I don't support the troops

[Syterion]

We don't need to spend so much on defense. People complain about spending in all areas, but we spend almost 45% of the world's defense spending. This is unnecessary, especially since these wars are NOT making America safer (or protecting our freedoms, or whatever you want to claim). Bring the troops home, cut defense by a third, and have all the money you want for Universal Healthcare (basic right), better education, and all the social programs that lead to equal opportunity.

Is this so hard?

People are going to say that this is a very broad topic and I am being too aggressive and general. But I am just looking at the big picture and just considering what is ethical, and what is right. And this is the right thing to do, and ultimately, that should be the be-all and end-all of these kinds of discussions, and the rest is just logistics.

 

[Phrossack]

We could be much, much, much more efficient with our military spending. The US military procurement system is an absolute nightmare. Typically, we spend tens of billions of dollars on a project, work on it for a decade or two, and then cancel it or reduce the number of purchases, which, due to the contracts, does not actually lower the cost. Russia, meanwhile, seems to be able to get decent hardware for far lower costs.

There's a joke that says NASA and Russia found that ballpoint pens don't work in space. NASA spent five years and $3,000,000 to develop a pen that can write in space, upside-down, and underwater. The Russians used a pencil.

 

[Perfection]

There's a joke that says NASA and Russia found that ballpoint pens don't work in space. NASA spent five years and $3,000,000 to develop a pen that can write in space, upside-down, and underwater. The Russians used a pencil.

Wrong

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

 

[Yui108]

Wrong

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

He said it was a joke...

 

[Cutlass]

Bring the troops home, cut defense by a third, and have all the money you want for Universal Healthcare

You do realize, hope, that waste fraud and abuse in the US healthcare sector currently is probably around twice the annual dollars spent on the defense budget? Cutting defense won't go very far towards helping health care or education.

 

[taper]

He said it was a joke...

Even if it wasn't, a pencil is a bad idea in space. You get little pieces of electrically conductive graphite floating all over.

Back to the OP, I think a strong military is vital in a successful country but we are over extended into places we don't need to be. By that I mean all the permanent foreign bases we have in other countries, not having 100k troops in countries for a few years that threaten us or our allies. Name one country with a long term stable economy that didn't have a strong military or protection from someone else.

If nothing else, it would be very interesting to see how other countries military spending would change if the US stopped being their 2nd(sometimes 1st!) line of defense.

Oh, and I disagree that universal healthcare is a basic human right, but that's another thread.

 

[taper]

You do realize, hope, that waste fraud and abuse in the US healthcare sector currently is probably around twice the annual dollars spent on the defense budget? Cutting defense won't go very far towards helping health care or education.

Good point, I didn't think about that. Some numbers:
2010 US military spending = $663 billion.(pdf)

2009 total US health care spending = $2.5 trillion

 

[ParkCungHee]

I wonder, that tidbit about how much of the worlds military budget we make up...has anyone done the math on how much of the world's healthcare budget we represent?

 

[Karalysia]

Obama's healthcare bill once its passed tomorrow will have created 1.2 trillion dollars in savings by 2020 and 138 billion over the next 10 years. So the military cut while it would be good, isn't really required.

 

[BasketCase]

People are going to say that this is a very broad topic and I am being too aggressive and general. But I am just looking at the big picture and just considering what is ethical, and what is right. And this is the right thing to do, and ultimately, that should be the be-all and end-all of these kinds of discussions, and the rest is just logistics.

Ignorance is bliss.

Obama campaigned heavily on bringing the troops home. Yet, once he WAS the President, he didn't do it. Why do you suppose that is....? I'll tell you. Knowledge. Once Obama became President and had all the U.S. government's information sources at his disposal, once he had an actual picture of how the whole world works, his viewpoint changed. As would yours. If you became President, you would repudiate the above faster than I can type "tolja so"--and I type fast.

The reason you can have your opinion in good conscience is because you have the pleasant luxury of not knowing what Obama knows. Fact is, bringing the troops home and chopping our defense spending is not a good idea.

 

[Cutlass]

Good point, I didn't think about that. Some numbers:
2010 US military spending = $663 billion.(pdf)

2009 total US health care spending = $2.5 trillion

Se, there's the trick: Reverse the OP. Adopt Universal Health Care and save enough money to fix education and increase military spending.

 

[BasketCase]

Wow. I am so glad Cutlass will never be President.

 

[Omega124]

Wow. I am so glad Cutlass will never be President.

Truer words have never been typed.

 

[Karalysia]

Cutlass if you run for President you have my vote.

 

[Cutlass]

Truer words have never been typed.

You don't want to have enough free money to double military spending and improve education?

 

[Perfection]

Let's not spend it on military though, hows about money for infrastructure, research, or just plain ol' tax cuts?

 

[Omega124]

You don't want to have enough free money to double military spending and improve education?

We wouldn't /have/ to improve education if it wasn't for the government. I don't need my Health Care nationalized, and, therefore, ruined.

 

[Karalysia]

We should privatize the military also.

 

[Cutlass]

We wouldn't /have/ to improve education if it wasn't for the government. I don't need my Health Care nationalized, and, therefore, ruined.

And yet nations with national health care have superior health care for as little as 1/2 the money as the US.

 

[Perfection]

And yet nations with national health care have superior health care for as little as 1/2 the money as the US.

As little 1/2?

Try maybe 1/6 or less for countries like Costa Rica.