Does This Information Boggle Your Mind Like it Does to Mine?

[TheDemSocialist]

I certainly hopes this strikes a chord like it does to me..

What do i think of when i see this? This is outrageous this is madness.
We have become a militarized state that is insane. This is damning to humanity.

I think of Eisenhower and his famous 'chance for peace' speech when i see statistics like this:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed...This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense."

 

[specklebang]

The good news is that they don't outsource most of it. Weapons are our greatest product. They are the largest employer as well.

 

[PirateMk1]

I certainly hopes this strikes a chord like it does to me..

What do i think of when i see this? This is outrageous this is madness.
We have become a militarized state that is insane. This is damning to humanity.

I think of Eisenhower and his famous 'chance for peace' speech when i see statistics like this:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed...This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense."

Personaly I think we would do well by becoming "The Arsenal of Democracy" and start selling our weapons and know how to the rest of the world.

 

[Paschendale]

Remember during the presidential debates when Romney and Obama discussed the strategy of being equipped to fight two major land wars at once? That's based on a form of warfare that is completely obsolete. It was the way wars were fought in the 40s and 50s. After the Korean war, that form of military action has been useless compared to more precise and exacting strikes. That was the difference between Vietnam, which was a huge mess, and the Gulf War, which was quick and effective. The Gulf War was the first modern war for us, and then we regressed in Afghanistan and Iraq. There is no need to equip to fight land wars and extended conflicts, and there is no sane reason to keep engaging in them.

THIS is where we need to cut spending. Put those same people to work building schools, fixing roads, or doing something more useful.

 

[Neomalthusian]

I do not mean to say that the US Government SHOULD be spending as much as it is in the Defense Dept., because it shouldn't, but those graphics you post seem to imply the federal government should be buying that **** for people. No, it shouldn't be doing THAT either.

 

[Catawba]

Remember during the presidential debates when Romney and Obama discussed the strategy of being equipped to fight two major land wars at once? That's based on a form of warfare that is completely obsolete. It was the way wars were fought in the 40s and 50s. After the Korean war, that form of military action has been useless compared to more precise and exacting strikes. That was the difference between Vietnam, which was a huge mess, and the Gulf War, which was quick and effective. The Gulf War was the first modern war for us, and then we regressed in Afghanistan and Iraq. There is no need to equip to fight land wars and extended conflicts, and there is no sane reason to keep engaging in them.

THIS is where we need to cut spending. Put those same people to work building schools, fixing roads, or doing something more useful.

That is exactly what will have to be done once people eventually decide we need to reduce the deficit.

 

[DDD]

Being a superpower isn't cheap. But perhaps you could outsource areas that you may need improving that you state you need such as education. Education today can be carried out online to other countries willing to work at same or better qualities then instructors in USA for half of what they get.

 

[gavinfielder]

That's interesting because the other day I looked at our trade deficit and calculated that we're losing money out of our economy at a rate of 1.5 billion dollars a day.

If the market is any semblance of stable, where on earth is our money coming from?

Oh, weapons. Hmm.

Well, that's disturbing.

In a way completely different than anyone else here is thinking, but it's still disturbing. How much of our economy depends on war, really?

 

[Excon]

I certainly hopes this strikes a chord like it does to me..

What do i think of when i see this? This is outrageous this is madness.
We have become a militarized state that is insane. This is damning to humanity.

I think of Eisenhower and his famous 'chance for peace' speech when i see statistics like this:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed...This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense."

Outrageous?
Naw it is great that we are the world's current superpower.

 

[Helix]

I agree that we should consider building things that aren't weapons. honor the commitments to vets, bring them home, design a much smaller peacetime force, and spend some of the money on things that make war less likely, such as domestic energy.

 

[Catawba]

Being a superpower isn't cheap. But perhaps you could outsource areas that you may need improving that you state you need such as education. Education today can be carried out online to other countries willing to work at same or better qualities then instructors in USA for half of what they get.

The small stipends that teachers get is not what caused our debt. How about if the rich want to wage wars of choice to further their riches, they pay for them for a change.

 

[Hicup]

I certainly hopes this strikes a chord like it does to me..

What do i think of when i see this? This is outrageous this is madness.
We have become a militarized state that is insane. This is damning to humanity.

I think of Eisenhower and his famous 'chance for peace' speech when i see statistics like this:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed...This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense."

