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Comment by criddell | Hacker News Reader

Wars used to be paid for by raising taxes. Now we have no idea how much they cost. How many years in a row has the Pentagon failed it's audit? How many years (decades?) was the Iraq war funded through annual (unbudgeted) emergency measures? How many trillions in promised healthcare does America owe its veterans?

If the President had to make the case that taking on Iran would cost each American around $1000 on top of higher prices for fuel and food, how many would sign off on that?

So I guess I agree with Palantir. Be honest about the actual costs of war and chances are we will get into fewer.

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> Be honest about the actual costs of war and chances are we will get into fewer.

This is a naive comment. The people deciding to send people to war do not concern themselves with the costs. The people concerned about the cost have no say in deciding to start military conflicts.

> The people deciding to send people to war do not concern themselves with the costs.

Then lets be honest about the cost of war. Lets raise income taxes. Lets set the top marginal tax bracket to 94% like it was during WWII. Lets double corporate income taxes. What taxes won't cover, pay for the rest by issuing war bonds.

How long do you think it would take before voters started replacing their representatives?

The current administration can't even be honest about the fact that we're in a war, so there's no way they're gonna be honest about the costs.

The most recent episode of the podcast “Search Engine” explored the cost of war and pretty much said exactly what you did. Besides the obvious war is bad, it’s so unfortunate we are passing on the cost to future generations. And for what?

There are no wars, just military conflicts. Palantir doesn't care how they are called, as long as they get the government's contracts. They are not interested in fewer wars/conflicts.

> How many years in a row has the Pentagon failed it's audit?

The pentagon has NEVER been successfully audited.

All caps “NEVER” made me double check how many audits they’ve failed, and it’s only been since 2018 that the first “audit” occurred.

Eisenhower warned of the industrial military complex in his farewell address in 1961, 57 years prior.

indeed.

> Wars used to be paid for by raising taxes

in the long term maybe, in the short term its mass debt of trillions

Inflation sort of is a tax, on those who do not hold appreciating assets. I.e. mostly people on the poorer side.

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