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I moved back to the US after about half a decade in Europe.

It's not as clear cut I think.

The first thing you'll see getting off the plane in Brussels is the military in full get-up, with guns that look like they'll blow your limbs clean off. You will find them patrolling in the city centers of many cities as well. This reminded me of my trips to the middle east and North Africa. I have never seen this in the US.

I have never seen a military parade on the 4th. On Bastille Day, in Paris, the military will parade and drive their tanks down the streets and it will be broadcast on national TV. You're supposed to get all mushy when the foreign legion remains as one when leaving the traffic circle, the commentators will remind you.

I've seen a whole bunch of flag worshiping in Barcelona and Spain on the news the last couple of weeks.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but the jingoism you refer to manifests itself in different ways in other countries. I don't think it's a difference in kind, rather in degree.

> I have never seen a military parade on the 4th.

My experience has been there is usually a presence from the local base if there is one but they are not the focus of the parade. Right in there with there between the Revolutionary War reenactors and the Boy Scouts.

Edit: Though one could argue that war reenactors are glorifying war and the Boy Scouts is essentially training camp to get boys interested in the military at a young age.

The US is a weird 'country' when compared to the other 'Western' countries in Europe and South America. We're more 'commonwealth-y' than France or Argentina.

We don't have a national police/gendarme and are very against the thought of forming one. Just look at the mess of jurisdictions that the FBI and ATF have, let alone any other agency. You'd have to re-write the constitution to get one.

Our states really are sovereign in their own rights. In Colorado you can smoke as much weed as you like, but you can't even ride a bike if your BAC is over 0.05%. In Texas, you can drink in the car as long as you are 'sober'. California has some pretty strange laws over water rights and property tax. Pennsylvania won't allow you to buy liquor in certain counties on Sunday. The laws here are very strange comparatively.

Each state has it's own 'army' in a kinda, sorta, not really, but yes really way. Navies differ, but Wyoming seriously wanted a battleship for a lake of theirs.

Slavery is it's own mess of evil, but also demonstrates how different the US can be. We had a war over that one, still managed to keep on humming, kinda.

Our second amendment is also insane to foreigners except the Swiss. Some states think it's fine, some don't. There's a bit of a spat going on right now over it, what with the massacres and all.

We sure do love our flag though, that is true. Many people say that's because we are so diverse, we need something to keep together. I say it's the English language, football, and American Idol. Oh, also the racism. That seems to 'help' too.

Also, we've never had sustained conscription here, like in South Korea, Italy, Austria, Israel, etc. Only ~7% of us have ever served in the armed forces in any way. I couldn't find easy numbers for other countries, but that 18-20 year old male conscription laws would skew the percentages higher, I'd think.

we need something to keep together. I say it's the English language, football, and American Idol

Based on my own stay in the USA a number of years ago, and I don't mean this in any bad way, the dollar has a primacy in American culture that isn't so matched in other countries.

What I'm describing is something more subtle than "money" or "wealth" which are pretty much universally human, but that the dollar as a fundamental unit of exchange of worth is universally regarded as a fundament. The faith that Americans have in their currency, regardless of social class or ethnic background.

> In Texas, you can drink in the car as long as you are 'sober'.

Not true. See, e.g., http://www.texasdwisite.com/dwi-blog/2014/november/can-a-pas...

It's important to know that the Department of Defense pays for this activity. Here is one example article of it (I couldn't find a general overview article in my brief searching):

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2015/11/06/Departmen...

Apparently, it falls under the "recruiting" category in their budget.

> As a foreigner in your fine country, the amount of influence the military has in the US is amazing and slightly scary.

The US has an outsize military because, for most of the past century, it has taken on the role of being the primary defense force not just for itself, but for countries all around the world.

> Guys, it is not like this in other countries. In fact it is creepy and weird, but I don't see it changing anytime soon. The military is so ingrained into America's economy and culture that de-emphasing it would be a huge change. I am not a total pacifist - a military is a handy thing to have around.

I'm sure it's not like this in New Zealand, but comparing US military culture to New Zealand's military culture isn't at all meaningful. New Zealand has the same population as Brooklyn; given that alone, it's not going to be a dominant sovereign military force on the global scale anytime soon (and that's ignoring its history and geographic location).

