[viscus]

...and more and more tax money/debt goes spiraling down the defense toilet while the world gets more polarized against us.

You know what we need in America? Conscription. That's right, THE DRAFT. I'll tell you why:

1) Corrupt politicians would have a much harder time selling bullshit like preemptive invasion of foreign countries on false pretenses to the public. When you've got a professional/volunteer military doing the dirty work, the average citizen is less likely to care. If it's a conscript military on the other hand, people will say "Wait a minute, this is my (son's/daughter's/grandchild's/cousin's) ass on the line here. You want to go to war WHY?"

2) The American military culture would change from being dominated by right-wing nationalism to a more balanced subsection of the population at large.

I probably should've started my own thread about this in the politics forum, but whatever. There you have it.