I hope the young people here realize that SS is not something they can count on anymore and instead focus their years ahead to create wealth and build their own nest egg.
I certainly have been. Obviously like all the other GC holders out there, I get taxed on this but doubt I will ever see a penny of it!
Just looking at that pie chart gives you a good idea how Europe can live so well. If you took out that 20% chunk you could reallocate it to a bunch of social programs. If only there was world peace. I guess until that day comes, having a strong military is a pretty good thing.
Thing is Anthony, it's the overseas expenditures which cost so much and achieve very little. The US and Britain do all the heavy hauling when it comes to the "policeman" role. Obviously Britain has a smaller role, but then the country only has a population of 60m versus 300+ m. The defense expenditure is why Britain has some of the least generous social programmes in Europe.
Take a look at the the EU though as a whole:
It has a combined defense budget of $406,7 billion, 1.5 million active personnel, 4.5 million reserve forces, almost a million paramilitary forces, 7 thousand combat tanks, 3,500+ combat aircraft, 1,300+ logistics aircraft, 7 aircraft carriers, British and French Nuclear submarines and warheads.
Bases in the Falkland Islands, Caribbean, Canada, French Guyana, the Pacific, Atlantic and Med.
I mean who the hell us going to invade that? It would be utterly pointless, and with a population of around 500 million people, if you conscripted those folks the boots you could put on the ground would be massive.
That doesn't include other European nations, who aren't EU members such as Switzerland ( the whole country is riddled with tunnels in order to move troops rapidly through the alps) and Norway.
It's the wars, not the size of the military which are crippling the US. The policeman role is a losing bet in my opinion, we need to pick our battles better. It took 10 years to catch Bin laden and a staggering cost in money and lives.