The United States military owns $122 million-worth fighter jets, with plans to buy about 1,800 more in the next 10 years. They are also spending an additional $16.5 billion to modernize the hardware and software in the jets, even though the military plans to fly the aircrafts less. The U.S. government should reconsider their extremely high levels of military spending due to low funding in education, health care and infrastructure.
The U.S.’ monstrous $841 billion military budget funds military bases, defense contracts and weapons systems. However, there must be a balance between the nation’s foreign affairs and domestic priorities. The U.S. has chronically under-funded areas that need addressing, such as education, health care, Social Security, infrastructure, assistance to the poor and Medicare–which more than half of adults agree that the U.S. is not spending enough on.
While America spends billions of dollars to buy weapons, spending is not generous when it comes to schools. America underfunds its public schools by $150 billion annually, preventing more than 50 million school children from obtaining the resources they need to succeed in the classroom. The schools that are being robbed of much needed funding are most often those where minority communities reside. This causes many U.S. schools to struggle with outdated resources, overcrowded classrooms and underpaid teachers.
This pattern of underfunding also extends to other critical areas like public health. Experts estimate $4.5 billion is needed in funding for state and local health departments to provide enough public health services to their communities.
Additionally, there is a systemic issue of underfunding infrastructure, especially in low-income areas. Systems currently in place in the U.S–including roads, railways, electrical grids and internet providers–were built decades ago and are struggling to keep pace. The quality of U.S. infrastructure compared to other developed nations has been steadily declining over the past two decades.
This has economic implications. There is an infrastructure investment gap of nearly $2.6 trillion that could cost the U.S. $10 trillion in lost gross domestic product by 2039. This will risk America’s financial stability and lead to inefficiencies, increased maintenance costs and disruptions across important systems like transportation, energy and water.
Aging infrastructure like roads and bridges need investment from the federal government for replacements, repairs or upgrades. The severity of the damage has gone unaddressed; one in three bridges needs to be repaired or replaced. The operators of the U.S. electrical grid are struggling to make the necessary investments and increasing power outages are costing the economy billions of dollars.
While bridges are falling apart, America is also falling behind in public transportation as compared to other countries. Forty-five percent of Americans have no access to transit. Much of the existing system is aging, and transit agencies often lack sufficient funds to keep their existing systems in good working order. This causes traffic congestion, weakened local economies and worsened air quality. In Florida, cities like Orlando, Tampa and Miami have limited public transportation options and struggle to keep pace with demand.
Rapid population growth not only causes excessive traffic but also costly housing. Sometimes, funds from the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Fund–Florida’s source of money dedicated to filling the need for affordable housing–have been redirected to other budget areas instead of addressing the housing crisis. Sleeping outside has been made illegal in Florida, and little funding has been given to counties to create any sort of shelter space to house people.
For the price of the 630 fighter jets that the U.S military currently owns, homelessness in the U.S. could be entirely eradicated with a generous $90 billion left to spend.
Even with the redirection of important funds to the military, the military still demands more money for defense. Military spending is putting the nation further and further into debt. As the U.S. national debt soars, the U.S. Treasury Department borrows more money to pay for government spending. Since 2013, senators have allowed the debt ceiling to rise from $16 trillion ten years ago to $36 trillion today.
Further, the Pentagon squanders exorbitant amounts of money. If they kept track of 63% of the $4 trillion they have in assets–mainly aircrafts, spare parts and other equipment–millions of dollars could be saved. The U.S. not only has a difficult time keeping track of these assets, but knowingly spends millions of taxpayer dollars on assets for foreign countries in war.
The U.S has spent over $300 billion to aid Israel since 1949, despite it being the 13th richest country in the world per capita with one of the most advanced militaries in the world. U.S. aid is less than 1% of Israel’s GDP and less than 2% of their budget; Israel does not need American aid. It is clear that America is burning money on all the wrong things and not prioritizing domestic issues.
Even a small sliver of the military budget could subsidize necessary improvements within the country, which will improve Americans’ quality of life significantly more than military spending. No amount of military spending ensures U.S. citizens have what improves their quality of life, like affordable education, healthcare and infrastructure. A nation cannot have an abundance of military spending without the equivalent amount of spending in other areas that matter equally as much, if not more.
The U.S. Congress needs to reevaluate what American taxpayers want their money to be spent on. When the national debt rises even higher, spending cuts will be inevitable. While military funding is necessary to protect the U.S., the excessive funding offered to the military needs to be lessened and the money instead needs to be used for programs and amenities that improve the quality of life in the country.