• geissi@feddit.org
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    1 day ago

    A major point of the whole shebang should be to drive EU-domestic investment and jobs.

    I agree that IF you have to spend money on defense, you might as well do it domestically but that should be an added bonus, not a major point.
    Economically speaking, the defense industry is a terrible investment. At best the goods it produces just sit there and are never needed, at worst they are used up. The US military industrial complex is not a healthy, useful or productive industry. Jobs in just about any other industry are more useful for society and/or the economy.

    Defense spending should be purely driven by security requirements. Potential jobs created are a nice bonus but should not be part of why you’re doing it.

    • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyz
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      1 day ago

      A lot of the money can and should be spent on dual-use stuff.

      For example, the biggest hurdle that prevents the deployment of the armies of Europe to the Eastern flank is the state of the railway network.

      • Saleh@feddit.org
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        1 day ago

        Maintaining and expanding the railway network however is equally important for Civilian purposes. It is not that the military adds a need that previously didn’t exist. And we get in a very problematic area, if public infrastructure investments are made dependent on having a military purpose too. This creates a hierarchy of needs where the military is put to the forefront, subsequently creating a militarized society.

    • jenesaisquoi@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      The US defense spending is different to ours in that it is economically useful. In short, it enforces the petrodollar, thus forcing everyone to buy dollars, thus everyone pays for their inflation.