An Open Letter to President Trump
Dear Mr. President, in my English class we have been researching topics related to an overall theme. The possible themes are the nature of evil, family & relationships, race & racism, and war. As you might have guessed I picked the overall theme of war and while reading articles I realized how much you are spending on the military. Based on my research I argue that you should reduce spending on the military because there is no need for a strong military right now, there are better uses for the money, and only you can make that change.
To start we should reduce spending on the military because there is no need for a strong military right now. To give some context on this issue we are spending about 50% of the country’s budget on the military when it is a time of relative peace. According to the Charles Koch Institute, a non-partisan institute focused on giving people information, “The United States itself is the safest and most secure great power in history. Our neighbors to the north and south are friendly and weak. To our east and west lie vast oceans that prevent meaningful threats to the homeland from foreign powers.” In other words, our country’s borders are safe with either friendly, allied countries or great, vast, blue oceans surrounding us. This information is important because it shows that there are no major threats to our country because we have many allies and have negotiated with other countries. Additionally, according to Fareed Zakaria a reporter that got a bachelors degree from Yale University and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in “Why defense spending should be cut” by the Washington Post, “Over the past decade, when we had no serious national adversaries, U.S. defense spending has gone from about a third of total worldwide defense spending to 50 percent.” Furthermore, this information is significant because again it shows that we have next to no adversaries but yet our country is spending a whole 50% of the world’s money used towards defense.50%! Overall though this data shows that we are spending too much money on the defense department including the military during a time of relative peace.
Furthermore, the military budget needs to be cut because there are better uses for the money. To give some context on the issue after learning about your 2020 budget I believe that some of the military budget should go towards the VA. According to a poll taken by the Washington Post in the article “A Legacy of Pride and Pain”, “Almost 60 percent say the VA is doing an “only fair” or “poor” job in addressing the problems faced by veterans, and half say the military is lagging in its efforts to help them transition to civilian life, which has been difficult for 50 percent of those who have left active service.” This means that after coming back from war veterans aren’t being supported enough to easily make the transition. Also, this information is significant because it shows that although we are heavily spending money on our defense not enough is going towards our veterans. Additionally in the same article, “A Legacy of Pride and Pain” it says, “More than half of the 2.6 million Americans dispatched to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan struggle with physical or mental health problems stemming from their service, feel disconnected from civilian life and believe the government is failing to meet the needs of this generation’s veterans, according to a poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation.” This quote also shows that the veterans of our nation aren’t being adequately supported through it saying that about 1.3 million vets have or are facing challenges and they believe the government isn’t doing a fair job in helping them. Is this the reality we want our veterans that protected us to live? To sum my data up the US government must provide the veterans that served this nation with better support and you can help them by making that change.
Some might argue that we shouldn’t reduce military spending to keep our country safe from illegal immigrants. However, a study from the Cato Institute says,” In 2017 in Texas, 399,155 native-born Americans, 16,275 illegal immigrants, and 18,235 legal immigrants were convicted of crimes. Thus, 1,702 natives were convicted for every 100,000 natives, 899 illegal immigrants for every 100,000 illegal immigrants, and 599 legal immigrants for every 100,000 legal immigrants. As a percentage of their respective subpopulations, illegal immigrants were over 47 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans. Illegal immigrants were about 65 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans.” Therefore, we don’t have any threats to our free, vast, and great country’s safety, and because of that, we can reduce spending on our military without risking much.
Therefore, I suggest that you take some money from the military budget and give it to the Veterans Department or other Departments. This would make a difference because veterans wouldn’t have to suffer so much after coming back, people that are struggling, that are desperate for support, and that need assistance can benefit from just some extra money going into certain departments. In the end, though you must make the final decision, only you can propose this change, only you have the power.
Thank you,
Evan
