Reply #7: Overspending on defense, especially given their internal economic [View All]

[smoogatz]

collapse: the USSR was basically a shell economy--the real economy was at a standstill, unable to provide for the basic needs of most Soviet citizens. They had nothing to trade and zero hard currency. They knew there was oil and gas waiting to be developed in Siberia, but they lacked the technology and couldn't raise the capital to do the basic exploration--let alone development. Their military was also a shell, mostly running on 1950s-era tech, without spare parts, fuel or trained personnel after the Afghanistan debacle. We're not quite in that boat yet, but your point is valid--the US is in very dangerous territory, indeed. We must restore our industrial manufacturing base and get our fiscal house in order. We must once again become a net creditor economy, rather than the world's biggest debtor economy.