No Peace Dividends for U.S.
Only More War Dividends
Perhaps you’ve heard the quip that no matter who you vote for in America’s presidential derby, you get warhorse John McCain. Well, not literally John McCain, but someone much like him, someone who believes in militarism, bombing Iran, and shoveling more money to the Pentagon. That is likely to remain true even if Trump doesn’t run again in 2028.
Think back to recent history in 2021. Joe Biden finally put an end to the Afghan War that was roughly costing America $40 billion a year. Did the defense war budget decline by $40 billion? Were any “peace dividends” cashed in? Of course not. Even before Russia invaded Ukraine early in 2022, Biden had already committed to a $40 billion increase in the war budget. Gone are the days when ending wars resulted in lower war budgets in America.
Astonishingly, Trump recently proposed a $500 billion increase in the war budget for 2027, representing a 50% acceleration and inflation in war spending here in America. Trump says he needs it for his “dream” military. It sounds far more nightmarish than dreamy.
U.S. leaders have a remarkable faith in wars and military spending, despite all the catastrophes of lost wars (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) and despite all the waste, fraud, and abuse within the Pentagon. (The Pentagon recently failed its eighth audit in a row.) At the Pentagon, nothing succeeds like failure.
Americans get all upset when they hear about graft and theft, e.g. dubious child care facilities and charges in Minnesota, but the scale of waste at the Pentagon dwarfs that of any other sector of U.S. government. That shouldn’t surprise us, since roughly 60% of federal discretionary spending is dedicated to the Pentagon and Homeland Security.
I don’t know about you, but nowadays I’m feeling far less secure, despite all these so-called “investments” in weaponry and war.
The Democrats are no help here. Kamala Harris ran on a platform of military lethality. Hillary Clinton was more bellicose than Trump in 2016. Biden oversaw years of increases in military spending. Despite his Nobel Peace Prize, Barack Obama surged in Afghanistan and by his own admission became highly skilled at killing foreigners with drones.
In 2028 the DNC is most likely to put forward another “military lethality” candidate. That candidate will be at pains to pose as tough, i.e. as yet another tool of American empire. The Republican candidate will likely be worse.
In short, no matter who you vote for, you’ll end up with another warhorse: another John McCain.
While I delighted in the "zing, gotcha!" quips - e.g., "Trump says he needs it for his 'dream' military. It sounds far more nightmarish than dreamy" - this is beyond sobering, approaching the existential. One-half the Federal discretionary budget. De rigeuer "tax reform," meaning the rich pay less and less, meaning the war budget gets piled on to already incomprehensible national debt, the interest payments alone on which will top over 40% of the Federal budget in twenty years (let's see, 50% for the Pentagon, >40% for those holding the debt, doesn't leave much for everything else). The pervasive culture of militarism in this society, e.g., you're not a patriot if you don't subscribe to the malarkey of "Thank you for your service." The dismissal of diplomacy to address conflict and issues seemingly of multinational interest, e.g. global warming. The unleashing of militaristic, death squad- and special ops-like ICE thugs in civil society. All these and more are warnings to "Hit the silk," if only we could.
McCain. Just couldn't understand the guy. Five years a prisoner of the North Vietnamese, and none of that experience rubbed off on him, no ingenuous examination of what he and this country were doing in that country. Mind boggling.
"no matter who you vote for, you’ll end up with another warhorse: another John McCain." As long as people sit at their computers doom scrolling being passive critics, we will continue to lose the space we do have to exercise civics to defend democracy. That's Ralph Nader's message. Bill, you would be better off cross posting Nader's Substack than posting this lazy self-fulfilling prophecy.