That's not to say that I'm a fan of much of what the US military does, but it's rather off-base for foreigners from other NATO and MNNA countries to criticize the US for its military, when they're far and away the outsize beneficiaries of it.

> defense

I beg to differ. The US has been on the offensive side of things far more than they have ever been on the defensive side.

I think the argument would be that being proactive is a sort of defense, and a good one because it is cheaper and saves more lives than waiting until things are really bad. Of course, not waiting for things to get really bad means that we can't know if the intervention is too heavy-handed or even exploitative.

In the US "defense" is a general term for military. We call it the "Department of Defense" and companies that contract with the military are "defense contractors."

With that said (and I've worked at a defense contractor as my college internship a decade ago) the name is intentionally misleading. Most reasonable people wouldn't support the "foreign war budget" but "defense"? What person would be against defending your country!?

I don't think OP is specifically criticising the size of the US army, but rather the culture that surrounds the presence the military has in the country.

I'm from the UK, and I too have found the cultural US norms around military service creepy and weird.

> I don't think OP is specifically criticising the size of the US army, but rather the culture that surrounds the presence the military has in the country. I'm from the UK, and I too have found the cultural US norms around military service creepy and weird.

The culture surrounding the military in the US is intrinsically linked to both its size and its importance on a global scale (which are two distinct factors). There is no military power in NATO or MNNA more powerful than the US military. So it would be surprising - and honestly dangerous - for it not to have a culture of visibility in its own country.

> I'm from the UK, and I too have found the cultural US norms around military service creepy and weird.

Personally, I find nothing creepier and weirder than the relationship the UK has with its own military actions. In the US, we may not always like or approve of our military engagements or decisions, but we're certainly aware of their prevalence and significance. Having a visible military culture makes it rather difficult to forget that - both the good and the bad.

The UK outsources much of its defense interests to NATO (read: the US), and of the rest, does a bang-up job of keeping them out of the public eye. Not in secret, mind you - just quietly enough that Brits forget about their own country's responsibility in ongoing armed conflicts to this day, let alone historical ones.

Shouldn't New Zealand have more military personal per capita, if it's a smaller country?

>The US has an outsize military because, for most of the past century, it has taken on the role of being the primary defense force not just for itself, but for countries all around the world.

That's one way to phrase it. Viewed from a different angle, the US loved competing in proxy wars against the USSR, continues fighting proxy wars against Russia (currently in Syria) and destabilizes the middle east to keep contracts for it's defense industry coming

> That's one way to phrase it. Viewed from a different angle, the US loved competing in proxy wars against the USSR, continues fighting proxy wars against Russia (currently in Syria) and destabilizes the middle east to keep contracts for it's defense industry coming

You think that other NATO countries - the UK, France, and others - didn't support these as well? It's not like the US is going into Syria against the wishes of France and the UK - both have sent in their own forces as well, coordinating military strikes along with the US.

It's extremely hypocritical for people from NATO and MNNA countries to criticize the US for military actions that their own countries backed, especially the ones that they are themselves actively involved with.

>It's extremely hypocritical for people from NATO and MNNA countries to criticize the US for military actions that their own countries backed, especially the ones that they are themselves actively involved with.

Why? It's not like you're obliged to agree with everything your government does.

> The US has an outsize military because, for most of the past century, it has taken on the role of being the primary defense force not just for itself, but for countries all around the world.

It's also a social program of sorts.

Part of the allure of the military is a middle class lifestyle and access to employment opportunity outside. Millions of people would be unemployed if they weren't in the military or supporting military functions indirectly. I grew up in a small town... 20% of my class of 80 went into the military. If you live in many areas, your options are essentially truck driving or the army.

>>> That's not to say that I'm a fan of much of what the US military does, but it's rather off-base for foreigners from other NATO and MNNA countries to criticize the US for its military, when they're far and away the outsize beneficiaries of it.

Something is wrong with this logic. Why are you free to "not be a fan" to certain things about the military but it's "off-base" when other people aren't fans either?

> Even in wilder society, every third person you meet is either currently serving, served at one stage, or worked for one of the large companies with government contracts to supply the military.

First of all, that third one is sort of weird to lump in with the previous two. Secondly, but most importantly, less than 1% of the US is currently serving and less than 10% of the US has ever served. So "every third person," even as hyperbole, is just wrong.

> or worked for one of the large companies with government contracts to supply the military.

What percentage of the population does this add to the total ?

