Comments by "whyamimrpink78" (@whyamimrpink78) on "Trump Brags About Mega-Bloated Military Budget" video.

GDP is the standard. Per capita isn't because you can have a large GDP with a small population. GDP is your economy and dictates government spending. You have to go off of GDP. If you want to just look at raw dollars or per capita than you can make the same argument for education that we spend too much and thus should cut. Not saying I support cuts in education, just saying you can't be moving the goal posts when discussing other issues.
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" So many of these other countries have free college, Healthcare, and other programs for their citizens. We're simply pointing out an easy way for us to get the money to pay for those things" Cutting defense spending to zero would not come close to funding those programs. That is true in other countries as well. "If our GDP is so huge that we can spend 1% of it on our military and it still be better than everyone else is in the world" We have more to defend and we are more involved in the world due to our size. That is why you can't just say "if we cut we will still be big".
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Michio, we have been cutting defense spending for over 50 years. In 1960 it was 10% of GDP, now it is less than 4%. Meanwhile we have increased federal government spending and in the 60s added Medicare and medicaid along with OSHA and the Department of Ed. We have troops over seas for several reasons. One is to help train other defenses and just being around to international relations.
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Aaron, defense spending is less than 20% of the federal budget. Also, it doesn't matter as defense spending is constitutional and you have the states and local budgets as well.
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"y your logic if our economy crashed and GDP went way down, then we'd need less weapons to fight the same enemy than when the economy was strong." That is an argument. But is also depends on the situation in if we are at war or not. "You are right that the US could save a lot of money by adopting single payer or at least a hybrid" Based on what?
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"Well fuck the rest of the world then." How liberal of you.
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killerbee256, that is some Alex Jones level of conspiracy there.
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bryan s, other nations lack in R&D and have lower quality as well. Simply saving money is not an argument if the quality you receive sucks. There is a lot to healthcare. Just saying "other countries have it cheaper" is not an argument. My rent is cheaper than that of my boss. Does that mean my apartment is better?
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Defense is less than 20% of the federal budget and is less than 4% of our GDP. That is a drop in a bucket compared to education and healthcare. There lies the difference. Also, defense spending is constitution, healthcare isn't.
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Why?
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Taknom, now compare to percent GDP. Yes, other nations spend less, but their economies are also smaller as well.
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Taknom, other nations spend less on education as well. Does that mean we should cut there?
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"But, look at the other economies, they are much smaller and belong to countries that are thriving, and are a lot better off than America in many aspects." That's vague. Better how? And why? You have to realize the differences in culture as well. "The education budget is not comparable to the military budget, and our education system is different than the rest of the worlds. And here's an explanation of country expenditures for education, do read the entire thing, as it can help explain why other countries have better education systems in general." Saying other countries have better education systems is very vague as well. One can argue that the US has the best education system. Also, education budget is around the same as our defense budget as most is funded by the state and local governments.
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Taknom, it is vague. By what measure are their economies better? There are several. Also, why? There is a lot to a country's economy. Just saying a country is better is vague. Same with education. "Looking at the lives of people in other countries, they are much better than in the US in many of the top most modern countries." In what ways, and why? "Many countries also rank higher in their education systems than the US. " Again, in what ways, and why? I can argue the US is near the top because we are in the top 5 in productivity. Do you want great test takers or productive workers? But I can also argue that productivity is based on resources. Norway is in the top 5 but that is because of their massive oil production. Also, the US has 320+ million people. Is it really fair to compare us to countries smaller than many of our states? Our diversity alone brings major challenges. Living in two different states 1500 miles apart I have seen many differences in culture. To say other countries are "better" is very vague and not really an argument.
