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U.s. Military Bases Economic Benefits Essay

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Despite the numerous amounts of struggles Okinawa has to face with the presence of U.S. military bases, there are some benefits for Okinawa. First of all, the U.S. military bases bring economic benefits to Okinawa. After large portions of Okinawa 's land was taken by the U.S. military, the agricultural industry in Okinawa, which was the main industry in Okinawa, suffered catastrophically. In response, the U.S. military increased the pay for the local workers they hire and urged the Okinawans in the agricultural industries to come work for the U.S. military. Approximately 70,000 local workers were hired by the U.S. military at most in the 1960s. In 2014, the U.S. military base employs about 8,600 people from Okinawa and is considered as the second largest employer in Okinawa, which is right below the Okinawan Prefectural government. (The United States Marine Corps) The population of Okinawa in 2014 was approximately 1,400,000, excluding the U.S. service men and their family members. (Okinawa Prefecture Planning Department Statistics Division) Though the number of Okinawan workers hired to work in the military has decreased to less than one percent of the population, there are several benefits for the workers. For example, the economic fluctuation does not have a large impact on their job because as long as the military bases are present, the demand for workers will not disappear. Some of the work contents for Okinawans hired to work on base are selling resources

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