If the US had no military

As much as I like these threads it always bugs me when people get so short sighted with such a broad question. Its like asking if the world would be better if France, Spain, England, Portugal, or the Dutch never had a military. Anyone can make a whimsical argument that the world would be a better place had they never kept an army but in the end it comes down to the FACT that the world as we know it has been shaped by the armies of regional and global powers.

From an American standpoint I could make the ignorant statement that we would be better off if England didn't have an army but then, there wouldn't have been a revolution against the British. If France and Spain wouldn't have had an Army they would not have been able to support the Americans during the war through financial and military means. All of this means that the world's landscape would be vastly different and I probably wouldn't be sitting here typing this to you.

It just shows that any army can be a benefit or detriment to the world.

Someone commented on the Swiss, if I'm not mistaken the Swiss have about 134k active duty, although only about 4500 are considered professional soldiers.

Those people wo think we'd be safer and better off without a military have never served in the military much less ever seen conflict.

If the US military didn't exist as of tomorrow, there would be a mass global arms race. Parity isn't a good thing when speaking in military terms. We have such a complete advantage in military technology, defense systems, logistics and deployment that nobody will engage in open warfare with us. That is safety.

If we had no military can you imagine how many countries in the world who hate us or want what we have or resent us would make a move? Many. An armed citenship isn't enough to compete with a large modernized military. We'd be overun fairly easily.

We'd probably have minor dictatorships pop up throughout the country before that. How many obscenely rich or politicians or even military heads would believe they know whats best and try to make a run at power?

Although our government is in a sad state, we're in better shape than most of the world. And if we lose our military, well if I wanted to live in a 3rd world country I'd move to the Congo.

Peace through superior firepower. A Redneck slogan that carries a lot of truth with it.