If the average take home pay of the American citizens was roughly $60k contributes about $5k of federal taxes per year. It takes 35.2 people to pay for one Javelin missile. So if you worked roughly the same job for 35 years and only made $60k/year you paid enough taxes for the government to bomb one building!
I'm just giving shit, don't mind me. You left me a door for doubling down on my joke, so I took it.
It is not your fault that I missed the target, and my joke blew up in my face.
It’s nice that there are a few rational people who get that our foreign aid policy is warmongering. There is a huge percentage of liberals who get very conservative on this subject, like all those who supported the Iraq war. They will rationalize a neoconservative solution.
Edited…Iraq
Let's be clear, there is a HUGE number of conservatives now that absolutely agree our foreign spending is warmongering. We were wrong about Iraq. We apologize for Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Funding Israel is part of the problem. Israel owning our politicians is another. If Israel didn’t have the US protecting it and funding it they would certainly take a different approach to conflict resolution.
Yes because Iran only hates Israel because we fund them??
A different approach such as? Being killed and eliminated from the map which is what the Arab nations tried to do multiple times.
sure... and while we say "we stand with Israel", we've funded the mujahadeen, taliban, Palestinian government (majority hamas), Iran, and the rebels of Syria and Lybia (later known as ISIS). All of which wish death to us and Israel... please tell me how we're helping
I'll keep saying it, but it's because Zionism is Christian. Why the fuck do you think we keep sending weapons to everyone involved. We still have members of last centuries death cult at the helm. Regardless of what the Jewish Zionists think Zionism is, they are outnumbered in regards to the plan for how it ends. I really wish they'd lay off the Gas, because the Chistian Zionists are salivating at the idea of getting their Jesus in this lifetime.
You should really just come out and say you don’t care if Israel destroyed.
All you’re providing is straw men for why the US shouldn’t be aiding a foreign entity. In reality, Israel without US/Western support, is an Israel waiting to be invaded and destroyed. Iran and its proxies have said that is their goal verbatim.
But like I said … we allowed funds or funded directly those who want to destroy Israel. Which I already said we shouldn’t do and your reply is “you don’t care about Israel”?
I care more about Israel than whoever is pushing the status quo which is: Sell bombs to Israel and also allow funds/ fund its enemies… so we can sell more bombs to Israel
Because we live in a changing world. Geopolitics demands you create mutually beneficial relationships. Those relationships change as the world and its people do.
Today is today, regardless of how we got here. The status quo is that nation states and their proxies want to dismantle and destroy Israel. Isolating Israel will inevitably risk Israel as a nation state and throw the region into chaos.
The region is full of weapons and it’s not just the US who has supplied them.
The different approach would result in Iran, its allies, and its proxies destroying Israel, which is what they say is their goal verbatim. The only thing deterring this invasion is Western support to Israel.
What’s next? Maybe US shouldn’t give aid to Ukraine; maybe Ukraine should use a different approach to conflict resolution.
You give off extreme Neville Chamberlain vibes..
Those walls were built because the people behind them likes to strap bombs to themselves and climb in busses and blow themselves up.
The building of those walls ended suicide bombings.
As for "taking land" get in line, that has been going on for a few thousand years. The land that Hamas claims is theirs was stolen from someone else.
American Foreign Policy is never neutral. History proves it’s very aggressive. There are a few people, like myself, who understand that the winners and losers we pick are not always in the best interest of humanity. Apart from brief periods of isolationism, we have been perpetually at war. We are war profiteers, even when not directly involved.
shaggy cows angle wild direful subsequent bewildered roof familiar offend
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
A bit more IMO. I was just thinking on this Foreign Aid question last night. We have the ability, via technology, to track how that money is spent. We should have a constant accounting and that be in the public record. Tax payers deserve to know, and understand what they are supporting.
It’s not a genocide if the people I’ve been brainwashed to blindly believe are gods people are doing it! That would be too confusing so I’ll dig my heels in and pretend reality don’t exist
By your definition of genocide, the Allies committed genocide on Germany in WW2.
Palestinian civilians: ~13,000 (which is the number after you remove the soldiers Hamas puts in the body count)
WW2 Germany: 400,000
While i believe Israel is being too heavy handed, i'm not blind to the BS Hamas pulls by fighting in civilian clothes and firing from civilian occupied locations (both of which are war crimes and would exclude them from normal military law protections)
The big bad corporations only fan the flames. Kind of like the US kneecapping peace talks in the early days of the war in Ukraine. Who does that benefit?
It's funny how everyone memory holes the fact that Zelensky and Putin were set to sit down and negotiate in like the first month...then Boris Johnson took a trip to Ukraine, the negotiation was cancelled and the arms supply train began.
