A Great Waste of our Money

The U.S. Military Budget for Fiscal Year 2022 was $765 billion. This is about half of the whole Federal Budget for non-mandatory and non-interest expenses. And the U.S. Government is planning to spend over 500 billion dollars over the next 10 years on 'modernizing' nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems, in order to keep up with all the latest new technology.

This is a Huge Amount of Money to spend on Weapons that would kill millions of people and destroy the planet's ecosystems.

Instead of Wasting our Public Money on potentially destroying the world, we could
be using this money for Real Needs.

If we Cut Back on the huge military Budget,
then we can re-invest in the needs
of our society and the environment.

Let's Spend our tax money on Real Needs
rather than on weapons and military

Instead of wasting our money on a super-expensive Military and improving our Weapons of Mass-destruction – we could be using these tax dollars for socially and environmentally beneficial projects.

For example, we could make sure that all people have enough food, clean water, adequate shelter, needed healthcare and a high-quality education, along with assurances of elderly care and childcare, and also provide job training and community employment if needed, and provide low-interest loans to socially and environmentally beneficial businesses. And we can also make sure that all laid-off military personnel are assisted with further education and training to acquire new jobs in the private or public sector.

We could use this money for investing in commonly needed public services and improving our national infrastructure for commerce and transportation, as well as helping local economies transition towards using low-carbon green energies, in order to avoid upheavals and disasters of an increasing climate-change.

Wasted Opportunity Costs

An 'opportunity cost' is the lost benefit from using a limited amount of capital on one particular investment rather than an alternative investment. That is, by using one's capital on option 'A', one has 'lost an opportunity' to use this same amount of money on option 'B' and thus have lost the potential benefits of option 'B'. This opportunity cost is not normally counted in the costs of option 'A', though it can be regarded as hidden in that choice of how to spend a limited amount of available capital, because one has not used that money for the benefits of alternative 'B'.

Alternative Uses

The expense of weapons and military is so huge that it boggles the mind. Globally, over the next 10 years, governments of nine nations will invest more than $1 trillion into the modernization, development, and maintenance of nuclear weapons.

Just think of the many alternative uses to which this money could be better spent? And when we consider the better alternative uses of this money, we can see that – investing in stronger militaries and nuclear weapons is a Huge Waste of money and it is a Huge opportunity cost, because instead this vast global capital could be used to bring real-security into the world, by spending money on solving global human needs and protecting our planetary environment and climate.

Instead of using 1,000 billion dollars on improving armed militaries and nuclear weapons, this money could be used for improving global healthcare, environmental cleanup, eco-restoration, recreation areas, education, skills-training, and small business loans.

About half of all the money spent in the world on military and weapon expenses is spent by the U.S. government and American taxpayers. But instead, we could use this same money for investing in public services and common social needs, as well as helping our economy transition towards using low-carbon energies and fuels in order to avoid the inevitable disasters and upheavals of an increasing climate-change.

So as a nation, we could re-direct government/public funds into better aims than the development of more and better nuclear weapons, better aims that have greater benefit to us people and towards improving our natural environment; such as, solving climate change and pollution with a stronger taxation, solving global conflicts through peace negotiations rather than with military threats.

We could use this money on –

• improved healthcare and health protections
• no-interest college loans and free job skills training
• improved public education and free childcare
• urban improvements and small business loans
• loans and subsidies for clean energy production
• national infrastructure of energy, communication, and transportation
• environmental cleanup and eco-restoration
• creating more recreation areas and wildlife areas

Deep Cuts needed in the Military Budget

If the current military budget were Cut in Half, gradually 10% per year over the next 5 years, then we can use these freed up dollars for Real National Needs, such as transportation and internet infrastructure, healthcare for everyone, free childcare for working families, free education, debt-free college, a transition to clean energy and a solving of climate change.

