You can judge the character of a person by what the person spends his or her money on.
You can judge the character of a nation the same way.
Our military budget is larger than that of the next 10 nations COMBINED.
The U.S. military is planning on buying a total 2,443 F-35 jets. Since the pricing of each jet is not clear, because they are sold in “batches” where the costs of development are sometimes wrapped into the planes, I find it difficult to figure out how much individual planes actually cost. I have come up with up to $200 million each, but on the low end around $100 million each (source).
Let’s say we’re on the low end at $100 million for each plane.
Trump and DeVos just suggested we cut the entire budget of the Special Olympics – about $17 million a year. We know Trump caved after the public outrage that announcement created. Two billionaires, two kleptocrats, trying to take the Special Olympics out of the government’s budget – in our name!
Let me suggest the following:
I don’t think we need 2,443 F-35 jets. I think 2,442 will do just fine. And we’ll take the $100 million we saved and fund the Special Olympics for about six years straight.
We can live with one less F-35, right?
Dumb countries always fight with the tools of the last war — more jets ain’t gonna keep American’s electoral/water supply grid from collapse by cyberwar.
My neighbor at the time of 9/11 was a world expert on future weapons. It took him six months to process (and forgive himself) for the hijacker’s use of box cutters to bring down the WTC.