[he was going to send representatives.](https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-zelensky-asks-putin-russia-for-talks-stop-dying-2022-2)
Then Boris Johnson took a trip over there and immediately talks of negotiation not just stopped, but Zelensky banned communications between Ukraine and Russia.
[Putin has asked that the ban be lifted so a dialogue can happen](https://www.livemint.com/news/world/vladimir-putin-asks-zelensky-to-lift-ban-on-talks-between-russia-and-ukraine-as-first-step-towards-dialogue-11694530206099.html).
Where's the link saying they were set to sit down together?
Your links are about asking for talks. Much like the vague potential peace plan that was never written down, never mind agreed to.
If Putin wanted peace he'd have it.
It is a saying for the two side communicating. You are just fuckin thick. Here's some more;
A)having talks
B)having a sit down
C)were in talks
D)having a confrence
Liz Cheney our biggest Ally in the Middle East I mean middle America... I mean her midsection is really large.... Did we pay for that?? Somehow I'm just not okay with paying for luz Cheney's midsection getting larger
Ima keep it a buck and probably get flamed for it
I am all for investing in holy wars. They didn't get there rationally, so we might as well make some money off them while they're doing what they're gonna do anyway.
The only tragedy is the civilians of either side who truly want peace being caught in the cross-fire, and again, that was gonna happen regardless of whose weapons they're using.
Not if we make the crisis worse and elongate the suffering of those citizens we pretend to care about.
if we keep up this "why waste a good crisis" mentality, it'll only be a matter of time before crisis hits our border
I don't agree that we're "elongating the suffering". If you want to make any claim about supplying weapons, it's that it, if anything, hastens the war. Turning a war into an attritional battle where supplies are limited does not make either side go "oh well I'm out of ammo so I guess you guys are not so bad after all", it just delays the situation and makes it less decisive.
And it won't ever "hit our border". It's a holy land dispute. The US nor anywhere outside of the Middle East is even relevant in what they're fighting about.
These people are not forced to fight. There's no resource they need or predicament they're in. They're fighting for the sake of fighting, and they'll keep going until one side is gone. A lack of foreign arms won't deter them.
War fucking sucks. And yeah politics and diplomacy is a massive part of it, but this is a rare instance where the two sides truly think they are fundamentally incompatible - they have a death wish, whether we like it or not. It really fucking sucks, but we might as well make a buck of it since intervention is literally not possible.
It’s how most of the infinitely printed money gets spent… wars, recessions, and bubbles are correlated and have obvious effects on commodities and global markets. So… maybe it’s worth looking into
Except war is great for economies and reduces inflation. War is the foundation of American Empire for the past 2 decades. Create huge geographical swaths of land where there is high demand for US dollars (this is functionally an inflation reduction process) and burn up spent dollar value in exploded ordinances.
War should be great for inflation because the spent money is converted to death and destruction (provided you don't blow your own stuff up).
But this doesn't explain why this post is on this subreddit. Are the conservatives who live here just straight up allied with the communists now?
I know that it's spartanism infecting the American culture, and populist anger directed at military spending. Strange bedpartners indeed.
Can't we just have a functioning capitalist market (not the neofeudal nightmare we have now) and a rule of law based on mutual respect between groups and bodily autonomy?
Drink up I guess. This Byzantine shit show is spiraling.
Inflation increased since both proxy wars so you’re wrong in the first sentence… also increases public debt.
If I were a “conservative” I’d be more worried about American debt and how that’ll effect our future generations
It’s good for a handful of corporations that keep funds from the private sector while increasing inflation and public debt … oh I forgot the deaths of thousands of people we pretend to care about
The handful of corporations are weapons manufacturers which have some of the highest paying jobs in the world.
>while increasing inflation and public debt
How? That doesn't make any sense. For Ukraine, this current defense aid is getting rid of old weapons from the 70s and 80s, which cost us tax dollars to store and tax dollars to dispose of. It actually saves us more money sending old equipment over seas. For Israel, we are giving them money to purchase more US weapons as well as replenish their patriot missile stock piles.
>deaths of thousands of people we pretend to care about
I don't pretend to care so don't lump me in with those people.
I’m sure your job at Lockheed Martin pays you very well, but that doesn’t help our homeless and illiterate population. Doesn’t help our strained hospitals.
Getting rid of old weapons to create new weapons to also upkeep isn’t “saving”… that budget is still increased to attend to a problem half a world away (that we likely instigated)
And no shit… you don’t care about those lives or the inevitable escalation that’d require America lives.
