Is the Massive US Military Budget

"How US can justify spending even more on defense ‘when we can’t manage to turn the lights on in Puerto Rico’"

It's a good question. Donald Trump signed a $1.3 trillion budget for the 2019 year, more than the next 10 nations combined. This is an absurd amount of money, especially if there are domestic problems that most would consider a better use of tax payer money. Stephen Miles, director of the Washington DC-based Win Without War advocacy group, mentions healthcare and the opioid crisis in particular, stating that, "when we can’t help those suffering from opioid addiction get treatment, and when we can’t ensure education and healthcare to all of our citizens, how is it possible we can justify spending billions more on weapons...?"

Democratic 2020 Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders believes that this is exactly what needs to change. He proposes using the over-inflated military budget for more useful governmental programs such as healthcare, public education, affordable housing, and investing in rebuilding the "crumbling infrastructure". Sanders points out the negatives of such a budget, including never-ending wars which the public has been against since the beginning of the 20th century.

The counterargument, is that the US needs to allocate an even larger budget due to our role in maintaining international order and security. The necessity for defending the country and those in it should be the top priority, claim military leaders, including the Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis. Mattis supports more troops in Afghanistan, the war which has been going on for 18 years, essentially our entire lives. Some students in our class were born after the start of the war, October 7, 2001.

The public has shown that a majority does not support these wars, and the 2020 election may show whether the massive military budget may be not so massive in the coming years.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/09/senate-budget-deal-us-military-spending
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/sanders-proposes-deep-cuts-to-military-funding-at-campaign-launch

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