The GOP builds up the military mostly to protect the elite class (weapons, how much)

[rbohm]

Originally Posted by JasonF

Are you really that dense?

The military has long been for a few primary functions:

1) enrich defense contractors
2) make work program for kids from lower income households
3) minimize internal strife by having some external force to be united against

Calling it defense spending is laughable. It's a welfare program that breeds hatred for the United States around the world.

The money would be better spent on education, job training, building infrastructure, etc.

Originally Posted by Chriz Brown

Who cares? What does that have to do with the purpose behind it?

Originally Posted by dothetwist

They build up the military so they and their corporate friends can enrich themselves through government contracts with Lockheed, Boeing, etc. Remember Ike (a REAL president and a REAL general) and his warning of the 'military industrial complex.'

Originally Posted by lilyflower3191981

well, The US Navy keeps the sea lanes open for international trade and can steam firepower to anywhere in the world within a few days, with the Marines as a rapid response expeditionary force. The USAF is a big hammer that can reach any hotspot within a day and dominate air and space. And the US Army is the key component in winning land wars and securing territory. I bet 99% of the people (well, including myself) are not qualified to be accepted by any of the elite special forces in the military even if they try.

I support a strong military. The budget and the useless wars are other topics. But to say military is for the poor and the angry is such outdated backward thinking.

lilflower and i will try to educate you three on the creation of the military, specifically the navy. the navy was created to keep the sea lanes open and free to allow trade between the various countries of the world, and to combat piracy. and these reasons are just as real today as they were in 1789.

the original intent with the army was to create one from the citizenry on an as needed basis, which is one reason for the second amendment, or didnt you know that? the states would ceate militias, train them to secure the states and the country, and the federal government would handle the navy and the marines, created as the navy special forces. the marines were the guards of the ships, and our embassies.

over the years the military has grown and become mostly federalized because the situations we encountered required it. and while i agree with eisenhower about his warning of the military industrial complex, we still need a strong military. one that can fight on two fronts as needed, and project power where needed. perhaps what you need to do is open a history book and study it to understand why our military is necessary.

Originally Posted by AnywhereElse

Your intelligence level is reflected in your choice of words. Think about that to begin with.

Next, you are totally wrong. You appear to know zero about who joins the military or the reasons why. The population of the military and the reasons they join are as diverse as the population of our country.

Myself and my husband are veterans and my son is career military. My husband's mother, my father, my uncles, my husband's uncles were all veterans.

The military is crucial to our country. I take it you didn't learn about American or World History in high school, so I see that we need education reform desperately.

Your tone is insulting to members of the military and shows your obvious ignorance when it comes to the purpose of the military. Get a couple history books and turn off CNN!

well said!!!!!

Originally Posted by skins_fan82

Isn't the US military bigger than the next 10 biggest militaries COMBINED?! Why do we need to increase it?

It's 2017, there will never be a global world war ever again that involves tens of millions of troops....

the increase in spending will likely be for proper training, and equipment the soldiers need in the field. and the current purpose as noted is the ability to fight a war on two fronts.

as to the size of the US military compared to the next ten largest, that is rubbish. our spending may be larger than the next ten, but the russian and the chinese both have similar sized militaries in so far as land forces go. their navies are smaller, but then neither one has real need for a large navy, though china is starting to enlarge their naval capability. fortunately they are using russian designs.

the reason we spend so much is to maintain a top notch military. so dont you think it would behoove us to spend the money to maintain the weapons of war, including the soldiers we train? or would you rather we just let the military go, and hope that when the crap hits the fan that things will work properly?

and did it ever occur to you that one of the reasons that it will be unlikely that we will have to fight in another world war is because we have a strong military? one that can project power around the globe on a few hours notice? think about it.

Originally Posted by lilyflower3191981

well, The US Navy keeps the sea lanes open for international trade and can steam firepower to anywhere in the world within a few days, with the Marines as a rapid response expeditionary force. The USAF is a big hammer that can reach any hotspot within a day and dominate air and space. And the US Army is the key component in winning land wars and securing territory. I bet 99% of the people (well, including myself) are not qualified to be accepted by any of the elite special forces in the military even if they try.

What does any of this have to do with anything?

It has about as much relevance to the topic as telling me how many moose I can take out with a Desert Eagle .50 AE without reloading.

[lilyflower3191981]

Originally Posted by JasonF

Are you really that dense?

The military has long been for a few primary functions:

1) enrich defense contractors
2) make work program for kids from lower income households
3) minimize internal strife by having some external force to be united against

Calling it defense spending is laughable. It's a welfare program that breeds hatred for the United States around the world.

The money would be better spent on education, job training, building infrastructure, etc.

I think you made some very valid points here, and I don't believe many wars America started benefit the world.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but could you please explain the bold?

How is it a welfare program? Are you saying these grunts just sit their butts all day long collecting welfare from the military? I am confused here.

If the argument of military service is just a job is a valid argument, then I would argue any employees should be properly compensated. They do the job, they get paid. They earned every single cent of that paycheck. Why is it a welfare program?

[lilyflower3191981]

Originally Posted by JasonF

What does any of this have to do with anything?

It has to do with the function of the military you are so confused about.

[Scrat335]

Originally Posted by lilyflower3191981

So only the poor men joined the military? Who knew?

I am not pretending that I can speak for everybody who joined the military, but I can speak about my own family and my friends.

1. Some joined because of family tradition. They came from a family where most of the men had served, not to retirement, but had done their time and military was highly respected to them. Grandpa's generation had people were in Europe or Asia for WWII , Uncles were in Vietnam or Korea, so there was a great deal of support when the younger generation started thinking about joining. It wasn't pressure, but it was support.

