The military-industry complex is not the biggest government welfare program of all time. It might be second, and like the biggest welfare program, the military-industrial complex is welfare for the rich, the 1 percent. Such corporations as General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin rely heavily on government spending to keep their profits soaring, their dividends rising and their share prices climbing. The 1 percent owns most of their shares.
That’s why the United States has a bloated military that is greater in size than the next nine largest military’s in the world combined, although some analysts suggest the US spends more on its military than the rest of the world combined. That’s likely.
At the peak of the US conquest of Iraq, the US had somewhere in the vicinity of 150,000 mercenaries earning over a $100,000 each. The government called these mercenaries “contractors,” as if they had been contracted to erect buildings. No, these were just mercenaries that had signed contracts to be US mercenaries. If you count these folks, it is likely the US spends more on its military than all other nations in the world.
Income redistribution from the 99 to the 1 percent. That’s what military spending is all about. Tax money, the blood of working Americans, government lies, they’re all redistributed to the rich.
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