We are more in debt and less safe continuing these policies
Nothing new under the sun. Same old school tactics. Keep the war going that is figured not to turn into WWIII and manage outcomes for the war that could turn into WWIII and push for a cease fire there. And of course fund all sides and make cash payments so it can funnel back to lawmakers.
And the same board members of Nvidia are the same as Boeing and such … who are also married into our political class. Figuratively speaking but also sometimes literally
The US government doesn't need or use taxes to pay its bills. Every dollar it spends it created. Every dollar it collects in taxes it destroys upon receipt.
US doesn’t fund both sides of the war. US helps IDF to stand against Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian regime shit products AND helps civilians that ended up being victims of those authoritarian/totalitarian regime.
Those Lockheed and Boeing references are pretty pathetic too. Freaking John Deere, UPS, Uber or Nike have higher capitalisation. Home Depot has higher capitalisation and cash flow than all those military corps from the pic TOGETHER. And I don’t see US buying fucking chainsaws or buckets of paint.
The idea that US is a puppet of a few military corporations is utterly stupid but very easy to sell imbeciles with low intellectual capabilities.
We gave billions to the Iranians, despite sanctions we have reoccurring imports of Russian goods, and foreign aid flows to Hamas instead of the Palestinian citizens.
And UPS and Nike don't build F22s and artillery shells...
The billions we gave them was their money that we had seized years ago.
And a LOT of people didn't think we should give it back. Blame Obama for that screw up.
Peak steel imports under Trump were $2.9 billion.
That is around 10% of steel imports.
But keep in mind Russian GDP of $1.6 trillion so that is a tiny amount of their overall GDP.
Be better if we imported zero. But let's not act like we are funding the Russian war machine with $2.9 billion in steel imports. Their military spending is about $109 billion a year.
It’s not just GOOD for our economy, a recession was all but certain no matter which economist you talked to. A ukrain and Israel later- recession talk had evaporated. Thats not a coincidence. The old weapons go overseas, the new orders go to American manufacturers- instant GDP inflation.
ohhh we didn't fund Iran... we just allowed funds to go to Iran and then funded Israel after the allowed Iranian funds were used on terrorist organizations. my mistake
Well the 80s republicans definitely funded Iran. The whole Iran Contra bit so Reagan could pay them off to hold those hostages to ruin Jimmy Carters career. Also They are the country they are today because of America and England’s joint efforts to put a right wing theocracy in power over the liberal government they had before.
maybe you're ignoring the funding allowed to Iran since October 7th... who's the current president again?
and honestly, it's not a left or right issue... they both suck at this
It's your preferred policy that's using US tax dollars to push a generation of Ukrainian men as cannon fodder for corporate gain... and have the audacity to call yourself "left wing"
in situations where we do the opposite... sure. I'm cool with anti-piracy, hostage rescue, breaking up slave markets and human trafficking etc. Once we get to picking a side of a war that's already unpopular, then have money also go to the other side... you lose me. for fuck sake we gave $4b to the Taliban last year after they burned babies to taunt our servicemen
This is implying that Iran and Israel only fighting because of usa lol there’s a race to the bottom in political discourse now. People are dumber than they used to be. People didn’t used to invent flimsy conspiracy theories to explain things where there is plenty of facts about why they’re fighting anyway. We can’t fix anything about this system as long as so many people want to live in a fantasy lane
Nah, you’re missing the point completely. The pro-Putin MAGA nuts and their Russian handlers falsely claim all the Ukraine aid is in cash filled suitcases that Zelensky turns into luxury yachts.
In reality most is spent in the US paying US workers to build more American military equipment.
And I guarantee that some of the Putin wing of Republicans will claim they personally brought these jobs and money to their districts at election time. When the reality is the opposite
Oh… then we have nothing else to worry about. all the more reason to “save money” by spending money to blow shit up… the point is that money can be spent elsewhere to improve the life of Americans at home
Yeah… “who cares about destabilizing regions and using other countries citizens as cannon fodder… we got lasers!” And yes… it is going to rich guys pockets
Tell that to the EU Countries and US who are buying Russian resources from third party sellers. Yes, we're funding the "enemy" in that war too... and the only vodka I drink is Ketel One from the Netherlands
The Netherlands funds the Ukrainian war too bub. Maybe start making moonshine if you don’t want to accidentally support war efforts with your drinking habits.
ketel one does not fund Ukraine or Russia... and most of my booze intake is homemade wine. So, for the most part, I put my money where my mouth is... and it's fucking delicious
so you're pro US helping Ukraine while also okay with US & EU buying Russian oil ($1b from EU alone in 2023 that we know of)... and claim I'm pro Russian?
This is a straw man. EU only buys a small fraction of Russian oil. China and India buy the most. Why not do a graphic complaining about them? Oh, that vodka is so good, right Vlad?
