Economists today are debating the issue of how much of our country’s funds should go to the military in order to make them an effective force while also having enough money remaining to provide quality infrastructure in the United States. This debate has become known as the question of guns or butter – guns representing the military and butter representing the community/consumers. Currently, according to nationalpriorities.org, only 15.88 percent, which stands around 609.3 billion dollars out of the country’s total 3.8 trillion dollar budget, is going to the military. Even with this decent, however still small, amount going to the military, people are arguing that at least a portion of this amount should go to the community. This money would, of course, help comfort those experiencing economic hardship and address a variety of other issues facing the nation. However, if we take the full picture of our budget as a country into consideration, then we see how much the communities across the nation receive compared to the military.

The amount of money currently set aside by the federal government for social security, unemployment and labor alone is 1.28 trillion dollars. This category stands as the largest out of the group taking 33.26 percent of our country’s budget. This category is a little over double what the government spends annually on the military. The amount of money we have decided to spend on this group is understandable, as it is the money that is used to help fund our social security system, support those undergoing unemployment, and pay workers their pay checks. If this group was to be cut short on funds, it would devastate the country’s average civilians by greatly damaging retirement plans, offering no money to support those going through unfortunate economic situations such as unemployment, and greatly reducing paychecks for many workers. So, 33.26 percent of our 3.8 trillion dollar budget seems pretty reasonable.

Our next category involves the countries Medicare and Health. The importance of this group is pretty self-explanatory. Without Medicare, there would be no reliable fall back for those going through physical hardships. Whether that hardship is a broken arm, disease, or physical handicap such as blindness and deafness, the money the government puts aside for this group goes to help pay for procedures and pay for medicines that are prescribed by doctors. Due to its major importance in the story of life, the health catergory earned 27.42 percent of our federal budget. We spend around 1.05 trillion dollars annually on our healthcare system.

This leaves 23.45 percent of our 3.8 trillion dollars for science, transportation, housing, education, etc. It is these details they leave out when they argue that 600 billion dollars is too much money to spend on our military alone, which seems like a pretty reasonable argument until we compare it to the 3.8 trillion dollar budget and what the remaining 3.2 trillion dollars goes to. One other aspect to the argument is the primary function of the military. The military protects our freedoms from opposing factions in the world. The only thing keeping this country from being invaded by any other country out there is our military. Without an armed force to protect the country, there would be no community to spend the rest of the money on.