The United States makes all sorts of inexplicable decisions, which cost this nation and its taxpayers, billions upon billions of dollars, year after year. While it must be said that America is an empire, it also must be said, that America seems to be the type of empire that doesn’t seem to understand that empires impose conditions and “tribute” upon those nations that are dependent upon America for such a vital task such as the defense of their respective nation. That is to say, there are plenty of first world nations that should clearly be fully responsible for their own national defense, but somehow America primarily takes care of doing that for them, which means that certain first world nations are being backstopped by America, for a much-reduced monetary expense, which just ends up adding to America’s ever increasing budget deficit.
Indeed, every single military base that America has in a first world nation, should be carefully examined, and reviewed as to what its purpose actually is, and to the degree that a particular base can be ceded over to the control of that first world nation, America should do exactly that. For those first world nations that aren’t interested in America closing their base, because they wish for that base to be run by American military personnel, or they desire to have the presence of American naval ships nearby, then there needs to be an agreement setup which specifically charges a fair amount to that first world nation for the base or naval ships so being maintained and occupied, in their territorial area.
Look, the military defense budget of the United States is gargantuan, which shouldn’t come as any real surprise, because America has military bases, military personnel, and military armaments all over the world. What needs to be rectified, though, is that it is high time that other first world nations that are either part of NATO or are allies to America, start paying their full freight for the defense of their own nation by either reimbursing the United States of America for its assistance, or by simply having these first world nations take over their fair portion of the responsibility of defending their own homeland.
America is supposed to be a capitalistic nation, but it sure doesn’t seem to operate on any capitalistic basis at all when it comes to its defense expenditures for other first world nations. In other words, those that want their homelands defended by American personnel, or appreciate having an American base nearby that can strategically deal with possible adverse actions, needs to be charged an appropriate amount for such. After all, there are no free rides in life, for somebody, somewhere is paying for it, and the fact that in this 21st century, so many first world nations are content to have America pay for their defense is fundamentally unsound for America, and additionally burdens American taxpayers with that which has little or nothing to do with the protection and the defense of their own homeland, which is truly where the buck should stop, and anything behind these borders, invoices should be duly issued.