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" you again are expecting me to explain everything just to prove my point, when you easily can find the answers, or they are already common knowledge." It isn't common knowledge to start. Next, I have studied education for over a year with the desire of being a teacher, and I still keep up on it. So I know a decent amount about it. I also study economics and taking a graduate level course on it as well. The fact is on these issues there are many variables to where you, and I, cannot say that other countries are better or worse. " People are happier in other countries" That is subjective. People in other countries, and in the US, hardly experience other cultures and countries. So to say they are happy is very deceptive. That depends on the individual. People in the US who are, on paper, poor are happy as they are content. Suicide rates are higher with people with higher incomes for example. Also, in the US it depends on where you live. One of my friends lives near Mountain View, CA and it takes them an hour to drive to work which is 10 miles a way. It takes my dad 45 minutes to drive 45 miles to his work in rural midwest. Living in that different traffic can influence happiness. It is very subjective. To say they are "happier" is very vague, and a low bar to set. "they have improved living conditions" So does the US. We lead the world in R&D in healthcare and technology. "and their education systems aren't based around creating bot like factory workers." And many schools in the US aren't either. It depends. There is no one size fits all policy. In Germany they track their students to where if they feel you cannot attend college they won't place you on that route starting in high school. In the US we have, arguably, the best university system in the world and this is seen with the number of international students. "Those are the most basic reasons other countries are better." Which is your problem. This is not something you can be basic about. You are giving talking points on a complex issue. You saying other countries have it better is vague. I asked you for details and you just simply say "just because". At that point I can 100% dismiss our argument. It is not to be rude to you but instead it is challenging you to defend your point. If you can then great. But right now you aren't. You are telling me to look this information up when in reality I have, and my knowledge of it has it so I am not making a vague claim like you are. If I do I will defend it. I understand how complex these issues are and using the very low, and subjective standard of happiness shows how poor your argument can be. Challenge yourself. You are telling me to look up the information. I have. I want you to do it now.
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"omfg you are seriously mistaken if you say that certain things that I've explained aren't common knowledge" Scholars argue these issues a lot. When I was studying education one of my professors said he can easily argue the US has the best education system in the world based on our population alone. "It's obvious that at one point, you will learn about life in other countries, and how compared to the US, it is so much better in a lot of them. " Again, based on what? " Everyone thinks happiness is having everything you want, when in reality, happiness can be achieved by having a good home to live in, a decent making in their job, and a good education." Define "decent". Define a "good education". And again, happiness is 100% subjective. "The US fails miserably in all those categories. " How, and in what ways? "Just about all the houses in my neighborhood have issues, never mind the rest of my city. " And? In other nations people have issues as well. And even they are subjective. " Most of that is due to people just barely getting by on their paycheck, literally living week to week with it. " That is common in all nations. "Our education level nationally is so low compared to other countries," Again, how? "our writing seems like you are blindly following the rhetoric that most politicians right now are giving out, the basic " we're the best country, because we say we are!", " Actually I never said the US was the best. " when studies show that it just isn't true in the slightest!" What studies? I can give you an entire book showing how other nations have many problems in healthcare. "You're telling me the exact same thing I told you, because my words don't fit your views, " No, it is because you have not given any details on how those other nations are better, you just say they are. " I'm telling you to look it up because you don't actually seem to know what is actually going on," Look up where? Fox News? PragerU? You are not even pointing me to a direction. You make a claim, say it is common knowledge (which is a logical fallacy), and tell me to "look it up". "All you've blabbed about is how I'm being vague, not once stopping to consider that just because you can't comprehend it immediately doesn't mean it's vague. " Scholars spend years studying these issues and write entire books on them. What you are saying is vague.
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You can't do that as it violates NATO. Also, doing so will not do anything as defense is less than 4% of GDP to begin with.
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You can't cut any system that much as it would be a shock to the economy. What would you do with the new unemployed workers of the military?
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Michio, the Fed is independent of the government. It raised interest rates to combat inflation. We are seeing inflation due to a growing economy. We have unemployment below the "natural rate" along with a growing labor participation rate. The Fed has to raise interest rates. That is independent on what goes on with the national debt. Also, raising taxes on the rich does not always mean more tax revenue.
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"How the heck would raising taxes not mean an increase of revenue?" What's higher? 10% of 1000 or 50% of 100? Cutting taxes allows for others to grow the economy. If you cut from 50% to 10% and the economy grows from 100 to 1000, you now have more revenue.
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Richard, I was talking about percent GDP essentially. Not 100 people vs 1000 people.
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Ricard, GDP is the standard to go off of.
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Leinja, I doubt you have even studied economics.
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Richard, to expand on what I mean, if you look at tax revenue in this country it has been around 15 to 20 percent of GDP. If you grow the economy you can get more out of that 15 to 20 percent. One argument is that you do that by allowing investors to invest. Right now that is being done and there are several signs of the economy growing under Trump.
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Leinja, I doubt it.
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StrikeWing17971, the economy is growing right now.
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