Grandpapy
Well-Known Member
On base Schools and Day Care.
I thought this was America?
- Thread starter DoubleAtotheRON
- Start date
Wattzzup
Well-Known Member
AND every other country that has a capable military doesn’t have that kind of budget. We spend all this money and couldn’t find bin laden. For years. We couldn’t win in Vietnam. We pulled out of Afghanistan. What exactly is this of the chart budget doing besides helping you sleep better?
The military has no problems importing goods. Shouldn’t the govt buy domestic?
So maybe those lights made in China arent so bad. Am I right?U.S. military comes to grips with over-reliance on Chinese imports
A Pentagon-led review ordered by President Donald Trump has identified hundreds of instances where the U.S. military depends on foreign countries, especially China, for critical materials, U.S. officials said.
PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
I've always thought there needed to be something done about it, but thought it should be a Worldwide decision. China isn't going green until like 2050.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
actually, note graph. My question was, what would you cut?AND every other country that has a capable military doesn’t have that kind of budget. We spend all this money and couldn’t find bin laden. For years. We couldn’t win in Vietnam. We pulled out of Afghanistan. What exactly is this of the chart budget doing besides helping you sleep better?
The military has no problems importing goods. Shouldn’t the govt buy domestic?
U.S. military comes to grips with over-reliance on Chinese imports
A Pentagon-led review ordered by President Donald Trump has identified hundreds of instances where the U.S. military depends on foreign countries, especially China, for critical materials, U.S. officials said.www.reuters.com
Wattzzup
Well-Known Member
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
neither. It is a fair measure.
Wattzzup
Well-Known Member
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
Rushing in so fast ?! The oil companies have known since the 70s at least that it would come to this but swept it all under the carpet like the tobacco companies. Death before lower margins is the way they've worked since.
Some sanity in the oil patch would have had the oil companies investing in renewable energy 50 years ago and by now they would have already slowed down CO2 emissions enough global warming wouldn't be an issue and they would be raking in even more profits selling green energy than they do from oil. Bonus: Everybody wouldn't hate them for what they've done to the planet.
That's America's answer to everything since Daddy Warbucks said, 'War is good for the economy.' then the US took that to heart and it's been war after useless war ever since. Over 50% of US GDP goes to the military with a pittance going to health care, education and infrastructure in comparison. Is it any wonder that now the country is full of illiterate bumpkins screaming about everything.
I read this story many years ago in Galaxy Magazine and though how apt it was. It's more pertinent today than it was then about how our consumerist society needs instant gratification which is a big part of what has led us to where we are.
The Marching Morons by CM Kornbluth.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
Gov’t waste has been horrible since money was invented. So I cannot know by which metric, other than sentiment, you are going. Are you trolling?
Wattzzup
Well-Known Member
Great point. Everyone wins except for the people actually fighting.
Yes
Anytime you have to take something simple and make it more complicated, like “who spends the most money” and then you have to change the parameters to come up with an answer to feel better, there’s usually a reason.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
It's a lot bigger than that. That's not even the full amount of US debt held by foreign counties with China holding around 1T.
Major foreign holders treasury securities U.S. 2024 | Statista
As of April 2024, Japan held United States treasury securities totaling about 1.15 trillion U.S.
www.statista.com
The US is way broker than the general public knows about but so is China as they've been lying about their GDP for years and it's purported to be only 40% of what they claim it is. Many experts believe China is on the brink of economic collapse.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
How is proportioning it to GDP unfair?Great point. Everyone wins except for the people actually fighting.
Yes
Anytime you have to take something simple and make it more complicated, like “who spends the most money” and then you have to change the parameters to come up with an answer to feel better, there’s usually a reason.
Simply saying “we spend the most in dollars” does not address the fact that our economy makes the most dollars.
Calling that a goalpost move might have more to do with the criterion you imposed.
I’m still looking for your reason to cut military spending that is more solid than you don’t like it.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
While you’re describing a real problem, I’m missing how it ties into the topic, which (unless I am mistaken) is US military spending per annum.It's a lot bigger than that. That's not even the full amount of US debt held by foreign counties with China holding around 1T.
Major foreign holders treasury securities U.S. 2024 | Statista
As of April 2024, Japan held United States treasury securities totaling about 1.15 trillion U.S.
The US is way broker than the general public knows about but so is China as they've been lying about their GDP for years and it's purported to be only 40% of what they claim it is. Many experts believe China is on the brink of economic collapse.
Wattzzup
Well-Known Member
My reason is that we waste too much money on shit that don’t matter. How about we take better care of the people coming back and maybe buying one or two less tanks. Maybe we use war as a last resort and don’t go imposing our “free will” on to countries that aren’t interested. Maybe we don’t use our citizens lives to make sure other countries aren’t getting bullied. Maybe we focus more on self defense and less on offense.
Just off the top of my head.
OldMedUser
Well-Known Member
China is the world leader in solar cell tech so it's time the US stole a little of that technology. Turn about is fair play is it not?
They've been working much harder to reduce pollution since the Beijing Olympics put that problem on the world stage.
Wattzzup
Well-Known Member
Did you see what was done with the tanks and equipment? We do that all time. So people that are freaked out by it, don’t realize that’s normal. It’s just how it’s done. So there’s another spot. Let’s not leave 7 billion in equipment behind.
First on CNN: US left behind $7 billion of military equipment in Afghanistan after 2021 withdrawal, Pentagon report says
Approximately $7 billion of military equipment the US transferred to the Afghan government over the course of 16 years was left behind in Afghanistan after the US completed its withdrawal from the country in August, according to a congressionally mandated report from the US Department of Defense...
amp.cnn.com
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
I agree with the sentiment. In practice, though, I also think peace is secured through strength.
The other place where I think I agree is that since Korea we have been in only one conflict that is, uhm, defensible. That was the first Gulf war, and we didn’t roll on toward Baghdad because that wasn’t the job. The other instance that maybe makes sense was our participating in the UN operation over what was Yugoslavia. But Vietnam, Iraq part 2, Afghanistan, those were bullshit that killed ours and theirs.
Wattzzup
Well-Known Member
Why is no one invading China? They show strength in espionage and the ability to produce cost effective goods for the world. If someone invaded China that would disrupt the entire worlds ability to get cost effective goods. (Like the military equipment they make for us)
And they aren’t spending what we’re spending. There’s more than one way to show strength
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
Lately they have been getting active militarily. Those folks play a long, long game and I wonder how their new hardware, which is way more than they need to checkmate Russia, figures into the plan.