Agree generally. I don't think anyone likes the business of war, but the alternatives aren't feasible.
1. Government designs and manufactures weapon systems. Never would happen. Gov has been relying on for profit companies since before the first world war. They just don't have the capacity to do it and frankly that's probably a good thing. For profit business gives capitalism a chance to work at its best form - provide jobs with competitive wages and add economic value as a whole. Government is also notoriously slow and pace of innovation would have left us in the dust a long time ago had we not done this. Which leads to the second point.
2. I don't think we'd be having this conversation today had the US not taken an aggressive stance about where we were going to stand in the world. The defense numbers are no doubt big (I think it'd be helpful for context if you showed what the rest of the budget looked like because that number would scare anyone and isn't a fair comparison), but I think the alternative puts the safety of the American people in jeopardy. Would we be almost as safe with less - maybe? I'm not lining up to find out.
conflict & violence are both inevitable. what i have a problem with is when governments go into a war without exhausting every diplomatic avenue available, and fund wars/conflicts that don’t necessarily have to do anything with national interest with the intention of making a profit. that’s my biggest worry and the problem i have with for-profit défense businesses.
i’m sure you know the amount of weapons the US moves across the world -- it’s a fuck ton. weapons go saudi arabia -- an extremely oppressive state -- and the businesses that are involved with these trades are providing weapons that are used to oppress and are sometimes used for violence that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with US national security.
thanks for commenting!! i really appreciate your insight and knowledge.
You'd probably really like the book War is a Racket by Smedley Butler (quick and cheap read - can get it from a vet book publisher here if you're interested: https://deadreckoningco.com/collections/books/products/book-war-is-a-racket).
Agree generally. I don't think anyone likes the business of war, but the alternatives aren't feasible.
1. Government designs and manufactures weapon systems. Never would happen. Gov has been relying on for profit companies since before the first world war. They just don't have the capacity to do it and frankly that's probably a good thing. For profit business gives capitalism a chance to work at its best form - provide jobs with competitive wages and add economic value as a whole. Government is also notoriously slow and pace of innovation would have left us in the dust a long time ago had we not done this. Which leads to the second point.
2. I don't think we'd be having this conversation today had the US not taken an aggressive stance about where we were going to stand in the world. The defense numbers are no doubt big (I think it'd be helpful for context if you showed what the rest of the budget looked like because that number would scare anyone and isn't a fair comparison), but I think the alternative puts the safety of the American people in jeopardy. Would we be almost as safe with less - maybe? I'm not lining up to find out.
conflict & violence are both inevitable. what i have a problem with is when governments go into a war without exhausting every diplomatic avenue available, and fund wars/conflicts that don’t necessarily have to do anything with national interest with the intention of making a profit. that’s my biggest worry and the problem i have with for-profit défense businesses.
i’m sure you know the amount of weapons the US moves across the world -- it’s a fuck ton. weapons go saudi arabia -- an extremely oppressive state -- and the businesses that are involved with these trades are providing weapons that are used to oppress and are sometimes used for violence that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with US national security.
thanks for commenting!! i really appreciate your insight and knowledge.