Another reason why we have bases and other military assets in other countries is because of proximity. If China, for example, were to attack Taiwan or Japan, any U.S. soldier hurt in the strike, could be seen as a direct attack on U.S. forces, therefore, a possible pretext for war. The fact we have assets on the ground makes any nation, think twice about fucking with our allies.
IMO, this is the primary reason we have bases in foreign lands.
And again, these countries are perfectly fine with this as we have to pay them, for the right to do so. BUT, the benefits of having so much military influence, more than makes up for the cost. Unlike any other country out there, we have 10 carrier strike/battle groups. We have strategically placed bases around the globe. Our capability to strike anywhere in the world is second to none. We have the most advanced military tech and our military budget all but guarantees, that we have a decade or so advantage over our competitors on cutting edge tech.
@GonZo_626
And you make a valid point.
My earlier argument also said, What do we REPLACE coal with? What green energy source would be as affordable and as plentiful as coal? And lastly, who foots the bill for this gigantic overhaul? Americans are spoiled as fuck period. You see those SJWs bitching on and on about the evils of corporations but they do it on fucking FACEBOOK. They do it on their shiny, expensive ass phones, made by CORPORATIONS. The amount of power they require for their activism and game playing and TV watching is mind boggling, powered by what? Abundant and affordable energy, produced by, energy CORPS. It continues to puzzle me when I see the left constantly get in their own way. You have the NO COAL crowd supporting nuclear power but then you have the green idiots that are NO NUKES.
CT even admits that it is a multi-tiered problem that is difficult to fix quickly. You have the coal guys thinking about their checkbooks. You have state officials worried about jobs. Then you have the average joes, who might not have the skill set to do whatever jobs, that fills the vacuum, like nuclear power, for example.
Again and again I say this. We are moving forward on green energy. We may not move as fast as China in green investment, but neither are our cities so royally fucked by pollution, as compared to our Chinese counterparts. Unlike China, which is an authortarian regime that does whatever the fuck it wants, regardless of what people think, we are a democracy Yes there are some bad areas, much like Flint, but overall, we are good. The lefts problem isn't change is not happening. It is more, I want my perfect fucking cake, NOW.
Going to the moon also had tremendous global political considerations. We had to let our allies know we could keep up scientifically and technologically, with our competitor, the Soviets. People were scared that the soviets were going to use Sputnik as a nuclear launch platform as well. If they could do that, we needed to be able to do it too, and then some.