We should go after the MIC. The fact that we spend more than all other countries combined is just stupid.
It's class war, the haves vs. the have nots, the former being shareholders in the MIC, the latter of course being the majority of Americans who pretty much don't own stock anywhere.
I don't understand why both sides of the political aisle can't get behind this. Liberals should be all over this. Want money for social programs? Kill the MIC beast. But they want to spend in the Ukraine for some ridiculous reason. Conservatives - true conservatives - should get behind the fiscal conservative perspective. I'm not talking about the chicken hawks, which sadly do populate throughout the general republican party.
I wish it was that simple. But America has been at war 222 out of 239 years since 1776. We are a waring nation, obsessed with our weapons, our nationalism and our military. Americans don't complain much about the ludicrous spending on our military because so much of our economy revolves around it and is also the country's largest employer. Enough people are tied to the military and not enough have no stake in it at all. It crosses political affiliation, class, ethnicity or religious belief to become intractable. Much like the military bankrupted the Soviet Union, I see America following the same path, although slower because so much wealthier to start with. This time it is China that's pushing us to spend more and more, to catch up or dominate or whatever our military tells us we need to spend to beat this other enemy. We've been turned into a trigger happy paranoid nation.
Let's take a look at the top 10 employment sectors in the U.S. The military does not even make the top 10 list. Biggest Industries by Employment in the US in 2023 https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/industry-trends/biggest-industries-by-employment/ 1. Public Schools in the US 7,062,560 2. Hospitals in the US 5,795,082 3. Fast Food Restaurants in the US 5,199,714 4. Professional Employer Organizations in the US 4,307,585 5. Office Staffing & Temp Agencies in the US 3,865,622 6.Single Location Full-Service Restaurants in the US 3,566,586 7.The Retail Market for Jewelry in the US 3,315,050 8. Colleges & Universities in the US 2,901,584 9. Supermarkets & Grocery Stores in the US 2,806,664 10. Hotels & Motels in the US 2,701,371 Military Size by Country https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/military-size-by-country/ Total U.S. Defense Industry jobs is 2,406,300 https://facts.aia-aerospace.org/fact/2-million-jobs/ While the U.S Defense industry is certainly has a sizable economic impact and accounts for 10% of U.S. manufacturing; it is not in the top 10 employment sectors.
MAGAtards only care to curb military spending when it comes to drilling their daddy Putin a new asshole. They don't give a shit about bombing mussies half way across the world or funding Israelis do the same.
It really is that simple, when you consider how many wars, I should say military actions, America has started or participated in FOR access to resources and... profit. We are "much wealthier to start with" precisely for that reason.
As usual, you're a total idiot on this. Most "MAGA" supporters want nothing to do with spending money abroad and want other nations to pick up their share of the defense (like NATO). There are a lot of things to be critical to the MAGA Trump supporters. This isn't one.
MAGA will MAGA. Case in point: In recent weeks, Donald Trump has discussed sending “special forces” and using “cyber warfare” to target cartel leaders if he’s reelected president and, per Rolling Stone, asked for “battle plans” to strike Mexico. Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill seeking authorization for the use of military force to “put us at war with the cartels.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said he is open to sending U.S. troops into Mexico to target drug lords even without that nation’s permission. And lawmakers in both chambers have filed legislation to label some cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move supported by GOP presidential aspirants. As president, Trump considered placing cartels on the State Department’s terrorist blacklist. He also asked about using missiles to take out drug labs and cartels in Mexico, according to former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who wrote in his memoir that he rejected the idea at the time. Now a candidate, Trump is reviving his hawkish instincts toward the drug lords. He has already vowed to deploy U.S. special forces to take on drug cartels, “just as we took down ISIS and the ISIS caliphate.” And during a recent presidential rally speech in Waco, Texas, Trump compared the number of deaths from fentanyl overdoses to a kind of military attack. “People talk about the people that are pouring in,” Trump said. “But the drugs that are pouring into our country, killing everybody, killing so many people — there’s no army that could ever do damage to us like that still.” Other 2024 candidates side with Trump. Using military force on cartels without Mexico’s permission “would not be the preferred option, but we would absolutely be willing to do it,” entrepreneur and conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy said in an interview. What the cartels are doing “is a form of attack” on the United States, he added. Ramaswamy also said he backs an authorization for the use of military force for “specific” groups: “If those cartels meet the test for qualifying as a domestic terrorist organization for the purpose of freezing their assets, I think that qualifies them for the U.S. president to view them as an eligible target for the use of authorized military force.” Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor and among the more moderate foreign policy voices in his party, openly supports the foreign terrorist organization label for the cartels. “They meet the definition,” he said weeks before announcing his entrance into the 2024 field this month. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is openly against any U.S. military involvement in his country to take on the cartels. “In addition to being irresponsible, it is an offense to the people of Mexico,” he said in March. Furthermore, Waltz contends that U.S. law enforcement is “overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem by the capability of the cartels.” America should use military cyber weapons to disrupt cartel communications and money flow, he suggested, adding: “If we need some drone support along the border, that’s not something that a law enforcement agency can do, that’s something the military needs to help with.”