Sigh. Does anyone else get tired of conservatives constantly claiming the mantle of defenders of our national security, while doing everything in their power to undermine it? I sure as hell do.
I am a national security liberal. Please, let me explain.
The strength of a nation is not merely in manpower or defense dollars spent. It is so much more.
The US did not win the cold war just by outspending our opponents; we did it by outgrowing them. Allow me to provide an example. North and South Korea. Same strategy. South Korea spends a much lower percentage of their GDP on defense than their evil neighbor, who now suffers periodic famines and spends more than half its GDP on its military, despite having a larger population.
Yes, a good economy is national security. Outgrow your opponents and spend a diminishing percentage of your wealth on the military. And it is a feedback loop. The richer your nation is, the less you have to spend on the military as a percentage of your budget, and, conversely, the more that any opponent who does not match your growth will have to spend.
So, a strong economy is vital to our national security.
Of course, there are so many other reasons, national security-wise, to be a liberal.
A country in which its citizens are united is stronger than one than is not. That is why equal opportunity is great. The more that citizens have invested in a nation, the stronger that nation will be. That means, racism is unpatriotic. Maybe treasonous (okay, definitely).
An educated population is better than an uneducated one, I can't believe I actually have to state that, but today the other side disagrees (which is insane, in my opinion). Our nation is stronger if we can read and write, and maybe do math and shit like that. The smartest among us may actually invent something, who knows?
Of course, the most powerful force any nation state can exert is moral. The US used to at least aspire to that. Rather than bluster and threats of military force, should not presidential candidates argue on who would follow the most righteous path? Should we not, at the very least, if only rhetorically, stand for justice?
A heathy citizenry is better than a sickly one. A well-fed citizenry is better than a starving one (again, refer to North Korea). Women are half our population. Equal rights means we are twice as strong as them what ain't got 'em. At least. A country that people want to get into is better than one that people want to escape from. Oh, and you should not go out of your way to piss off your allies. Just sayin'.
A military in which all citizens can serve and be treated as equals is stronger, proportionately, than those that discriminate.
Any party that obstucts everything just to get its own way will eventually destroy our nation. Being deliberately divisive and hating our government does more damage than any terrorist or foreign nation has yet accomplished. The Civil War proves that.
Impoverishing your own citizens to enrich the chosen few weakens any nation. Allowing systemic corruption in government allows greed to overwhelm national security.
National security is diminished by massively expensive wars of choice.
Progressive policies strengthen our nation. Regressive policies weaken it.
If you have a government that can be drowned in a bathtub, somebody will do it. And they will not be nice people.