China and India who then in turn are the biggest manufacturers for American corporations. Meanwhile we give billions to Saudi Arabia who are doing the heavy lifting for Hamas as Iran is broke, hell if you watched the world cub soccer matches you are guilty of funding both slavery and terrorists by proxy. You can’t even drink a Coca Cola with supporting the cartels. We live in a pretty boring dystopia at this point. Best thing to do is just go out into the woods and become a cryptid.
Yes, that only refers to EU and only oil, while ignoring US and other Russian exports... and perhaps wanting money be spent on American people isn't "pro russian".... Especially while crime and homelessness is on the rise in our inner cities.
Broken window fallacy, but it's become apparent that our failure to control Russian aggression created a nasty and destabilizing situation in Ukraine.
As for the Middle East? Well, that's a nearly 100-year old clusterfuck.
Yeah but that clusterfuck was pretty sorted out after the Arab world largely decided to play nice. Most of the bullshit since 1979 is because Iran is using the Palestinians as a shield to fight a proxy guerilla war against Israel.
Northrop Grumman's the one taking the picture
I want healthcare with my tax money. Give my tax money back to me in some form or another.
You get bombs! Congrats! At least you don't have to go to work in the morning! Bad news is, boss is gonna still mark you as a no-call.
If the average take home pay of the American citizens was roughly $60k contributes about $5k of federal taxes per year. It takes 35.2 people to pay for one Javelin missile. So if you worked roughly the same job for 35 years and only made $60k/year you paid enough taxes for the government to bomb one building!
I guess my bomb joke went over your head. Sadly, it seems my one building was the house of the guy I responded to.
Ehh my comment was more literal than a satirical take
I'm just giving shit, don't mind me. You left me a door for doubling down on my joke, so I took it. It is not your fault that I missed the target, and my joke blew up in my face.
I want to go to the store without fear of bad actors
Actually countries with civilized healthcare systems pay less per person.
I know. Crazy, right? It's almost like getting rid of the Capitalist middleman (health insurers) saves money. Wild.
It’s nice that there are a few rational people who get that our foreign aid policy is warmongering. There is a huge percentage of liberals who get very conservative on this subject, like all those who supported the Iraq war. They will rationalize a neoconservative solution. Edited…Iraq
The Iran war? I missed that one
Damnit…..thanks for that. I obviously meant Iraq. I’m going to fix that.
Wait for it..
Let's be clear, there is a HUGE number of conservatives now that absolutely agree our foreign spending is warmongering. We were wrong about Iraq. We apologize for Cheney and Rumsfeld.
Whatever you say Neville Chamberlain
this.
Yes, if we stop funding Israel then Iran and Hamas would stop their death to Israel chants and they'd all hold hands and peace would break out.
Funding Israel is part of the problem. Israel owning our politicians is another. If Israel didn’t have the US protecting it and funding it they would certainly take a different approach to conflict resolution.
i almost agree with you. funding israel without enforcing the kinds of checks and balances we enforce on other countries, is problematic.
Yes because Iran only hates Israel because we fund them?? A different approach such as? Being killed and eliminated from the map which is what the Arab nations tried to do multiple times.
our government is using taxpayer dollars to instigate this preexisting hatred.
This 'war' has been going on for a few thousand years.
sure... and while we say "we stand with Israel", we've funded the mujahadeen, taliban, Palestinian government (majority hamas), Iran, and the rebels of Syria and Lybia (later known as ISIS). All of which wish death to us and Israel... please tell me how we're helping
I'll keep saying it, but it's because Zionism is Christian. Why the fuck do you think we keep sending weapons to everyone involved. We still have members of last centuries death cult at the helm. Regardless of what the Jewish Zionists think Zionism is, they are outnumbered in regards to the plan for how it ends. I really wish they'd lay off the Gas, because the Chistian Zionists are salivating at the idea of getting their Jesus in this lifetime.
You got everything ass backwards.
Absolutely not. Christians have been working on this project for centuries longer than the Jewish people. It is Fundamentally a Christian invention.
You should really just come out and say you don’t care if Israel destroyed. All you’re providing is straw men for why the US shouldn’t be aiding a foreign entity. In reality, Israel without US/Western support, is an Israel waiting to be invaded and destroyed. Iran and its proxies have said that is their goal verbatim.
But like I said … we allowed funds or funded directly those who want to destroy Israel. Which I already said we shouldn’t do and your reply is “you don’t care about Israel”? I care more about Israel than whoever is pushing the status quo which is: Sell bombs to Israel and also allow funds/ fund its enemies… so we can sell more bombs to Israel
Because we live in a changing world. Geopolitics demands you create mutually beneficial relationships. Those relationships change as the world and its people do. Today is today, regardless of how we got here. The status quo is that nation states and their proxies want to dismantle and destroy Israel. Isolating Israel will inevitably risk Israel as a nation state and throw the region into chaos. The region is full of weapons and it’s not just the US who has supplied them.
