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Does the public benefit from the financial incentive behind war profiteering?

An argument can be made that we benefit from the safety that it provides, but does anybody believe that any war we have fought since WWII has actually been for the purpose of security?

I recognize just as much as the next guy that we don't want to be sitting ducks. A military is a good idea.

But has the usefulness of the military been a LITTLE BIT over emphasized? I've heard it said that it is the military that makes America strong. But to me it seems that Americas prosperous roots were actually more in economic ingenuity. In our coming up with practical everyday technology during the early years of textile manufacturing and the discovery of electricity.

I understand that war has spurred a lot of technological development, but can we justify it SOLELY on that basis?

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I agree. A strong military is ok, but I don't see why we must spend more than any other nation (hell, more than most of them combined). Seems like we'd get better results investing in R&D, education, healthcare, or, if one's more libertarian, tax breaks.

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After hearing the story about the fire department sitting and watching that man's house burn down because he didn't pay a 75 dollar fee,  I can't say that I find libertarianism all too appealing.  As dysfunctional as the medical system is, I wouldn't ALSO want to hear story after story of people dying from simple things like strep throat.

The thing about our tax systems is that the people who hold the military contracts are already old money; so taxes as they sit go primarily towards a further concentration of wealth.

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Blah! The Military complex after World War 2 has always been about special Interest. Korean war and Vietnam war were fought to contain the so called communism threat... Desert storm was to secure a stable oil supply ( not that we wanted to control the oil supply... yet) The Iraq War... I have no **** idea???

About the only war that I agreed with at the time was Operation Enduring Freedom... but even the title is misleading...