Federal Economic Responsibility
The U.S. federal government plays a major role in the function, economy, infrastructure, and progression of the country. The role of the government is to assist in the success and progress of human civilization. The federal government only has so much revenue to spend and decisions on how to allocate this economic resource are extremely difficult to make. So it seems that indecision tends to be the route most traveled. This in turn has lead to neglect in some areas such as education, and personal interest decisions being made in other areas, such as national defense contracts.
The
irresponsible financial position of the United States is a serious
issue that may have long lasting negative effects on the success and
progression of our entire civilization. Changes in how the federal
government has been using and over-using its financial power needs
to be put into place. So where does all our money go? Where do we
begin on the long road of federal economic reform? The first major
festering economic wound that needs addressing is the defense
budget. Military spending has steadily grown, uncontrolled over the
last several decades.
The U.S. has, by far the largest defense budget in the world. Inn
2010 the DOD had a base budget of $533.8 billion. An additional $130
billion was requested for overseas contingency operations. Later in
2010 another $3 billion was added for overseas contingency
operations. The DOD spends another $218-262 billion each year in
‘other’ defense related programs, like homeland security, and
nuclear weapons maintenance. These amounts do not include money
going into contracting for R&D. The United States defense spending
is six times higher than the next largest spender - China. The
‘total’ U.S. defense budget for 2011 is estimated to be 964.8
billion. This “total” also does not include amounts given to
contracting for R&D. To give these numbers some perspective - global
military spending in 2010 was 1.6 trillion.
Do we as U.S. citizens really need to spend this much on our
military? Let’s look at what all this money actually buys us. As of
September 2010 America had – 1,430,895 military personal on active
duty and another – 848,000 personal in reserve. Is this size of
military really necessary? As of December 2010 the United States
Armed Forces were stationed in 820 military installations.
(Excludiose
thng
that may be classified) US military personal could/can be found
in at least 135 countries. Below is a short list of where we are
paying our military personal to stay.
Iraq = 85,600
Afghanistan = 103,700
Germany = 52,440
Japan = 35,688
Republic of Korea = 28,500
Italy = 9,660
United Kingdom = 9,015
Let
us now focus in on what many thinkers consider to be the most
antiquated part of modern Armed Forces, the Navy. The last sizeable
naval ship to ship battle in world history was in 1944.
(I’m sure this is debatable
and is relative to what one considers a ‘large’ ship to ship
battle.) WWII took place in an era before cruise missiles,
supersonic jet fighters, and bombers with pinpoint accuracy. A time
long before air drone fighters, satellite surveillance, smart
warheads, ground penetrating radar, laser guided munitions and
various other technological wonders that can hit and decimate the
toughest armor from thousands to literally tens of thousands of
miles from their original position. So is the possession of a huge
active navy, obsolete in today’s technologically advanced world?
Judging by the numbers, the U.S. federal government and the DOD do
not seem to think so. As of August 2011 the United States naval
fleet consists of 284 total ships. Everything from mine warfare
ships, to combat logistics ships, to the various kinds of carriers,
all fill the Navy roster. There is a total of 332,000 active U.S.
Navy personal, (excluding
Marines and Navy Reserve) and 171.7 billion is base Navy budget.
This budget amount does not include maintenance, construction
projects, R&D, or “procurement.”
Ask yourself… is this necessary? Do we as American citizens
feel safer at night by having 52 thousand armed soldiers in Germany?
Is it really worth paying, dedicating our tax money to have huge
naval convoys traveling all over the world? Is this economically
rational or responsible to have a military budget that’s 6 times
larger than that of the second leading military budget? This at a
time when the U.S. is more than 14,592,854,741,913 dollars in debt,
(as of 8-13-2011, 4:02 AM
GMT) and there are no immediate military threats of any real
size..? Do we need a Navy that’s 12 times larger in overall ship
tonnage than the second largest/heaviest. …at a time in history when
the idea of a large scale naval battle is widely considered to be
quite a bit less than realistic.
Consider if the U.S. Federal Government were to slice its
defense spending in half, or more. This would free up a minimum of
$482.4 billion each fiscal year. First a preliminary large sum of
the money needs to be used to help pay on the national debt. Then
this liberated revenue can be divvied up and plowed into areas that
are essential to economic, social, and scientific progress.
Now
just a couple of ideas on where the remaining money can be directed.
A chunk can go into education, which currently has a federal budget
of 129.8 billion (a 2011
estimate). The OECD
has ranked U.S. students as 14th in reading skills, 17th
in science skills, and 25th in mathematics, among 36
other industrialized countries.
Another substantial portion of the money can be
used to fund public works projects. These projects can be used to
update/improve America’s crumbling infrastructure, while helping to
aid a recovering economy and reduce unemployment. United States
highways, bridges, electrical grid, and water systems are in
desperate need of improvement and in many cases, replacement. Every
few years the American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) gives “report
cards” on the conditions of the nation’s infrastructure,
corresponding to 15 categories. In 2009 The ASCE gave the U.S.,
grades ranging from a high of C+ to a low of D-.
It needs to be clear that if this massive pile of money were
to be removed from the defense budget, it would not in any way
compromise the nation’s defensive abilities. Even with having the
military budget halved, the United States will still, have the
largest defense budget in the world. If more economic resources were
to be put into things like infrastructure and education, this would
in all likelihood, increase the nation’s ability to quickly
mobilize, in the unlikely event of a major military disaster.
Consider the effects of: better mass transportation systems, a more
educated populace, a more resilient – reliable power grid, more
energy independence, and safer – more plentiful water resource
distribution. Not to mention the argument that possession of a large
standing army has never corresponded directly to more security.
Government has a duty to its citizens to assist in the
development of programs that will bring progress and success to the
civilization it serves. This can be done by legislative and economic
means. Responsible decisions on where to allocate resources need to
be continually made, contemplated, and remade. Because human
civilization is always on a road of change, so must the government
that serves it. This is not a political issue. This is an issue
regarding the success of the country and of our civilization.
Sources
http://www.asce.org/reportcard/
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_budget_212_3.html
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/