The Pros And Cons Of Defense Budget Cuts

More than $800 billion is spent every year on the Department of Defense in the United States, ranking the country as one of the largest military spenders in the world. In order to put this into perspective, the total military spending worldwide in 2022 was about 2 trillion U.S. dollars, while the U.S. by itself spent approximately $877 billion, which means that the U.S. alone contributed to nearly 40 percent of the total military spending worldwide that year. Due to the sheer amount of spending, there have been debates on whether or not it has a negative impact on the country’s economy and its peoples’ wellbeing. With the U.S. dealing with a growing national debt and the need for better infrastructure, reducing the military spending and allocating those funds to other areas could improve the lives of American citizens. This argument is relevant now because the U.S. is considering defense budget cuts in response to the economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic along with needing to address social issues and the “first Ministry to see cuts was the Ministry of Defense” (Ortega, The Crisis

has maintained a reasonably large military budget, with its negative impact on the country being more prevalent every year. One of the causes of the continuous increase in the military budget is due to the need to stay ahead of “rivals like Russia and China” (Foreign Policy for America), who have “been modernizing their forces to challenge U.S. global leadership” (Foreign Policy for America). Even so, the military budget has been an issue discussed by multiple political figures, and many have advocated for responsible defense budgets to maintain a balanced budget. Currently, a large number of American citizens live in poor conditions, with most living barely above the poverty line. Tough choices will need to be made in order to create the sought after balance needed in order to improve the overall experience of the American