Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 83 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

Daily Inspiration — My Modest Proposal for the US Military Budget

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   6 comments, In Series: Daily Inspiration
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Josh Mitteldorf
Become a Fan
  (53 fans)

I just received a survey in the mail from the Democratic National Committee asking about my priorities. There were about a hundred check boxes, but not one related to peace. (But several asked if I wanted to raise our military profile or "stand up to Putin".)

Here's my proposal. At present, the US military budget is more than 1/3 of the world's total, more than the next ten countries combined. That doesn't include the black budget, hidden from Congress and from the American people, which according to this Michigan State Univ study is three times larger than the official accounting on which the chart below is based.

Effective immediately, I propose that We the People demand our legislators take action to end the black budget and limit the official budget to the sum of Russia + China together. This comes to an 80% reduction. Starting tomorrow, we spend only 1/5 as much on guns and bombs.

We should then announce that we will limit our future military spending in the same manner, never to exceed the next two rivals* combined, so that as other countries reduce their military, the US will follow them in disarmament.

*Saudi Arabia is a special case. Historically, they have been the largest supplier of crude oil to the US, and in order to avoid a lopsided balance of payments, the House of Saud royal family has purchased far more American hi-tech weapons than any other country.

Well Said 2   Interesting 2   Valuable 2  
Rate It | View Ratings

Josh Mitteldorf Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in


Josh Mitteldorf, de-platformed senior editor at OpEdNews, blogs on aging at http://JoshMitteldorf.ScienceBlog.com. Read how to stay young at http://AgingAdvice.org.
Educated to be an astrophysicist, he has branched out from there (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Twitter Bans The Donald

Cold Fusion: Tangible Hope in an Age of Despair

Artificial Earthquakes

New Scientific Study: Smoking Gun Evidence of 9/11 Explosives in WTC Dust

PayPal cuts off Bradley Manning Legal Defense; Backs Off under Grass Roots Pressure

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend