What would happen if the US became a pacifist nation?

Question

Everybody needs to realize that the military is not what makes this country great. The military is there to preserve what makes this country great. That is why it's called the Department of DEFENSE. I never said anything about dismantling the military. Speak softly, but carry a big stick. We just need to be smarter about how we use it. We need to become the shining example of liberty and freedom once again that everybody wants to emulate. We cannot shove it down anyones throat. They have to want it themselves enough to obtain it without us doing it to them. Terrorists cannot take away our freedoms if we don't let them. We don't let them by NOT living in fear and changing our way of life. I for one choose not to live in fear.

Answer 1

Simply put, absolutely nothing. The fact that we have so many nukes, combined with the fact that we would be re-directing billions of dollars a year into the economy (and hopefully schooling) would help to boost us up as THE economic power again. Not to mention the military would be better off because of the amount of training the average soldier would recieve before they actually went into conflict (if anybody dared to actually make conflict here).

The US would be way better off. Our social programs would be better too.

Answer 2

Great question!

I have long thought about this, and I don't think the consequences would be as dire as most predict. Think about this scenario:

Remember our disastrous intervention in Somalia, when the bad guy warlords were stealing all of the food aid and giving it out to their supporters, and the combination of drought, famine, and war caused unspeakable suffering? Okay, what if, instead of the whole "Blackhawk Down" evolution, we has instead launched Operatin Manna?

B-52 squadrons would have been assembled immediately, specially retrofitted, and flown over Somalia at 39,000 feet; carpet bombing the entire place with Pita bread. Terminal velocity on a pita can't be more than 22mph, if that, so nobody would be injured. They have a drought, so it wouldn't spoil immediately, and it would be all over the countryside, so nobody could monopolize it.

Meanwhile, two nuclear aircraft carrier battle groups would be dispatched to the South Pole to hitch up to the largest Icebergs they could tow, and haul them up off the Somali coast. The Air Force blasts out some reservoirs, and the Seabees pump the fresh water onshore to fill them up.

It would probably actually cost less than what we use them to do today, and would solve, rather than create problems.

Answer 3

We'd be like the Swiss....no wars in 400 years, and no invasions either. We'd have Universal Military Service and Universal Health INSURANCE. Our physical and social infastructure would be first class. We'd have the money to protect our environment and we wouldn't have a massive national debt hanging over our heads. What's not to like?

Answer 4

Some other country would be THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. I don't see other counties having the problem of having MILLIONS of people trying to immigrate into it. If this country is so wrong why is this happening?

Answer 5

It depends on how far we took that.

If we still defended ourselves and our borders from attack, but never went on the offensive, I think it would have little effect in the short term, and a strong benefit in the mid-term (10~30 years).

If we went fanatical and dismantled our military entirely, I think we'd run into problems -- mainly from pirates attacking our ships and hostile govts attacking our embassies.

Answer 6

Well, if we where during world war 1, Germany would be in control in Europe, and probably working there way to us by now, and thy would control us through the economy. If we became one now, who knows what could happen, could be we just watch the world fall apart, or ourselves fall apart. But someone would step into our shoes. China would be unchecked, and who knows what Russia would do.

Answer 7

At this point, it would encourage militant Wahabists, who would take it as a sign of weakness.

It would be almost as bad as overextending our military resources worldwide.

Answer 8

We would ether be killed or ruled be some other country and then get killed off slowly.

Answer 9

anybody can tell me about the future? wow.
i don't know anybody who could predict the future.
until there is someone who can.... i think we should stop this what if what if nonsense

Answer 10

They would rename it. but France has already been taken.