Thanks for keeping up the good fight, Caitlin. I'm not even all that against the military cause per se: I spent a lot of years making that crap work. I'm against wasting resources, bullying and extractionism. Humans are basically predators when individuated, and the System of systems makes more money when it individuates people, so the whole Perpetual Growth Invisible Hand Job is going to lead to conflicts and confiscations at some point. That's when we actually need some military capability on the 'right' side of conflicts that shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Unfortunately, as you well point out, we have allowed the boot to lick itself and go out looking for trouble far too much, and every lick is another billion dollars flowing to corn country for parts and tech just in time for the next election cycle (if it never ends, can we call it a "cycle" any more?).

Meanwhile, the Republicans are blowing hard on the "tough on crime" horn because a few idiot hippies thought that "defund the police" was a nifty slogan and "words are just words, right?".

Macho capitalism on steroids, oil and the corn syrup Economy of Stupid.