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It really still surprises me how liberal Reddit all turned into warhawks this year, but I’d much rather the US have the budget we have and own the sky than literally anyone else.
Also military spending is really a glorified jobs program. That money is all spent on American workers and American companies.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 84%. (I'm a bot)


China has sailed one of its three aircraft carriers near the U.S. territory of Guam, Japanese officials confirmed, ending an already combative year with a rare move that Beijing signaled as a clear warning to the Biden administration over Taiwan.
Beijing expressed outrage at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August - a move the California Democrat had previously rescheduled, reportedly over concerns about blowback from China.
"China will never attack US military bases in Guam as long as the US military does not attack China or interfere in the Taiwan question," it wrote, citing Chinese analysts, "But having such capabilities is a deterrent against potential US provocations."


Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: China^#1 US^#2 military^#3 Chinese^#4 Taiwan^#5 >

Remind me? Isn’t 11 > 3? >

By American definitions it's actually 0-11.  Or 1-11, depending on what their new one does, but it's not finished being built yet.
If you use the definition that everyone else does, the US has 21 carriers instead of 11.  There are only 47 active aircraft carriers in the world, and the USN's total carrier deck space is more than double the rest of the world combined. >

And that's why the US Navy is the second largest air force in the world, second only to the US air force. >

Unpopular opinion (at least for Reddit) - this is actually a good thing. Overwhelming force means that the incentive to even start a conventional war is gone because it’s a guaranteed loss.
If we still had several competing peer states where the military outcome was a toss-up, you’d inevitably have somebody fuck around and find out. Look at Russia and Ukraine - clearly not everybody has evolved beyond territorial ambitions.
Having one major superpower sucks if you aren’t aligned with that superpower’s interests, but otherwise it provides a ton of stability because that superpower has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. >

I think one reason it’s unpopular is the cost. I also like having the largest/best military in the world. However when you look at amount spent on that military, and think about the other possible uses for it like education and health care, people get upset about our priorities. >

Okay, we will shadow or warn you but we want to maintain the rules based order. China is allowed to stay 12 miles off shore in international waters. Russia routinely plays this game on the US and Canadian pacific coast. That’s the same that is expected of you China! 
Thanks for visiting Guam! We hope you enjoyed your stay. >

In other news: China is now sailing near Russia! Must be an act of war! China is gana war against Russia! >

Okay side bar though: Russia would lose boots on the ground or even a nuke china fight.
Russia would get steamrolled by China hands down >

Russia can't handle Ukraine, because Ukraine has American (or at least, Western) materiel, intelligence and tactics at their disposal.
Pound-for-pound, though, Russian materiel is better than Chinese materiel. Both countries have the same problem, but the problem manifests differently in each country: Russia has "ghost inventory," where they simply don't have as much as they thought they had for weapons, munitions, etc. China, by contrast, has things -- but they're of such incredibly poor quality that they're only marginally effective. China's army is has about 2.5 million people in it -- twice as many as the US. But, unlike the US, China doesn't have the financial or manufacturing capability to adequitely equip, arm, train and field all of their personnel.
Things are expensive, and having to supply multiple millions of copies of even very cheap things gets real expensive, real fast. So... they do what they  can with what they have, but that's  still not much. This gets compounded by the fact that a lot of the state-owned manufacturers over there will specifically cut corners wherever possible to enrichen themselves -- using PETG instead ABS or GF for military plastics, using pot/monkey metal instead of steel for certain components, or using light/undergauged wire for electronics, etc. As long as something is "good enough to sit in an armory warehouse," then often nobody is the wiser.
In terms of nuclear capability... a nuke is a nuke. Even poorly made nuclear weapons are unfathomably dangerous. If they got into a nuke-fight, then everybody loses just the same. >

Solves global warming the day after tomorrow…. >

Patrolling the Gobi almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter... >

Why the Gobi desert is ridiculously cold. >

It was a Fallout: New Vegas reference, I do believe. Replace "Gobi" with "Mojave" and NPC soldiers bark that line all the time. It's a doubly clever reference since the backstory to the series involves a war and eventual nuclear exchange between the US and China. >

