Exactly this! And the part I want to impress: jobs programs are good! Essential national defense is good! I'm not against these things; I'd just like it if we could (1) be a little more honest with ourselves, as Americans, and (2) maybe cut out the middleman and just admit that we'd like a healthy middle class.

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.

With the almost absurd defensive advantages of the terrain and neighbors afforded to the US, the only effective existential threat is nuclear ICBMs or nuclear hypersonics. That in mind, it baffles me that half the DoD budget doesn't go to development of missile defense technology.

Autonomous drone networks with integrated NFC credit-card payments to pick up 3am gasoline at local low-monitor gas stations will be a threat. A swarm will be hard to defend against, and probably can be deployed stealthily.

Seriously confounded by this?

The US Navy protects international shipping, the disruption of which would be an existential economic threat to the US and its allies.

Jobs programs are good when they are intentionally designed as jobs programs to get productive use out of the employees.

Tossing half a trillion dollars into whatever the hell is a very bad way to spend government money.

Jobs programs are never good. You are taking money from productive people at gunpoint and then "creating jobs" which are functionally equivalent to digging a ditch and filling it up again.

> You are taking money from productive people at gunpoint ...

I really think it would benefit libertarians to get away from this particular argument. It's applicable to everything. They're making me dispose of my trash in a receptacle at gunpoint! They're making me pick up my dog's poop at gunpoint! They're making me wear pants at gunpoint!

Of course, guns aren't involved unless things get bizarrely out of hand, but the same goes for paying taxes.

Currently it looks like many like being in it, but don't like to foster it and vote themselves into poverty.

$500B/year to fuel how many, and what non-essential jobs? They could just as well exist in infrastructure instead of defense if that were the case.