You know what's wrong with America? The people.

Your OP makes the same mistake all you libs or socialists make, and that is that Conservatives are indeed for smaller government when it comes to all these social issues that are not mentioned in the Constitution. If you were to read the Constitution you will see that maintaining a strong military was the focus of our founders, and as such we Conservatives want to maintain that Constitutional legacy here in the 21st century. We see obama cutting our military funding and we see that as him being derelick of his duty to protect America. Other than maintaining a strong defense via our military, everything else the govt spends money on is simply over the top in my estimation.

 

Does the Constitution state the 'strong' military should be stationed in other countries?

 

No. I would say that the policies that keep us overseas is fueled by the realist perspective of international relations.

 

Wouldn't the production of these materials and weapons, as well as the deployment of personnel, lead to high levels of unemployment, while also increasing the national defense arsenal?

Think about it:

1) Someone must design and be the 'architect' for the new equipment, 2) Someone must develop the engineering and construction of it 3) Someone has to make, 4) Someone has to use it. That's a LOT of people being employed to create these materials. And no, they're not all Chinese.

This money is money well spent. Would you rather money be freely given to people to take care of their necessities? Seems a little anti-American.

 

That would presumably be the assisted defence of any country facing attack. Are there any countries where the US has a presence that would be facing attack due not to the US presence but to US foreign policy that has created the situation in the first place?

 

I love that it's called that.

 

I don't believe any opinion or idea from the UK these days is to be taken seriously or recognized as legitimate national or social policy standards.

Americans can't even recognize what the UK is anymore. It seems to be going the way of the dinosaur. I hope we don't end up like you guys. Pretentious, but without reason.

 

Superior in the world how exactly? Are we 'superior' because we have the strongest military? Then why did invading Iraq, a third rate military power at best, cost a billion a month and over 4,000 American dead?

And should we continue to support a platinum plated military industrial complex at the expense of the general welfare of our own citizens? This is not the American tradition, certainly not anything like what the Founding Fathers invisioned. Only after Work War II have we continued to maintain such an expensive military. We should consider the wisdom of our forefathers and cut military spending to the bone. We simply cannot afford it.

 

Isn't it sarcasm by a poster who know his country cannot even pay it's own bills while using the majority of taxpayer's money purportedly defending the interests of others at the expense of it's own?

 

Anyone remember Sliders?

I'm starting to believe it was based on real events.

 

No it doesn't and that's a good point. Even though we're living in a much broader worldwide scope with many more foreign threats to our safety and soverignty then did our founders, we do have too many of our troops stationed overseas and in too many differing venues. But I never have hesitated to approve of every single war that America has gotten itself into--including the one called Vietnam War that I served in as a front line soldier.

 

It's not so much how much it's spent. It's how it's spent. The military could do more, with less. But thanks to fraud and corruption we aren't likely to see much change any time soon.

 

I agree with the OP 100 percent. America is effectively a corporate-military state, and the UK is its little bum chum.

 

The American people right now are sending support to the Philippines. Communities, schools, and individuals are taking collections and contributing to help people in the Philippines. The American military is spending millions of your tax dollars helping the Philippine people.

Is this happening in China? In Russia?

Yeah, the American people are really a bunch of jerks.

 

Who cares what little commies think? Let us know when they contribute something other than death and despair to society.

 

You know what's wrong with America? The people. They are so arrogant and ignorant that when a foreigner points out an American fault they disagree with, they call them commies, all the while mind you, when they are the greatest debtor nation in the Universe and have borrowed Trillions from commies, not only to support themselves, but the massive military under discussion.

 

Only the 25% in the Tea Party, and a few other extremist groups. 75% are moderate, or better, in the progressive democrat party, where there is recognition that the rest of the world exists.

 

Nah actually the progressives are as desynchronized as they could be with the reality. 20 years after the end of the cold war, they still nudge and push America toward that failed path of USSR.

 

And a weak military is not going to really buy that stuff. We're essentially an empire, love it or lump it. We use our military to make sure that America is safe, and that other countries are roughly in line with our values, and thus open to our products and services. We can sell iPhones in China because of our military. We have access to cheap oil because of our military. Our ships sail pretty safe seas because the Navy protects the shipping lanes. If we cut the military down, those things change. Iran could block the shipping lanes and cut off our oil, pirates would disrupt world trade, other countries would be much more likely to block our exports. Read a history book. Empires use their military to protect their trades and secure cheap resources, which allows them to prosper. We need markets, resources, and safe shipping lanes.

 

Ah, and here we get down to the mentality of it. You believe anybody who criticises America must automatically be a communist because that's what you've been trained to think. They must be a communist or a terrorist because that's the only possible reason they could be criticising America. It can't possibly have anything to do with America being the planet's largest sponsor of genocide.

I am not a communist, so please spare me your outright stupid false dichotomy. Thanks.

 

You know it doesn't do you any favours to attack a ridiculous statement with your own ridiculous statement.

 

You are a communist, hypocrite. You choose to criticize Americans and lump them all into one batch, and I do in kind to your idiocy.

DIAF.

 

What is wrong with America is liberals.

 

You are sympatico with Quantumhead, which means you are worthless to Americans like me who have asked for none of this idioti debt, nor to the massive military state which we have become, and continue to be supported by charlatans like Obama, for whom you likely voted.

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Amen to that.

 

Do you think your point in any way challenges mine?