[Cesura]

Surely you're speaking about your own country of residence here?

In Estonia for example (which tangentially has one of the highest press freedom rankings in the world), ERR ("Estonian Public Broadcasting") is widely considered to be one of the most trustworthy news platforms in the country. The reason for this is simple: there is no incentive to pump out journalistic sludge for clicks, or to prey on the public's collective anxieties for larger quarterly profits.

I suppose you could argue that it indirectly supports the "war machine" in Ukraine, but I don't really consider it unethical to fund wars of self-defense, especially given the national security implications at home.

[psychlops]

You are Estonian?

Few would consider it unethical to fund wars of self-defense. But self-defense is not a clear term, see for example the Bush Doctrine and preemptive war. America has a historical habit of funding its future enemies, and in more current wars of simply maintaining the status quo.

[Cesura]

Not exactly, but I'm an American citizen who has lived in Estonia for the past ~5 years (and often read Estonian language media).

One of the more unfortunate political outcomes I've noticed from the Bush era is a tendency for people to take the tragedies of US foreign policy in the Middle East and project them onto every conflict involving the US since then (this is not targeted at you).

So you end up with well-intentioned individuals who strive for peace and opposed the Iraq War (or eg Vietnam), who find themselves siding with the autocracy invading its sovereign neighbors, for the simple fact that it positions itself as a force against American hegemony and must therefore inherently be "the good guys".

Either way, I sympathize with your point more generally, and also wouldn't like to see my tax dollars spent on drone striking weddings.

[psychlops]

Fascinating and unusual path you have taken. There are so few people in Estonia, I wasn't expecting you to actually be there.

You have an interesting point of view and given me food for thought, thank you.

Wrt to the present, I think the current (US) military actions are simply a means of moving wealth from one segment of the population to another without a need for transparency. Hence, less tax dollars should go in.

I'd prefer to regress to the time when our government needed to fund war by asking people to purchase liberty bonds.