Recently, Donald Trump’s self-proclaimed “defeated ISIS” posture is countered by ISIS claiming responsibility for the recent suicide bomb that killed at least four American soldiers patrolling the town of Manjib, Syria.
My gut tells me a sh–storm is developing and is soon to hit, just when our president is about to get hammered domestically. Well…that’s just great; it will leave John Bolton and Mike Pompeo acting as the smartest people in the room.
Thinking Backward and Forward at the Same Time
What Richard Nixon went through is a walk in the park compared to what’s about to happen to Mr. Trump. And, frankly, none too soon. He won’t survive. Hopefully won’t get into another war before he’s gone. So, I thought it might be a good time to look at the future and propose a new way of thinking for this great country.
Just like in the aftermath of our spectacular moon landings of the late 60s and early 70s, it’s time to rethink what we spend our money on. Those incredible triumphs were also incredibly expensive, and it wasn’t long before the cost/benefit debate began to rage. “Why are we spending tens of billions so that a few Americans can walk on the moon when millions of Americans live below the poverty line?” was the debate of the day.
If you Want to Make America Great Again, Start from the Inside
Fast-forward to the present. Why does the Pentagon have a $700 billion annual budget when millions of Americans are still in poverty, have no health insurance, have student loans equivalent to a heavy ball and chain for life, who live on a planet that is literally dying before our eyes, while the rich get richer and the middle class is disappearing? Can’t we spend at least some of that $700 billion in better ways?
The combined total of military spending for Russia and China (arguably our two biggest security threats) equals only 46 percent of the U.S. defense budget. Add in the military budgets of Saudi Arabia, India, France, UK, Japan and Germany (the next six top defense spenders) combined, and they still don’t spend as much as the U.S. We beat all combined by tens of billions of dollars.
Think about that for a minute. We’ve been in Afghanistan for over 17 years, Iraq for over 15 years. Not to mention a half-dozen other “hot spots” in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
I’m talking tongue-in-cheek now, hoping to stir debate.
What if we cut the Pentagon’s budget in half? Say, just 10 percent of that $700 billion. We could build an impenetrable wall around our entire country. Then we could bring all but our most necessary troops home from everywhere around the globe. Smartly managing its size and operational tasks and needs, we could make significant cuts to our defense budget and place only necessary forces behind the wall in case we are “invaded.” We could keep doing important training but could go into a cocoon for ten years and let the rest of the world do what it wants. Let the chips fall where they may. In fact, we tell the world that this is what we’re going to do, and we’ll see you in ten years. We still maintain everything else: diplomacy, commerce, etc.
Meanwhile, we spend the trillions saved to rebuild our infrastructure, create high-speed rail transit, create limitless and sustainable energy, provide everyone the opportunity to get a low-cost college degree, provide health care for everyone, rebuild the middle class, explore Mars, and create millions of new, well-paying jobs supporting all the above and more. All this with just half of what we spend at the Pentagon today.
Then, after ten years, we re-emerge. I argue that we re-emerge as still one of the most innovative, powerful countries on the planet (if not thee standout superpower). So what if Russia retakes Eastern Europe. So what if China takes over the entire Southeast Asian Peninsula. They’ll pay a massive price in doing so. Possibly even mortally weaken them. Do you think that they won’t face major internal instability and insurrection? Let them spend billions suppressing it while we grow in wealth and influence.
Am I Crazy?
Think about it. We could do it. We have the power to eliminate entire countries with our nukes alone. Russia is doing that now. Who could stop us?
Before you line up to carve my idea into pieces —it’s certainly your right to do so— I will argue that my idea is just as good, if not better, than any coming out of the Trump administration today. At least I’m looking forward, not over my shoulder.
