The Pros And Cons Of Military Spending

The military has been instrumental in the protection and development of U.S interests around the world. From the Revolutionary War, which established the United States as a nation, through the World Wars, which set up the U.S as one of the world super powers, to its current war on terror, the military has helped and protected U.S. interests around the world. During all these wars American soldiers have proudly served their country. Because of these wars America is famous throughout the world for military power and its protection of freedom in the world. Today the U.S is an international symbol of wealth and power; it has the largest Gross Domestic Product in the world as well as the strongest military. Yet even America falls prey to a

The first reason that military spending should be cut down on is that it takes away the focus from other incredibly important areas. One of the many areas that loose focus because of the large amount of military spending is the education sector. Primary education should be one of the main concerns of our government. Not only because it is where we teach our children about the world, but also it gives them the chance for a better future. They do not learn this from the military. The main reason that education is a better investment is because in the long run education helps the economy grow, since it creates a more skillful labor force. The amount of spending that goes into the military takes away from the potential of a long-term benefit to our

With the numbers totaled the defense budget is currently sitting at a solid 3.5 percent of our GDP and there are still questions on how much more we can put in to make this country safe. The White House is calling for more money to be spent on national defense and their economists say that the United States can withstand a gross spending of somewhere around 9 to 10 percent of our GDP. The money to pay for any

During the 1950’s we see an economic boom in America. A large amount of this growth has to do with the money made by Corporations with Military Contracts making goods and supplies for the United States Military. With the Cold War beginning the push for new invention in aviation, rocket propulsion, energy, and even automobiles was at the forefront of national defense. Industrial giants like Boeing, General Dynamics, and Raytheon received 60% if their income from the Defense Department. Ten percent of the domestic (GDP) was from military spending. With fears of falling behind the Soviet Union, gaining any edge in innovation was important. The government even funneled millions of dollars into American Universities for scholarships and research

“The United States spent $598.5 billion dollars alone on the military in 2015. That is 54% of all spending in 2015. The US only spent $70 billion (6%) on education and $13.1 billion (1%) on food and agriculture.” (“Military Spending”). This shows what Americans really value.

In the past America has been a dominant superpower in the field of military strength, but for the last few decades, our military has encountered abounding liquidations and sequestrations, which lead to huge budget cuts. Nevertheless, America has faced many politicians planning to cut down on our military by virtue of it is simply cost effective. The Clinton Foundation has been cutting our military for countless years. Also, under the Obama Administration has been enacting laws comparable to the Budget Control Act or (BCA) which has been siphoning our military for the past 8 years. For countless years, defense officials remain silent due to the Obama Administration, vaguely America could keep its budget under control. Consequently, all four

The United States is a militaristic country because of the military budget, the military’s expansion into civilian areas, and military culture. The large and increasing budget of the military is an example of U.S. militarism. According to National Priorities

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was very conservative. Over his time of Presidency, he grew concern over the growing size and cost of the American Military, he addressed these concerns just days before his presidency ended. “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influences, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex” (Eisenhower). The first thing that he feared was simply the amount of money that was being poured into the Military. You can look at the chart below, after WWII we spent a large amount of money that we had never spent before during peace time. One thing that made military manufacturing different this time was the advanced technology. Ford could build car or tanks

In a 2015 article, “Is U.S. military becoming outdated?” written by Stuart Bradin, Keenan Yoho, and Meaghan Keeler-Pettigrew, the authors argued that despite the U.S. military maintaining a position of global dominance “without peer” during conventional operations, it is not the ideal force against current and future threats. The authors claim that there are several negative factors arising due to the past sixteen years of war against several state and non-state elements, inferior cultural differences of government bureaucracy compared to commercial firms, and a misallocation of defense spending that leaves the US military waging war inefficiently while simultaneously losing technological dominance against current and future threats.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down and that will help lower the defense spending by almost $1 trillion over the next decade. The congress is realizing that they need to do some restructuring and have already begun rearranging the military budget in response to austerity. Congress conjured up a $630 billion defense appropriations bill that made plans to reduce civilian and contractor personnel by 5 percent over the next five years and in return ramp up advanced weapons programs, including drones, bombers and missiles says The Washington Post. The American Conservative

The arms race was a large portion of the Cold War and was characterized by the military build up in both the Soviet Union and in the United States. The United States military placed a tremendous amount of funds into elevating our weapons capabilities. In fact, “over the entire period 1948-86, real military purchases cumulated to a total of $6,316 billion, averaging about $162 billion per year ( "U.S. Military Spending In The Cold War Era: Opportunity Costs, Foreign Crises, and Domestic Constraints." U.S. Military Spending In The Cold War Era: Opportunity Costs, Foreign Crises, and Domestic Constraints. Web. 3 June 2015.).” The increase in government and militant spending within the United States was done to prepare for the possibility of war with the Soviet Union. Ultimately, many of the manufactured weapons were unnecessary

In 2013, The United States spent over $737 billion on its military, at a time where the country is in an economic crisis. The United States spends more money on the military then most of the world combined, it’s no secret that the U.S is known as the world’s police. What are the consequences that will come with this, the American citizens are already feeling the effects of modern imperialism. In order to maintain the world police status, the United Sates continues to make cuts toward the infrastructure and the economy. American roadways, schools, social services, emergency services and the environment are

I am going to present you with the topic of military spending and you can decide for yourself which side you are on. First, the arguments “for” military spending are, its used for important military matters, it allocates a certain amount for emergency and supplemental spending, it is useful in deterring foreign threats, it makes military preparation efficient, it supports peace keeping in foreign regions, it prevents recruitment and retention issues, it can keep defense factories operational and it is spent to ensue national security. Next, the arguments “against” military spending are, its share to global military spending is already too big, it is used to fund unrealistic wars, it may support the contradicting view about readiness that may not reflect reality accurately, it is not balanced with foreign aid and diplomacy, and it might be used irresponsibly.

     The United States’ enormous economy enables it to fund the most powerful armed forces in the world. The nation’s annual military spending averages at $369 billions as of 2002 on just national defenses (Greenberg 546). How many countries in the world today, can afford to fund this type of military spending yearly? The answer is none. The US currently owned the most highly technological advanced weapons in the world, capable of almost anything and can target any country with a press of a button. Although most country already acquired this type of technology, the US’s is still the more dominating and with the most abundant in warheads. More importantly, The United States