Protection from Harm

“Protecting from harm” in the Middle East, while hospitals close in Wheeling, WV.

“Harm” = mental or physical injury

They say the taxes spent on the US military are essential for “protecting freedoms” and keeping Americans safe from harm.

The leading cause of “harm” in the USA is poverty, not the actions of foreign powers.

The lowest rates of premature death in the USA are in wealthy northeastern states like Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The highest rates of premature death in the USA are in poor Appalachian and southern states like West Virginia and Mississippi.

*****

If government believes it has a role to play in keeping Americans safe from harm, then taxes should be spent on education, the alleviation of poverty, a healthy, clean environment, and the provision of universal health care.

The powers-that-be will insist that a vast taxpayer-funded military for “protecting” Americans is essential, while calling taxpayer-funded higher education and health care “radical socialism”.

Yet a taxpayer-funded military is “socialism for the rich”, because the corporatocracy uses this military to prop-up corrupt regimes in the Middle East and elsewhere – TO THE BENEFIT OF WEALTHY ELITES.

Trillions of taxpayer dollars are diverted into government contracts for the armaments industry.

Between 2001-2021, Pentagon spending was over 14 TRILLION dollars – one-third to one-half of which went to defense contractors.

But a children’s hospital in Mississippi, or an addiction treatment center in West Virginia?

You gotta be joking.

How is that going to fill-up someone’s offshore bank account?