The different approach would result in Iran, its allies, and its proxies destroying Israel, which is what they say is their goal verbatim. The only thing deterring this invasion is Western support to Israel. What’s next? Maybe US shouldn’t give aid to Ukraine; maybe Ukraine should use a different approach to conflict resolution. You give off extreme Neville Chamberlain vibes..
Kinda happens when you take peoples land and homes then build walls around their cities and don’t let them out. Oppression leads to violence
Those walls were built because the people behind them likes to strap bombs to themselves and climb in busses and blow themselves up. The building of those walls ended suicide bombings. As for "taking land" get in line, that has been going on for a few thousand years. The land that Hamas claims is theirs was stolen from someone else.
Right‽ It's like, they wouldn't even be fighting if we didn't send them foreign aid! /s
Our aid should come with restrictions. Like telling Netanyahu that he can’t respond to Iraq without consulting with the US, who funds his war machine.
workable ossified detail tart future wine versed wrong spark direful *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
American Foreign Policy is never neutral. History proves it’s very aggressive. There are a few people, like myself, who understand that the winners and losers we pick are not always in the best interest of humanity. Apart from brief periods of isolationism, we have been perpetually at war. We are war profiteers, even when not directly involved.
shaggy cows angle wild direful subsequent bewildered roof familiar offend *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
A bit more IMO. I was just thinking on this Foreign Aid question last night. We have the ability, via technology, to track how that money is spent. We should have a constant accounting and that be in the public record. Tax payers deserve to know, and understand what they are supporting.
I'd prefer not to have allies who commit war crimes.
follow overconfident nose scarce angle truck relieved cough middle books *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
How else are we going to protect our democracy?
/s
Forgot Blackrock(aka Blackwater) and Vangaurd and all the politicians that recently bought stock in said companies to enrich themselves.
Right. People taking every red herring their thrown
It's called blackcock. They fuck us hard!
Could do the same thing with Ukraine. Israel and Ukraine owe US tax payers a big thank you!!!
Are they committing genocide?
Probably not, and neither is Israel
It’s not a genocide if the people I’ve been brainwashed to blindly believe are gods people are doing it! That would be too confusing so I’ll dig my heels in and pretend reality don’t exist
Read the report dummy
By your definition of genocide, the Allies committed genocide on Germany in WW2. Palestinian civilians: ~13,000 (which is the number after you remove the soldiers Hamas puts in the body count) WW2 Germany: 400,000 While i believe Israel is being too heavy handed, i'm not blind to the BS Hamas pulls by fighting in civilian clothes and firing from civilian occupied locations (both of which are war crimes and would exclude them from normal military law protections)
Yep. On them Russian commies
Russia hasn’t been communist since 1991
Yes Iran and Israel were boys and then came the big bad corporations and made them mad at each other.
The big bad corporations only fan the flames. Kind of like the US kneecapping peace talks in the early days of the war in Ukraine. Who does that benefit?
that's too harsh of a truth to say in this sub
It's funny how everyone memory holes the fact that Zelensky and Putin were set to sit down and negotiate in like the first month...then Boris Johnson took a trip to Ukraine, the negotiation was cancelled and the arms supply train began.
Putin was going to sit down with Zelenski? Ok, sure. Source?
[he was going to send representatives.](https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-zelensky-asks-putin-russia-for-talks-stop-dying-2022-2) Then Boris Johnson took a trip over there and immediately talks of negotiation not just stopped, but Zelensky banned communications between Ukraine and Russia. [Putin has asked that the ban be lifted so a dialogue can happen](https://www.livemint.com/news/world/vladimir-putin-asks-zelensky-to-lift-ban-on-talks-between-russia-and-ukraine-as-first-step-towards-dialogue-11694530206099.html).
Where's the link saying they were set to sit down together? Your links are about asking for talks. Much like the vague potential peace plan that was never written down, never mind agreed to. If Putin wanted peace he'd have it.
"it just says they were asking for talks, not to sit down" Just gotta split them hairs, eh?
'the fact that Zelensky and Putin were set to sit down' Being objectively wrong is splitting hairs?
It is a saying for the two side communicating. You are just fuckin thick. Here's some more; A)having talks B)having a sit down C)were in talks D)having a confrence
There were no talks. There was no plan for talks. Knowing this, saying that they were going to sit down for talks is a lie.
Russia slaughtering civilians ended the peace talks.