2. They loved the childhood hero and wanted to be one themselves.

3. The military had great pay and benefits for a young, smart individual with little skills or experience willing to take on hardships.

4. This is a great opportunity to get out there and see the world, especially when you are from a small town. Joining the military gave some folks the experience of living in a beautiful city, and many experiences with people from other parts of the country, different socio-economic backgrounds, and they even had the opportunity to learn Arabic and have conversations with numerous people from all over the world. They are more open minded and accepting of others culture.

5. Legendary brotherhood they build in the military. Many became real men.

Why do they have to be angry and poor to join the military? It is absurd.

Oh by the way, most military men I know are very disciplined. They never take ANYTHING good in life for granted; they also respect women and love children. The only issue I have is the uses of chewing tobacco, (Not all use it) but whatever, I get over it.

Whatever. All well and good but what it comes down too is old men sending the young off to die because they're too cowardly to do it themselves. You're just stupid if you can't see the debilitating effects of warfare on humanity. Millions die, infrastructure is destroyed,cities ruined,lives ruined.

How many Jonas Walks and Einsteins have died in some hole in the ground on some beach somewhere? How much treasure that could better us all has been squandered?

With 1/10th of the military budget of the US we could build cities in space giving our children a whole new frontier instead of a grave in the dirt.

Don't worry. I'm not going to try to convince you.

[lilyflower3191981]

Originally Posted by rbohm

lilflower and i will try to educate you three on the creation of the military, specifically the navy. the navy was created to keep the sea lanes open and free to allow trade between the various countries of the world, and to combat piracy. and these reasons are just as real today as they were in 1789.

the original intent with the army was to create one from the citizenry on an as needed basis, which is one reason for the second amendment, or didnt you know that? the states would ceate militias, train them to secure the states and the country, and the federal government would handle the navy and the marines, created as the navy special forces. the marines were the guards of the ships, and our embassies.

over the years the military has grown and become mostly federalized because the situations we encountered required it. and while i agree with eisenhower about his warning of the military industrial complex, we still need a strong military. one that can fight on two fronts as needed, and project power where needed. perhaps what you need to do is open a history book and study it to understand why our military is necessary.



well said!!!!!



the increase in spending will likely be for proper training, and equipment the soldiers need in the field. and the current purpose as noted is the ability to fight a war on two fronts.

as to the size of the US military compared to the next ten largest, that is rubbish. our spending may be larger than the next ten, but the russian and the chinese both have similar sized militaries in so far as land forces go. their navies are smaller, but then neither one has real need for a large navy, though china is starting to enlarge their naval capability. fortunately they are using russian designs.

the reason we spend so much is to maintain a top notch military. so dont you think it would behoove us to spend the money to maintain the weapons of war, including the soldiers we train? or would you rather we just let the military go, and hope that when the crap hits the fan that things will work properly?

and did it ever occur to you that one of the reasons that it will be unlikely that we will have to fight in another world war is because we have a strong military? one that can project power around the globe on a few hours notice? think about it.

Great post. Informative

[skins_fan82]

Originally Posted by rbohm

the reason we spend so much is to maintain a top notch military. so dont you think it would behoove us to spend the money to maintain the weapons of war, including the soldiers we train? or would you rather we just let the military go, and hope that when the crap hits the fan that things will work properly?.

Im a US military veteran. I did two tours to the middle east during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

I was well trained in my job, the C130 I flew on was well maintained, my M-16 worked just fine, and my chem gear was well maintained and ready to go.

As someone who has actually served (I got out in 2006), I can verify that all equipment was always in great shape and I was always trained on all things that involved doing my job and would help keep me alive.

So I'm not sure how $54B in training and maintenance would he necessary.

[Jobster]

Not the liberals though. They would never build up the military to protect the elite or engage in wars. Are you kidding me? Do you think Hillary, with the huge wall built around her fortress that she calls a home was utilizing the military to drop care packages?

Is that how they got rid of Gadaffi? Is this a joke? They all do this. Some of you are falling right in line with what they want. They want divisiveness because a country divided WILL NOT STAND.

Do you think the "elite" want a democratic society? Really? This is an outlier. It's a blip in history.

Originally Posted by lilyflower3191981

I think you made some very valid points here, and I don't believe many wars America started benefit the world.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but could you please explain the bold?

How is it a welfare program? Are you saying these grunts just sit their butts all day long collecting welfare from the military? I am confused here.

If the argument of military service is just a job is a valid argument, then I would argue any employees should be properly compensated. They do the job, they get paid. They earned every single cent of that paycheck. Why is it a welfare program?

It's welfare for defense contractors. Sure, they produce crap, but it's largely exactly as useful as if they'd done nothing at all, only more expensive.

That's not all programs, of course. It's things like buying more and more weapons and equipment that the military doesn't want or need, so it can be stuffed into warehouses. It accomplishes literally nothing other than keeping some people employed and enriching defense contractors.

[lilyflower3191981]

Originally Posted by Scrat335

Whatever. All well and good but what it comes down too is old men sending the young off to die because they're too cowardly to do it themselves. You're just stupid if you can't see the debilitating effects of warfare on humanity. Millions die, infrastructure is destroyed,cities ruined,lives ruined.

How many Jonas Walks and Einsteins have died in some hole in the ground on some beach somewhere? How much treasure that could better us all has been squandered?

With 1/10th of the military budget of the US we could build cities in space giving our children a whole new frontier instead of a grave in the dirt.

Don't worry. I'm not going to try to convince you.

Convince me of what?

The post is a response to the poster who believes the military is a welfare program for the poor. I am just saying it is a backward and outdated thinking. It is also not reality.