Because if we don't outspend everyone else in the world on defense, then they might all band together and attack us at once, and then where will we be?
Reshared post from +Gov. Gary Johnson
Defense Secretary Hagel's proposal for "deep" cuts in military spending is, of course, being met with cries of pain and warnings of doom. While the details remain to be seen, and we may quibble with the specifics of the reductions, some context is in order:
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Is this adjusted? I get that the US spends a lot more, but how much do we pay per weapon, vehicle and soldier?
I'd also like to see these numbers adjusted as a %GDP.
Top 10 on that chart, expressed as % of GDP: (data from worldbank.org)
United States: 4.2%
China: 2.0%
Russian Federation: 4.5%
United Kingdom: 2.5%
Japan: 1.0%
France: 2.3%
India: 2.4%
Germany: 1.3%
Saudi Arabia: 8.0%
South Korea: 2.8%
Wikipedia also has a list with absolute and % of GDP expenditures, but the data is slightly different (taken from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). According to that data, the U.S. Accounts for 39% of all global defense spending.
It should also be noted that Saudi Arabia includes as 'defense spending' things that we would consider 'police spending' (the official term is "public order and safety"), so their percentage is likely overstated.
Dunno- Patrick may be on to something. Perhaps the Pentagon heard about the ‘Porsche’ version of the Tiger Tank, and are ordering Aston Martin M1’s…