We could also rid this country of tax exempt churches and other organizations that interfere in politics violating their 501c3 status or molest children.... Then we can also end the Trump tax cuts and raise the upper tier tax rate to at least 70% so that in 10 years we could be debt free... FYI ending the Trump tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy in this country would save almost 2 trillion a year...

Yemen, Sudan, Sunni vs. Shi-ite, Isreal vs. Hezbollah, Myanmar, Xi and Tibet, ...

True but it is us ordinary people who give these madmen their power. Without our support they would be nobodies. I think we should look into ourselves beefore we elect or point a finger at someone else.

@vocaloldfart I would agree with you in some cultures, but not in others. I cite North Korea and Josef Stalin as counter-examples.

@anglophone There are many examples of such despots we would have been better off without. Is it not the anger and hatred espoused by these animals that fuels the arms race, expenditures and destruction?? What if we stopped giving them support and attention??

@vocaloldfart It depends on who the "we" are. The citizens of North Korea have a very different relationship with their "Glorious Leader" when compared with the citizens of Ukraine and Zelensky, for example. The citizens of the USA likewise have a very different relationship with their own government.

@anglophone I am honestly really at a loss to understand American politics. The hatred displayed by ordinary citizens for both political parties. Too me it seems like their country is headed for civil war no 2.
In Australia it is "she'll be right mate" ' even when it clearly isn't. We get to choose between dastardly Dutton the disaster or Albo the arsehole.. Simple choices s their policies barely indistinguishable.

@vocaloldfart That's what happens, whether in the US or Australia, when it's a two party system by default, and both parties have become bought by the ruling class. In either country, it's a plutocracy, and not an actual functioning democracy, so the federal elections are mostly a charade, to lull the citizens into thinking they still have a democracy, and that their voting actually matters or will change federal policy.

It is supposed to be "defence spending". What the USA spends on "defence" is the equivalent of a household that instead of just buying some CCTV cameras and improving their locks to employing its own armed security force 24/7. One wonders just how threatening Mexico and Canada are to US borders?
No, the US military is not a "defensive force". They are an "offensive force" and it is used (or the threat of it is used) to try and control the world to be more to America's liking.

@273kelvin I like the way that you have broadened the debate.

If any country appears to look weak, they will try to take over that country. Because certain countries want world domination, all countries should spend for their own defense. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Some countries use their military to gain territories and power, others destabilize the economy and stability of other countries to gain power and economic dominance. England, The United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, Israel, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Portugal. They all do it. This has always been done throughout history, and it will always continue in the future.

There is big money in weapons and warfare, I fear things are never going to change unless we change ourselves. We need to learn to practise ,enforce and make peace a condition of life

It is the way if the world.

true...and I get that the Military Industrial Complex creates jobs...but,..damn.... do we need so much ? and making food and distribution would create jobs too. @Flyingsaucesir

Not only in America, influential chunks of Europe and Asia enjoy a massive economic boost dealing and devising instruments of mass murder.

@Leetx Yes it would if the Republicans hadn't destroyed the family farms in favor of the huge food factories they are now. This started under Nixon and has now gotten to the point where very few are left and those are deeply in debt.

@Leetx Same with building more housing that the unhoused could actually use, would create jobs and solve much of homelessness.

@TomMcGiverin Even ending the legality of allowing equity companies buying up homes and rental properties then jacking up the rents would solve most of that...

@Lizard_of_Ahaz But, but, but.... we can't have that, because it would be interfering with how capitalism is supposed to work...

@TomMcGiverin Have you ever read Adam Smith?.... He hated the idea of Capitalism. Lincoln said that labor was more important than capital because without labor there could be no capital. Socialism is only a governor that keeps the engine of capitalism from running wild and destroying out the society that depends on it...

@Lizard_of_Ahaz Yes, I have..

Russia and America are not the only despots on the planet.

@vocaloldfart America is not yet a despot and won't become one unless the Republicans win in November... Something you are helping them to do and the timing of this reply shows you are likely in Russia posting this where it is now 9AM...