Posted by tangplay on 2/9/2019 9:27:00 PM (view original):

Posted by strikeout26 on 2/9/2019 8:42:00 PM (view original):

Posted by wylie715 on 2/9/2019 8:35:00 PM (view original):

Posted by strikeout26 on 2/9/2019 7:46:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tangplay on 2/9/2019 5:47:00 PM (view original):

Posted by wylie715 on 2/9/2019 4:12:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tangplay on 2/9/2019 12:18:00 AM (view original):
Education and infrastructure are two.

Proportional paying is better than just paying the same amount.

yeah, but the public education system and the infrastructure in this ountry have been going downhill for a while. Unfortunately, that is not where most of our taxes are going.

Well, yeah, but those are still valid arguments.

If it suits you, a lot of taxpayer money goes to the military.

Interesting question:
Should you be able to conscientiously object to your tax money going to the military?

For sure. You can consciencely object to your tax dollars going to anything. It would be pointless as the majority of the country realize the necessity of a military, but you can object to whatever you want.

of course it is necessary to have a military, but I question whether it is necessary to spend that much on it.. Also, I could be wrong, but I think tan was asking if it is legal to object to takes going to the military by not paying said taxes. I don 't think anyone likes paying taxes, regardless of what they pay for.

Yeah, we could definitely cut the military budget by a significant portion and still have just as strong of a military.

We are all in agreement here.

Well, not all. The military budget could be cut somewhat without a deleterious impact but not significantly. I am of the firm belief that the only reason our country is still here is because of an overwhelming military presence.

what could have happened to our country

give me a scenario where post 1945 less military spending would necessarily have resulted in the end of the USA

Canada and Mexico in a massive pincer move split us in two at Topeka Kansas?

Posted by bagchucker on 2/10/2019 12:06:00 PM (view original):
what could have happened to our country

give me a scenario where post 1945 less military spending would necessarily have resulted in the end of the USA

We can't what-if this because the situation never arose because of our overwhelming military and the projection of its strength.

The United States of America is an empire...territorially, militarily, extra-territorially and economically. Not just an empire, the pre-eminent empire since at least the conclusion of WWI. Most people don't like to acknowledge this but it is a capital fact. All of recorded history shows what happens to pre-eminent empires when they decline in strength. I don't necessarily want to be around when the USA version of the Fall of Rome happens. The other thing all of recorded history shows is that pre-eminence, and empires in general, never last and will fall.

20 -40 billion less from 700 billion is not going to cause the collapse of the usa.
the people also need to be strong.

you said "I am of the firm belief that the only reason our country is still here is because of an overwhelming military presence."

so i'm asking

what could have killed our country had we not an overwhelming military presence

post 1945

Posted by bagchucker on 2/10/2019 12:44:00 PM (view original):
you said "I am of the firm belief that the only reason our country is still here is because of an overwhelming military presence."

so i'm asking

what could have killed our country had we not an overwhelming military presence

post 1945

I just answered that question. It is impossible to know the unknown. Everything we have done since 1945 has preserved our position as #1. It's not necessarily any single act, which is what you apparently want me to list, (like the Marshall Plan or our occupation of Japan for 8ish years) that can be parsed. It is the totality of all American policies, in intricate combination, that has created the current situation we live in today.

Delete any historical action and an unknown set of new conditions arise and, thus, an alternate reality. If Napoleon had been killed in the Egyptian Campaign of 1798, what would have happened in Europe during the early 1800s and how would that have changed the European landscape leading up to WWI, which led to WWII and so on? Who the hell knows...because alternate realities are fiction.

so if we spent more money at home and built a more moral country at home we might be more powerful today.....impossible to say that isnt true.

Posted by dino27 on 2/10/2019 12:41:00 PM (view original):
20 -40 billion less from 700 billion is not going to cause the collapse of the usa.
the people also need to be strong.

The first part of your post I'll leave alone. We could have endless semanitcal differences there.

The second part is absolutely true. It could be argued that cultural decay (or whatever represents national unity) is just as damaging as outright military/economic decay. History supports that theory in spades.

Posted by gomiami1972 on 2/10/2019 1:28:00 PM (view original):

Posted by dino27 on 2/10/2019 12:41:00 PM (view original):
20 -40 billion less from 700 billion is not going to cause the collapse of the usa.
the people also need to be strong.

The first part of your post I'll leave alone. We could have endless semanitcal differences there.

The second part is absolutely true. It could be argued that cultural decay (or whatever represents national unity) is just as damaging as outright military/economic decay. History supports that theory in spades.

i am also a big believer that human behavior has patterns and those who do not study and learn from history are doomed to repeat the failures.

Posted by bronxcheer on 2/10/2019 1:29:00 PM (view original):

i like ike...a lot.

off the top of my head imo the 5 best republican presidents are :

1. ABE LINCOLN - the goat
2. IKE - the tank
4. RON - the inverse of LBJ...the collapse of soviet union and his role by itself ensures greatness.
4. TED - the spirit of the american empire
5. GEORGE 1 - the most underrated president and mensch.

Posted by dino27 on 2/10/2019 1:39:00 PM (view original):

Posted by gomiami1972 on 2/10/2019 1:28:00 PM (view original):

Posted by dino27 on 2/10/2019 12:41:00 PM (view original):
20 -40 billion less from 700 billion is not going to cause the collapse of the usa.
the people also need to be strong.

The first part of your post I'll leave alone. We could have endless semanitcal differences there.

The second part is absolutely true. It could be argued that cultural decay (or whatever represents national unity) is just as damaging as outright military/economic decay. History supports that theory in spades.

i am also a big believer that human behavior has patterns and those who do not study and learn from history are doomed to repeat the failures.

Amen.

What the United States is experiencing right now has happened many times before. If you don't get hung up on specific details but look at it conceptually (through the lens of history,) it wouldn't be hard to predict the end result.

It is never a question of what...only when.

Posted by gomiami1972 on 2/10/2019 12:02:00 AM (view original):

Posted by tangplay on 2/9/2019 9:27:00 PM (view original):

Posted by strikeout26 on 2/9/2019 8:42:00 PM (view original):

Posted by wylie715 on 2/9/2019 8:35:00 PM (view original):

Posted by strikeout26 on 2/9/2019 7:46:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tangplay on 2/9/2019 5:47:00 PM (view original):

Posted by wylie715 on 2/9/2019 4:12:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tangplay on 2/9/2019 12:18:00 AM (view original):
Education and infrastructure are two.

Proportional paying is better than just paying the same amount.

yeah, but the public education system and the infrastructure in this ountry have been going downhill for a while. Unfortunately, that is not where most of our taxes are going.

Well, yeah, but those are still valid arguments.

If it suits you, a lot of taxpayer money goes to the military.

Interesting question:
Should you be able to conscientiously object to your tax money going to the military?

For sure. You can consciencely object to your tax dollars going to anything. It would be pointless as the majority of the country realize the necessity of a military, but you can object to whatever you want.

of course it is necessary to have a military, but I question whether it is necessary to spend that much on it.. Also, I could be wrong, but I think tan was asking if it is legal to object to takes going to the military by not paying said taxes. I don 't think anyone likes paying taxes, regardless of what they pay for.

Yeah, we could definitely cut the military budget by a significant portion and still have just as strong of a military.

We are all in agreement here.

Well, not all. The military budget could be cut somewhat without a deleterious impact but not significantly. I am of the firm belief that the only reason our country is still here is because of an overwhelming military presence.

US interventionism has NEVER succeeded since 1945, and the US does not have to spend this much to protect ourselves. We are in a very strategic position geographically. No one is going to attack us, even if we cut the budget in half.