we don’t. We already spend four times as much as China now on the military. However we need to maintain greater military capabilities than any country in the world as a deterrence. Otherwise none of the stuff we discuss at this site even matters if we cannot maintain our freedom.
The chart is misleading. It should not be in percentage terms and perhaps not even in dollars but in military capabilities. Then one could estimate dollar spending projections and the percentage increase needed to stay ahead of the others. Whoever put that chart together was not too good in mathematical analysis. They just wanted a headline.
That is always a liberal argument, that we spend blah blah more as much as blah blah. Never fall for it.
First of all, we estimate what each nation spends on its military. They don't exactly publish it as we do.
Next, we hold a technological edge in many areas, and those are expensive, but they don't trump all. In the end, flying hot lead is just as deadly.
EXAMPLE: the US military buys a set of combat fatigues for $200 per pair. That cost includes R&D, liability insurance for the company, product safety, union wages, and a whole host of other costs that reflect doing business in America.
China's military pays $25 for a set of combat fatigues. Maybe not as good, or maybe better, but in the end, they outfit a soldier for much less than ours.
Each soldier deploying to Afghanistan has nearly $25,000 worth of gear going with him, but in the end, he can die just as easily from a single bullet as the Islamic fighter.
We also pay our military better, and give them better benefits. In my mind, they deserve them, and so do their families, especially when this nation is shelling out Trillion in giveaways to people who never lifted a finger for this nation.
China's military is mandatory, and they don't care so much about things like housing, pay, educational benefits, or health care for their people.
All I am saying to you is it is not a one-to-one comparison. Look at the number of ships, troops, and aircraft of military's side by side. That tells you a lot more than dollars vs. their currency converted to dollars of what we estimate they produce, procure, spend, and field.
Deterrence to protect others, not against us. We're spending hundreds of billions of our dollars so other countries don't have to.
I actually like the percentage increase better than I like “dollars” because that doesn’t mean anything when they pay a private $1000 a year and we pay a private a package that probably totals 35,000 a year (counting all benefits actually used). Of course their dollar costs are lower than ours, but they get a lot more bang for their buck.
Probably the same with operations and training. Something tells me they don’t pay a dime for “maneuver damage” and that field rats consist of rice, sometimes served with pepper and sometimes not.
“Otherwise none of the stuff we discuss at this site even matters if we cannot maintain our freedom.”
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How true, it is amazing how some people still seem to think of this country as being “the last bastion of freedom”. In truth we have NO REAL FREEDOM left in this country. Anyone who imagines otherwise needs to look around and smell the coffee.