Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Sometimes you hear it said that military spending drives innovation. But that's an argument that fails to understand--or deliberately ignores--the far greater opportunities missed in the pursuit of war. Think of it this way: that American-made Walkman that might have existed in 1969-- the airforce dropped that on Cambodia. And your first laptop--that was dropped on Vietnam in 1972. Oh, and nationwide broadband and universal free wi-fi? That blew up in Afghanistan ten years ago.
What other things can't we have? A balanced federal budget? Nope, not when the federal government spends 800 BILLION DOLLARS on the military each year. How about world peace? Why can't we have that? Everybody wants that. Sorry. No. The board of directors at Raytheon voted it down.
Sometimes you hear it said that military spending drives innovation. But that's an argument that fails to understand--or deliberately ignores--the far greater opportunities missed in the pursuit of war. Think of it this way: that American-made Walkman that might have existed in 1969-- the airforce dropped that on Cambodia. And your first laptop--that was dropped on Vietnam in 1972. Oh, and nationwide broadband and universal free wi-fi? That blew up in Afghanistan ten years ago.
What other things can't we have? A balanced federal budget? Nope, not when the federal government spends 800 BILLION DOLLARS on the military each year. How about world peace? Why can't we have that? Everybody wants that. Sorry. No. The board of directors at Raytheon voted it down.
