Maggie's Farm

The cost of our military is out of control. This video is just another piece of propaganda designed to make people think that the military makes "real men."

If it were up to me, I would cut the salary of all soldiers by 50%.
Then their claims of patriotism would at least be believable.

Hi Ron,

I disagree with the term "served." Lazy ass soldiers, and public servants use that term to try and lend moral authority to the fact that 99% of them sit around on their fat asses all day; and do nothing. There is no service being rendered. Unless drinking beer and watching porn is a service.

And I'm amused by your claim that "serving" imparts some kind of secret mystical knowledge. The only thing that the military does is teach men not to think: just follow orders.

Th real problem is that the military, through endless propaganda (like "Black hawk Down") has convinced people that we need to spend a fortune to have a military. That's not true. We could cut the military budget by 50% and we would still be able to fight.

That's a fair question.

Unfortunately, the military doesn't make it easy to analyze their budget. What I do know is that we have a lot of military bases, and at least some of them could be closed. Fort Knox is a good example. Anyway, here is a list of topics in which the military claims to be involved. If it were up to me, I would reduce this list to five items; and reduce the size and scope of the military accordingly.

Agriculture
Budget
CBO Operations
Climate and Environment
Defense and National Security
Defense Budget
Military and Veterans' Health Care
Military Personnel
Weapon Systems
Disaster Preparation and Relief
Dynamic Analysis
Economy
Education
Employment and Labor Markets
Energy and Natural Resources
Finance
Health Care
Homeland Security
Housing
Immigration
Income Distribution
Infrastructure and Transportation
Mandates
Poverty and Income Security
Retirement
Science and Research and Development
Social Security
State and Local Governments
Taxes
Veterans' Issues

Hi Mike,

I had to laugh when I read your post, because military people are such intellectual cowards that they always resort to name calling, and the use of personal insults. That's a lot easier than discussing the facts.

So let's talk about my "rant." First of all, other soldiers are not your brothers. Just because you imagine some mystical brotherhood does not mean that it's real. Unless you are referring to the brotherhood of freeloaders.

Now let's talk about your "willingness" to defend my freedom. The military is the most secretive organization in the world; they do not believe in freedom of speech, and they never have.
Right now, freedom of speech is under attack from every direction; copyright, hate speech, etc.

And just so you know, two homosexuals got married at West Point last month. So let's be honest: you and your tax-funded friends don't believe in anything. They could appoint a Lesbian chief of staff, and you wouldn't say a word. So spare me the moral posturing.

Now let's get down to the actual budget. Right now, we are spending 600 Billion dollars a year, and getting nothing in return. There is no conflict taking place. Further, in the future,
most major conflicts will be nuclear, so no troops will be needed. So what if the budget was cut by 50%? What would we lose? The answer is: nothing. We would simply stop buying things that the military doesn't need. We don't need new ships, or aircraft, or M-16 rifles. In fact, the military is drowning in equipment; they don't even know what to do with it all, so they store it in the desert.

So let me ask you a question: If the budget were cut by 50%, which bases would you close?