Chalmers Johnson makes a great point in the interview below. The annual trillion reflected in the pie chart is only part of our military and security related expenditures. For example, our Nuclear Weapons program is in the Dept. of Energy, not defense. Our wounded are treated and cared for by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. The massive foreign military aid we provide to other countries comes from the State Department’s budget, and the protecting of this country – since our Dept. of Defense is actually our Dept. of Offense – is conducted by the Dept. of Homeland Security.

It’s also important to see through the illusion that military creates jobs. It does not. Every dollar spend on military things represents a dollar taken away from the real economy which produces goods and services that people voluntarily purchase. The public (coercive) sector of the economy feeds off the private (voluntary) sector.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 4:27 am and is filed under War Without End.