Here are some Big Steps (and Big Changes in Defense Policy) towards cutting wasteful Military Expenses and greatly reducing the overall Military Budget –

1. No more looking for war, and certainly no more 'endless wars' such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

2. Stop the expensive and unnecessary plans for modernizing nuclear weapons and missiles, and instead internationally negotiate an immediate reduction and gradual elimination of all Nuclear Weapons in the world.

3. Close most Overseas Bases, and help employ those personnel in private or public jobs. Read... Basic Facts about Overseas Bases

4. Stop letting the Military and Weapons Contractors influence government decisions or expect government favors from their campaign contributions.

Then, we can use this freed-up Money to create Real National Security and World Peace.

True security can never come without good jobs, clean energy, accessible health care and education. True international peace cannot come without international cooperation, fair trade, and world peace agreements. Moreover, true global security – physical, emotional and mental security – is reduced by the existence of nuclear and other mass-destructive weapons and by nuclear threats to other nations, and even by the doctrine of 'deterrence' – 'keeping our country safe from nuclear attack by threatening to destroy the attacker with an even larger attack'.

Time to change our National Priorities

It's time to move our Public Money, from unnecessary military and weapons companies into importantly needed public services and to help all Americans have a better life, and especially important right now is to move our Public Money into global climate solutions, in order to avoid going off the cliff into full climate and ecological disaster.

Read... Steps for Reducing Military Spending

A New Defense Policy

Minimize ► the Military and Nuclear Weapons

Minimize ► Military and Weapons Expenditures

Minimize ► the Military and Weapons Budget

Minimize ► our Global Military Presence

Minimize ► Involvement in Global-regional Wars

Maximize ► International Diplomacy and Friendly International Relations

Maximize ► Peaceful Mechanisms to resolve conflicts and maintain security, rather than 'threatening mechanisms'

Maximize ► Multilateral and United Nations Agreements and Treaties

Maximize ► Economic Cooperation and Fair Trade with other Countries

Maximize ► Humanitarian and Economic Assistance to impoverished areas of the world

National Defense and Global Security do not
need to be based on military & nuclear threats

Instead, National Defense and Global Security can be strengthened by –

► International Friendship and Collaboration

► Diplomacy, Dialogue, Peacebuilding, and mechanisms for peaceful conflict-resolution

► International Peace and Security Treaties

► Economic Agreements and Fair Trade

► Global Collaborative Projects towards shared Common Goals and towards solving our common Global Problems.

► Respect for the sovereignty, independence, and self-determination of all nations.

Prevent Mistakes w/ Nuclear Weapons

• Expand the decision-making time in any nuclear crisis
• Take nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert
• Eliminate the Finger on the Button
• End the 'unchecked authority' of a President to launch a nuclear attack
• Repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force – which gives the President an unchecked power to commit acts of war.
• Reject any First-use Preemptive-strike Option
• Include Presidential, Military, and Congressional decision-making before even any thought of a nuclear launch, no matter the circumstances or emergency
  

More to read... PreventNuclearWar.org

A Defense Strategy
without Nuclear Threats

We need to break free
of outdated Cold War Thinking

Warfare or Defense, using nuclear weapons, is so harmful to people and the environment, that it cannot be regarded as a viable option in our Defense Policy.

Nuclear Weapons are Military Threats of Terror, and any use of these weapons would result in a humanitarian and ecological disaster !

Our National Defense Policy should not be based on Threats of mass-destruction or killing thousands of a nation's population, and it must align with International Law and UN Human Rights Agreements.

We need to Change our National Defense Strategy from 'Nuclear Deterrence' to 'Nuclear Disarmament'.

Our current defense strategy is to compete for nuclear advantage in a spiraling nuclear arms race. This strategy is not only absurdly insane but is also ridiculously costly.

Instead of Nuclear Threats, we can strengthen International Security and prevent wars by building international trust and co-operation. We can address global conflicts without war, through continuous inter-national dialogue, diplomacy, and peacebuilding.

