At the beginning of the 21st century, the greatest threat to the United States is the American military-industrial complex. Because this complex does not exist for America, but America exists for its army and military industry.
Just the facts
That is, the most powerful US military-industrial complex was created and is developing without objective reasons for this. The size of this complex does not correspond to America's real security needs. In 2022, America spent $877 billion on the military (1) which is more than the military spending of all other countries combined. The United States is the dominant predator on the planet with no enemies of comparable potential. Despite this, the United States is constantly increasing spending on the army.
The assertion by military officials and politicians that this is necessary to protect Americans is questionable. The size of budget expenditures does not correspond to the size of the threats to the US population.
A tiny number of Americans die from wars with other countries compared to the number of Americans who die from cancer, car accidents, AIDS and other threats.
In the post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, 15,000 U.S. died service members and contractors. (3) More than 500,000 people die from cancer each year in the United States. (4) More than 30,000 people die in car accidents every year. (5) The average annual death rate from AIDS is 13,000 people. (6)
The table shows how the federal budget protected American lives in 2022.
*2021 years
As we see, almost $900 billion was spent on military needs in 2022. Although no American soldiers died as a result of hostile action during the year. Cancer killed 609,000 Americans in one year. But less than $7 billion was provided to fight cancer.
Applause. The military-industrial lobby has achieved impressive success. But the American people can hardly be happy about this.
Conclusion
All sectors of the American economy lost the lobbying war to representatives of the military-industrial complex and the army. The interests of the US military take precedence over the interests of the US people. This suggests that the Pentagon and military corporations have become a political force that governs the country solely in its own interests.
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