Yes, but butter is better than guns (most of the time). Take our escapades in Afghanistan: a lot of jobs but what do we have to show for it?
If instead we had a modern day CCC or such where we'd actually invest in our communities, etc., we could have far more healthy and prosperous society. But no, that would be socialism if we spent it on something nice.
At the risk of sounding cynical, what we have to show for it is a military with actual fighting experience. It’s a big part of why we and the UK are able to outfit and train soldiers in Ukraine, and why we have nothing to fear from rivals like China or Russia for decades to come.
Believe it or not, I get that, and I respect the capabilities and dedication involved as well (despite not supporting their missions). That said, we don't need such a huge MIC to derive that (effectively a blank check).
2 Wars with nothing to show and a cost of over $6T. We can do better than that.
Nothing good to show, plenty of evil planted in those poor regions (Afghanistan, Iraq) which will be fucked for many generations to come. And if having a better trained military makes it justifiable for somebody I dare to ask what kind of human being is he/she.
Ukraine is so far another story but nobody has clue how it will evolve. And none of that military experience is getting to any actual use and is slowly evaporating, its so far just about minor logistics, some satellite espionage and some troops training (which are not negligible skills but they alone don't win wars).
US military is a force for good no doubt in as far as US is a force for good. That is not the question. The question is are there some simple ways which could make it better?
Based on the article(s) it would seem there is a very simple way to make them better: Teach them accounting and require them to implement accounting controls.
If instead we had a modern day CCC or such where we'd actually invest in our communities, etc., we could have far more healthy and prosperous society. But no, that would be socialism if we spent it on something nice.