Global Peace will be achieved through Peace Activities, not military activities. Militaries and Threats will never bring about peace and trust in the world. But Cooperative Relations and acts of Goodwill will strengthen peace and security in the world.

A New Defense Policy:

Re-direct Funding from military operations
to Peace Operations

Below is an introductory excerpt from the U.S. Dept of State 2004-2009 Strategic Plan –

The foremost responsibility of government is protecting the life, liberty, and property of its citizens. Since our struggle for independence, diplomacy has been critical to our nation's security. The Department of State leads the effort to build and maintain relationships, coalitions, and alliances that help create the conditions for peace, contain or eliminate potential dangers from abroad before they can harm our citizens, and promote economic, social, and cultural cooperation.

We recognize that our own security is best guaranteed when our friends and neighbors are secure, free, and prosperous, and when they respect human rights and the rule of law.

USAide helps ensure the economic, social, and political stability of developing and transitional countries while combating poverty, environmental degradation, infectious disease, and other threats to security.

also see...
3 Reasons for Peace Building

Video - Solving conflicts through dialogue & mediation

Close most Overseas Military Bases

One important money-saving change of defense policy is to close most Overseas Military Bases. The U.S. has 800 military bases in 80 countries.

Aren't we overdoing this ?

Must we continually be the World's Police Force? And do the citizens of other countries actually appreciate an overt U.S. military presence in their own country? Or do those citizens actually resent this and consequently dislike us?

read...  Closing Overseas Military Bases
to Improve Global & U.S. Security

read...  Costs & Problems with U.S. Bases overseas

Instead of this unnecessary and expensive Military Presence in other countries; a better way to create peace and security in the world is to help those countries with humanitarian and economic aide, not with a 'military presence'. Or we could simply use this money for our own national needs, such as improving our economy and transportation infrastructure.

Instead of these Ground-Bases, and much less expensive, is to rely on Air Force Tracking Intelligence to warn of any possible aggressions or conflicts in the world. The Air Force can survey all regions of the world for any arising problems to global security. Then, if there is a problematic conflict or a threat to our national defense, the Defense Dept can discuss this with congressional representatives and arrive at a plan of action, and if necessary we can quickly deploy our Air Force to deal with emergency situations.

We should have a strong military force, always ready to deploy, but we do not need to go overboard on what is reasonably needed, and we do not need to aggressively overshadow any region.

It's time to back down on this false belief that our overt military presence throughout the world is good strategy for national defense and world peace. This strategy is ineffective and even counter-productive, and therefore should be abandoned.

Articles presenting Alternatives
to massive military expenditures

Principles for a Progressive US Foreign Policy

TheHill.com/opinion/ More security, less spending

America is safer in spending less on the Pentagon

75-pg Report - Sustainable Defense: More Security, Less Spending

Alternative Options for Public Spending

Why demilitarize?

Trump’s Nuclear Wishlist is More Waste

A Cold War with China is a Bad Deal

The Need for Foreign-Lobbying Reforms

Reduce the United States Military

The U.S. Military is over-bloated,
over-expensive, and wasting taxpayer dollars

The 2019 US military budget was $732 billion. For comparison, China's budget was $261 billion and Russia's military budget was $65 billion.

According to the independent think tank, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (sipri.org), which monitors developments in military expenditure worldwide, total world military expenditure rose to $1.9 trillion in 2019.

The five largest defense spenders in 2019 were the United States, China, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, and these five countries accounted for 62% of all global defense expenditures.

The US Military Spending for 2019 was $732 billion, which accounted for 38% of all global military spending. The US spent almost as much on its military in 2019 as the next 10 highest spenders combined.

Here is the ranking for 2019:

1 United States $732 B

2 China $261 B

3 India $71 B

4 Russia $65 B

5 Saudi Arabia $62 B

6 France $50 B

7 Germany $49 B

8 United Kingdom $49 B

9 Japan $48 B

10 South Korea $44 B

see data for all countries

So Why is the US Military Budget so much higher than all the other countries?

It's almost as much as the next 10 highest spending countries combined!

What are the reasons for this insanely ridiculous amount of money spent on the Military?

Here are 4 problems to consider:

(a) an over-zealous Foreign Policy and an entrenched fallacy of 'nuclear deterrence'.

(b) campaign contributions and lobbying from the Military and their private industry contractors. Defense Contractors spend millions to influence Congress, and the Department of Defense is full of industry insiders.

(c) congressional resistance to cuts in the military budget that will result in backlash from the military-related businesses in their state.

(d) the military and weapons industry have successfully brainwashed voters in both major political parties that this Huge Spending and its Huge Contracts are all necessary to defend the country.

The Need for Accountability
in Military Spending and Contracts

Because of its enormous influence on Congress and the Executive Branch, the Military can resist independent Audits and hide questionable contracts to private corporations. And during the long decade of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, there has been feeble transparency and accountability of how the many many billions were spent, much of which went to private contractors (corporations).

4 Ways the Pentagon collaborates with
weapons-military Industries

• The Department of Defense is swarming with industry insiders.
• Defense Contractors spend millions to influence Congress.
• The Pentagon 'loses track' of many billions of $$.
• The Pentagon gives millions to companies for absurdly overpriced parts, while a complete audit of all its transactions has been consistently resisted.

Also see... Four ways the Pentagon is wasting your tax-dollars

Congress needs to Cut Back
on large government contracts
to the weapons-military Industry

The excessive U.S. Nuclear Strike Force

The U.S Nuclear Strike Force is ridiculous, unnecessary, expensive, and dangerious to the whole world. It's time to boldly and robustly Cut it Back, in a cooperative Bilateral Treaty with Russia. The New Start Treaty with Russia is a positive step, but the Treaty needs to Cut Back much more in nuclear warheads and in the two nation's nuclear strike forces.

Read...

Specific Reductions
in the Military Budget

• Reduce the Military by at least 20%. In doing so, the U.S. would still be the most powerful military on earth and would still be spending far more on the military than any other country.
• Reduce our stockpile of ready-to-deploy Nuclear Weapons, and Reduce our strategic launchers. We now have 3,800 active nuclear warheads, with 1,550 presently on 800 strategic launchers, which is enough to easily blow up all nations, kill all humanity, and destroy the whole life ecosystem many times over.
• Close unnecessary Military Bases. Phase-out of all military bases and installations that are not specifically functioning under a UN resolution for peacekeeping, and bring home most of the troops stationed abroad, except for troops assigned to protect U.S. Embassies.
• Phase-out the $165 billion Overseas Contingency Operations and Reduce Peacetime Overseas Troop Deployments
• Reduce and Restructure the Marine Corps
• Reduce U.S. Navy Personnel and Weapons
• Reduce U.S. Air Force Personnel and Aircraft
• Reduce Nuclear Weapons and Missile Defense Systems
• Roll back the $1.2 trillion plan for modernizing nuclear weapons and missiles
• Cancel the production of more Nuclear Warheads
• Eliminate the new Low-yield Nuclear Warhead, the new Nuclear Cruise-Missile
• Cancel the proposed New ICBMs (a proposed 650 new ICBMs with over $200 billion in maintenance costs).
• Phase-out all Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
• Cancel the UK Trident Submarine Project (the building of four more submarines armed with Trident II D-5 nuclear ballistic missiles).
• Cancel the proposed Space Force and weapons in space.
• Cancel the Ground-based mid-course Defense System
• Cancel the Littoral Combat Ship
• Reduce the F-35 fleet
• Here is an explanation of
  Ballistic and Cruise Missiles
  
  

One major Expense-reduction
would be to eliminate unnecessary
and wasteful 'back-office' jobs.

An investigation by the Washington Post revealed that the Pentagon was spending almost a quarter of its defense budget on overhead and business operations and was paying more than 1 million contractors, civilians and uniformed personnel to fill 'back-office jobs' far from the front lines of any actual conflict.