Scott talks to Ryan McMaken about the true costs of America’s “national security” state, both in dollars and in secondary effects on the daily lives of Americans. Even though the official number is quite a bit lower, McMaken has estimated the true cost of the U.S. military and intelligence apparatus at close to a trillion dollars per year, since we should be factoring in things like Department of Energy funding that goes to nuclear weapons, medical costs for the VA, and the budgets of Homeland Security organizations. This whole system has other, even more insidious effects, that most people don’t notice, including a general slowing of the economy due to inflation and artificial interest rates, a more dangerous world where America makes enemies by picking fights where it doesn’t have to, and the slow militarization of our entire society.
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