Read on Twitter
I don't think people understand truly how much money the military spends on literally nothing because they *have* to in order to get more money so let me tell you a story my husband told me from when he was a flying crew chief
A flying crew chief basically travels around with the plane in case it breaks. So my husband would fly on one of the big cargo planes as it brought supplies to various places and if it broke, he'd be there to fix whatever had to be fixed. He spent a lot of time with the cargo
This was back in 2011-2012, when we were transporting a bunch of stuff out of Iraq so my husband would usually go from Germany--Baghdad--Kandahar or one of the other bases in Afghanistan and then back home. One trip, he noticed a giant tire in the back of the plane
He was like "I've seen this tire before" so he made a tiny, unobtrusive mark on the inside of the tire and they dropped it off in Afghanistan. A few weeks later, he had to go on another trip, picking things up from Afghanistan
There was the tire
There was the tire
They brought the tire back to Iraq.
A month or so later, he was on another flight, from Baghdad to Afghanistan
There was the tire again
A month or so later, he was on another flight, from Baghdad to Afghanistan
There was the tire again
They brought the tire to Afghanistan again, dropped it off.
He saw that tire about four more times over the next few months.
He saw that tire about four more times over the next few months.
Now we're not talking about a tiny car tire. I don't know what it was for, but it was HUGE. It took up a lot of space in the plane and it weighed a lot too.
Each time the plane took that tire from Iraq to Afghanistan and back again, hundreds of thousands of dollars were burned
Each time the plane took that tire from Iraq to Afghanistan and back again, hundreds of thousands of dollars were burned
Literally burned because jet fuel for massive cargo planes is expensive. And you can bet that tire wasn't the only thing going on a merry-go-round ride from warzone to warzone
See the military has to spend lots of money in order to justify asking for MORE money
See the military has to spend lots of money in order to justify asking for MORE money
If they don't spend all the money they're given on necessary things, they have to spend it on unnecessary things. Like moving cargo from one place to another multiple times for no reason other than to burn the fuel
Moving that tire unnecessarily probably cost about as much as it would to provide free healthcare for hundreds of families for a year. One tire.
The military doesn't need the money it gets but it has to pretend it does because it likes having lots of money. The amount we spend on our military could be HALVED and literally? Wouldn't make all that much of a difference
This is what people don't seem to get about cutting the military budget. They act like the military needs every single penny & it would somehow fatally weaken national security to cut a single cent
Look the military spends millions of dollars on office chairs & sunglasses
Look the military spends millions of dollars on office chairs & sunglasses
And while all this money is given to the military, the amount spent on the actual servicemembers is.......very low. Ask people about housing on base and they'll tell you.
But of course the military can 100% spend a pittance on people because it offers things that people are desperate to have and can't get anywhere else: healthcare and education and a steady paycheck. Basic stuff that we should all have ANYWAY
America is cool with socialism as long as people agree to sign their life away and promise to die if America asks it. America likes to keep people poor & sick so the military can offer them a way out.
This is why I don't consider servicemembers on the same level as cops. Because generally people don't become cops just to be able to see a doctor but systemically, the US government & the military forces poor, marginalized people to join because it's the only way out
Anyway, the point is we could absolutely, as a nation, afford to give people healthcare and homes and fund the Green New Deal. The military is a bloated wasteful mess ON PURPOSE so it can keep getting more money. Cutting the defense budget wouldn't actually hurt anything
The only positive I guess is the military as an institution generally dislikes Trump
Some notes
-I understand that the way the military is funded is the way many public services are funded--in that they have to spend their budget to justify it--but the amount of money is so much greater when it comes to the military that it's worth discussing on its own
-I understand that the way the military is funded is the way many public services are funded--in that they have to spend their budget to justify it--but the amount of money is so much greater when it comes to the military that it's worth discussing on its own
-the people getting rich off this budget are the defense contractors hired by the military and those companies control congress. Obviously
Welp all I have to promote is the fact I run an unofficial cat rescue/sanctuary and I rely on kind internet ppl for support: https://twitter.com/ellle_em/status/1285705136514490370?s=20
