Are not many of the threats we face today better dealt with by a no-veto UN better financed, organized, and staffed? It is spending history’s largest amount chasing mainly phantom threats This can lead only to aggression and dominance in a terrifying nuclear age. Thankfully, today many advanced countries have cut back on military expenditures but the bill still comes to $1.7 trillion annually of which the US spends 37%, more than the next 8 nations combined. Today, is the US in danger of doing the same? There are some 7.5 billion humans now living on earth Since recorded time we have killed in wars and skirmishes an equal number with immense associated destruction and suffering. It gradually began to use its overwhelming force to curtail, then to destroy, all opposition and Athenian despotism became so harsh and hated that Sparta was helped by former Athenian allies to destroy Athenian power in 404 B.C. Much later, the British lord and historian, John Acton (1834-1902) warned: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It was so even with Athens. about 160 nearby city states, to save the cost of independent forces, formed the Delian League in which each state would supply ships, arms, men, and/or money for a 'common' fleet and army to be controlled by Athens. It was a friendly, proud, and open society, quick to defend its rights, but not prone to attack others. But the Royal Navy did this at the expense of British taxpayers who maintained parliamentary control. Today, many in western states argue that it would be cheaper to pay an annual fee to the United States and let it support the military necessary to maintain world peace, just as the Royal Navy swept the seas of pirates and established the long, mostly beneficial, reign of Pax Britannica. In each case the mercenaries eventually recognized the weakness in their employers, seized power, and moved in their own people. The Romans hired Germans and Huns the Britons hired Saxons and Asia Minor rulers hired Turks from Persia. That Germany, after we made it a terribly-crippled nation with lost land, manpower, and resources, rebounded to be a powerhouse reveals human tenacity and resilience that shatters the worship of military power.ĪFFLUENCE AND THE MILITARY: Today's affluent youth disdain the rough life demanded by any efficient military service, and prefer to pay taxes to have less affluent people do the job for them. All of these opposing nations had to create large military forces but they had the land, populations, and resources to do so. We know little of the real shock and deep fear that did sweep across Germany when Poland was invaded and Germany became opposed by the unbeatable resources of the British Commonwealth, the French Empire, and the USSR, all later aided by the weight of the USA. After all he did create millions of jobs, built autobahns, and made Germans think they were again respected by the world. Even so, few Germans believed that Hitler would actually use the believed-invincible military superiority he had acquired. The Versailles Treaty created such a deep economic collapse that strong men like Hitler and his entourage were welcomed by sufficiently-disillusioned voters to allow them the power that put large numbers of dissenters into concentration camps. Prior to 1914, Germany was a leading nation in human rights. Could you join me in being filled with great unease when I see so many similarities between the Europe of the 1920s and 1930s and the USA of today? Yes, differences are vast but similarities are ignored at our peril.

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