Recently a friend of mine posted a colorful pie chart on his Facebook page. The chart was notated with percentages of annual federal spending made by our government for various purposes. The largest ‘slice’ was dedicated to military expenditures, a whopping fifty seven percent!
While what is seen on the Internet is often subject to question, I did find this information at least somewhat believable. That got me pondering how a spouse might react to their mate spending fifty seven percent of household income on arms and ammunition. Also having a possible concern about incurring continual credit card debt in support of that addiction, debt that would likely never be paid off. Unconscionable spending, somewhat akin to our steadily increasing federal deficit limit.
I thought about costs of our arguably poorly conceived involvements in Vietnam, Iraq and the perpetual War on Terrorism. I also considered the training and armaments supplied to other countries in support of their conflicts adding considerably more military expenditure. Loss of life and the physical and psychological costs to both servicemen and noncombatants adds another serious dimension of concern. Blame could easily be spread on the administration and congress members of either political party.
President Dwight Eisenhower warned the nation of the threat of what he coined the “Military and Industrial Complex” many years ago, yet the exorbitant military spending continues to rise, lining the pockets of defense contractors and the campaign coffers of politicians generously supported by them. When you go to the polls this November, be very aware of which millionaire campaigning bobbleheads you put in office, despite their party affiliation.
I sincerely believe, after suffering through many hours of the painfully repetitious congressional impeachment hearings, that Shakespeare’s quote “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” would definitely be a good start.
Bob LaMettry, Grand Marais
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