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docrhw Weil's avatar

But it's not just about war; it's the endless expense of preparation for war. Every Congressional district gets a piece of the pie. With a federal budget of 7.2 trillion dollars and "defense" being 10.5% of that, it's a big pie, and no other country even comes close. And incidentally that also amounts to almost half of all federal discretionary spending, so it sucks the oxygen out of what else can be done. And all this assumes no off-the-books spending too.

Naturally we need a reasonably large Pentagon establishment, but the point is that even without a shooting conflict (directly or through proxies, such as what we're doing to Yemen), the destruction of democracy can be exactly the same. It just takes longer and is more subtle. Throw in Citizens United and it's obvious where Congressional and Presidential interests lie.

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alis's avatar

The Russians attribute their prosperity to Putin. During the time they have joined the rest of the world and enjoyed the results, he is all they have known. Plus, there is a generation gap; the old ones remember the lines to purchase anything.

Politically, Russia also has a big rural/city divide just like ours. Putin isn't the only one still smarting about the break-up of the USSR. They were raised on cold war propaganda, so were we. But, here is the difference: travel and communication has been wide-open in the country we grew-up in.

I do think the Russians know a lot more in 2022 than they ever did, but many vote their pocketbook. It's kind of ugly....we would know.

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