Bruh, the nordic world has had next to no functional military for nearly two hundred years, and yet they stayed free... So that kinda pokes a hole in all that. Also, there's the radical possibility that we could, you know, have BOTH of them instead of sidelining one to make room for the other? Haven't you ever heard of a "forever war", or the phrase "war is peace?" If you did, you would understand that war isn't for the sake of the citizenry, but instead it is meant to be for the sake of defense contractors and western imperialists. There hasn't been a mainland invasion of the US since 1812, and that alone is proof that reinvesting more funds in education and inferastructure is better than funneling millions into the pockets of rich pricks.