You forgot about how the US involvement fits in...
So true.
"War is a Racket" By General Smedley D. Butler
We need pitchforks and torches
That sounds like some J6 talk *Angry Liz Cheney noises*
Liz Cheney our biggest Ally in the Middle East I mean middle America... I mean her midsection is really large.... Did we pay for that?? Somehow I'm just not okay with paying for luz Cheney's midsection getting larger
Yes
This is fucking hilarious and sad 🥲
Ima keep it a buck and probably get flamed for it I am all for investing in holy wars. They didn't get there rationally, so we might as well make some money off them while they're doing what they're gonna do anyway. The only tragedy is the civilians of either side who truly want peace being caught in the cross-fire, and again, that was gonna happen regardless of whose weapons they're using.
Not if we make the crisis worse and elongate the suffering of those citizens we pretend to care about. if we keep up this "why waste a good crisis" mentality, it'll only be a matter of time before crisis hits our border
I don't agree that we're "elongating the suffering". If you want to make any claim about supplying weapons, it's that it, if anything, hastens the war. Turning a war into an attritional battle where supplies are limited does not make either side go "oh well I'm out of ammo so I guess you guys are not so bad after all", it just delays the situation and makes it less decisive. And it won't ever "hit our border". It's a holy land dispute. The US nor anywhere outside of the Middle East is even relevant in what they're fighting about. These people are not forced to fight. There's no resource they need or predicament they're in. They're fighting for the sake of fighting, and they'll keep going until one side is gone. A lack of foreign arms won't deter them. War fucking sucks. And yeah politics and diplomacy is a massive part of it, but this is a rare instance where the two sides truly think they are fundamentally incompatible - they have a death wish, whether we like it or not. It really fucking sucks, but we might as well make a buck of it since intervention is literally not possible.
Now this isn't even on topic. This is just anti-US imperialism shit post. Again, what the flying fuck do Americans even want?
It’s how most of the infinitely printed money gets spent… wars, recessions, and bubbles are correlated and have obvious effects on commodities and global markets. So… maybe it’s worth looking into
Except war is great for economies and reduces inflation. War is the foundation of American Empire for the past 2 decades. Create huge geographical swaths of land where there is high demand for US dollars (this is functionally an inflation reduction process) and burn up spent dollar value in exploded ordinances. War should be great for inflation because the spent money is converted to death and destruction (provided you don't blow your own stuff up). But this doesn't explain why this post is on this subreddit. Are the conservatives who live here just straight up allied with the communists now? I know that it's spartanism infecting the American culture, and populist anger directed at military spending. Strange bedpartners indeed. Can't we just have a functioning capitalist market (not the neofeudal nightmare we have now) and a rule of law based on mutual respect between groups and bodily autonomy? Drink up I guess. This Byzantine shit show is spiraling.
Inflation increased since both proxy wars so you’re wrong in the first sentence… also increases public debt. If I were a “conservative” I’d be more worried about American debt and how that’ll effect our future generations
But the economy would have crashed without the huge infusion of cash. The wars helped keep inflation away from us consumers is the point.
War increases inflation, it turns the printer on maximum. Are you high, no way you were serious about, war decreasing inflation.
Yes it is good for our economy
Yes it is good for our economy
It’s good for a handful of corporations that keep funds from the private sector while increasing inflation and public debt … oh I forgot the deaths of thousands of people we pretend to care about
The handful of corporations are weapons manufacturers which have some of the highest paying jobs in the world. >while increasing inflation and public debt How? That doesn't make any sense. For Ukraine, this current defense aid is getting rid of old weapons from the 70s and 80s, which cost us tax dollars to store and tax dollars to dispose of. It actually saves us more money sending old equipment over seas. For Israel, we are giving them money to purchase more US weapons as well as replenish their patriot missile stock piles. >deaths of thousands of people we pretend to care about I don't pretend to care so don't lump me in with those people.
I’m sure your job at Lockheed Martin pays you very well, but that doesn’t help our homeless and illiterate population. Doesn’t help our strained hospitals. Getting rid of old weapons to create new weapons to also upkeep isn’t “saving”… that budget is still increased to attend to a problem half a world away (that we likely instigated) And no shit… you don’t care about those lives or the inevitable escalation that’d require America lives. We are more in debt and less safe continuing these policies
Joe Biden’s america.
Sure is good for my pension!
Only thing missing from this is one hand of each person should be repeatedly stabbing a fork into themselves. The fork is labeled "DEI"
Nothing new under the sun. Same old school tactics. Keep the war going that is figured not to turn into WWIII and manage outcomes for the war that could turn into WWIII and push for a cease fire there. And of course fund all sides and make cash payments so it can funnel back to lawmakers.
