Once upon a time, civilians could open up their bank accounts and get the latest howitzer and grape-shot that money could buy. And for awhile, civilians were armed “better” than our military (Think the old west with the Winchester repeaters and Henry’s out there).
That is as it should be.
I would not mind our military becoming much much smaller in peacetime except for the forces responsible for the technical stuff like jets, satellites, missiles and stuff.
I think the era of massive standing armies is crazy
Think “Letters of Marque and Reprisal”.