| Actually on US military spending by percentage of GDP, the US spends less than Singapore and as much as Morocco. The amount the US spends isn’t absurd on a percentage of GDP or even a per capita basis. It could be “absurd” when looking at it in raw dollar amounts, but you could say that American expenditures for movie tickets are absurd — Americans spend more money on movie tickets than the entire GDP of 65 different countries. The US stands alone on the amount spent on the military, but it also stands alone for the amounts spent on everything: it’s the world’s largest economy and it would seem rather prudent to be able to defend that economy — and it does, at a reasonable level of military spending as a percentage of that economy. A bank that protects $50 might not need a guard. A bank that protects $50,000 might need one guard. A bank that protects $5 trillion might need a few more guards. Comparing Costa Rica to the United States is pretty ridiculous in terms of national defense. It’s rather naïve to suggest that militaries are not required. It’s never required, until it is. If someone were to invade Costa Rica, who do you think would come to the rescue when asked? Costa Rican security is benefiting from the military of the United States. The Rio treaty gives Costa Rica the luxury of not having to worry about invasion since the US military is standing by to help. Denmark doesn’t need much of a military because it’s part of NATO.. a risk to Danish national security wouldn’t last very long when you have the most advanced military in the world as your ally and treaty-bound to protect you. These treaties and arrangements make it easier for countries to reduce their military since they are allied with the United States. My point is that making comparisons isn’t very accurate without considering defense treaties that might exist and thus incentivize smaller military expenditures. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS?year_... |