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The military budget is massive, not just because a ton of money gets wasted, but because the US has a large military presence across the entire planet. Even if most of the money goes to waste, that's still enough to outspend every other military on earth. At the same time, SS is a massive project of direct payments to seniors, Medicare is massive and made more expensive by our shitty healthcare system, and US tax rates are low compared to their peak.

Tons of companies and rich people pay negative overall taxes, even though their activities cause costly externalities to society. More than not paying their fair share, they actually pass off large bills to everyone by not paying the full costs of their business. All because US foreign policy works to spread and maintain global capitalism instead of a rule based world order like they claim, incentivizing countries to offer competitive (low) tax rates. Economic interreliance disincentivizes international wars, but it causes economic suffering that fuels nationalism which incentivizes wars, civil conflict that can turn into civil wars, and undermines democracy in favor of plutocracy. Fucking utopian capitalists.