Yeah but you forgot one category, how about the freedom it has bought you over the last 270 years? How much does that cost you, and was it worth it?


Tim-

 

[Catawba]

Yeah but you forgot one category, how about the freedom it has bought you over the last 270 years? How much does that cost you, and was it worth it?


Tim-

I never understand this kind of irrational fear. George Bush doubled military spending. Did you think the small band of outlaws from Saudi Arabia were going to enslave the US with our own planes?

 

[Diving Mullah]

I certainly hopes this strikes a chord like it does to me..

What do i think of when i see this? This is outrageous this is madness.
We have become a militarized state that is insane. This is damning to humanity.

I think of Eisenhower and his famous 'chance for peace' speech when i see statistics like this:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed...This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense."

That reminds me of a story...

When Alexander invaded Persia, he walked in the great halls of and walked in to this room full of treasures, he turned to his capture queen to be and said, "why are you hording all these coins and treasures instead of building great roads and even greater cities to expand all four corner of your country to bring even more gold and treasures and perhaps needing less standing armies, people will defend the king who is willing to share his wealth rather than bending their knees to a new conjurer"

The down fall of all great empire and civilizations have one thing in common, and that is mass militarization by impoverishing their people. From Persians to Romans, to Greeks, to English, Chinese and so on....

By contrast the countries that have done well and continue to do well tend to concentrate their energy and wealth on infrastructural.

Lessons that we do well to learn from

Diving Mullah

 

[KevinKohler]

All of the items on that list are made in the US by good, hardworking union folk. Support you unions, support military arms production!

 

[wolfman24]

Why is this a suprise we have been one of the worlds leading arms dealers since WWII

 

[Lutherf]

I certainly hopes this strikes a chord like it does to me..

Not being at the mercy of other nations for our national security....priceless!

 

[Catawba]

Not being at the mercy of other nations for our national security....priceless!

I never understand this kind of irrational fear. George Bush doubled military spending. Did you think the small band of outlaws from Saudi Arabia were going to enslave the US with our own planes?

...................

 

[Goshin]

Those who beat their swords into plowshares, will soon be plowing at the orders and for the enrichment of those who did not.


This has been understood for a long time...

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know." - R. Kipling, excerpt from "The Gods of the Copybook Headings".

 

[Lutherf]

...................

Military spending under Bush went up because we were actively engaged in 2 combat arenas. Personally, I believe that the important factor is that we were fighting those battles on someone else's ground instead of on our own and that's pretty damned important.

 

[Catawba]

Those who beat their swords into plowshares, will soon be plowing at the orders and for the enrichment of those who did not.


This has been understood for a long time...

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know." - R. Kipling, excerpt from "The Gods of the Copybook Headings".

No one suggested beating swords into plowshares, we are just talking about returning to a defensive military as specified in the Constitution. We do not need to spend as much as the rest of the world combined on the military to defend ourselves.

It is not possible to keep spending at the rate we do forever. It appears that some would prefer to make Bin Laden's prediction come true. He said the US would not be beaten on the battlefield, but by bankrupting itself in endless wars.

 

[Catawba]

Military spending under Bush went up because we were actively engaged in 2 combat arenas. Personally, I believe that the important factor is that we were fighting those battles on someone else's ground instead of on our own and that's pretty damned important.

Both wars of choice, as neither Afghanistan or Iraq was of any threat to the US.

 

[Lutherf]

Both wars of choice, as neither Afghanistan or Iraq was of any threat to the US.

It may have been a choice but it was a choice made by overwhelming majorities in both houses and by both principle parties.

 

[Catawba]

It may have been a choice but it was a choice made by overwhelming majorities in both houses and by both principle parties.

57 % of Congressional Democrats voted against AOF in Iraq vs 3% of the GOP.

 

[Empirica]

There is no doubt a great deal of waste and corruption in the defense budget which the average American has no idea how to separate from what is legitimate and necessary_

The only hope is for voters to begin electing honest politicians who put America first and by enacting strict laws that hold them accountable for waste and corruption_

The watchdogs should be a combination of citizen/government agencies and volunteers with near unlimited power to oversee not only defense but all federal spending and budget proposals_

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But first America must rid itself of the rogue government now in place attempting to destroy the US economy from within so that it might install its marxist utopian dream_