I concede the point, although I will say I was lumping in people who work for military suppliers in my off-the-cuff statistic. I live in MA, so perhaps that skews my impression - there are a lot of military tech companies here.

Same. I even worked for one for a while. In general a lot of the New England economy is built around the military, unfortunately. In New Hampshire BAE is one of the largest employers and in Connecticut they freak out at any suggestion the sub base may close. At least if Raytheon, BEA, Lockheed, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory (there are more I'm forgetting I'm sure) leave Boston the local economy will survive.

It starts with all the silly flag worshiping and other symbolism. No need to go to a baseball match for that.

The flag worshipping and other symbolism is a way to tie together a country of 300 million people that doesn't share much of anything else.

Why do you think that brainwashing people through repetition is the only way to "tie them together"? (Whatever that means...)

Causing 300 million people to carry on war (forever) with the rest of the world (7-8 billion people) sucks.

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. We should worship that instead of the murderous and dishonest military machinery.

You can't run a country where people don't perceive themselves as being tied together and don't agree with each other about anything. You're seeing this right now with Trump--he is such a divisive figure, that the government can't do anything anybody wants.

> You can't run a country where people don't perceive themselves as being tied together

Perhaps not, but we could choose differently w/respect to what they're tied together with. For example, the wall-full of soldier-portraits at the local Walmart could come down and be replaced with portraits of, and accolades for, the countless teachers and social workers and community volunteers who have given us so much. But no, they're not worthy, not in America.

> Even in wilder society, every third person you meet is either currently serving, served at one stage, or worked for one of the large companies with government contracts to supply the military.

I think it's an important point that most Americans now are less likely to have served and more likely to not know a veteran in their personal life. The military industrial complex might seem expensive but actual veterans are almost a rare breed.

As someone from Europe attending an NFL game in London it was really strange.

We'll we've got the anthems before a game in Europen sports too. But all this "support our troops" and the "be part of a big flag" thing left a bad taste in my mouth.

Even stranger if you are neither from the US or England and should partake in a show of patriotism for countries you don't really care about.

How is it any different from “join the royal marine commandos” add before every movie in a UK theater?

I’ve seen advertisements for military service in most EU countries heck airfrance used to have panflets for friegn legion in their in flight magazine the only reason why I’m using past tense is because I haven’t use them for like 5 years so I don’t know if it’s stil the case or not.

I am not from England, I am from Austria.

Maybe it is one of the effects of losing two world wars (and beeing a neutral country), but I've never seen "support our troops" or something like that in person before.

There are some kind of army ads (I hardly see ads), some athletes are part of the army (so they earn some money and can train) and that's it in Austria.

For me there is a difference in showing an ad to "join the royal marine commando" and the expectation to partake in a "be part of the flag" / support our troops ceremony before I see a sports match. But most likely I am just a little more sensitive than most in this regard.

We're crazy how? We are WAY down on the list at 0.69% per capita who serve:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of...

The U.S. has 1.3 million active-duty personnel for 323 million people, or about 0.4% of the population. France, by comparison, has 208 thousand active-duty personnel for 67 million people, or about 0.3% of the population. So not really a huge difference.

The U.S. military has an advertising budget of about $670 million. That's a lot, but the U.S. is a big country, and that amount doesn't even make the military a top 20 advertiser (it spends 1/3 of what #10 Samsung does).

Without the military there is no American superpower.

Take the tech sector for example. Silicon valley wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the military and it's research.

As a fellow foreigner I couldn't agree more. It's one of the most bizarre and noticeable aspects of American culture.

But to be honest every culture has it's weird thing. In a few countries where I have traveled pilots are highly respected individuals, upon landing the cabin breaks into applause and praise - in America though that's just something you don't do unless something really bad happened mid flight.

Do you also go to ADP and marvel at how they are weirdly focused on payroll?

The size of the US military and the society's focus on it is in large part what allows other countries to ignore their own. Other countries have simply outsourced a secondary function to someone else for whom it is a core competency, making everyone more efficient.

My life is made considerably more dangerous by the US's constant aggression.

> My life is made considerably more dangerous by the US's constant aggression.

It seems you're from the UK, in which case you might want to consider the extent of the UK's involvement in that "constant aggression" that you're talking about.

Hum, I don't know man, it sounds like you want the terrorists to win or something !!! /s