General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Military ruined this country [View all]earthside
(6,960 posts)We hear it constantly ... if you don't think this is part of the military-industrial-lobbyist propaganda effort, then you are sadly mistaken. All part of instilling the notion that to oppose military spending and general submission to the military is tantamount to ingratitude to all those who 'served' ... no matter what they did (eg. the huge military paper-pushing bureaucracy), or who they killed or maimed (eg. nerds in control rooms in Nevada dropping drone bombs on 'collateral damage' half a world away).
Special programs to find jobs for 'veterans' while those with no military 'service' are not accorded the same level of concern. Then there are career military retirees who draw a pension at 55 years old, then go to work for a 'defense' contractor and make thousands and thousands of dollars more each month courtesy of the gullible 'patriotic' middle class taxpayer.
We have created a special class of citizen in this country -- the military participant, who is praised and lauded for their personal choice, is/was paid by the rest of the taxpayers and who, if some are to be heeded, ought to be given more credence and deference on all issues (especially by the Repuglicans and veterans organizations who, I think if they could get their way, would give military personnel two votes each at election time).
It is the simple truth that we spend a trillion dollars a year on the military and military related agencies ... more if you start adding in spending for 'homeland' security. And it is also true that we could very adequately defend the United States, that is the fifty states, for less than half of what we are presently spending on what is in effect our imperial military.
I'm all for going over the 'fiscal cliff' if for the first time it actually means real cuts in the bloated military spending we have witnessed especially since 2001. There is plenty of money for all the needs of genuinely needy veterans of Bush's and Obama's stupid wars in Afghanistan and Iraq if we would just close about half of the imperial outposts (bases) that the country operates overseas -- it is just a matter of priorities (one reason why I do not give anything to 'charitable' veterans organizations).
The OP is more correct than they know, in my opinion -- the military has ruined this country and it will wreck this country once and for all if it isn't reined-in and we get to a much more reasonable and critical attitude towards the military and those who chose to join it.