Good thing then that the US has never started any wars! Of course, a for-profit industry that depends on wars (or at the very least, the fear that such is always imminent) would also never lobby to increase demand for their products and services.

(/s)

But that's an entirely separate argument. At the end of the day we have to live in the real world where human aggression exists.

If you have no defense, then you have no defense. If that's how you want to live, don't hide behind some other argument.

You'll have something that someone else wants or needs and they're going to club you over the head for it. You seem to be okay with that. That's cool, but I'm not. I'm for damned-sure going to have a better club or preferably a knife or a gun as a) a deterrent, or failing that b) a way to improve my odds of survival.

Nonsense. Developing diplomacy for your nation is anti-war.

But we know that diplomatic corps don't get even a pittance of the funding that the warrior hordes do ..

Diplomacy requires bargaining power. Carrots AND sticks.

You've got a very naive view of the world.

I think it is you who has a naive view of the world because at the moment in US diplomacy, there are no carrots, there are only sticks and the world is definitely sick and tired of that shit.

You are aware that global trade only exists as it is now for the last 70 years due to the US Navy protecting shipping routes and basically for free, right?

If you think there are "no carrots" offered by the US, you're a silly person living in a fantasy world. Clearly there are carrots because the US has lots of positive diplomatic relationships with a pretty large percentage of the world's countries.

We don't do this through having a boot on everyone's neck. We don't live in some fantasy story where the US is "The Great Evil".