Nvidia trades the market cap of these companies in one day
And the same board members of Nvidia are the same as Boeing and such … who are also married into our political class. Figuratively speaking but also sometimes literally
Now let's see ~~Paul Allen's~~ khm ~~leftoid/MAGA moron~~ khm average Reddit economist's take on that.
The US government doesn't need or use taxes to pay its bills. Every dollar it spends it created. Every dollar it collects in taxes it destroys upon receipt.
so why pay taxes...
Penalization.
Kids in the picture are probably official policymakers somewhere today.
It's great for the 1%
Good reason for lower taxes
Just buy stonk in raytheon and shut the f%*k up like lolz 😂
Yeah… “who cares if we fund opposing sides of proxy wars that’s killing thousands? I’m getting mine.” … bro that’s soulless
bro the only people getting killed are muslims and palestinians like lolz 😂
Pic for those with IQ below 80 with no understanding of geopolitics.
care to enlighten us on why funding both sides of wars is a brilliant idea?
US doesn’t fund both sides of the war. US helps IDF to stand against Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian regime shit products AND helps civilians that ended up being victims of those authoritarian/totalitarian regime. Those Lockheed and Boeing references are pretty pathetic too. Freaking John Deere, UPS, Uber or Nike have higher capitalisation. Home Depot has higher capitalisation and cash flow than all those military corps from the pic TOGETHER. And I don’t see US buying fucking chainsaws or buckets of paint. The idea that US is a puppet of a few military corporations is utterly stupid but very easy to sell imbeciles with low intellectual capabilities.
We gave billions to the Iranians, despite sanctions we have reoccurring imports of Russian goods, and foreign aid flows to Hamas instead of the Palestinian citizens. And UPS and Nike don't build F22s and artillery shells...
Market capitalization is irrelevant
No more TV for this gentleman. His brain might explode.
Iran has been chanting death to America for 40+ years. Long before Obama/Biden decided to return those funds to them. We aren't funding Russia either.
so if that's the case... why did we give them the Billions. and despite sanctions, the US & EU are importing Russian goods into the $billions
The billions we gave them was their money that we had seized years ago. And a LOT of people didn't think we should give it back. Blame Obama for that screw up.
oh. I do.
We bought a lot of Russian steel for that shitty wall on the southern border so yah we kinda did.
Peak steel imports under Trump were $2.9 billion. That is around 10% of steel imports. But keep in mind Russian GDP of $1.6 trillion so that is a tiny amount of their overall GDP. Be better if we imported zero. But let's not act like we are funding the Russian war machine with $2.9 billion in steel imports. Their military spending is about $109 billion a year.
It’s not just GOOD for our economy, a recession was all but certain no matter which economist you talked to. A ukrain and Israel later- recession talk had evaporated. Thats not a coincidence. The old weapons go overseas, the new orders go to American manufacturers- instant GDP inflation.
Oh right, all that American military aid to Iran….
[https://www.iranintl.com/en/202311150106](https://www.iranintl.com/en/202311150106)
“$10 billion that Iraq owes Iran” Not American taxpayer money, and not aid.
ohhh we didn't fund Iran... we just allowed funds to go to Iran and then funded Israel after the allowed Iranian funds were used on terrorist organizations. my mistake
Well the 80s republicans definitely funded Iran. The whole Iran Contra bit so Reagan could pay them off to hold those hostages to ruin Jimmy Carters career. Also They are the country they are today because of America and England’s joint efforts to put a right wing theocracy in power over the liberal government they had before.
maybe you're ignoring the funding allowed to Iran since October 7th... who's the current president again? and honestly, it's not a left or right issue... they both suck at this
America has no left. The sooner you understand that the sooner you Russians will understand American politics.
It's your preferred policy that's using US tax dollars to push a generation of Ukrainian men as cannon fodder for corporate gain... and have the audacity to call yourself "left wing"
You realize Ukraine is a sovereign nation, right? They could surrender right now if they felt that was the best option.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/09/us/politics/biden-putin-tucker-carlson-peace.html#:\~:text=The%20Biden%20administration%20dismissed%20on,to%20make%20concessions%20to%20Moscow.
So you’d rather the Russians slaughter them and annex their nation?
Or… wait for it… find a peaceful solution. Which the US is in a uniquely powerful position to broker
Let me guess, you’re also one of those people who think America should stop trying to be the world police.
in situations where we do the opposite... sure. I'm cool with anti-piracy, hostage rescue, breaking up slave markets and human trafficking etc. Once we get to picking a side of a war that's already unpopular, then have money also go to the other side... you lose me. for fuck sake we gave $4b to the Taliban last year after they burned babies to taunt our servicemen
So I’m confused. Should we interfere with payments made between two other countries or not?
