• zombiepete@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This article is obviously being dramatic/hyperbolic; American military leaders are already well aware that in a serious military engagement with China where we go all-out (excluding nukes because that’s a whole different animal) we might lose. That’s why this is being war gamed: the US is working on restructuring the military from how we have been engaged in the Middle East to how we would engage in a serious conflict in the Pacific region.

    These sessions play out a lot of different scenarios that lead to different outcomes; China doesn’t always win, but them “winning” in a protracted military conflict can have a lot of different meanings too. Remember that China has practically zero real-world military experience; it’s why they have been so interested in seeing how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine plays out. They’ve certainly learned a lot, but practical experience is important. There would also be devastating economic consequences for China if they got into a real conflict with a Western nation at this point; even if they pounded Taiwan and the US into short-term submission, they would not come out unscathed and then they would be facing a united Western world that would likely turn its back on them. Not as easy as sanctioning Russia has been, but I think one thing China has seen in Ukraine is that the West is more united and has more will than it might have seemed before the invasion.

    Bottom line is that this shouldn’t freak anyone out: we are learning what our weaknesses are and how to fix them before we get into a real conflict with China, which may never happen. Be glad that the military is working on its strategic posture now! Honestly, what should be scaring younger Americans is how shitty our recruiting is right now…if a conflict did arise in the next few years, you can bet your ass that the draft would come back in a hurry.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OPM
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      1 year ago

      If you disagree with anything specific in the article feel free to let us know and provide sources you’re basing your disagreement on.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OPM
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      1 year ago

      The collapse was already unfolding at least as far back as 2008. The economic crash resulted in a stupendous wealth transfer to the top that left most people in a precarious economic situation, and they’ve been seeing their standard of living declining ever since. This led to loss of faith in the system and opened the door for opportunists like Trump. US is now in a death spiral and it’s not really clear that there is any way out.

  • Landrin201
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    1 year ago

    So, if all they are saying here is true- that we have less people employed in the defense industry, that we aren’t able to keep up manufacturing rates on munitions, etc- then where the fuck is the $870 billion that we spend on the military each year?

    We are spending more on our military than ANY OTHER COUNTRY, including China- where the fuck is that money going?

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆OPM
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      1 year ago

      In fact, US spends more on its military than the next 10 countries COMBINED! The fact that US isn’t able to produce basic things a military needs may seem nonsensical at first, but it’s important to realize what the actual purpose of the military industrial complex in US is. It was created largely as a money laundering scheme which allows diverting public money collected from the taxes from things it’s meant to be used for such as building infrastructure, providing healthcare, education, social services and so on, and instead to put this money back into the pockets of the oligarchs who own the country. This is why US military constantly chases absurd projects like F35 that create incredibly expensive and inefficient weapons that require huge amounts of maintenance. The goal is to suck up as much public money as possible.

      • Landrin201
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        1 year ago

        Oh I fully agree, it’s just so frustrating to hear literal military personnel complaining about this shit when they are being handed nearly a trillion dollars a year with zero oversight and full control over what happens with that money. It’s amazing to me more Americans aren’t more up in arms about this, people should be goddamn furious that the military is both so overfunded that multiple countries could live off of their budget and also incapable of procuring the actual arms that they need to be a functioning military.