The bizarre secret behind China's spy balloon
www.cbsnews.com
Earlier this year America's military defenses were put on notice against a Chinese balloon believed to be on an espionage mission. Gen. Mark Milley talks about what we've learned from an examination of the balloon's wreckage.

Nobody could have predicted this. I have my doubts even when they call it "spying equipment" or whatever considering Chinese claim it was a meteorological balloon, certainly no doubt they would try to paint those tools as such.

  • quarrk [he/him]
    ·
    9 months ago

    The DoD is the world's largest employer with 2.9 million employees as of June 2022. Besides its direct function of projecting US power, it is also functionally a jobs program. The US is ideologically prohibited from handing out money for free via welfare programs, they must maintain the ideology of capitalism, by creating pointless work by which these people can "earn" the money. It is of zero consequence that each missile costs so many dollars. The whole point of its manufacture was to pay the workers and to allow the military-industrial capitalists to skim excess off the top of this waste. It's a sham but it is a little more complicated than just lighting $400k on fire. That money was already spent, and they want these missiles used in order to justify their replacement. As an additional benefit, each of these 2.9 million employees is heavily propagandized by the state department every day at work.

    Long-term, it benefits the US if the industry and its warfighters are permanently ready to fight a war.

    I don't agree with any of it btw, just adding some context.