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When some government program fails utterly, you'd think top officials would consider transferring at least part of the taxpayer funds they're spending on it to programs that might actually do some good. When it comes to the U.S. military, however, as TomDispatch regular Andrea Mazzarino makes all too clear today, no such luck. And really, it just couldn't be stranger.
At this point, the U.S. spends more money on its "defense" budget than the next nine countries (mostly allies) combined, a mind-boggling figure. Yet that budget (as well as the larger national security budget) only continues to expand. And here's the truly odd thing: though the U.S. has poured unbelievable sums into its military since the 9/11 attacks and the launching of what quickly came to be known as the Global War on Terror, it hasn't won a war or much of anything else in this century. And now (thank you, Donald Trump and crew!), the country itself seems to be in danger of coming apart at the seams.
It doesn't matter whether you're talking about the invasion of Afghanistan soon after the 9/11 attacks, resulting in a two-decade-long disaster of a losing war, or the invasion of Iraq, which cost so much and led to so little. It hardly matters where you look, in fact. As TomDispatch's Nick Turse recently pointed out, in Africa, where the U.S. has fought a lower-level struggle against terrorism: "In 2002 and 2003, according to State Department statistics, terrorists caused 23 casualties" Last year, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a Pentagon research institution, attacks by Islamist militants in the Sahel alone resulted in 11,643 deaths -- an increase of more than 50,000%."
And yet, as Mazzarino makes clear today, the money just continues to flow into the national security state, while insecurity in this country and the potential chaos that goes with it only increase by the day. Tom
Shooting Alone
America's Social Priorities Shaped by Decades of War
An acquaintance who hails from the same New Jersey town as I do spends his free weekends crawling through the woods on his stomach as part of a firearms training course, green camouflage paint on his face and a revolver in his hand. He considers this both a way to have fun in his free time and to prepare for the supposed threat from immigrants everywhere. ("You never know when something could happen," he tells me.) He's never gun-less. He brings his weapon to diners and dinners, to work meetings, and always on walks in his quiet neighborhood, where he grumbles "this is America!" whenever he hears Spanish spoken by neighbors or passersby. The implication, of course, is that the United States has become both less American and, to him, by definition, less safe in these years.
He spends his other weekends right-swiping on dating apps to try to find a new partner (he's being divorced) and watching -- yep, you guessed it! -- Fox News. He can be counted among a growing population of White, rural Americans who are lonely, lack people to count on as confidants, and feel poorly understood, not to say excluded from this country (at least as they imagine it).
In 2019, even before the Covid pandemic made gatherings more dangerous, social scientists and public officials had already noted an uptick in Americans who would describe themselves as lonely -- nearly three in five -- many from rural areas and many of them older. Today, though schools, parks, and businesses have reopened, things don't seem much better. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently highlighted the problem, claiming that loneliness was as dangerous to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It increases the risk of various illnesses like heart disease and raises quality of life issues like addiction, depression, the urge to commit suicide, and the odds of premature death.
Our poor relationships, in short, are killing us.
Loneliness and a Lack of Self-Control
I'm a clinical social worker who treats Americans from all walks of life, including serving troops and veterans affected by our post-9/11 wars. Since I live in a rural area just outside Washington, D.C., I can work with both city dwellers and farmers in a single day and so get a sense of what seems to shape the wellness (or lack thereof) of an increasingly sweeping demographic. A key insight in my discipline is the value of human connection, particularly relationships with people who understand your experience and can reflect it back to you. I've seen the transformative power of just such relationships and how, when people feel supported and understood, they start to venture out more often, even volunteer in their communities, and cease having angry meltdowns in public. Empathy, in other words, leads to motivation and self-control.
Its underbelly, however, is alienation, loneliness, and their close cousins, anger and fear. I've seen a lot of anger lately in people who, like my friend, rant about immigrants and carry guns on their errands in the name of self-defense, while all too often isolating themselves at home or in solitary activities. Both young adults and older ones tend to feel more isolated than the middle-aged, especially if they're poor and live in rural areas like mine. And many of those who feel lonely and depressed are also angry.
Trump and His Band of Lonely Followers
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