A Call for Military Reductions
By Michael Boyajian
The Obama Administration should follow the lead of the Cameron Government in Britain and begin reducing its own military expenditures. Reductions would be a great cost saver and would perhaps super charge the economy. Reductions would still leave the U.S. as the lead military power in the world as Britain’s proposed reductions leave it in its same ranking of military strength. This would end the need for reductions in domestic allocations like social security, health care, education and infrastructure.
The United States spends $663,255,000,000 on its military and this amounts to 4.4% of GDP. Compare this to China which spends $98,800,000,000 on its military or just 2% of GDP. Just a 20% reduction would equalize the U.S. budget while leaving the nation far ahead of its nearest military competitor, China.
Reductions could come from troop draw downs on the Korean Peninsula and Europe. South Korea spends $27,130,000,000 on its military which is more than enough to offset North Korea’s expenditures which are thought to be around $5,000,000,000. The same scenario plays out in Europe where just 5 NATO nations, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, spend $240,000,000,000 on the military compared to Russia which weighs in at just $61,000,000,000. These numbers show that local military forces could offset any military threat from nearby neighbors quite easily.
More reductions can come from accelerated draw downs of nuclear weapons. The United States spent $5.5 trillion on its nuclear arsenal over 50 years. Just think what a fraction of that number could have purchased for the benefit of the country. Yes, universal healthcare.
United States reductions would most likely be followed by worldwide reductions thereby super charging the global economy. The American economy would easily begin to stabilize with little pain felt in other budget areas. Savings could be kept as savings or partially allocated to domestic programs in need of revenues. In the end you have a more safe and prosperous world, a world filled by armies of doctors rather than of soldiers.
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