Rik_ wrote:VlaSoul wrote:Rik_ wrote:That spending is partly why the US military produces more greenhouse gas emissions than entire countries:
America's obsession with the military (and the West's more generally) is quite literally killing the planet alongside all the other atrocities it's responsible for.
while I agree that the US does take it to obscene levels, I don't disagree with military build up. At least not practically, though I sympathise ideologically with you. There's a value to having a strong military and the ability to project it. I think it was important that the USSR had one that was equivalent to the US as it meant that neither could entirely run the show like the US did for two to three decades. Also ideally it would be used to spread the revolution but that's probably not realistic, especially in the 21st century.
While I agree that having a military capability in and of itself isn't a bad thing, especially in the context of the Cold War, I think it's misguided to see the military as a potential tool of revolution, or even a proponent for any milder social progression. The US military and the vast majority of other western militaries are imperialist forces to their very core; you might see soldiers defect at an individual or group level but the institutions themselves are rooted in the upholding of a capitalist, imperialist status quo.
I don't disagree with you there, militaries of capitalist and fascist states are tools of capitalism and fascism, and then so tend to be tools of imperialism. I'd also be lying if I said that state militaries weren't also tools of red imperialism. To be fair to the US, there were points in its history where its military could have been a tool of spreading the capitalist/republican revolution, but they were generally too isolationist to be inclined to do so.
It doesnt help that most communist countries weren't hugely inclined to spread the revolution. The greatest exception I can think of is the USSR, and saying that is hugely controversial. A better example I think is the army of North Vietnam, where their army did indeed spread the revolution to the imperialist backed capitalist states surrounding it. Cuba attempted similar things in Africa and South America iirc but I dont think that went so well. This is all to say, it is possible and thus a communist state
should build up a strong military, both as a matter of practicality and moral imperative.
was Vtheyoshi on (S)ONM. V I was, V I remain
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