Yes

by Xypher Pino

The involvement of the U.S. government with the recent conflicts between Ukraine and Russia and Israel and Palestine have brought about many controversial discussions about whether or not U.S. funding of these wars should continue. It is in the best interest of the U.S. government and its citizens to continue to fund various wars around the world as I believe doing so protects and promotes the democracy of both our own country and the world itself.

A common belief amongst individuals who criticize the U.S. government for funding various conflicts throughout the world is that it is unnecessary for our country to involve itself as it does not affect the state of our country whatsoever. History proves this belief to be false, as we see with the U.S.’s communism containment policy during the Cold War. During the time of the Cold War, Americans were worried about their freedoms and individuality being threatened with the rise of communism, hence why the U.S. decided to involve itself with affairs that dealt with the Soviets. Doing this not only protected the U.S. citizens but also protected and advocated for the citizens of other countries involved, which brings me to my next point.

Ever since the rise of the U.S. as a world superpower, the U.S. has been considered to be the world’s beacon of democracy. The main reason for this is because of the U.S.’s direct involvement with different foreign affairs around the world. The expansion of the international sphere of influence of the U.S. has greatly pushed democratic values throughout countries around the world.

Now, why is it even important to advocate for and promote democracy? Numerous studies suggest that democracy is currently the best political system in the world, hence why it should be promoted and spread throughout the world. Democratically governed nations are more likely to promote economic development, uphold human rights, improve the environment, combat terrorism and overall have happier populations in comparison to non-democratically governed nations.

The U.S. should continue funding international wars as it is the U.S.’s responsibility to protect the world’s democracy and to oppose anybody or anything that might challenge democracy.

No

by Riley Blankenship

As society looks at the ongoing wars and examines how much the U.S. is currently spending with aid to help others, it would not be bold to ask the question of if we are spending too much to fund these wars.

To begin with my first reason as to why I believe the U.S. should stop funding both wars, I will start with the U.S. funding Ukraine against Russia. Just recently, the U.S. passed a $60 billion dollar bill to help Ukraine. I believe we should absolutely help Ukraine against Russia but however, I believe if this keeps going on and on it will push America further into debt. Currently, the U.S. is $34 trillion dollars in debt. Instead of spending the $60 billion dollars for the war, it  could certainly be used on our country for a multitude of problems and crises we are encountering. For example, school shootings are ravaging our country almost every month and more funds could be used to increase protection of schools. Speaking of schools, more funds could be diverted into public school systems and education programs as they have received minimal funding for years now.

Another huge reason to stop funding the wars, in relation to the war between Israel and Palestine, is simply because we are funding the wrong side of the war – so much of America’s tax money is literally going to Israel to help kill innocent Palestinian families and individuals. To add to this absurdity, most people try to ignore the fact that their tax money funding this complete genocide. We as a nation are doing two different things: one is making us go further into debt and the second is funding a compete genocide of a state. Just recently, the Gaza health ministry has come out with new horrifying numbers. They claim that over 30,000 people in Gaza have died over the duration of the war, with a majority of these victims being innocent civilians and children.

 I propose a solution. We should start to dial back our military spending as there are several problems our own country is facing. I realize the U.S. is one of the biggest military spending countries as well as one of the dominant powers and we have a responsibility to help other countries in need. However, I believe we should focus our budget on our country as we have so many problems that we need to solve first.