Sometimes it would just be nice if world leaders weren't 10-year olds. >

I would say shitty 8th graders, they’re the worst >

I’m sure this getting big play on Chinese state news and yet is barely noticed here in the US. Seems like empty bluster >

It absolutely is empty bluster. China is free to navigate international waters just like the US or any other country. Sailing one of three carriers near Guam (read: andersen air force base and naval base guam) is a big joke. The message here, as usual, is meant for domestic consumption rather than for anyone else. The idea is to make people in China believe this is a serious threat and the US is scared of big strong China brandishing one of three carriers (33% of chinese naval air capacity) in front of one of the most heavily armed and defended US Defense installations west of Hawaii, and what would probably be the main base of operations for anything regarding Taiwan. >

It makes me wonder if the average Chinese, who must be so proud of their three Aircraft Carriers, know how many the US has. >

It’s not just the numbers. It’s the countless years of real world operational experience. It’s the lessons learned in blood over the decades that the Chinese don’t have. >

I mean, yeah, but that isn't as easy to communicate as the difference between 11 and 3. >

Technically 19 and 3 lol >

Eh, I was being nice. >

Lol. Also if you include our allies’ carriers it is even more. >

Also true=) of course, I am not sure if the average person living in China knows what having allies means... >

The U.S. is probably gonna be like "Cool story bro, we'll just send another CSG* into the Taiwan Strait."
Edit: meant CSG not CSN >

Carrier Strike Group. For those wondering… >

I like Critical Strike Nancy better >

Not to be outshone by the Navy’s strongest weapon, Critical Strike Karen >

The only thing banned by both the Geneva Convention and the local Starbucks >

Idk I suspect my local starbucks might not be so cool with mustard gas. >

Is this just a regular thing that happens like every week now? >

You would be surprised how often Russia and chine send ships in the pacific near Guam and Hawaii. It's not uncommon and not that alarming. >

If i had to guess, US navy was probably salivating over the possibility of sinking some Chinese warships >

6 or 7 subs following them under water lol >

Let’s not even get started with our Jewish space lasers that could turn those Chinese craft into calamari at the push of a button. >

I think the only people the PLA Navy are scaring with this maneuver are the poor crewmen aboard these ships. >

Hopefully they know that there is definitely at least one nuclear submarine shadowing them the entire way >

You know damn well every sub in the area is using this as invaluable real world training. And Guam is a major submarine base. >

I once spoke to a guy who sailed on a submarine. He said China was so far behind, they were right under them watching them do anti sub exercises. The PLA had no idea they were there. >

Using what little information I do know about how subs hide to extrapolate and imagine what techniques are top secret leads me to believe that is not an exaggeration. >

It's not. I think** the Swedes have done that to the US so many times we basically rented part of their military so we could try and find them in drills... And we never did. Sub tech is wild. >

You’d think it wouldn’t be hard to find a giant nuclear powered tin can in the ocean, but it is almost impossible >

Thing is, we don't give a fuck.  China is fucked, 2023 is going to be a rough year for them. >

China has the problem of a very large population of angry working-age men who are still expected to take care of their parents even though they have no way of getting married or becoming fathers of their own (decades of one-child created a horrible gender imbalance). >

Russia has an opposite problem now. Panda is going to fuck brown bear >

Well my Mexican ass would love a Russian woman. So panda going to have to step aside because this
Mexican jumping bean is jumping to the front of the line >

Russian wives are like Jeep Wranglers - incredibly seductive but totally impractical, and very high maintenance. 
The seductive appeal fades in a few years. The impracticality and high maintenance remain. Forever. >

Lol, this guy got Russian mail bride >

Dodged the bullet twice my guy. Two long term Russian girlfriends. We are done with the Eastern block.
We only date west of Austria now... >

Most Polish women are fine from my experience
But yeah, you’re right lol >

While China and Russia join forces that’s like 1/10 of our navy
Laughs in US nuclear submarines..
-sub vet >

All of a sudden I'm for military spending...