[beeboop]

60% of federal budget is social security, unemployment, medicare, and health spending. 16% is military. I think the bigger problem is that money spent in healthcare doesn't go nearly as far as it does elsewhere due to bloated healthcare costs.

[jazzyk]

True, but healthcare and unemployment, etc., as wasteful as they are, still improve my quality of life, while paying for defending rich countries like Japan or Germany, does not.

[beeboop]

>defending rich countries like Japan or Germany, does not

I am all for non-interventionist policies, but I am not so sure this is so black-and-white. There is definitely a benefit to protecting our allies and ensuring democratic societies remain as democratic as possible. The amount that it benefits you on a day to day basis is probably impossible to quantify, but there is definitely a benefit at a very high level, economically speaking.