On September 11, 2001, suicide missions that originated from the Middle East were surprisingly successful in hitting their targets in New York City as well as upon the Pentagon. Since that time the United States has insisted time and time again to the public that they ostensibly serve, that the United States needs far more funding for defensive purposes for homeland security as well as the need to pass legislative surveillance laws that though sold to the public as necessary for their safety, has been also utilized in a manner to aid and augment that government of, by, and for the people to themselves be subject to invasive surveillance at unprecedented levels, heretofore, unknown.
The defense department since 9/11 has thereupon taken upon itself an inordinate amount of self-serving praise that they are well defending this country and thereby protecting our homeland, and without such protection, who knows how many additional terrorist attacks would have successfully occurred. The thing that is barely ever mentioned is that the United States has no contiguous enemies, along with the salient facts that the Middle East is not only quite a considerable physical distance away, but also that suicide missions, by definition, are a one and done deal.
To properly put things in perspective, we need to take a look at America's historic bogeyman, at least since the conclusion of World War II, which is Russia. For the years 2002-2019, Russia spent on average $51 billion on its defense, whereas America, a country that is considerably smaller in physical land size, but also considerably bigger in population at about a 2.25 population ratio to Russia, has during those same years, spent on average $588 billion, yearly. Since the whole point of defense spending is to protect not so much the physical country, but the people that make up that nation-- we should thereupon multiple Russia's defense expenditure annual average of $51 billion by a 2.25 population ratio so that this would fairly reflect a population base of about the same amount of peoples, in which, that would thereby give Russia a budget of $115 billion on average for those years. Thus, we see that the difference in expenditures between what America might spent on defense if it was only willing to match its defense expenditures at the same percentage of monies so spent on a per person basis with Russia, would represent a budget of $115 billion, and this would have saved on average through the years of 2002-2019, a yearly total of $473 billion, of which those monies could have been used for something of lasting value, such as providing the means for each American to be fairly entitled to good healthcare, good education, good lodging, as well as a living wage, instead of sacrificing all of this at the altar of the defense budget. Further to the point, even at $115 billion a year for defense spending, this would still be on a per annual basis, more monies so spent than any other country in the world, with the sole exception of China, which is a country far behind in the development of their defense industry, as well as being a country with a population of nearly 1.4 billion peoples.
All of the unnecessary billions being spent on defense infrastructure by this country is one of the most important factors, and possible the most important factor as to why this country has such a high percentage of systemic poverty, unfairness, inequality, suspect health quality, injustice, and why Lady Liberty weeps.