People will point out that US health does get a decent chunk of money, though they'll leave out that it goes to others (insurance profit) so the care part doesn't actually get that value. Like how US spends more just in tax per-capita than many countries with universal care spend total, but we get significantly less for it.
So really it should mirror the war table but with a fat CEO or two smoking a cigar, with the emaciated doctor excluded from the table.
Metal Gear solid is what really opened my eyes to a global economy being supported by war. I know war and conflict is to an extent, part of being human. But it's been monetized and it's become too big to fail.
The military industrial complex has become too big to fail, because it is jobs provider for many places that don't have much resources. It's not a coincidence that many defense contractors are headquartered in peripheral regions like the American South West desert and Scotland. These places don't have much to offer in terms of resources so they became dependent on the industry. Either that, or they become tax haven like other small entities like Ireland, Luxembourg and Seychelles.
I'm not trying to justify the existence of MICs by the way, I'm explaining why the industry became intertwined. Although, I believe there is just war if a country is either provoked or to stop atrocities, such as the NATO intervention in Yugslav wars and supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
And there are no "sides", every one loses, even and especially the ones who think they win money, power or land will lose in the end. When will they finally get it that we all live on this insignificant pebble in dark cold space and we have to grow up instead of fighting like spoiled toddlers in a sandbox.
This cartoon is from 70 years ago. 80 years ago was 1943 which was in the middle of World War 2. At that point, war getting a sizable chunk of the GDP was perhaps more understandable. So the caption on the cartoon actually undersells it.
It still made a lot of sense, since you know it was made during the height of the cold ware before ICBMs/mutually assured destruction was a thing, so a ground conflict didn't seem unreal
That's because the people who are in charge haven't changed much. Sure, their names have changed, but they're largely the same type of person who do the same types of things.
This is longer true. Social security, Medicare, and medicaid are all less than 80 years old and make up more of the federal budget than defense spending.
These are the top 5 budget item according to the us treasury for 2022.
Social security 23%
Heath 15%
National defense 13%
Medicare 13%
Income security 13%
“Veterans benefits and services” is another category which I guess could be considered war spending or healthcare.
Social security is paying back what people have put into it, nobody alive today is collecting from it without having paid in to it their entire working life. It seems misleading to call this an expenditure in the sense that military spending is.
There is also a distinct difference between healthcare spending and healthcare being received. The US spends a lot on “healthcare” that is actually insane insurance profiteering or useless administrative costs. There’s a reason the US has the highest expenditure per person in the world, but the worst health outcomes among any industrialized nation (and worse than some developing nations if you’re a minority).
Well kinda depends on the country. Switzerland spends 2 bilion for the military but 8 bilion for education and 35 bilion for health care. I am sure, the balance looks pretty similar or even more extrem in the northic european country
Every time there's a war somewhere, i get reminded that "humanize" are a lot like chimps.
They are so clever, nice to each other, only until things goes to sh*t unexpectedly. That's when hell explodes, everything is "allowed" Faces get ripped off, fingers bitten off ect.
I still don't get why humans need wars are each period of peace. As if having too much good things got boring .
More about greed. Under the current system if everyone got along they would be poor for some reason(in comparison to the investment of war for development). And the system is such that having a war creates more income. So it’s not even about being angry at each other for xyz reason(religion is the easiest hot button) it’s that we’re all puppets for some very corrupt accountants.
This is why I think it’s important how those in media spotlight should always be held accountable for lying or even spinning stories (creating widespread panic)
Seats at the table should be balanced so the ‘fighting’ happens in congress and goes no further. not on the ground. No more of this bipartisan bullshit.
And holding the ethical committees to the same punishment they pass down to the most impoverished person. A Supreme Court judge fucks up or take a bribe: prison time with gen pop. Or be treated as a traitor cuz really they should know better than everyone given their position.
I’d say let’s rewrite this system but I know that would be asking too much.
You still need science to make the war machine go brrrrrrrrrr or someone else will out-war you. I don't support wat but it does seem that some of humanity's biggest tech breakthroughs have been dude effects of wanting to blow each other up better than the other guys
Anyone who thinks AI will replace or diminish tech workers and especially IT/sysadmins is a fool... it's like saying computers will replace scientists, or calculators will replace theoretical/applied mathematicians...
The original is a soviet cold war era mockery of the USA from 1953. It's name is “In America” and it's a piece by Yuliy Ganf, an Ukrainian caricaturist for the Krokodil satirical magazine, mocking capitalism. The original carried the caption “This restaurant serves only one person…” and all the text was, logically, originally in Russian. Also notice the detail, the emblem of one of the waiters is a Nazi swastika.
I'm talking about relative amount. Quarter of budget is secret, so we don't know where it goes, third of public budget goes to "security"(police, FSB, military, jails). Education is 3%, healthcare is 2%. Science probably is zero point something.
I don't know anymore if this is true, sure politicians give all the money to war, but war feeds down into science, healthcare, education and more.
Now this may be a statement of a fool who is just too young or too disillusioned to really see war for what it is, violence in the name of something or someone, but it's really not that simple.
Everything is complex and can't be boiled down to a simple comic.
The problem with putting money into war and hoping science gets done is just that, hope.
The if you want a better chance at having science and technology available to the general population, you should fund it directly.
If the military does happen to come up with something new, they tend not to use it until it is absolutely necessary. No sense in giving away the fact you have a secret weapon before the battle you plan to use it. There are a few cases where US soldiers were not given the best equipment available and died because the military wanted to keep new weapons a secret. No judgement on my part, war is hard and I am not a military strategist.
Finally, the military research is mostly throwing money at the wall to see what sticks. There is a history of the scientists suggesting that a project wouldn't work by a large margin and these projects still get funded anyway. A big waist of money.
I'm not saying don't fund the military. I'm saying, if you want science done, fund the scientists. If you want military fund the military.
You sure about that, the microwave oven, the Internet, GPS, airplanes, TOR, Digital Cameras, Duct Tape, most if not all Space Programs, weather radar, Nuclear energy, ambulances, safety razors, canned food, Siri, and much more.
All these things and more come from military science funding, sure military science funding may be wasted, put into useless things but that's the point of science to throw things at a wall and see what happens not all science funding is worth it.
By not acknowledging that military science funding has changed civilian life is basically saying all science is a waste.
Russia is just that now, I can tell. War spending and security services spending first, with a large margin of that compensating existing corruption, everything else is either populistic balloons or can fuck a knife. I don't think US has it as relatable as we do.
I totally agree, as a US citizen. It's bullshit that we dominate the zeigthiedt of the world in general, but shit is fucked here. I really think we're reaching a turning point of some sort. And I think we're bazaarly influential on the rest of the earth. We suck. I feel sucky. A lot of us feel sucky. IDK. I'm honestly sorry for sucking so fucking hard.
None of these countries wanted to mess with us when we had a president who actually knows where he is, doesn't wonder off and doesn't shake invisible peoples hands. The US looks weak with biden in he can't complete sentences and the white house has to fact check him saying what he said wasn't true