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Capitalism
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2024
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I'll be that guy that says wars cost a fuckton. So the US gov't can't live war to war because it doesn't help them. Not financially anyway.
*I'm getting a lot of similar messages so: Maybe profitable for industries. Expensive for government. Take a look at any federal deficit and debt.
Maybe not the government or citizens, but war helps the congress members, the CEOs of the military industrial complex, and their families get fabulously wealthy.
You can do that without war.
I'm not talking about what could be. I'm talking about the political reality that surrounds us.
Then why does the US government constantly do it? Are they stupid? Or does it indeed help the US as the neocolonial hegemon? ‘How to Hide an Empire’ Shines Light on America’s Expansionist Side
Isn't this the official story? That they're a clumsy giant who just keeps oopse whoopsie-ing into all these atrocities with no selfish motive?
Profitable for industries. Expensive for government. Take a look at any federal deficit and debt.
That’s not really how it works. The federal debt and deficit aren’t what we’re told they are, and inflation isn’t caused by what we’re told, and there is no risk of hyperinflation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_profiteering
The government isn't something that exists above society, but is a facet of it. The MIC directly profits from wars, it pays politicians, politicians are motivated toward hawkish positions, the taxpayer is made to subsidize this. There are many other circuits discussed in the article, as concern the impact war has on the consumer market, how it's used for imperialism, etc.
Ultimately, wealth comes from labor, but the arrangement of war profiteering is extremely good at extracting wealth from labor in all sorts of ways.
Government debt.
People might have an easier time understanding a statement if it's a full sentence.
Seriously? Government debt is different than private MIC profit.
You're asking me to make your argument for you. Use you words.
...I just did.
Can you not try to construct a syllogism for me? Stating one obvious fact is not an argument.
Wars are plenty profitable if you’re a lot bigger than your opponents and can force them to be subservient to your business interests. It’s not a fluke that the richest country on earth is also the one with the most frequent wars.
Is that not the point? Government functions by moving wealth from the public into the private, massive expenses portrayed to be for our benefit end up being excuses for taxes, and the enormous costs facilitate enormous wealth transfers into the private corporations who support and facilitate the wars.
That's a side effect of capitalism and lobbying (aka bribing) the government for preferential treatment. But it's kind of the opposite of the point of government. Most businesses are incredibly selfish and will cut every corner they can without the government there to enforce workplace safety, market rules, and policing fraud and theft.