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Comment by himeexcelanta | Hacker News Reader

I’m not arguing that the US healthcare system is more efficient (it definitely isn’t). I’m arguing the political and economic conditions present in post-91, EU-integrated, unified Germany were only made possible in part by constant military and political deterrence provided in part by US defense spending. US military power also increased the politician and diplomatic leverage of the West during the Cold War (the most obvious example being NATO).

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Sure, but the "if it wasn't for our military you'd all be speaking Russian/German" angle is about as relevant to arguments that European countries are better than the US at promoting public health as "if it wasn't for our colonialism you'd all be speaking Native American" is to arguments that Silicon Valley is better than Europe at promoting VC-led innovation and growth. US military spending is not the reason the US politicians and political culture has chosen to prioritise tax cuts and healthcare middleman profits over citizens dying of preventable diseases over the last half century

The US could have been a Great Power and built a better public healthcare system.

That’s quite BS knowing France has a much better healthcare system compared to the US and also can nuke any country to death. Defense spending and healthcare are clearly unrelated.

I read somewhere France still has colonies somewhere in Africa.

Might want to factor in what the US defense gets out of that continued military presence, especially as a relay for operations in the Middle East.

US military spending makes us considerably less safe.

> US military spending makes us considerably less safe.

I see you're based in the UK. In that case, you might want to contact Parliament and let them know, because the UK is currently engaged in most of the same war efforts in the middle east that the US is.

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