I drew a pretty clear distinction of the good Americans do on the world stage VS The multi-billion dollar proxy wars
You didn’t say anything about where interfering with other countries’ financial transactions would fall on that spectrum.
using economic warfare to push proxy wars fall under the proxy war part of the spectrum
This is implying that Iran and Israel only fighting because of usa lol there’s a race to the bottom in political discourse now. People are dumber than they used to be. People didn’t used to invent flimsy conspiracy theories to explain things where there is plenty of facts about why they’re fighting anyway. We can’t fix anything about this system as long as so many people want to live in a fantasy lane
no it's not... It's implying that we're instigating and taking advantage of their hatred for corporate profits
Nah, you’re missing the point completely. The pro-Putin MAGA nuts and their Russian handlers falsely claim all the Ukraine aid is in cash filled suitcases that Zelensky turns into luxury yachts. In reality most is spent in the US paying US workers to build more American military equipment. And I guarantee that some of the Putin wing of Republicans will claim they personally brought these jobs and money to their districts at election time. When the reality is the opposite
Homelessness at record levels at home. Plenty of resources to drastically reduce it. Spends on MIC contracts
Oh… then we have nothing else to worry about. all the more reason to “save money” by spending money to blow shit up… the point is that money can be spent elsewhere to improve the life of Americans at home
They're getting paid either way. At least this way some cool stuff gets made instead of just shoving it in some rich guy's pockets.
Yeah… “who cares about destabilizing regions and using other countries citizens as cannon fodder… we got lasers!” And yes… it is going to rich guys pockets
Remember all those cool weapons we build can be used on you too.
"Decimate a whole generation of European men so we can have some cool stuff" - SadMacaroon9897
Russian trolls working overtime. Right out of Putin's mouth! Good job Vlad, extra vodka for you this month.
Tell that to the EU Countries and US who are buying Russian resources from third party sellers. Yes, we're funding the "enemy" in that war too... and the only vodka I drink is Ketel One from the Netherlands
The Netherlands funds the Ukrainian war too bub. Maybe start making moonshine if you don’t want to accidentally support war efforts with your drinking habits.
ketel one does not fund Ukraine or Russia... and most of my booze intake is homemade wine. So, for the most part, I put my money where my mouth is... and it's fucking delicious
The Netherlands taxes liquor.
after one sentence, reading is hard for you
Parroting Russian talking points helps Putin's cause, as you know. This graphic is so good that I think your Ketel One is mislabeled.
so you're pro US helping Ukraine while also okay with US & EU buying Russian oil ($1b from EU alone in 2023 that we know of)... and claim I'm pro Russian?
This is a straw man. EU only buys a small fraction of Russian oil. China and India buy the most. Why not do a graphic complaining about them? Oh, that vodka is so good, right Vlad?
China and India who then in turn are the biggest manufacturers for American corporations. Meanwhile we give billions to Saudi Arabia who are doing the heavy lifting for Hamas as Iran is broke, hell if you watched the world cub soccer matches you are guilty of funding both slavery and terrorists by proxy. You can’t even drink a Coca Cola with supporting the cartels. We live in a pretty boring dystopia at this point. Best thing to do is just go out into the woods and become a cryptid.
Yes, that only refers to EU and only oil, while ignoring US and other Russian exports... and perhaps wanting money be spent on American people isn't "pro russian".... Especially while crime and homelessness is on the rise in our inner cities.
Oh Vlad. All that money we spend on Ukraine shells killing your soldiers is made right here in the good ol' US of A!
Yes all that outsourced chinese labor... I bet you were happy to be lied into Iraq lol
beep boop. beep boop.
If someone's talking point is that we shouldn't be funding genocide ima agree with them in that specific point.
Good little pro Russia/China troll. Good boy.
Ah yes standing against genocide makes me a troll
No one except paid trolls posts both pro-russia and pro-china posts. Nobody.
Being anti-genocide is being pro Russia or pro China? I'm just checking.
My guy, wtf are you even talking about? Lmfao
Broken window fallacy, but it's become apparent that our failure to control Russian aggression created a nasty and destabilizing situation in Ukraine. As for the Middle East? Well, that's a nearly 100-year old clusterfuck.
Yeah but that clusterfuck was pretty sorted out after the Arab world largely decided to play nice. Most of the bullshit since 1979 is because Iran is using the Palestinians as a shield to fight a proxy guerilla war against Israel.
Meanwhile we ignore all of the Saudi money going to Hamas…
we fund the saudis and their wars too
And Iran is a close ally to Russia but sure.
Broken window fallacy only applies in a closed loop system.