1/3 of your budget on the milita

What if you are an American who is not interested in projecting power across the globe? What if you would like to stop spending 1/3 of your budget on the military? I take no pride in being an Empire or hegemon. I know this will be ugly and disorderly and could almost certainly be handled better, but as an American, I am looking forward to the day when problems 5000 miles away from my home are no longer treated as my problem.

orf 8d ago
> What if you are an American who is not interested in projecting power across the globe? What if you would like to stop spending 1/3 of your budget on the military? What do you think the second, third and fourth order effects of this would be for you? What new problems, closer to home, would arise?
- deleted 8d ago
  [deleted]
verzali 8d ago
You will still be spending that money. Trump wants to increase military spending by 50%. It has very little to do with overseas force projection.
m4rtink 8d ago
Well, I guess the issue is, someone is going to do that instead & by the time it causes a problem much closer to home, it might be too late.
GJim 8d ago
> I am looking forward to the day when problems 5000 miles away from my home are no longer treated as my problem. The USA does not live in a vacuum. I think you will find global events 5000 miles away ARE your problem, and mine, whether you like it or not.
pjc50 8d ago
If you look at oil prices, the Iran-US-Israel-Saudi war is now everyone's problem globally, whether they're part of the hegemon or not. It's very difficult to disconnect from the problems of the world when your fuel is imported (+) from the middle east and your chips are imported from the Far east. Trying to be an autarky is .. well, the US might be able to do it, but it will be fearsomely expensive. (+) US is currently a net exporter of oil/petroleum products, but that is a recent development and subject to change
- consumer451 8d ago
  The biggest to suffer after the BAM is closed is the EU. It is not an accident that the USA decided not to support Saudi when they asked for air strikes last week. ARAMCO just told the EU there will be no oil shipments next month. Hurting the EU is a major goal of the current US admin.
  - GJim 5d ago
    Oil is a global market. Oil prices will rise in the USA just as much as they will in the EU.
cucumber3732842 8d ago
>I take no pride in being an Empire or hegemon. I know this will be ugly and disorderly and could almost certainly be handled better, but as an American, Exactly. I'm gonna say the same thing I said when we pulled out of Afghanistan. It's not my country and it never was. I wish them the best.
lotsofpulp 8d ago
>What if you would like to stop spending 1/3 of your budget on the military? Then you would be happy, because the US spends 1/7th [13%] of the budget on the military. https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...
brnt 8d ago
> What if you would like to stop spending 1/3 of your budget on the military? Is that what you think this is going to achieve?
vibrio 8d ago
Circling the wagons and tending our own garden is a nice ideal, but is no panacea just because we build some factories in Cleveland, celebrate the end of Globalism , claim ‘US energy independence’ (that’s gotten quiet lately.) reassessing our footprint? Yes great idea. Large poorly thought-through snap actions because headlines are needed? No thanks.
wookmaster 7d ago
Is budget really a reality here? This administration just proved it could spend billions on making gas expensive for us.

orf 8d ago

> What if you are an American who is not interested in projecting power across the globe? What if you would like to stop spending 1/3 of your budget on the military? What do you think the second, third and fourth order effects of this would be for you? What new problems, closer to home, would arise?

deleted 8d ago
[deleted]

verzali 8d ago

You will still be spending that money. Trump wants to increase military spending by 50%. It has very little to do with overseas force projection.

m4rtink 8d ago

Well, I guess the issue is, someone is going to do that instead & by the time it causes a problem much closer to home, it might be too late.

GJim 8d ago

> I am looking forward to the day when problems 5000 miles away from my home are no longer treated as my problem. The USA does not live in a vacuum. I think you will find global events 5000 miles away ARE your problem, and mine, whether you like it or not.

pjc50 8d ago

If you look at oil prices, the Iran-US-Israel-Saudi war is now everyone's problem globally, whether they're part of the hegemon or not. It's very difficult to disconnect from the problems of the world when your fuel is imported (+) from the middle east and your chips are imported from the Far east. Trying to be an autarky is .. well, the US might be able to do it, but it will be fearsomely expensive. (+) US is currently a net exporter of oil/petroleum products, but that is a recent development and subject to change

consumer451 8d ago
The biggest to suffer after the BAM is closed is the EU. It is not an accident that the USA decided not to support Saudi when they asked for air strikes last week. ARAMCO just told the EU there will be no oil shipments next month. Hurting the EU is a major goal of the current US admin.
- GJim 5d ago
  Oil is a global market. Oil prices will rise in the USA just as much as they will in the EU.

cucumber3732842 8d ago

>I take no pride in being an Empire or hegemon. I know this will be ugly and disorderly and could almost certainly be handled better, but as an American, Exactly. I'm gonna say the same thing I said when we pulled out of Afghanistan. It's not my country and it never was. I wish them the best.

lotsofpulp 8d ago

>What if you would like to stop spending 1/3 of your budget on the military? Then you would be happy, because the US spends 1/7th [13%] of the budget on the military. https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...

brnt 8d ago

> What if you would like to stop spending 1/3 of your budget on the military? Is that what you think this is going to achieve?

vibrio 8d ago

Circling the wagons and tending our own garden is a nice ideal, but is no panacea just because we build some factories in Cleveland, celebrate the end of Globalism , claim ‘US energy independence’ (that’s gotten quiet lately.) reassessing our footprint? Yes great idea. Large poorly thought-through snap actions because headlines are needed? No thanks.

wookmaster 7d ago

Is budget really a reality here? This administration just proved it could spend billions on making gas expensive for us.