It is conservative to be world police and military subsidizer when there are a host of enemy who attack us around the world, attack our friends and allies, and who try to destabilize self governing countries.
With 8 billion people in the world, we need to do things efficiently. One way to do things efficiently is to trade, using price signals and personal experience of quality to aid our choices of what to do, and when to do it.
Trade requires transport. Transport requires some degree of security against caravan raiders (as Mohammed was), pirates (as the Barbary pirates were). The problem is not new. The problem of piracy in the Mediterranean was not resolved until the French went into Algeria, the Spanish went into Morocco, the Italians went into Libya, and the English went into Egypt.
The Knights Templar partially resolved caravan raiders by developing financial transactions that would take pilgrims money at the start of the trip, and return it to them at the end, so during the trip, there was nothing to steal. Caravan raiding became a all loss, no gain proposition. Caravan raiders then sold themselves to Saladin, who was resolved to kill the goose if he couldn’t help himself to the eggs.
It is an old problem.
So we need 11 carrier groups because of the barbary pirates? I don’t follow.
I just don’t get the fear of countries across the world, when we have opened our borders and are actively encouraging a foreign invasion from the south. Countries thousands of miles away don’t scare me as much as the Mexican invasion does.
I don’t know what Paul says about that- that is my own opinion. Please don’t delete my account if I am agreeing with Paul.