• Why do we (US) spend so much money on our military?
    252 replies, posted
We do it to make you mad. But on a more serious note, the US has a humongous GDP. Though we spend 5 times more money on our military than the next top 5 countries combined, we still only spend about 5-10% of our GDP on defense. Which is about the same percentage that most other countries spend on their defense budget. The difference is that we have a shitload of money so that 10% ends up being a lot more.
[QUOTE=Root Beer;18178931]Where do you think fruits/veggies/livestock is made, the supermarket? Are you questioning the importance of agriculture?[/QUOTE] yeah dude totally i totally think that shit is made in the supermarket hello i'm root beer i believe i'm much more intelligent
Reason 1: Protection. Not so much for ourselves (although that is a reason), I believe, but everyone else. The US is a major military ally of conflict-prone countries and regions such as Isreal, Pakistan and Eastern Europe. The US military is a bodyguard, of sorts; no one is going to want to invade a country that can call on a lot of friends in a short notice. In this way, the US military acts as a deterrent against conflict, preserving the peace in many unstable areas. Reason 2: Economy. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, the US was (obviously) in a huge arms race, and did have one of the largest armies in the world to protect itself and foreign interests. When the Soviet Union collapsed, there wasn't much of a need for huge armies, but suddenly firing thousands of soldiers would severely detract from the military's effectiveness, cause a huge spike in unemployment and possibly turn people off from joining the military in the first place. If you've noticed, the US has slowly been reducing the size of its military since the end of the Cold War, putting more focus on small, quick, highly trained detachments. Reason 3: A lot of people don't like the US. A large army acts as a successful deterrent against any action that hurts the US or its overseas interests.
[QUOTE=SigmaLambda;18178315]lol yes we must have a strong military, otherwise we'd be invaded by: the canadians? the mexicans??? [editline]08:43PM[/editline] except rain rain causes it's skin to peel off[/QUOTE] Mexicans already invaded bro. i got Hotcakes from a mexican guy that works at mcdonalds. got the flu for 3 days. Chemical Warfare.
To combat the Red's
[QUOTE=KaIibos;18178424]way to pull a false figure out of your ass [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.png[/img] also $188 billion that goes towards the war on terrorism that isn't included on that chart[/QUOTE] Looks like we spend more money on old people and the sick poor than we do the military.
[QUOTE=KillerKane;18178286]Why did no one invade us after the Revolutionary War, we were big pussies between then and 1812, anyone could have taken us down, except the navy. As for budget we only spent 354 billion in 2006. [url]http://polecolaw.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/08/1212663-how-much-does-welfare-cost[/url] We have spent a trillion on the military now. [url]http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1941[/url][/QUOTE] We just defeated the worlds biggest military might. That's why.
Because a presence keeps people from fucking with you.
[QUOTE=Wakka V2;18178231]The meat-heads join the military.[/QUOTE] :what:
Wakka is the most wierdo ass republican ever.
[QUOTE=TH89;18178364]That's not very nice, or true.[/QUOTE] Agreed. See: Big Dumb American.
Simple: It enables us to coerce everyone else into handing over the resources required to maintain our way of life.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18180369]Simple: It enables us to coerce everyone else into handing over the resources required to maintain our way of life.[/QUOTE] It's pretty fucking boss.
[QUOTE=thisispain;18180378]It's pretty fucking boss.[/QUOTE] Yeah, except that's basically what the British did to us, and we all remember how that turned out. Nobody likes being exploited by some king in a faraway land. And people wonder why terrorism against us is running rampant.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18180403]Yeah, except that's basically what the British did to us, and we all remember how that turned out. Nobody likes being exploited by some king in a faraway land. And people wonder why terrorism against us is running rampant.[/QUOTE] That's why you should be that faraway land. Then fucking split when the colonies revolt. As soon as the Panama canal is lost I'm fucking over to China.
Soon Martial Law will be in all states of The United States of America.
[QUOTE=tomatmann;18180426]Soon Martial Law will be in all states of The United States of America.[/QUOTE] Except in California. They'd get high and then get shot by gang-bangers randomly firing into buildings.
Because all your presidents are overcompensating for something :ninja:
Considering Obama's black, that's bullshit.
:smug:
[QUOTE=thisispain;18180425]That's why you should be that faraway land. Then fucking split when the colonies revolt. As soon as the Panama canal is lost I'm fucking over to China.[/QUOTE] The Panama Canal was lost back in the Carter years when we voluntarily turned it over by signing the Canal Treaty. Then Reagan came along, and we had the CIA assassinate their president. Then Bush SR. came along and launched a bombing raid and invasion so we could imprison Noriega and stick our own puppet government in place. So, we don't technically own the Canal, but we sorta still do. And if they rock the boat, well, we'll kill them too.
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;18180403]Yeah, except that's basically what the British did to us, and we all remember how that turned out. Nobody likes being exploited by some king in a faraway land. And people wonder why terrorism against us is running rampant.[/QUOTE] Yeah except we wont stand out in a field and get raped. We will bomb the fuck out of em.
[QUOTE=Higginz511;18180665]Yeah except we wont stand out in a field and get raped. We will bomb the fuck out of em.[/QUOTE] Yeah, because eight years of bombing totally won the war in Afghanistan.
To fight terrorismists. :jihad:
[QUOTE=Linelor;18178512]In a nutshell, the US spends so much on the military because, kinda like Israel, everyone fucking hates us. If we didn't have, hands down, the most powerful military on the planet with the best technology money can buy then Russia or China or someone else would just walk all over us. That and Europe, Israel, South Korea, and Taiwan just to name a few, would be completely fucked.[/QUOTE] I dunno, don't most countries hate us because of our intrusive military presence?
That is one reason, another is that we take advantage of things they don't have.
[QUOTE=Cheesemonkey;18178200]Collateral. A bomb shuts someone up but then makes twenty more cry. And it's because we're a superpower that's under threat by plenty of countries. If we had a pussy military we would be invaded fairly quickly.[/QUOTE] protip: people who hate you don't even have an organized military. [editline]08:57AM[/editline] [QUOTE=Cheesemonkey;18178310]f22>everything[/QUOTE] Rain>F22 [editline]08:58AM[/editline] [QUOTE=SigmaLambda;18178315]lol yes we must have a strong military, otherwise we'd be invaded by: the canadians? the mexicans??? [/QUOTE] NO the aliens from krypton [editline]09:00AM[/editline] [QUOTE=scout1;18178383]No, we're not even close to the level of the soviet union's overspending. They were spending about 20% of their GDP on defense, while we are currently spending a little under 6%. Of course that's not accounting for the corruption and social unrest of the soviet union during its final years.[/QUOTE] uhhh [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.png[/img] [editline]09:00AM[/editline] [QUOTE=Mr Affinity;18178387]Because we do, suck it up and get over it. Don't like it leave and goto cuba.[/QUOTE] Thomas Jefferson hated people like you [editline]09:01AM[/editline] [QUOTE=KaIibos;18178424]way to pull a false figure out of your ass [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.png[/img] also $188 billion that goes towards the war on terrorism that isn't included on that chart[/QUOTE] iknaingiangingagn fuck you
Thread title: Because Amerika are Capitalists.
[QUOTE=Trotsky;18181058]uhhh [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2007.png[/img][/QUOTE] We've been over this Federal spending is not the same thing as GDP
ex-military people usually do better for society than locked-up depraved creeps that grow up to be drug-addicts, murderers, psycopaths or ever worse: furries. also, do you know how much beneficial technolodgy comes out of the nation's arms/warfare races? in fact, you are using one right now, the internet, and plenty more good things like exosuits, UAV's and robotsare sure to come.
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