Does the United States invest way too much money in the military?

Question

Sometimes I believe a lot of Americans' priorities are so screwed up it's impossible to change anything. I often wonder why we spend so much money on our military when so much of that money could be spent on finding cures for diseases, investing in productive enterprises in developing countries, research into clean sources of energy, providing people with adequate healthcare and education, etc. It seems that a lot of people in the US are stuck on this idea that terrorism is the only issue that matters and American pride is more important than the lives of millions of people around the world who are dying of disease and poverty. I am a proud American, yet I believe we are utilizing our resources in unwise, immoral ways. With all the money spent on the military, you'd think we could pay our soldiers better! Where is all this money going? Do we need to get our heads out of the sand and realize that our national security has been hurt by this war and that other issues exist?

Unfortunately idiots like Jeff are running rampant all over this country...people who unquestioningly support the Republican party bc they're simpletons who buy into all the garbage Dubya and his cronies have been spewing for the past 6 years. It's scary to think that there are so many clueless dip$hits running this country and millions more bozos willing to follow them off the deep end just to satisfy their hubris and disdain for anything that questions American policies around the world. When I think of all the money we've spent in Iraq (which has just strengthened terrorism globally) that could have been spent on other more pressing issues, it makes me sad and frustrated to no end. Sadly, there are a lot of ignorant dumba$$es who don't bother to think about anything aside from beating terrorists and think engaging in preemptive wars is moral and just and effective. Sad. So sad.

Answer 1

No ~ the US spends way too much money helping other, non grateful countries, just so they will like us....... which they never will. The military is at the bottom of the paycheck ladder, it's congress that makes too much money.

Answer 2

global military spending is now about a trillion dollars a year.
While hundreds of millions do not have the necessities of life.
The article went on to say that with that much money we could feed every hungry person in the world. Clothes for them and a decent house. Cure every disease and clean up the environment with the man power the military has at its disposal. Find alternative fuel and make the vehicles that it needs to run this fuel with the amount of machinery the military has. So is the money being well spent?
to quote a famous American Rodney King "can't we all just get along"

Answer 3

Some people just quote stuff and do not answer any questions. In my opinion NO! We do not spend enough money. When we build, tanks and cars,planes etc.. who is building them? American workers. Cut the budget and people lose their jobs. Cut the military budget and release people from the military and unemployment goes up. As we spend on the military the economy does better and keeps people working. After care for the Marines, soldiers and Navy personnel needs to be increased. Some give their life OR arms and legs the least we can do is help them live again. SEMPER FI!

Answer 4

I'd say "maybe" but my full answer may be a bit unnerving to you. This nation's military industrial complex has, as a habit, chugged away on full throttle, if not fighting wars others caused or, perhaps, then creating wars to keep "chugging"...this was what Eisenhower warned us about in his Jan. 1961 Farewell Address. I can personally attest that, as a former military intelligence agent, US Army (1969-71) I was informed of this nations "Contingency Plans" against Vietnam's Viet Cong in....1957!! (Whats up with that?). and space program hero Dr. Wehrner Von Braun, who was dying in 1977, predicted then that history would see us go after the "Russian bear", then terrorists, then "aliens", strongly implying if there wasn't a war to do these things....we'd invent one.Seems he was a bit clairvoyant so far.

Sad to say, that I wouldn't be surprised if the big 1960's political issue of the "missile gap" , with us on the short side against Russia, was likely fabricated for the same reasons as aforementioned. We've found out we were never way behind or not "defensed enough", even though back then "bomb shelter" mindset ran rampant through out America, undoubtedly fattening the coffers of the industrialists who'd profit from building them. The Vietnam War? I was told by a respected independent journalist that US sea forces, in 1964, were firing relentlessly on Vietnamese gunboats, maybe 12 times or more, in THEIR Gulf Of Tonkin, but it was only after they responded ONCE that all hell broke loose, America sent about 550,000 military forces there, and some 50,000+ died......sounds sadly like an extension of the previous parts of this posting. Think about it.

Answer 5

yes, you are rite, we should donate all of our money to the poor, and build beautiful homes for the poor and fill our contry with rainbows, however, we could run into a problem when everything we just created is crushed and we are all killed by North Korea, Russia, a Middle Eastern Country, or anyone else who decides that they want to take advantage of the most powerful country in the world because we dont have the strongest military in the world, which we need to have

also for anyone stupid enough to talk about the "tremendous" amount of deaths in Iraq, Please take the time to look at the three source articles, which show that only 3,613 soldeirs have died since 2003, hardly reaching the "millions" that someone else cited
while this is tragic, you have to take into account that 41,611 people die in car accidents, and 20,000 people die JUST FROM THE FLU each year
when look at in relation to those statistics how can anyone say there have been a lot of deaths in iraq, in five years, the death toll has not even reached one quarter of those killed by the flu annually

Answer 6

That's a very good question. They do spend too much money for the military. They do need to donate money as you said. I wonder why they didn't take the soldiers out. Millions of them are dying because of that stupid president we have!

Answer 7

Regardless what we spend, it isn't spent wisely. Don't forget, prior to 9/11 Rummy announced the Pentagon was missing $2.3 TRILLION dollars. $2.3 trillion — that's $8,000 for every man, woman and child in America. If they can't account for that much money...they're spending it like idiots.

Answer 8

Area 51 is one of the biggest waste of our military funds, and nobody even knows what the hell they are doing there anyway

Answer 9

I think the military need more money. We are not paying the Soldiers what they need.

Answer 10

Our soldiers are fighting terrorists that are armed alot better than they are, plus they have one objective not 9,999. The soldiers are getting p***** off because of our "leader" that isn't smart enough to write his own meaningless speeches refuses to let them come home. Do you recall him promising help after Katrina? Our own citizens didn't get the help HE promised because he was too busy wasting money in the middle east! Thanks to Bush this country is wide open for another 9-11. World War 3 is now in it's first stage thanks to him. Way to go almighty leader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!