Originally Posted by
Mostly Harmless
Yes. Yes it does. I'm not sure where this concept that we should just leave our own national defense to someone else and hope that they will bear the expense out of the goodness of their heart. Have you followed the news lately? The citizens of the USA are not happy they have been footing the bill for the defense of other nations since at least the 60's. If we want their help, we need to pay for it in one form or another. It would be a lovely day when we don't need a military to defend sovereignty but today is not that day.
Well, the citizens of the USA may be happy or not but it was their government who started the arms race and got all their "allies" to follow. NATO was founded with just one purpose - fight the imaginary battles with imaginary enemies of a paranoid US president with huge daddy issues. NOBODY is challenging your sovereignity, and the only country that ever tried still has their queen on your money. And today IS the day when you can simply say, enough. You don't need to "foot the bill" for "defense", because you simply don't have enemies. A billion dollars invested in diplomacy will go MUCH further than a billion spent on fighters.
Originally Posted by
Mostly Harmless
Do you realize we are sitting on some of the largest reserves of precious metals and fresh water in the world? Why do you think the Russians have been rearming the arctic? They aren't likely to launch a full scale attack but they are likely to just move in and claim a stake like they did in the Baltic. What then? Roll over and let them have it or hope the Americans come to the damsel in distresses aid?
Bear with me. So, the Russians are re-arming the Arctic because their own precious metals, oil, gas, diamonds and fresh water they have in their own Far North are somehow inferior to Canadian? And they want to abandon their own icy deserts to conquer yours? Do you realize how outdated this outlook is? You are trying to fight a war that has already ended. And it ended 30 years ago.
As for the USSR invading the Baltin republics, two things you are forgetting. One, the Baltics were Russian for 300 years before that and were only independent from 1918 till 1940. So they were taking BACK what was theirs. Just like, say, US wants Cuba back. And two, it was 80 years ago. Eighty years ago water taps in America were marked "white" and "coloreds", France executed people with guillotine, and women weren't considered clever enough to vote in Canada. Are they all still the same countries? Or has the world moved on?
Originally Posted by
Mostly Harmless
Currently, we are part of a block of nations that use their limited resources as a single unit to prevent such things... but if we are a non-contributing member, others may not wish to risk their resources and lives to protect your freeloading backside. Just something to think about.
Indeed! It's a block of nations that none of those nations need. And Canada needs it the least. A huge country with most of it under permanent ice. What do you do with it even if you decide to take it? Farm polar bears? Fresh water? You know what Russia has more than any other country in the world, except Brasil? Fresh water. So what exactly are you "defending"? And from whom?
Originally Posted by
Mostly Harmless
it's exactly like paying for car insurance. You fork over money in the hopes you will never have to use it but you are always happy that it is there the day you need it.
The difference between military expenditure and car insurance is that you at least get something in return from car insurance. I seriously doubt Canada will get much from 80 fighters in case of an imaginary potential conflict with Russia.