There appears to be a darker reality behind Trump’s promise to maintain peace through strength. The promise is turning into a reality where Trump’s America is becoming a war-focused business.
With the new budget push, however, that reality is becoming more obvious and troublesome. America’s wars are being fought by contractors, and, more concerning, the estimated profit margins are seen as a valid business case. The question remains: how did we get to this point?
Privatizing the Fight
The proposed budget indicates that the military will be receiving, and spending, another 156 billion dollars for the next five years. And this is on top of the regular defense budget.
While the sheer amount of personnel and military resources on the ground to deal with conflict is astonishing, the military, of all branches of government, is more than adequately funded. The bad part of this is that the majority of the funding is going into the pockets of private military contractors.
Sadly, this is not the first time private contractors and private organizations have funded war rather than peace. 54% of the discretionary budget for 2020-2024 from the Department of Defense went to private contractors.
The real point of concern here is not about the budget but rather the control and accountability surrounding it. Moves like this mean that our leaders are enabling the establishment of a private war machine that is only out to make profit for these firms.
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A Shadow Army for the Rich
The arms industry spent $149 million in 2024 lobbying congressmen and women. This was done to keep the money flowing into their pockets. While we can somewhat accept that, they also wanted legislators to bypass public scrutiny and checks.
For those who think these things don’t happen, you just need to look at the new reconciliation-style bill. This bill totally bypasses older checks and has many loopholes.
When you combine relaxed scrutiny and profit-driven private contractors, you get a system that is rewarding war because of profit. As a result, we keep sending our troops to fight all sorts of wars while the rich on Wall Street keep making money.
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